Chapter 088: Closing the Net

Xiao Liu's eyes dodged for a moment, "There's no important news. The queens of each palace are all guarded by many guards, so it's hard to get any information. Chu Yun asked me to guard the exit the whole time, so I didn't get any information."

"Did Xiaoqi find out some important information, so he was killed? You have been guarding the exit, so you should have seen who killed Xiaoqi, right?" Xiaowu asked with a cold look.

"No, you walked for about half an hour, and then I saw a figure that looked like Chu Yun, so I followed him. But I lost him when I reached the gate of Yangxin Palace. When I came back, Xiaoqi had died there." Xiaoliu replied.

"So you haven't seen Xiaoqi since the four of us separated?" Xiaowu continued to ask.

"Yes, the next time we see each other, it will be Xiaoqi's body." Xiaoliu choked a little.

"You're lying!" Xiaowu shouted, stepped forward and grabbed Xiaoliu by the collar, "Xiaoqi obviously got the news, and he said he told you, how could you not have seen Xiaoqi?"

"I really have never seen Xiaoqi. Why would Xiaoqi tell you that? Besides, when Xiaoqi died, his eyes were bulging, as if he was killed by someone he knew. Then I remembered that the dagger that stabbed Xiaoqi to death was given to each of us by Aunt Fu. Where is your dagger, Xiaowu?" Xiaoliu glared at her.

Xiaowu hurriedly touched his body and his face changed. Where was his dagger?

"What do you mean? Do you suspect that I killed Xiaoqi?" Xiaowu gritted his teeth.

"I didn't say that, but the dagger Xiaoqi used to die with does look like our dagger. If it wasn't you, who would have thought..."

"It's even less likely to be Chu Yun." Xiao Wu said, and suddenly remembered, "Didn't you just say that Chu Yun was arrested?"

"When I was about to come out, a few eunuchs said that they had captured the Prime Minister's adopted son and wanted to threaten the Prime Minister or something like that." Xiao Liu said.

Chu Zhenxuan had roughly seen most of it. There was definitely something wrong with this Xiaoliu. The news brought back by Xiaowu and the two sentences brought back by Xiaoqi - could it be that the real emperor was hiding?

"Madam is awake!" Doctor Zuo's surprised voice came from inside the house.

Chu Zhenxuan rushed in, followed by Xiaowu and Xiaoliu.

"Madam~" Chu Zhenxuan walked to the bed and hugged her.

Xia Xue looked at Chu Zhenxuan in bewilderment, "What's wrong with me?"

Chu Zhenxuan briefly talked about what had happened recently, but when he mentioned the closure of the palace, he paused and glanced at Xiaoliu out of the corner of his eye.

Then Chu Zhenxuan said that Hu State had invested too much military force this time. If we defended the city by force, it would be difficult to win. We could only use wits to defeat them. General Jiao's two thousand elite soldiers had already mixed into the guards. As long as we found an opportunity to replace the guards at key positions, we could attack the palace.

Xia Xue listened for a while and felt a little tired.

Xia Xue grabbed Chu Zhenxuan's hand and whispered in his ear, "Xia Lu was poisoned when she was a child, but she became immune to all poisons after the detoxification, so she shouldn't be poisoned by the female snake. Besides, she has inherited her father's medical skills, so maybe she can lure out the female snake."

Chu Zhenxuan nodded and asked her to rest first, then he left the room with Doctor Zuo.

"Master Zuo, please speak frankly if you have anything to say." Chu Zhenxuan went straight to the point.

"I have confirmed once again that this detoxifying blood can only suppress the parasite poison but cannot completely detoxify it. If you want to detoxify it, you still have to kill the female parasite." said Doctor Zuo.

"There are many people poisoned, so there must be more than one female pig. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to find Mrs. Chu's female pig." The left imperial physician continued.

"Generally speaking, how far away does the mother dragonfly need to be from her offspring for this to be effective?" Chu Zhenxuan asked.

