Imperial Capital 72: Fire breaks out in Yaohua Palace
Standing in front of the majestic palace, Ye Li sighed in her heart. This was her third time to enter the palace. In view of the unpleasant experiences of the previous two times, she was even more alert and cautious when she was summoned by the emperor to enter the palace this time. She, the Princess of Dingguo, was a female relative after all. Under normal circumstances, even if the emperor really wanted to see her, he should have summoned her in the name of the empress or Ye Zhaoyi.
"Princess Ding, the emperor is inside. Please go in." The eunuch leading the way said in a low voice with a bit of flattery. Ye Li glanced at him sideways, and had a slight impression that he was the eunuch who came to the Ye Mansion to deliver the marriage decree.
Ye Li nodded. Qingluan and Qingyu were left outside, so the secret guards naturally couldn't move freely in the palace. Ye Li could only walk into the magnificent palace, a symbol of power and wealth, alone.
"Princess Dingguo Ye has seen the emperor. May the emperor be well." The spacious palace seemed cold and empty due to the lack of people. Mo Jingqi sat high up in the palace and looked down at the woman who was kneeling in the palace. After a long while, he said, "Princess Dingguo, please stand up." Ye Li stood up and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Mo Jingqi pointed to a chair nearby and asked Ye Li to sit down. He smiled and asked, "Prince Ding has been in poor health since the beginning of winter. I wonder if he is feeling better now."
Ye Li lowered her eyes and said softly, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. Today, the weather is getting warmer. Although the prince's health is still not good, it is much better than in the severe winter." Mo Jingqi narrowed his eyes and carefully looked at the demeanor of the princess. She was calm and peaceful, as if she was just an ordinary young lady, but this kind of peace and calmness would not be so ordinary in front of the king of a country. Moreover, according to the information he received, Prince Ding was very concerned about this princess. How could someone without any instinct make Prince Ding care? It seems... I was wrong at the beginning. Even his arrogant brother had suffered several losses at her hands. Thinking of the dark face of Mo Jingli every time he mentioned Ye Li in front of him, Mo Jingqi began to really doubt whether marrying such a woman to Mo Xiuyao was an insult or a help to him. But it didn't matter... He would solve these problems soon.
"You have to take care of Prince Ding's mansion and look after Prince Ding. It's really hard for the princess." Mo Jingqi said with a smile.
"Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. These are what Ye Li should do." Ye Li replied calmly.
The two exchanged pleasantries for a long time. Mo Jingqi became more and more irritated as he looked at the calm and composed woman below. It seemed that nothing had gone well since the marriage was arranged by Prince Ding. Mo Jingli, who had been doing some small things in secret, was almost confronted with him directly in the open because of the Queen Mother's increasingly aggressive actions. Because of the Queen Mother and Prince Li, some people in the court were also slightly panicked. Guan Ting, the confidant who was previously sent to guard the Broken Snow Pass, was kicked by a horse for no apparent reason and his leg was broken, which resulted in the replacement of the guard of Broken Snow Pass. He sent his confidant to Broken Snow Pass to guard against Mo Jingli on the one hand and Nanzhao on the other. Although Murong Shen, who was replaced now, was a capable fighter, he was not as trustworthy as Guan Ting. Mo Jingqi was very uneasy about handing over such an important place as Broken Snow Pass to someone who was not his confidant. But... after thinking about it again, Mo Jingqi had to admit that there were not many capable people among his confidants. At least he really couldn't find a convincing candidate to replace Murong Shen.
Thinking of the news he had just received, Mo Jingli dared to secretly collude with the Saint of Southern Xinjiang, which made Mo Jingqi even more furious. But he could only bear it, because Mo Jingli was his brother, and he had no evidence to prove that Mo Jingli had any relationship with the Saint of Southern Xinjiang. Neither the Queen Mother nor the ministers in the court who were related to Mo Jingli would agree with his disposal of King Li. He was the emperor, but many times he found that he was not as self-centered as he had imagined, and even many times he was constrained by various parties when making a simple decision.
