On the palace road outside the Princess Palace, Xie Ling jumped up and bounced out of the secret room. As expected, no one noticed her.
There were not many people on this road. Xie Ling lowered her head and asked a young eunuch at random, "How is it? Is the fire out?"
The young eunuch raised his head, his face dark grey under the brim of his hat, and glared at Xie Ling fiercely, "My ancestor, what time is it and you are still here? Hurry up and go to the imperial kitchen and get a bucket to put out the fire!"
After saying that, he kicked Xie Ling on the butt, then quickly ran away with the wooden basin.
Xie Ling was speechless. She brushed off the dust behind her and lowered her head towards Prince Yong's Palace.
There is an artificial lake near the Yongwang Palace. Many palace maids and eunuchs come here to fetch water, and Xie Ling did not arouse the suspicion of the soldiers.
She pretended to fetch water from the lake while trying to hear if the soldiers were talking.
But Xie Ling eavesdropped for a while and found that the soldiers didn't say a word and their discipline was very strict.
Before Xie Ling could figure out what to do, the emperor's ceremonial procession arrived not far away.
There were a dozen young eunuchs holding up a canopy in the front, a dozen guards carrying a golden chariot in the middle, and a dozen people holding silk banners on the side leading the way. It was very luxurious.
Everyone knelt down and shouted loudly: "Long live the emperor."
Xie Ling’s mind was spinning rapidly.
She knows.
These people must have noticed that she was missing!
This emperor is really shrewd!
She even left some words outside the princess' palace, but the dog emperor still suspected her!
What should I do now?
She had drugs, but she couldn't use them on so many people at once, and it would be even worse if she alerted the enemy.
Looking at the lake in front of her, Xie Ling's eyes flickered.
There is also a small lake in the Yongwang Palace, and a canal was dug to divert water from the large lake.
Xie Ling found a place with few people, quietly took off his eunuch clothes and hid in the space.
He gulped down a large jar of wine, then dived in!
After entering the water, she did not hold her breath, allowing the lake water to flood her nasal cavity.
While her consciousness was in a trance, Xie Ling slowly floated upwards.
A palace maid who was drawing water suddenly saw a pale face in the water. She was so frightened that she dropped the basin in her hands and screamed, "Ahhh! There's a dead person!"
Because of the emperor's arrival, everything was silent.
The maid's scream attracted everyone's attention. A senior eunuch asked sternly, "Who? You don't want your head anymore?"
The maid was trembling with fear, "My Lord, there is a dead body in the water! I am frightened."
The emperor rubbed his brows irritably and said, "Pick it up and have a look."
After he finished speaking, several guards took off their armor and dived into the water, dragging Xie Ling in front of the emperor.
Looking at the pale man on the ground, the emperor frowned and said, "Find an imperial physician to take a look."
Soon, an imperial physician arrived, checked Xie Ling's breath, and found that she was still breathing, so he quickly provided rescue.
Xie Ling woke up slowly, shaking her head and unable to sit still.
He blinked and said incoherently: "Emperor? Emperor? Long live the emperor!"
The emperor looked at Xie Ling coldly, "What's going on?"
The doctor next to him replied, "Your Majesty, this man was drunk and probably fell into the river. If he had been a little later, even the immortals would not have been able to save him."
There was still a hint of doubt in the emperor's eyes. "Drag him up and take him to Prince Yong's Palace."
At the entrance of Prince Yong's Palace, Prince Yong sat quietly in a wheelchair, his eyes gleaming with cold light and his whole body exuding an intimidating aura, confronting the thousands of armored guards opposite him.
"Your Majesty has arrived!"
Wei Xiuchu raised his eyes and bowed, "Imperial brother, how are you?"
The emperor frowned, "Seventh Brother, why don't you just let these soldiers check the house? Why don't you let them in? Do you have something to hide?"
Just as the emperor finished speaking, Xie Ling, who was being driven from behind, suddenly let out a heart-wrenching cough, "Oh, it's so uncomfortable to be drunk."
The emperor's face darkened.
Wei Xiuchu's eyes flashed with a dark light, "What do you mean by that, my brother? I heard that the Princess Palace was on fire and there was a message like that left behind. I thought that the remnants of the King of Qi were causing trouble, and I was very worried.
Then the group of soldiers insisted on checking my house. My brother has always trusted me, so why would he suddenly send so many people to check my house? I became suspicious and refused to let them in.
The emperor said coldly: "These are all palace guards, how could they be the remnants of the King of Qi?"
Wei Xiuchu lowered his eyes, "It was the same when the King of Qi rebelled. It was the Emperor's confidant who turned against him at the last minute that led to the fire. So I dare not take it lightly."
After a long silence, the emperor laughed out loud, "Haha, you are indeed my seventh brother, both wise and resourceful. I just suspect the doctor beside you. Something happened as soon as he came to the palace, so I want to see if he is here."
Wei Xiuchu frowned, "I remember he was always here? Why did he suddenly run outside? Did he get drunk and fall into the pool and float away?"
Once these words were spoken, all the details were explained clearly.
In front of so many people, the emperor couldn't find any fault.
His eyes were gloomy, and he said in a cold voice: "Come here, send Doctor An back!
By the way, Linglong's funeral will be held tomorrow morning. Lao Qi must have a good rest today and remember to attend the funeral on time tomorrow."
After saying this, the emperor turned away.
No one saw that his deep eyes were filled with surging hatred, his cheeks were twitching, and his nails were digging into his palms.
Not until all the guards had left did Xie Ling's eyes regain clarity and she recounted the whole story on paper.
Wei Xiuchu's eyes were gloomy.
"I can infer your intention based on your statement that you were drunk. The emperor is very shrewd and can definitely guess it.
He has been acting so abnormal recently, he must be suspicious and planning to get rid of me before this matter is made public."
Xie Ling understood.
The main reason why the emperor killed Linglong was that he was afraid that Linglong would tell the world about it.
He was suspicious by nature. Instead of doubting whether Linglong had told Wei Xiuchu, he might as well just kill Wei Xiuchu ruthlessly. Anyway, he had seen enough of Wei Xiuchu's jokes over the years.
Xie Ling: "Then let's escape today. I have two maps of the secret room. We will go directly out of the palace from the secret room. You follow me to Beijiang."
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