"That's not necessarily true. Low-level mother and baby pigs may be a few rooms away, while high-level mother and baby pigs may be thousands of miles away." Doctor Zuo said, "Also, men can also raise pigs."

Chu Zhenxuan: ...

The people who were talking naturally didn't notice a figure quietly leaving.

"Stop! Where are you going?" Xiao Wu stopped the man.

A hint of ferocity flashed across Xiaoliu's eyes, but when he turned around, his face was full of smiles. "Xiaowu, what's wrong?"

"Where are you going?" Xiaowu asked.

"It's getting late, so of course we should go back to where we live." Xiaoliu said calmly, but his hand reached for the dagger at his waist.

"The Prime Minister has already arranged a place for us to live, right inside the Prime Minister's Mansion." Xiao Wu stepped forward.

"Really?" Xiaoliu pulled up a strange smile and was about to take out the dagger when he heard Chu Zhenxuan's voice.

"Xiaowu, come here for a moment."

"Master, Xiaoliu wants to go out." Xiaowu said "wants to go out" instead of "wants to go back".

Chu Zhenxuan patted Xiaowu's head and said, "Good boy, your Aunt Xue wants to question you. Remember, don't mention Chu Yun's arrest."

"Oh, that Xiaoliu?" Xiaowu turned around and glanced at Xiaoliu in the moonlight. Her face was still so innocent and simple.

"Xiao Liu, go and rest for a while. You might need something later. Xiao Liu, go ask the housekeeper for a room." After Chu Zhenxuan said this, he took Xiao Wu away.

Xiao Liu looked at the two men's backs and snorted, "Everyone says that Prime Minister Chu is extremely smart, but that's all."

After saying this, he turned and disappeared into the night.

Chu Zhenxuan and Xiaowu, who had just disappeared, walked out from the darkness.

"Master, there is really something wrong with Xiaoliu. If we let him go, what if what you just said to Aunt Xue gets out?" Xiaowu said anxiously.

"Just let him pass it back."

Chu Zhenxuan raised a meaningful smile and turned to look at Xiao Wu, "I will not let Xiao Qi die in vain!"

Not long after Xiaoliu returned to the palace, there was a revolution in the palace. All the eunuchs and guards came out and started to catch the traitor.

Even the eunuchs who were guarding Chu Yun were all called away.

After a while, another little eunuch sneaked back and opened the door that locked Chu Yun.

"Go out from here and turn left. There is a small path about ten meters away. Go through it and look for Concubine Xia. Don't leave the palace the way you came from. It's not safe there." The little eunuch said a lot.

"Who asked you to come?" Chu Yun looked alert.

"Your mother is waiting for you to come home." As he said this, he revealed a small sign.

"What's wrong with my mother?" Chu Yun grabbed him.

“I don’t know.”

Chu Yun nodded, it must be his mother's spy.

The two of them sneaked out and looked at the spy who had just been "screened" not far away. The young eunuch sighed helplessly.

Chu Yun also found it strange, "What are they doing?"

"You're looking for death!" The eunuch pointed to the road ahead, "That's the road. If you can't find Lady Xia, find a place to hide. You'll be safe when the day breaks."

Having said this, the little eunuch disappeared into the night.

Chu Yun followed the path and indeed arrived at the residence of Lady Xia that he had mentioned.

The surroundings were quiet and there was no one guarding. Chu Yun climbed up the rockery. It should be safer to crawl in from here. While hesitating whether to climb up or not, Chu Yun suddenly noticed that this was the Yu Garden.

Yes, how could he forget that Lady Xia lived in the garden closest to the Yu Garden.

For some unknown reason, Chu Yun wanted to take a look at the well through which they entered the palace.

Chu Yun climbed to the highest point of the rockery.

"Bang!"

What came into view was Xiaoqi's body with a dagger stuck in it.