Chapter 30 I Saw Spring Return (Part 7) "So he was evil from the very beginning..."
Xiao Song seemed not to have expected to be recognized. He subconsciously looked up in Deng Xunyi's direction, and the attendant's clear eyes made his heart tremble. He immediately struggled to stand up.
Deng Xun shifted his gaze from Lan Huaien and then instructed those behind him, "Keep a close eye on him, don't let him commit suicide."
Night had fallen, and the night wind rustled through the bamboo grove. In the distance, a hazy, jade-like crescent moon hung from the upturned eaves of the temple. Their location was secluded and without any lights; it was pitch black.
Lan Huaien handed the two over to Deng Xunyi, giving him countless instructions before finally feeling at ease. However, after rambling on for a while, he was not in a hurry to leave.
He took the lamp from the eunuch behind him and turned to look in the direction of the attendant. He found her gazing into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.
He looked over as well, but found nothing unusual.
After hesitating for a moment, he spoke up: "Lord Deng, your attendant is from the palace, isn't she? It's so late, it must be difficult for her to get back to the palace. Why don't I take her back with me?"
Deng Xun's expression hardened slightly. Seeing that Yan Chao had turned around, he didn't know how to answer and his eyes held a questioning look.
Yan Chao stared at Lan Huaien for a moment, then nodded: "Then thank you very much."
She turned to Deng Xun and said, "You've worked hard tonight, sir. Tomorrow's success or failure depends entirely on you, Deng Shaoqing."
Deng Xun instinctively waved his hand, but saw that she had already walked away, her back straight, and even in the rough clothes of an attendant, her extraordinary bearing was still undeniable. He took a deep breath, sighed softly for no apparent reason, and felt a profound sense of responsibility.
As they were about to part, only three people remained. After a moment's thought, Deng Xun asked Yan Chao in a low voice, "Your Highness, who is Xiao Song?"
Before Yan Chao could speak, Lan Huaien, who was holding a lantern beside him, spoke first: "In the palace, he was originally the head eunuch of Wan'an Palace, but he committed a crime and was demoted to doing odd jobs."
He spoke briefly, but the words "Wan'an Palace" sent a chill down Deng Xun's spine.
Consort Li Xian.
If it involves the forbidden area, this matter could escalate even further. He couldn't help but feel a headache coming on; this involved so much, and upon closer inspection, it seemed to be nothing more than a struggle between the Crown Prince and Prince Xin.
If it were just a simple case of killing for revenge, that would be fine.
"You don't need to worry too much. If the investigation really reaches the palace, there will be irrefutable evidence. We will not let you suffer any injustice."
Deng Xun paused, speechless for a moment, then said, "I didn't mean that..."
Yan Chao lowered his head and descended the steps, then turned and said gently, "Minister Deng, you should go back now. You'll be busy tomorrow."
Deng Xun responded and bowed to take his leave.
.
When Lan Huaien arrived, she was in a carriage. The carriage was quite spacious. When Yan Chao lifted the curtain and looked inside, she saw that everything was in two sets. She paused, turned around, and happened to see Lan Huaien's slight smile.
As she stepped onto the path, she whispered, "The Grand Eunuch came prepared." He even knew she hadn't returned to the palace.
Before she could finish speaking, Lan Huaien had already followed her up, lowered the curtain, and casually sat down opposite her, smiling as he said, "I was originally ordered to leave the palace, but I happened to see some familiar-looking attendants beside Lord Deng... This is all for Your Highness's sake, so naturally we had to make proper preparations."
Finally, he added, "I'm afraid you'll have to share a carriage with me back to the palace tonight."
Yan Chao ignored the second half of his sentence and only asked, "What is the Grand Eunuch doing outside the palace by imperial decree?"
"His Majesty has been concerned about the Cao family's case these past few days, so he ordered me to come out and take a look."
Yan Chao lowered her eyes, pondering silently. She hadn't seen the Emperor show such concern before, so it couldn't necessarily be because of Cao Fu's death. She couldn't help but wonder if tomorrow's joint trial, and Lan Huai'en's sudden departure from the palace tonight, were for…
As if he could understand her thoughts, Lan Huaien suddenly continued, "...To be honest, Your Highness, it is indeed related to tomorrow's joint trial."
He paused, secretly observing her expression. The light wasn't dim, but it made her eyes appear somewhat dull.
"His Majesty knew that you had left the palace, so he ordered me to follow you and keep watch over you in secret, and to assist you if necessary."
Upon hearing this, Yan Chao suddenly sneered: "Is it to supervise me and see if I take the opportunity to secretly distort the truth?"
Lan Huaien froze, then nodded after a long pause: "That's roughly the idea."
After he finished speaking, he noticed that the atmosphere in the carriage had become a little somber. He sighed softly and was about to find another topic when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a faint crimson mark on the knuckle of her right hand, which was exposed from her sleeve.
He exclaimed in a low voice, "Your Highness, you've injured your hand."
He immediately reached into his robes to retrieve the medicine powder, but only found a handkerchief. He had reacted quickly, reaching for the handkerchief to wipe her face as Yan Chaozheng lowered her head, but before he could even touch her hand, he was unexpectedly slapped. His hand trembled, and the handkerchief fell onto her lap.
