Chapter 28: Private Library The body is very honest.
Shen Xingwan was speechless, but she really didn't dare to provoke him anymore.
In the dark Buddhist temple, she and Wei Zilin were the only ones in the same room. God knew what kind of madness he would go through next.
She lowered her eyes and didn't respond to him.
"You're tough on the outside, but..." He kept smiling as he stroked the red spot with his fingertips, "Your body is honest."
He pulled Shen Xingwan up, in a good mood, and helped her tidy up the few strands of hair that were scattered around her temples.
"Since you have me in your heart, I will not treat you lightly. I was rude just now, please don't take it personally."
"......"
Shen Xingwan pursed her lips, lowered her head and silently tidied her clothes, thinking about what excuse she should find to get rid of him.
Wei Zilin's thick black eyelashes drooped slightly as he stared at her movements of tidying up her clothes. Seeing her slender waist, he couldn't help but reach out to embrace her. Shen Xingwan noticed, frowned and slapped his hand away, "Be more respectful."
Wei Zilin laughed and said nothing, but suddenly asked her: "Where is Fourteen?"
Shen Xingwan's hand that was tying the ribbon paused, which made him smile even more.
"Don't panic. I knew he had been recuperating at your place."
Shen Xingwan still didn't move, his mind quickly thinking about how to answer him.
Seeing that she suddenly stood still, Wei Zilin reached out and casually hooked her ribbon, and with his nimble fingers he gently tied the single knot for her.
He did not let go after tying it. The light pink gauze ribbon was wrapped around his slender fingertips and played with. In Shen Xingwan's eyes, it was like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.
It seemed as if he could easily strangle her with the ribbon if she told a lie.
"I don't know." Shen Xingwan said.
Wei Zilin raised his eyebrows, turned her body to face him, lowered his head slightly, and stared into her eyes, "I'll ask you again, Wei Zihui, where is he?"
Shen Xingwan raised her head and looked straight into his eyes.
"I have no idea."
She really didn't know. She had experienced too much chaos in the past few days and had no time to care about Wei Zihui's whereabouts.
The smile on Wei Zilin's lips gradually faded, and his expression became solemn.
Shen Xingwan felt a chill down her spine, but she still refused to give in. She took a deep breath and just looked at him straight in the face.
After a long time, Wei Zilin was finally the first to be defeated.
He released his hand that was holding Shen Xingwan's shoulder and sighed, "Forget it, let bygones be bygones, but he must be hiding with Yan Jinghuan. If you get any news, be sure to tell me."
Shen Xingwan rolled her eyes secretly, thinking that he really thought of himself as someone important.
Shen Xingwan wanted to ask him about her brother's news, but she was afraid of alerting the enemy, so she forced herself not to ask.
After all, it would be better to take this opportunity to get the imperial concubine's handle and completely bring them down than to ask him to be kind enough to let her brother go.
"Your Highness, the Queen has summoned you to the front hall to have a conversation."
Suddenly, the voice of the maidservant beside the Imperial Concubine was heard outside the door. It seemed that the little palace maid guarding the gate had gone to the front to report the news.
Wei Zilin's face turned ugly, and he was about to refuse with a frown, when the maid at the door said, "Your Highness, please do not act recklessly. The Imperial Concubine has instructed that everything must be carefully considered. Please follow me to the front hall."
Wei Zilin pursed his lips, looked back at Shen Xingwan, and smiled. He softened his tone as if to comfort her and said, "Mother always has a lot of concerns. I will go to accompany her first, and I will come to see you when it is convenient for me later."
inconvenient!
There is no convenient time, okay?
Shen Xingwan was complaining in her heart, but her face showed no emotion. Wei Zilin squeezed her slender shoulders and said, "Wait for me." He turned around, walked over, opened the door, glanced at the old lady who was bowing her head outside the door, and left.
Two little palace maids came in and closed the door, then stood on both sides and acted like clay dolls, staring at the tips of their shoes with their heads lowered, as if nothing had just happened.
The servants and maids in the palace were used to whitewashing the truth, and Shen Xingwan was no longer surprised by this.
She pulled open the single knot Wei Zilin had tied around her waist with disgust, tied a new bow herself, crumpled up the paper on the table, spread out a new piece of gold-dusted rice paper, and picked up a pen to copy the book.
She sat in the slightly dim side hall, her fingertips moving lightly, her eyes pretending to focus on the words she was writing, but her mind was not on copying the book at all.
She became more and more certain that this seemingly ordinary Buddhist temple must be hiding the imperial concubine's unspeakable secret.
Just as she was thinking to herself, a slight sound of footsteps was heard from outside the hall. It was the sound of guards patrolling.
Shen Xingwan's heart moved, and she looked quietly in the direction of the voice. Through the half-open window, she saw a team of guards in armor marching in neat steps slowly along the corridor of the palace.
She casually moved her body so that she could see the guard's route more clearly.
Soon, she discovered that at the end of the guards' patrol route was a corner covered by heavy curtains.
Shen Xingwan came up with a plan. She pretended to be thirsty, looked at the little palace maid waiting at the door, and coughed lightly: "I have been copying for a long time. I am very thirsty. Go and pour me a cup of tea."
The little maid raised her head, showing hesitation, and bowed slightly, "Princess, my duty is to serve you and copy the scriptures. If I leave without permission..."
