Chapter 83 Where is Xiyan?
Regent's Palace.
When Xiao Nanyue returned from the Grand Tutor's Mansion, it was already night when he stepped into the mansion.
After washing up and returning to the bedroom, he subconsciously looked towards the side of the bedroom door.
Mo Ren was seen standing upright at the door wing, looking straight ahead.
Xiao Nanyan frowned slightly:
"Isn't Xiyan standing in the palace tonight? Where is she?"
"Your Highness, Xiyan, she, she..."
When Mo Ren heard this, his face changed and he stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.
Seeing this, Xiao Nanyan's eyes flashed with coldness, his gaze instantly became sharp, and his voice suddenly rose:
"Answer me! Where is she?"
Mo Ren's body trembled violently. He swallowed his saliva and calmed himself down.
"Your Highness, today, Xiyan and I, following your orders, accompanied the Dowager Consort to the Fanyin Temple to perform Buddhist rituals for the old prince. On the way back, the Dowager Consort said she had left her hairpin at the Fanyin Temple and asked Xiyan to retrieve it. However, she has not been seen since!"
Xiao Nanyue had just picked up the teacup on the table, but before he brought it to his mouth, his movements suddenly stopped.
He raised his head, his eyes locked on Nightblade:
"Not back yet?"
Then, his tone became even colder: "Didn't you send anyone to look for him?"
Mo Ren nodded hurriedly:
"I've looked for her. The novice monk at the temple said that Xiyan did return to Fanfan Temple, but she left after taking the hairpin. Judging from her martial arts skills, she might have been delayed by something else. Perhaps she'll be back soon!"
The teacup in Xiao Nanyan's hand slammed heavily onto the table with a bang, splashing tea everywhere.
Night Blade trembled with fear:
"Your Majesty!"
"Send someone else to look for her! If you can't find any news about her, don't come back!" Xiao Nanyue ordered sternly.
"yes!"
Mo Ren accepted the order tremblingly, turned around and left in a hurry.
Xiao Nanyue looked at Mo Ren's departing back, and for some reason, he suddenly felt a little annoyed.
He paced back and forth in the hall, thought for a moment, and finally turned and walked out of the hall, hurriedly heading straight for the ancestral hall.
After passing through the winding corridors and bypassing the rockery and ponds, we finally arrived at the gate of the ancestral hall.
He gently pushed open the door of the ancestral hall, and a wisp of smoke and the sound of low chanting came towards him.
His mother, Su Xianrou, changed into plain clothes and knelt upright on the cushion, twirling Buddhist beads in her hands and muttering something.
Hearing footsteps behind him, the regular sound of the wooden fish came to an abrupt end.
Su Xianrou slowly put down the wooden fish mallet in her hand, turned around slowly, and looked at Xiao Nanyan with gentle eyes:
"Yan'er, you're here!"
Xiao Nanyan called out "mother" and bowed respectfully. Then he helped the concubine up steadily with both hands, and said with concern:
"Mother, it's late at night and the dew is heavy, yet you're still chanting sutras and worshipping Buddha. Please take care of yourself."
After saying that, he helped the concubine to sit down beside the table.
After the two of them sat down, Xiao Nanyan spoke first:
"Mother, we went to the Fanyin Temple today to pray for Father's soul. Did the ceremony go smoothly? Did the monks in the temple do their best?"
Su Xianrou nodded slightly, her expression calm:
"The ritual was successful, and the monks all devoted themselves to their work. I believe your father's spirit in heaven can also feel it."
Xiao Nanyue nodded slightly, a look of relief on his face.
After a brief pause, he changed the subject and asked seemingly nonchalantly:
"I just heard that on the way back today, my mother left her hairpin at Fanyin Temple. You ordered Xiyan to go back and look for it. Is that true?"
When Su Xianrou heard him mention Xiyan, her originally calm expression changed slightly, a trace of barely perceptible panic flashed in her eyes, and then she said softly:
"Yes, I did ask Xiyan to look for it."
Xiao Nanyue was so perceptive that he instantly caught the slightest abnormality in his mother's behavior and intuitively felt that there must be something hidden behind this matter.
He remained calm, leaning forward slightly, his tone still gentle, but with a hint of probing:
"Xiyan hasn't returned yet. Has she ever been to your ancestral hall?"
The concubine was stared at by him, her fingers trembled slightly, and she was silent for a moment before she slowly spoke:
"Mother... I don't know. Perhaps she was delayed by something. I hope she can find that hairpin. After all, it's a memory your father left for her."
"Well, the hairpin is indeed important. But..."
Xiao Nanyan's brows were slightly furrowed, but his expression was firm and unyielding:
"Mother, I personally brought Xiyan back to the Regent's Palace from Nanzhao eight years ago. Although she's a servant, she's loyal and devoted. Over the years, even if she hasn't made any contributions, she's worked hard for our family. She's just a weak woman, and if she doesn't return to the palace so late at night, I'm afraid something might have happened."
Su Xianrou's eyes trembled, but her hands clenched the Buddhist beads on her wrist:
"Then you should send someone to search for her. It's also mother's fault. She should have sent a guard to look for her. Xiyan is so young and beautiful, please don't let anything happen to her."
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