"Princess Ding, I gave you in marriage to Prince Ding. Do you have any resentment in your heart?" After a moment of silence, Mo Jingqi stared at Ye Li and asked abruptly.
Ye Li was stunned, and quickly thought about what Mo Jingqi meant. However, she said calmly, "The Emperor's granting of marriage is a favor to Ye Li. How could Ye Li have any complaints?"
"Oh?" Mo Jingqi Rao looked down at her with interest and said with a smile, "You were originally the Princess of Li, who was arranged to marry by the late emperor himself. My brother is a handsome man with both literary and military talents, and he is considered one of the outstanding talents in the capital. But because of an imperial edict, you changed from Princess of Li to Princess of Ding, who is pitied by everyone. Do you really have no resentment in your heart?" Ye Li's eyes flickered slightly, and she smiled lightly, "Prince Li broke off the engagement first, and the emperor arranged the marriage later. The emperor's arranged marriage just solved Ye Li's dilemma. Why would Ye Li feel resentful?"
"You don't blame me... Then, you hate Prince Li? Yes, as far as I know, my brother has suffered more than once at the hands of Princess Ding."
Ye Li's heart skipped a beat, and she smiled faintly, "Your Majesty, you are joking. How could Ye Li dare to let Prince Li suffer? I wonder...what instructions did the emperor have for summoning Ye Li today?" If she continued to talk like this, she probably wouldn't be able to leave the palace until noon. It was not a good thing for a lady of noble birth to stay with the emperor for too long without the company of the imperial concubines.
Mo Jingqi looked at her and smiled, "Very good, I like smart people. In this case, I will not beat around the bush with the princess. Princess Ding, does Prince Ding know about Mo Jingli's collusion with the Southern Xinjiang Saint?" Ye Li lowered her eyes and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, Ye Li is stupid... Ye Li does not quite understand the matter between Prince Li and the Southern Xinjiang Saint."
"Don't understand?" Mo Jingqi raised his eyebrows, looked at Ye Li with a half-smile, and said, "Prince Ding trusts the princess very much. As far as I know, when Prince Ding was seriously ill, many affairs of the Dingguo Palace were handled by the princess personally. Princess, are you telling me now that you don't know? Princess, do you know...what is the crime of deceiving the emperor?" A trace of cold light flashed across Ye Li's half-closed eyes, and she lowered her head and stared at the ground and said, "Deceiving the emperor is a capital crime. But...if the emperor is sure that the Dingguo Palace knows about Prince Li's affairs, why not ask the prince directly? Ye Li is just a woman, even if she is in charge of the Dingguo Palace, she will not ask about these matters in the court."
"How dare you!" Mo Jingqi shouted angrily, staring at Ye Li with a hint of viciousness and murderous intent in his eyes. If it were an ordinary lady, she might be frightened by the murderous intent that could be released. But for Ye Li, this threat and intimidation was far from enough.
He stood up and bowed softly, "Ye Li was too presumptuous, please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Mo Jingqi snorted lightly, stared at Ye Li and said, "The Dingguo Palace is well-informed and I know it better than you. Ye Li, Mo Xiuyao can't protect you for the rest of your life. You may not know Jingli's personality, but Mo Xiuyao certainly knows it. You might as well go back and ask him what he is considering about me." Ye Li smiled in her heart. Is the emperor threatening her?
"Thank you for your advice, Your Majesty. Ye Li will consider it carefully." Ye Li said.
Seeing Ye Li was so ignorant, Mo Jingqi's anger grew even stronger. But he also knew that he couldn't do anything to Princess Ding in the palace. He just stared at Ye Li for a long time before snorting and asking someone to take Ye Li out.