"Then will I die of thirst?" Shen Xingwan raised an eyebrow, "Is this how you treat guests in the Imperial Concubine's palace?"
The little palace maid hesitated for a moment, bowed again and said, "Please wait a moment, Princess." After that, the two little palace maids turned around and left in a hurry.
Shen Xingwan understood that one of them must have gone to pour tea, and the other one must have gone to complain.
She didn't care about so much. She watched the little palace maid's back disappear outside the door. She quickly stood up and walked a few steps to the window. She gently pushed aside the heavy curtain with both hands and peeked out through the gap.
On the stone road outside, a team of guards were walking in an orderly manner, and their footsteps were particularly clear in the silent courtyard.
She looked closely at the obscured corner and peered inside through the gap in the curtains.
I saw a heavy stone door in the corner, with two guards standing upright on each side of the door with alert looks.
It seems that this is the imperial concubine's private treasury.
She suppressed her suddenly accelerated heartbeat, her palms slightly sweating, and she quickened her concentration to memorize the location of the vault and the deployment of the guards in her mind.
The "Precepts for Women" on the desk had not been copied completely, but she had no intention of continuing copying.
She had to leave here quickly and tell Yan Jinghuan about this discovery.
Shen Xingwan sat at the desk, frowning as he thought about how to escape.
Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the incense burner in the corner, with green smoke slowly drifting away. She couldn't help but feel moved and came up with a plan.
She slowly stood up and walked towards the incense burner, skillfully flipping it over with her sleeve.
In an instant, the spices were scattered all over the ground and the rich aroma filled the air.
She covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief and coughed gently a few times. Then, she frowned, covered her stomach tightly with both hands, and showed a look of pain.
The little palace maid came back with tea. As soon as she stepped into the room, she saw the mess and Shen Xingwan's face full of pain. She panicked and almost dropped the teacup in her hand.
Shen Xingwan looked painful and said weakly, "I accidentally knocked over the incense burner just now, and the smell of it gave me an unbearable stomachache. I'm afraid the spices in it conflict with my constitution. Go and tell the housekeeper that I have a sudden illness and need to return home for treatment without delay, otherwise my life will be in danger."
The young maid looked embarrassed and said hesitantly, "Princess, this... it's not appropriate to go back to the palace directly without the permission of the Queen."
Shen Xingwan's eyes turned cold, and she forced herself to stand up and said, "As the regent princess, if anything happens to me, can you bear the consequences? Go now!"
The little palace maid was frightened by this and nodded hurriedly, then turned around and ran towards the main hall where the imperial concubine was.
When she reached the main hall, she didn't dare to breathe and carefully explained the situation to the nanny guarding the door.
The nanny looked into the hall and saw the Imperial Concubine and the Crown Prince having a pleasant conversation. She knew it would be inappropriate to disturb them at this time.
After thinking for a while, the nanny frowned slightly, turned around and told the little palace maid: "Since the princess is not feeling well, you go back and tell her that the Imperial Concubine has allowed her to return home to recuperate, but she must take good care of herself, and come to apologize to the Empress in person when she is well again."
After receiving the confirmation, the little palace maid hurried back to the side hall and conveyed the nanny's words truthfully.
Shen Xingwan was secretly happy, but still pretended to be weak on her face. Under the gaze of the little palace maid, she hurriedly left Yikun Palace.
As soon as the red door of the Regent's Palace slowly opened, Shen Xingwan jumped out of the carriage anxiously.
A few strands of hair were messily stuck to her slightly sweaty cheeks, and her skirt was lifted up by her hurried footsteps, almost tripping her.
At this moment, she had only one thought in her mind, which was to tell Yan Jinghuan the secret of the private vault as soon as possible.
Jogging through the winding corridors, Shen Xingwan arrived at the study where Yan Jinghuan usually held meetings.
The door of the study was half-open, letting in a little light.
She didn't have time to tidy up her slightly disheveled appearance and raised her hand to push open the door.
The door was pushed open, and Shen Xingwan's figure appeared at the door. She was panting, her chest heaving violently, and her face was flushed and anxious after running around.
Yan Jinghuan, who was flipping through the meeting files in the room, looked up when he heard the voice. He paused with surprise in his eyes, then stood up and walked over quickly, holding Shen Xingwan's arms firmly with both hands, "Why are you so flustered?"
Shen Xingwan took a deep breath, trying to calm his disordered breathing, and said anxiously: "My lord, when I was copying books in the Imperial Concubine's palace, I found her private library!"
As she spoke, she pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her sleeve, on which was drawn a rough diagram of the guard formation and the location of the private vault. "I wrote down the guard formation and location. There must be something useful hidden in there. It may be the key to overthrowing the Imperial Concubine."
Yan Jinghuan's eyes grew fiercer when he heard this. He took Shen Xingwan back into the house and sat down at the desk. He took the drawing from her hand and listened carefully to every detail she described.
Shen Xingwan spoke very quickly, as if afraid of missing out on any crucial information. He told the story of how the private vault was discovered, the patrol patterns of the guards, and the secret location of the private vault all at once.
Yan Jinghuan tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, making a rhythmic sound. His eyes were deep and focused, and he was obviously thinking about the pros and cons and the plan.
The room was silent, with only the occasional heavy breathing from Shen Xingwan due to excitement.
After a long while, Yan Jinghuan raised his head and looked at Shen Xingwan, "Do you want to go to the prison to see your brother?"
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