He looked up and met those angry eyes, but the anger quickly vanished.
Yan Chaoyuan's touch was subconscious. On one hand, she knew he meant well, but on the other hand, she secretly scolded him for touching her. She pursed her lips and said, "It's just a minor injury, thank you," and then said somewhat stiffly, "Since you know my identity, you should also know how to behave."
Lan Huaien felt her hands were a little numb. She took a deep breath, looked at the Crown Prince sitting upright opposite her, and chuckled softly: "Are you referring to your status as the Crown Prince, or something else?"
She paused, then suddenly realized what he meant, her expression hardening: "Lan Huai'en!"
Lan Huaien was neither angry nor afraid. His gaze swept over her delicate face as he said softly, "Your Highness, please calm down. You see, we're both pretending right now. If we both keep our promises, then we'll be at peace..."
He sighed, realizing he'd clearly taken a slap for nothing. But then he suddenly remembered that Yan Chao seemed to dislike being teased. Looking up at her now composed expression, he silently made a mental note of it.
When he was working in various places, he did indeed remember many of his masters' preferences in order to please them.
But not knowing what to say for the moment, he turned around, gently lifted a corner of the curtain, and peeked through the crack at a crescent moon still shrouded in thin clouds on the horizon. His heart calmed down inexplicably.
He turned his head again, his gaze softening inexplicably, as if he wanted to bathe her in the moonlight.
"I have misspoke, Your Highness. Please forgive me."
Seeing his somewhat reluctant expression, Yan Chao ignored him. She felt a little tired and wanted to close her eyes and rest for a moment, but she was also wary of Lan Huaien, not knowing what he might do.
"I am suddenly curious, Your Highness, you only released the news that the owner of the dagger has been found, and you were able to easily lure people out of the palace?" Lan Huaien could roughly figure out a outline when Xiao Song appeared, but he was not very clear about the details.
“I must thank the Eunuch for telling me about Lu Xun’s whereabouts,” she said, bowing her head to carefully wipe away the bloodstains from the minor scratch on her hand. Her tone was calm. “When I met Lu Xun, he figured it out in less than a quarter of an hour and passed the message to the person behind him.”
"Then why did Lord Deng say that those two were not fish that escaped the net?"
“Lu Xun was being used, and as for that girl, I didn’t recognize her, but she seemed to be related to the death of Grand Tutor Meng. At first, I didn’t expect her to be someone from the palace; I always thought she was a member of the Li family.”
Lan Huaien suddenly realized, his hand casually brushing against his sleeve, and said nonchalantly, "Actually, there's no difference."
He paused for a moment, then said, "Your Highness, I must tell you some news."
"you say."
"Lord Shen was also involved in this case."
Yan Chao remained silent.
Lan Huaien was taken aback, and tentatively asked, "Your Highness knew all along?"
Yan Chao didn't reply to him, but only turned his gaze away and said, "Chen Wei has no ulterior motives towards me."
Lan Huaien coughed lightly: "Your Highness truly trusts him."
"I am perfectly sober," she said.
Lan Huaien pursed his lips, clearly not believing it.
He leaned out to ask the coachman, and learned that they would arrive at the palace gate in about fifteen minutes. He then turned around and blew out one of the small lamps inside the carriage, making it dark. Yan Chao didn't bother to ask why and let him be.
Lan Huaien watched as she remained almost completely still from beginning to end, and suddenly felt a little uneasy.
He looked around for a while, and finally noticed that her eyes had become somewhat unfocused. Taking advantage of the dim light, he quietly moved closer and confirmed that she did indeed have her eyes closed.
Afraid she would be angry if she found out, he sat back down, holding his breath. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked softly, "Your Highness, have the pear blossoms in the rear hall of the East Palace bloomed yet?"
Then I watched as those eyes opened again. It turns out that even in the dark, there is still light in the eyes.
Yan Chao frowned, slightly surprised: "How did you know there were pear blossoms in the back hall?"
The pear tree in the rear hall has been planted for about ten years. It seems that when one of the palaces was being renovated, the slender sapling was originally going to be removed, but Crown Prince Zhaohuai cherished the flowers and trees, so he ordered people to dig it up by the roots and move it to the rear hall of the East Palace.
She had just returned to the palace when Crown Prince Zhaohuai summoned her to the East Palace for a talk, which consisted of words of comfort and concern. She still remembers his kind face; at that time, Crown Prince Zhaohuai was in high spirits and showed no signs of illness.
The pear tree grew in a remote place, a place she rarely visited. Especially after the death of Crown Prince Zhaohuai, she hadn't seen it for many years.
Lan Huaien chuckled smugly: "I was fortunate enough to be assigned to transplant saplings back then, and when I heard they were in bloom, I even sneaked in to take a look..."
He still clearly remembers that it was Yan Chao's first year in the palace.
Yan Chao lowered his eyes and thought carefully, and vaguely came up with a few figures. At that time, Lan Huaien seemed to be quite young.
"I remember now."
"Your Highness has a very good memory..."
"So it turns out that the person who hit someone with a shovel back then and cried and pretended to be pitiful to make excuses, and the person who almost trampled a pear tree to death the following year, were both you."
"..." Lan Huaien's smile froze instantly.
It turns out he was a villain from the start.
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