"Your Majesty." Watching Ye Li leave, Mo Jingqi's eyes flickered and changed unpredictably. A young man with ordinary and unremarkable appearance walked out of the back hall and looked at Mo Jingqi respectfully. Mo Jingqi calmed down his anger and looked at the man and said, "It seems that I made a wrong step to assign Ye Li to Mo Xiuyao. What happened to Ye Wenhua? This Ye Li is more difficult to deal with than his four daughters combined! With her, the Xu family may not support Mo Xiuyao." The young man whispered, "The Xu family does not have too many connections with the Dingguo Palace. Besides, it is not appropriate to anger the Xu family now." The young man sighed in his heart. The emperor was good in everything, but he was too suspicious. And when they were secretly confronting Prince Li and the Queen Mother, it was not appropriate to make more enemies. If the Xu family is pushed to the side of Prince Li or Prince Ding because of the emperor's suspicion, it would be a loss instead of gain.
Mo Jingqi didn't know what the young man was trying to persuade him to do, but he was extremely anxious because he couldn't take full control of the situation. Waving his hand, Mo Jingqi frowned and asked, "During the morning court session, Duke Hua asked the Great Chu to help the Nanzhao royal family quell the rebellion. What do you think?"
The young man pondered for a moment and nodded, "Duke Hua is devoted to the country, and his proposal is indeed beneficial to us. But we don't have to rush to quell the rebellion for them, just let the King of Nanzhao and the Saint of Southern Xinjiang kill each other. As long as we give some help when needed, the King of Nanzhao will remember the emperor's kindness." Mo Jingqi frowned and thought for a while and said, "What you said makes sense. I want to see what my good brother wants to do. He wants to help the Saint of Southern Xinjiang, right? I want to help the Nanzhao royal family. I want to see who wins in the end!" The young man frowned, looked at Mo Jingqi's sneer, and finally suppressed his worries. I hope the emperor will not invest too much energy in Southern Xinjiang.
"I have seen Princess Ding. Ye Zhaoyi wants to see you."
As soon as she came out of the palace, she ran into the head eunuch of Ye Yue's palace who had been waiting on the side. Ye Li frowned slightly. In October, Ye Yue gave birth to a prince safely. This was the emperor's sixth prince. However, Ye Yue's status in the palace did not rise as expected, and she was still Zhaoyi. At the same time, she became the only concubine who did not have the title of concubine among all the concubines who gave birth to princes. This made Ye Yue's status, which had been in the limelight in the first half of the year, immediately become a little embarrassing. Even with two younger sisters who were princes' legitimate wives, Ye Yue's life was still a little difficult without sufficient status in the palace. Ye Li knew in her heart that this was probably Mo Jingqi's warning to the Ye family.
After thinking for a while, Ye Li said, "I am feeling a little unwell and would like to go back to my residence to rest. I hope Ye Zhaoyi will forgive me."
"Princess..." The eunuch in charge obviously didn't expect Ye Li to refuse so straightforwardly. He said in a panic, "Princess, Ye Zhaoyi asks you to go see her for the sake of sisterhood." Ye Li frowned. Since Mo Jingqi has already set his eyes on her, the Queen Mother must not be too far away. Going to see Ye Yue now will not be good for her or Ye Yue herself. Last year, she said that if Ye Yue wanted to live safely in this deep palace, it would be better not to get involved in those things. Now it seems that Ye Yue has mixed in. Yes, since the Ye family has already waded into this muddy water, Ye Yue will probably not be able to avoid it even if she is in the deep palace, "Forget it, lead the way."
"Thank you, Princess." Hearing her agreement, the eunuch in charge thanked her happily and hurriedly led the way to Ye Yue's Yaohua Palace.
Compared to the radiant Ye Yue who was pregnant when Ye Li first came to Yaohua Palace, the current Ye Yue was much less attractive. She was sitting on the couch holding the little prince in her arms, and her beautiful face was full of sorrow and gloom. She wanted to get up when she saw Ye Li coming in, but Ye Li shook her head and said, "Second sister, you don't have to be polite."
