Chapter 149 I Love You, But You Love Him
Li Zhi picked up the letter. The handwriting on the paper was very familiar to him.
Li Zhi glanced over and his face turned from disbelief to pale.
His Qing'er is gone.
The letter said that the mountains are high and the road is long, I wish you well. She didn't know if she would come back, but she never regretted being with him.
If he could shoulder the responsibility of the people, she would see all the mountains and rivers for him.
The last sentence specifically requested that I not look for her.
Li Zhi's hand holding the letter was shaking.
His young son wanted to be free.
That, he gave her.
He stayed in the house all day and came out only when it was getting dark.
When Chen Yuan learned that Liu Qingqing had left, she felt quite regretful. She was stunned for a long time holding the letter sent by the servants of the Duke of Huguo's Mansion.
She thought Liu Qingqing would leave, but she never thought she would leave so easily.
Gu Huailing couldn't bear to see Chen Yuan worried, so he took the letter from her hand.
"Today's palace banquet will be held to celebrate the Crown Prince's return to the throne. Madam, would you like to attend?"
Chen Yuan looked up, "Is it inappropriate for me not to go?"
Gu Huailing looked at her with a serious and focused look in his eyes, "As long as your husband is here, you can do whatever your wife wants."
Finally, he looked at the letter in Shen Yuan's hand and added, "I'm not like Li Zhi, who can't even keep his beloved girl at bay."
…
The palace had not been bustling for a long time, and the empress and the empress dowager both attended in their best attire.
The only person who still looked haggard even after carefully dressing up was the Fourth Prince's biological mother, Concubine Rong. Her carefully drawn eyes and brows were like poisonous needles tempered with ice, slowly sweeping across the faces of Shen Yuan and Gu Huailing.
Chen Yuan sat next to Gu Huailing. She was wearing a Tianshui Bi palace dress today, with a purple jade hairpin in her black hair.
Her face was so beautiful and elegant that it made half of the lights on the ground lose their color.
Gu Huailing sat beside Shen Yuan, concentrating on picking out fish bones for her.
The palace was warm and cozy, with the sound of stringed instruments mingling. Emperor Tiansheng was the first to raise his wine glass, "God bless our Great Jin, and let the Crown Prince return safely."
After saying this, he turned his somewhat cloudy eyes to Gu Huailing, "It is thanks to you that the Crown Prince was able to return safely. Shenzhi Dajin is also fortunate to have you."
Gu Huailing quickly stood up and said in a steady voice, "Your Majesty, you are so kind to praise His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He is destined to succeed you. Even without me, the clouds will clear and the sun will shine."
All the officials echoed.
Rong Fei's nails were about to be broken.
These bitches, her Ji'er is still suffering from house arrest, how can they be so proud.
Concubine Rong calmly winked at the young eunuch behind her, and the young eunuch retreated quietly.
The palace maids filed in, and piles of exquisite meals were placed in front of everyone.
The leading eunuch raised the food box in his hand and said in a flattering voice, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, this is a dessert specially made by the imperial kitchen. It is called Fu Lu Cake and is used to celebrate Your Highness's return to the palace."
"Oh?" The emperor became interested. "In that case, let all the ministers have a taste and share in the joy."
The Fu Lu cake was placed in front of everyone.
Chen Yuan and Gu Huailing exchanged a glance. Gu Huailing stood up and said respectfully to Emperor Tiansheng, "Your Majesty, I have something to give to the Crown Prince."
He took out a rosewood box and when he opened it, he found a pair of jade chopsticks inside.
"These are poison-proof chopsticks made of warm jade. They change color when exposed to poison to protect against bad people."
"This is a rare treasure. Shenzhi, you are so thoughtful."
"This is such a rare thing, I want to try it."
Li Zhi and Gu Huailing looked at each other and understood each other's meaning.
Everyone in the hall looked at the pair of poison-proof chopsticks.
Only Concubine Rong had a forced smile on her face. "Everything eaten at a palace banquet has been thoroughly inspected. The Crown Prince has been away from the palace for too long, and has lost even this most basic common sense."
Concubine Rong stared at the pair of poison-proof chopsticks. She seemed expressionless, but in fact her heart was twisted.
The Queen gave Concubine Rong a cold look and warned her, "Concubine Rong, watch your words."
"Empress, am I wrong? This is a palace banquet personally hosted by Your Majesty. The Crown Prince used poison-proof chopsticks in public. Isn't this a slap in the face of Your Majesty?"
Gu Huailing's expression was calm. "It's all my fault. This gift was given at an inappropriate time."
Li Zhi looked puzzled. "It's just a pair of poison-proof chopsticks. Of course, no one would poison someone at a palace banquet. I've never used jade chopsticks before, so I'm just curious. After all, I've been living outside the palace for so many years."
As he spoke, he used chopsticks to pick up a piece of the fortune cake in front of Shen Yuan.
The jade chopsticks changed color as soon as they touched the cakes.
The originally lustrous white jade chopsticks instantly turned black.
"Ah!" Shen Yuan screamed at the right time.
She threw herself into Gu Huailing's arms, her voice trembling, "My lord, someone is trying to poison me!"
Immediately, the imperial guards stepped forward to protect Emperor Tiansheng on both sides.
Gu Huailing's face was as cold as ice. He gently patted Shen Yuan's back and said, "Don't be afraid, Madam."
The cakes at the palace banquet were poisoned.
Bang! With a loud bang, Emperor Tiansheng slammed his hand down on the table.
"Investigate for me. I want to see who is so bold as to poison the Prime Minister's wife."
Li Zhi glanced at everyone and said, "Call the imperial physician to check everything at the banquet!"
The hall fell into a dead silence, and the music and laughter seemed to have disappeared.
Even the gourd-shaped fortune cakes looked strange.
The imperial physician checked the cakes one by one, and only the cakes in front of Li Zhi, Gu Huailing and Chen Yuan were poisonous.
In a moment, a young eunuch was brought up.
The young eunuch knelt on the ground with his head lowered, motionless.
Emperor Tiansheng looked at him and said, "I ask you once, who ordered you to poison the Crown Prince and the others?"
The young eunuch raised his head and then quickly lowered it. Gu Huailing walked over and stepped on his fingers. "How dare you poison my wife? If you don't speak up, I will smash all ten of your fingers into pieces one by one."
Everyone in the hall looked unhappy.
Concubine Rong frowned and quietly waved to the palace maid beside her.
The young eunuch screamed in pain, but Gu Huailing quickly dislodged his jaw. "I, the Prime Minister, have tried countless criminals. Your tricks are nothing compared to this."
"While your hands are still intact, tell me who that person is."
The young eunuch still didn't speak, and the guards came in with a palace maid.
"Your Majesty, this maid was sneaking out just now."
The little maid knelt down and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, my queen has a headache. I want to go back to the palace to get her medicine, not to sneak away."
Rong Fei stepped forward at the right moment, pressing her temples with one hand, "Your Majesty, I asked you to get the medicine."
Emperor Tiansheng's expression looked better now.
Gu Huailing's eyes turned slightly, and he looked down at the palace maid in front of him and said with certainty, "It was you who was hiding in the bushes with the guards in the Imperial Garden this afternoon, right?"
The young eunuch suddenly looked up and looked at the palace maid in disbelief.
The maid was ashamed at first, then flatly denied it, "Your Excellency must have seen it wrong. This servant has been with our queen all afternoon and has not gone anywhere."
Gu Huailing raised his hand, and a moment later a guard tied up like a dumpling was thrown in.
"I didn't mean to offend the emperor with these little things, but since this is of great importance, please forgive me."
Gu Huailing's voice was deep and cold.
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