After returning, Fu Yueli asked the gatekeeper privately and learned that in August last year, Concubine Cen summoned Mingyue to the palace to attend classes. Mingyue stayed in the palace for two nights. Later, Concubine Cen gave Mingyue two pieces of brocade and invited Mingyue to the palace to appreciate the flowers.
The concierge said this and then added, "But that day was quite strange."
"What's strange about that?" Fu Yueli asked.
The doorman recalled, "The Crown Princess left early that day, but returned at noon. There was blood on her sleeves, but she wasn't injured. I don't know what happened."
"Blood stains?" Fu Yueli asked in surprise. How could there be blood stains on his body while admiring flowers?
The doorman said, "We asked her about it then, but the Crown Princess didn't tell us why."
There was something fishy about this matter, so Fu Yueli decided to investigate.
August 17th is Shi Mingyue’s birthday. Fu Yueli took a day off today and stayed in the mansion to accompany Shi Mingyue.
The two of them started painting together early in the morning. On a piece of paper, one of them painted Pippi and the other painted Lele. In the end, they created a picture of parrots and white ducks playing.
The kitchen naturally prepared a sumptuous meal at noon. After the meal, someone came to find Fu Yueli.
It was his subordinate, Chen Hao, who told him, "I am incompetent and cannot find out what happened when the Crown Princess entered the palace to enjoy the flowers. The palace guards on duty that day saw blood on the Crown Princess's sleeve, but they don't know the reason."
Fu Yueli asked, "Was anyone injured in the palace that day?"
"Yes." Chen Hao fell silent after saying this.
Fu Yueli asked curiously, "Why don't you continue?"
"...Your Majesty also happened to injure his palm that day." Chen Hao hesitated.
Fu Yueli was shocked. He remembered that when he returned to Shangjing in early September, his father's hand was still wrapped in bandages. It had been more than half a month and had not healed yet. It was obvious that the injury was serious.
"How did you get hurt?"
Chen Hao replied: "It seems that something sharp pierced the palm of my hand, but I can't find out the details."
Fu Yueli asked Chen Hao to go first. He was thinking about the connection between his father's injury and the blood on Shi Mingyue's sleeves. Could there be a connection between the two?
When he returned to the room, he saw Shi Mingyue sitting in front of the mirror putting on makeup. The lipstick on her lips would fall off when she ate.
He saw that the tassels on a jade hairpin on her temples were swaying slightly with her movements. A thought flashed through his mind like lightning. The palm of his hand was pierced by a sharp object. Aren't these head jewelry sharp objects?
It seemed like he hadn't seen Shi Mingyue wearing the peony gold hairpin for a long time. He slowly walked over and pretended to ask casually, "This white jade hairpin looks very beautiful on you. I remember you used to wear a peony gold hairpin that was also very beautiful. I don't think you have worn it recently."
Shi Mingyue's expression froze for a moment, then she sighed, "You still remember, that golden hairpin disappeared later. I don't know where it went. What a pity."
She was lying, Fu Yueli immediately confirmed this.
"Mingyue, something suddenly happened to me and I can't go out with you." He said apologetically.
Shi Mingyue understood him and said with a smile: "It's okay, you've been with me all morning, go and get busy."
Fu Yueli turned and left the room. He continued to investigate what was going on with the brocade sent by Concubine Cen.
That night he learned something. The brocade sent to the palace by the Jiangzhou Weaving Bureau was precious and difficult to weave, so there were only seven pieces in total. His father kept three pieces, one for Concubine Cen, one for Concubine Hui, and the remaining two were given to Shi Mingyue.
According to records, the two bolts of brocade were clearly taken directly from the warehouse and given to Shi Mingyue. However, both Concubine Cen and Shi Mingyue claimed that they were sent by Concubine Cen, clearly lying. Taking them directly from the warehouse only indicates one thing: the two bolts of brocade were given to Mingyue by her father.
Fu Yueli didn't understand, she really didn't understand, why did his father give Shi Mingyue two pieces of cloud brocade for no reason? Was his injury related to Mingyue?
He couldn't help but think of another incident. The day Mingyue was kidnapped, his father fell off a cliff while hunting. What a coincidence. Mingyue couldn't explain who kidnapped her, and Qin Zheng disappeared after rescuing Mingyue, as if he was afraid of revenge. This was also quite intriguing.
So what happened between his father and Mingyue? He had no actual evidence, so Fu Yueli decided to give it a try.
A few days later, in August, the flowers in the palace were in full bloom. A message came from the palace inviting them to go and admire the flowers. Fu Yueli of course wanted to go. Shi Mingyue wanted to use the excuse of feeling unwell to avoid going, but Fu Yueli seemed very eager to join her, so she agreed.
In the Imperial Garden, they saw the Emperor, his concubines, Fu Baiheng, and Huo Qiurong. They first sat together for tea and snacks before splitting up into groups to admire the flowers.
Shi Mingyue originally thought that Fu Yueli would go to see the flowers with her alone, but unexpectedly he was with the emperor, Concubine Cen and others. She guessed that Fu Yueli might have something to say to the emperor.
The group went to the crabapple bushes to enjoy the flowers. It was a revisit to the old place, but Shi Mingyue was not in a good mood.
After all, the emperor was wearing a prosthetic limb, and he was not feeling very comfortable after walking for a long time.
Fu Yueli said considerately, "If you are tired, why don't you sit in the pavilion for a while? I'll ask someone to push a wheelchair over. You should take care of your health."
The emperor nodded slightly, and Fu Yueli said to Shi Mingyue, "You can sit in the pavilion with your father for a while. I'll be back soon."
Shi Mingyue felt very uncomfortable, but fortunately Concubine Cen was still there, so she followed the two of them into the pavilion and sat far away from them.
As soon as Fu Yueli left, Concubine Cen suddenly stood up and said, "I want to go to the bathroom and will be back in a while."
Shi Mingyue almost thought that she did it on purpose, deliberately leaving her and the emperor alone. She could only lower her head and treat the emperor as air.
With no one else around, Fu Xingkai sighed and looked at her and said, "Mingyue, are you still so resistant to me?"
Shi Mingyue heard it, but she pretended not to hear it and ignored it.
Fu Xingkai looked down at his leg and said, "Look, I broke a leg, but I don't blame you."
Shi Mingyue still pretended not to hear and ignored it.
"I have appointed Li'er as the crown prince. Are you happy?" Fu Xingkai asked again.
Shi Mingyue still ignored him, and Fu Xingkai's face looked unhappy. "I killed Xie Rutao for you, aren't you happy?"
After hearing this, Shi Mingyue reacted. She looked up at the emperor. She guessed correctly. It was indeed him who killed Xie Rutao.
"You seem unhappy? Why?" Fu Xingkai asked.
Shi Mingyue looked at him coldly, saying nothing. Xie Rutao was certainly wrong, but why did she hate her? The reason was Fu Xingkai's order. Fu Xingkai had caused all this, yet had cruelly ended Xie Rutao's life. He was truly a terrifying person. But she didn't want to argue with him; it was pointless.
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