Ye Yue waved away the people around her and looked at Ye Li, who was indifferent but obviously more elegant and graceful than a few months ago. She smiled bitterly and said, "I thought third sister would not come to see me." Ye Li lowered her eyes and said softly, "Second sister should know that meeting now is not good for you and the little prince." Ye Yue was stunned, and looked down at the child in her arms who still knew nothing, and smiled bitterly, "How could I not know, it's just... Third sister has seen my current situation. What do you think I can do?" Ye Li frowned and said, "Second sister, now that you have the little prince, you might as well take care of the child with peace of mind. No matter how cruel the emperor is, he will not do anything to his own flesh and blood. As for father's affairs... Second sister, don't get involved." As for other things, even if Ye Yue wanted to, she didn't have the ability. She couldn't help the game between the emperor and Queen Mother Li. Instead, she would be implicated because of Minister Ye's playing both sides. If Mo Jingqi won in the end, she would have a prince to protect her and would not be in danger of death. If Mo Jingli won, she, a woman, would be powerless to save the situation.
Ye Yue held the child in her arms, staring at Ye Li for a long while before she said quietly, "Grandmother is wrong, and father is also wrong. I know Ying'er's character, she is not good at success but always fails. Regardless of whether Prince Li wins or loses, my fourth sister will not bring any glory to the Ye family. And the emperor... when the emperor is able to make decisions on his own, I am afraid that father's behavior today will bring disaster to the Ye family."
"Is it true that the Emperor has not promoted my second sister because of my father's matter?" Ye Li asked.
"Why else?" Ye Yue smiled, with a hint of sadness in her smile. When she first entered the palace, she was full of vigor and ambition. But gradually she found that the palace was never as beautiful as she imagined. The emperor's favorite was the unparalleled beauty and talent of Concubine Liu, and the emperor respected the most the empress who came from a famous family and was graceful and generous. She prided herself on her beauty and talent, but she was nothing in this palace full of beauties. Even the initial favor was just because of her father's loyalty. Once she found out that her father was not as loyal as he imagined, the cruel emperor was too lazy to give her any face.
The emperor was ruthless. No matter whether Ye Yue was willing or forced to take this path, Ye Li could not give her too much sympathy. "Second sister asked someone to find me, what do you want to say?"
Ye Yue looked at her cold and calm expression, and finally shook her head and said, "I am delusional. Even if I ask my third sister to help us mother and son, she will not agree." Ye Li said, "I can't help my second sister, and now... I'm afraid no one can help anyone. Since my second sister knows about the matter between the emperor and Prince Li, she should also know the situation of Prince Ding's Mansion. It's not better than my second sister now, right?"
Ye Yue sighed and said, "I used to think I was smart, but now I know that my third sister is the smartest among us sisters."
Ye Li frowned slightly and said, "Since Second Sister has nothing to do, I will go back first."
Ye Yue quietly sat on the couch holding the child, looking at Ye Li with a hint of guilt. Ye Li suddenly became alert and stood up abruptly, but she felt dizzy and fell to the ground with a thud. Ye Yue silently looked at Ye Li who fell to the ground and said softly, "I'm sorry, Third Sister, I'm a mother. I have to think about my son."
In the spring of the twelfth year of the reign of Emperor Ping of the Chu Empire, Yaohua Palace caught fire. Ye Zhaoyi and the Sixth Prince died in the fire, and Princess Dingguo Ye Li, who was visiting Ye Zhaoyi in Yaohua Palace at the time, disappeared.
"Your Highness...Your Highness! Something bad has happened..." In Prince Dingguo's mansion, Chief Steward Mo, who was always known for his calmness and steadiness, ran towards the study room located in the side hall of the main courtyard with unsteady steps.
