"How could this be..." Qingying was shocked and murmured softly before plopping down on the pear wood chair behind her.
The messenger said, "The woman died a gruesome death. Her eyes were gouged out, her ears were cut off, and she was pierced through the heart by a spear and hung outside the city wall."
Qingying's face turned deathly pale, and she asked in a trembling voice, "Do you know who killed him?"
"The government is still investigating."
She waved her hand, signaling the other person to step back.
“If it were only because of Lu Jingyan, why would they need to take Li Niang’s life? There must be something fishy about this.”
Qingying knew Lu Jingyan couldn't possibly be that capable. She'd barely left, and the news had already reached his ears? Impossible. There must be a much bigger conspiracy involved. The music hall was full of people and eyes; she'd been too hasty that day…
Thinking this, she curled up into a ball, her thin body trembling. "It's my fault...it's my fault that she's been hurt..."
Seeing her so remorseful, Tongxia was puzzled: "What does this have to do with Your Highness?"
“I went to see Yu Yue a month ago to investigate her case. She was unwilling to talk about it, but I insisted on forcing her.”
Qingying covered her face with her hands, but tears still streamed down her face through her fingers.
Her shoulders trembled as she cried.
Looking at her, Tongxia couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.
One after another, several people have died...
Even though she was a bit slow-witted, she had already guessed that these things must be related to someone of extraordinary status.
So he advised, "Your Majesty, do not blame yourself too much. That Li Niang knows some things she shouldn't know, and one day she will lose her life. If Your Majesty becomes depressed because of this and does not investigate the matter further, it will just be in line with the wishes of the person behind it."
“Tongxia…” Qingying gently held her hand and murmured, “Tongxia, you are all I have left.”
Over the years, one by one, the people who were always by her side have left, and she feels increasingly empty inside.
Those she once considered family now see her as a substitute for Liu Shushu, a bargaining chip to gain power. Her few friends, such as Jin Heng and Xie Jiaoying, are entangled in a web of interests with her. She doesn't know if they will abandon her or even try to eliminate her if she becomes worthless one day.
Qingying cried for a while before finally stopping. Her eyes were bloodshot as she instructed Tongxia to send a sum of money out of the palace and to ensure that Li Niang was properly buried.
"Your Majesty, please accept my condolences." Tong Xia couldn't help but wipe away her tears as well.
Qingying stared ahead with a determined look in her eyes and said in a low voice, "I can't be defeated. Especially at times like this, I need to stay calm. Otherwise, I'll only let those who are waiting to laugh at me get what they want."
As she spoke, she stood up and instructed, "Tongxia, help me with my makeup; I'm going to see the Emperor."
"yes."
...
After waiting for many days, Xie Jiaoying finally wrote to her.
The next day, Qingying summoned her to the palace under the pretext of reminiscing.
Although they hadn't seen each other for a long time, they didn't feel like strangers. Ever since Qingying entered the palace as a concubine, they often communicated through letters. Xie Jiaoying would always tell her interesting stories from outside the palace, which she used to amuse herself when she was bored. Qingying, on the other hand, would secretly pass on information about the political situation at court. As a result, the Xie family had risen steadily in the past two years. Whether it was out of interest or affection, Xie Jiaoying had become her second eye in the palace.
That's why Qingying entrusted her with investigating the matter of the Han family of Jinling.
"Come, try the lotus root starch and osmanthus cake made by the imperial chef."
Xie Jiaoying smiled and accepted it, "Then of course I have to try it. Food made by the imperial chefs in the palace is not something you can eat anytime."
As she spoke, she opened her mouth and took a bite. The taste was refreshing and sweet but not cloying. It was so delicious that her eyes narrowed slightly. "This tastes just as good as what that girl Yu Yue makes."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room was taken aback.
She belatedly realized what she meant, her smile freezing on her lips. "That's not what I meant..."
Qingying stared intently at her.
She stuffed the pastry into her mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it.
Qingying immediately dismissed her attendants and signaled Tongxia to stand guard outside the door, forbidding anyone from approaching.
"There are only the two of us left here. Tell me, what did you find out on your trip to Jinling?" She placed a cup of warm tea in front of Xie Jiaoying.
Xie Jiaoying took a sip of tea to clear her mouth, her expression turning serious. She said, "I did gain a lot from my trip to Jinling, but I didn't investigate any further."
Upon hearing this, Qingying frowned slightly. "Why?"
"Your Majesty, this matter is not simple; it would be best if we did not get involved."
"Given your personality, you always get to the bottom of things once they've started. Why did you give up halfway today?" Her expression turned slightly stern. "Unless this matter involves someone you wouldn't dare to mess with."
"Yes," Xie Jiaoying admitted readily.
Qingying's heart sank immediately.
The Xie family was already a leading family in the capital, and now it was even more extraordinary. There were very few people they dared not provoke. Moreover, Xie Jiaoying's identity was already extraordinary, and there were even fewer people she would avoid.
Seeing her so troubled, Qingying didn't want to press her too hard, so she said, "Then tell me what you've found out."
Xie Jiaoying looked around and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, there shouldn't be any eavesdroppers in the walls here, right?"
"Don't worry, everyone in my palace has signed a life-or-death contract."
"That's good." She took another sip of tea, paused for a moment, and finally got down to business: "The Han family is the maternal family of Empress Xiaode, so they are naturally deeply involved with the royal family, making it difficult to investigate. I only learned by chance that Empress Xiaode had more than one son, the current emperor."
"What...do you mean by that?"
"As far as I know, Empress Xiaode gave birth to twins, and the current emperor is the elder brother. However, twins have always been considered an omen of bad luck, and the empress had to give up one of her sons in order to protect herself and her family."
"But in the end, a mother's heart is connected to her child's, and even tigers don't eat their cubs. She couldn't bring herself to harm her own son, so after weighing the options several times, she had no choice but to send the other one away."
"The two children looked almost identical when they were born, but their circumstances were completely different. Because the delivery was not smooth, the younger brother was almost an hour late and was not very healthy when he was born. So Empress Xiaode entrusted the younger brother to the midwife who delivered him, wrapped him in a bundle and secretly sent him to Jinling, where he was adopted by the head of the Han family."
Qingying's eyes widened, her breath caught in her throat, and after a moment's hesitation, she asked, "Then... is my younger brother still in Jinling?"
"He's long gone. I heard he was always frail, getting sick every three days or every five days, and he died when he was six years old."
"Is that so..."
Qingying suddenly recalled many things, and things that she had been unable to understand before gradually became clear.
An absurd idea slowly began to surface in her mind...
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