Feng Zhiyao leaned on a chair in the corner of the study with a look of anticipation, and said with a lazily smile: "Ayao, it seems that something bad has happened to scare Butler Mo so much..." Before he finished speaking, Butler Mo had already reached the door of the study, and said to Mo Xiuyao with a pale face: "Your Highness, the princess... the princess has disappeared in the palace!" Feng Zhiyao was stunned, and immediately jumped up and shouted: "How is this possible? How could she disappear in the palace for no reason?" They both turned their heads to look at Mo Xiuyao who was sitting beside them. Mo Xiuyao seemed to be stunned for a moment, and when the two looked over, he slowly put the scroll in his hand back on the table. He asked in a deep voice, "What happened?" Chief Steward Mo trembled and said, "After the princess had an audience with the emperor, Ye Zhaoyi of Yaohua Palace sent someone to invite the princess over, saying that he had something to ask for. By the time the secret guards in the palace arrived, the entire Yaohua Palace had already been burned. Ye Zhaoyi and the Sixth Prince died in the fire, and the princess... the princess is missing."
Mo Xiuyao leaned back in his wheelchair, closed his eyes and asked in a deep voice, "Where are Qingluan and Qingyu?"
"Qingluan and Qingyu are also missing." Chief Steward Mo said in a deep voice, "Qingluan and Qingyu did not follow the princess into Yaohua Palace, but... the palace's secret guards did not find them."
"Very good." Mo Xiuyao's voice was low and didn't seem to carry any anger, but it made people feel as cold as ice. The whole study seemed to be covered with a layer of frost in an instant, and it was chilly to the bone. "The princess is missing, and the two girls are nowhere to be found. The secret guards in the palace knew nothing about it. Very good... Should I praise the secret guards for their loyalty over the years?"
"Your Highness, please calm down." Feng Zhiyao and Steward Mo's faces changed, and they both knelt on the ground to apologize.
Mo Xiuyao didn't even look at the two of them, he waved his hand and said calmly: "Go and get ready, I will be going into the palace immediately. Feng Zhiyao, secretly block all exits from the capital, I don't want to see any suspicious person leave the capital." Feng Zhiyao stood up and said: "I obey your command." Steward Mo hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Highness, I'm afraid your body is not suitable now..." Before he could finish his words, Mo Xiuyao glanced at him calmly, the sharp eyes like a knife made Steward Mo's heart tremble, and the rest of the words were choked in his throat. Feng Zhiyao quickly pulled Chief Steward Mo out. Chief Steward Mo frowned in worry and said, "The prince's body can't stand it now... This..." He was also worried about the princess's disappearance, but if the prince also fell, then the Dingguo Palace would be finished without anyone else's calculations. Feng Zhiyao shook his head and said, "You know the prince's temper. It's useless to say anything now. Go and invite Mr. Shen over. It's better to let Mr. Shen go with you into the palace."
Manager Mo also realized that what Feng Zhiyao said made sense, so he could only sigh and quickly walk to the guest house where Shen Yang was staying. Feng Zhiyao looked back at the silent study room with worry, and could only sigh in his heart and hope that Ye Li was safe.
In the study, Mo Xiuyao stared silently at his hands on the armrest. The backs of his hands, which looked too pale due to long-term illness, had been covered with a thin layer of frost. Mo Xiuyao looked at it expressionlessly, as if he didn't notice anything wrong with his hands. Gradually, the frost began to turn into tiny water droplets, and finally turned into a faint warm smoke that evaporated into the study and disappeared. A trace of dark red blood slowly slid down from Mo Xiuyao's lips. Mo Xiuyao lowered his head to look at the bloodstains dripping on his light blue clothes, and slowly took out a snow-white handkerchief from his sleeve and slowly wiped the bloodstains from his lips, "Mo Jingqi...you, are, looking, for, death!"
The palace was already in chaos. Mo Jingqi's face was gloomy, and he stared at everyone present with suspicion and ferocity flashing wildly in his eyes. He could not care if Ye Yue and the little prince who was born not long ago were burned to death, but if one of them was Princess Dingguo, then he could not care less. Mo Jingqi never thought that someone would take advantage of his own palace. Yes, the first time the incident happened, Mo Jingqi was alert that this was not an ordinary accidental fire, but a conspiracy against him. Princess Dingguo died in the palace, and she was summoned in by herself... Mo Jingqi simply couldn't imagine how much turmoil would be set off if the Mo family army and the Black Cloud Cavalry made a fuss because of this incident. Although he sent his trusted aides to guard the capital as soon as the incident happened, he was still very nervous and uneasy.
When his eyes fell on the Queen Mother sitting on the side, Mo Jingqi's eyes became even more complicated and difficult to discern. If you ask Mo Jingqi who he doubts, the first person he doubts is his own mother. Growing up beside the Queen Mother, he naturally understands his mother's character of using any means to achieve her goals. From the admiration and respect he once had to the unbearable intolerance he now has, Mo Jingqi doesn't want to admit that he is still a little afraid of the Queen Mother.
Looking at Mo Jingli who was sitting aside and had nothing to do with the matter, the anger in Mo Jingqi's eyes gradually receded. He couldn't lose his composure now, as there would be more difficult people to deal with later. And he... was the emperor, he couldn't back down.
"Prince Ding has arrived!"
The last time everyone present saw Mo Xiuyao was in June last year. At that time, Mo Xiuyao seemed to be no different from a normal person except for his disability in walking, which made many people more or less worried. But a few months later, news came that Prince Ding was seriously ill, and the Prince Ding’s Mansion closed its doors to visitors as in previous years. This made many people slowly let go of their worries. It is now early spring, and the climate in Chujing is still a bit chilly. Mo Xiuyao was pushed in by A-Jian in a wheelchair. He was wearing a light blue cloak with silver silk cloud patterns, and the white royal royal dress embroidered with silver dragons was revealed at the collar. Even though half of his face was covered by a mask, it was still obvious that Mo Xiuyao’s complexion was not good. His unusually pale complexion showed that he was indeed still ill.
"Your servant, Prince Ding Mo Xiuyao, has met the Emperor, the Empress, and the Queen Mother." Mo Xiuyao said calmly while sitting in a wheelchair.
There was silence in the hall. Mo Jingqi collected his thoughts and said loudly, "Prince Ding, please excuse me."
Mo Xiuyao said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Please forgive me for being rude. May I ask where is your Majesty?"
Everyone in the hall looked at each other in bewilderment. Mo Jingqi glanced at the completely indifferent Queen Mother and Mo Jingli, and then his eyes darkened. He turned his head to look at the Queen. The Queen glanced at Mo Jingqi indifferently, sighed in her heart, and said, "Prince Ding, Princess Ding was also in Yaohua Palace at that time. I'm afraid she has already... Please condole with me, Prince Ding."
"Express your condolences?" Mo Xiuyao glanced at the people in the hall calmly and asked in a deep voice, "My princess was summoned to the palace to meet me. Now she is gone. Do you want to express your condolences to me?"
"The Yaohua Palace caught fire. The Sixth Prince Ye Zhaoyi and the palace maids have been found. The only one missing is Princess Dingguo. Prince Ding was right. Maybe Princess Dingguo survived the disaster." The Queen Mother sat up and said seriously, "But now... Princess Dingguo is missing, and her body is nowhere to be found. This fire in the Yaohua Palace... is really weird."
Ye Ying sat next to Mo Jingli, her eyes were already red from crying. She was indeed a little jealous of Ye Yue, and she did dislike Ye Li, but she never expected that her two sisters would be gone so suddenly. Moreover, Ye Yue was very good to her when she was still at her mother's house, and her relationship with Ye Li had also eased a lot in the past six months. The life of a princess in Prince Li's Mansion made her understand many things that the Wang family had never taught her. So she knew in her heart that the death of Ye Yue and Ye Li would definitely not be good for her, "Queen Dowager, Your Majesty, how could my second sister's Yaohua Palace suddenly catch fire, and how come my third sister was also in it? Please ask the Queen Dowager and the Emperor to make the decision for my two sisters."
Mo Jingli glanced at Ye Ying and snorted, "If you want to blame someone, blame Ye Li for having a bad fate. She was not in the palace for no reason and was running around everywhere. Didn't she just happen to be buried with Ye Zhaoyi and the Sixth Prince?"
Concubine Liu was sitting next to Mo Jingqi. After hearing what Mo Jingli said, she raised her head and asked coldly, "Prince Li means that someone wants to harm Ye Zhaoyi and the Sixth Prince, and Princess Ding was just accidentally implicated?" Mo Jingli sneered, "Isn't this very natural? Who has the courage and ability to set fire and kill people in the palace? And they just happened to burn Ye Zhaoyi and the Sixth Prince to death? Who knows if Ye Li saw something and was silenced? Even if she hasn't been burned to death, she should still be in the palace now."
Mo Jingqi narrowed his eyes, stared at Mo Jingli and asked, "What does King Li have to say?"
Mo Jingli smiled and said, "I have no opinion, but since Princess Ding is now missing, we must give an explanation to the court officials and the people. We can't just say that Princess Ding disappeared in the palace. If so, who among the ladies of the court will dare to enter the palace in the future?" The Queen frowned and said, "What does Prince Li mean?"
"My dear sister-in-law, I think it's best to search the palace. If Princess Ding is still alive, she must be in the palace. Maybe we can even find the arsonist. There are so many of us sitting here, so the murderer won't just run up to us, right? I think Wang Ye and I have the same idea. Mo Xiuyao, don't you think so?"
Mo Jingqi certainly didn't want to search his harem, but facing the upright proposal of Prince Li and the indifferent response of Prince Ding, he had to agree. It was almost foreseeable that this matter would become a joke and spread to every corner of Da Chu before tomorrow. Mo Jingqi secretly hated that his beloved brother, who had been pampered since childhood, would not miss any opportunity to smear him.
Mo Xiuyao did not join the search, but stayed in the side hall to rest on the pretext of feeling unwell. He knew in his heart that the search that Mo Jingli was conducting would not yield any useful clues. Instead, it was very likely that he would find out a lot of messy things in Mo Jingqi's harem. If it were normal times, he would not mind going along to take a look, but now he was in a very bad mood, and forcing himself to speak a few words to those people in the main hall was already the limit.
"Your Highness, your body..." Shen Yang and Steward Mo stood on the left and right behind Mo Xiu Yao and asked worriedly.
Mo Xiuyao raised his hand to stop him, shaking his head and saying, "I am fine. Tell Feng Zhiyuan to abandon the palace. A'li is not in the palace."
Shen Yang raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are you so sure that the princess is still alive?"
"Since Ah Li went to visit Ye Zhaoyi, she should have been with Ye Zhaoyi at that time. Even the corpse of the Sixth Prince was found, but Ah Li was missing... With Ah Li's skills, she would definitely not be able to escape from Yaohua Palace, so..." Mo Xiuyao frowned and thought. Yaohua Palace was burned clean by a big fire, and it was impossible to find any clues now. The secret guards felt outside Yaohua Palace as soon as the fire broke out, but did not see Ah Li come out. Moreover, the fire in Yaohua Palace burned too quickly...
"Someone come."
"Your Highness." An ordinary-looking old eunuch appeared at an inconspicuous side door of the side hall, respectfully waiting for Mo Xiuyao's instructions.
Mo Xiuyao said calmly: "Go and see if there are any secret passages or secret rooms in Yaohua Palace. Also, see who Ye Zhaoyi often came into contact with during his lifetime. Finally... send someone who knows medical skills to check on the bodies of Ye Zhaoyi and the Sixth Prince."
The old lady supervisor was not surprised by Mo Xiuyao's order. Her wrinkled face remained calm as she said respectfully, "I will obey your orders and will not fail you, Your Majesty."
Mo Xiuyao snorted and said calmly: "I will not pursue this matter. If the rest of the things are still not handled well, you don't have to come to see me again."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will take my leave now."
Ahri, I know you will be fine...definitely not!