Tianwu was stunned by these words, as if he didn't understand. He shouted, "If you haven't found it yet, keep looking for it!"
The guard repeated, "Your Majesty, it's not that we haven't found her. We have searched everywhere, but Concubine Yun is really not there!"
As he finished speaking, many people came out one after another, and came to Emperor Tianwu one after another, saying the same thing: "Your Majesty, Concubine Yun was not found in Yuehan Palace."
Soon after, a large number of palace servants were rescued from inside, and the secret guards of Yuehan Palace also helped the palace maids and eunuchs escape from the sea of fire. Emperor Tianwu's eyes turned red when he saw this. He took a few steps forward, grabbed a secret guard, and asked loudly, "Where is your master?"
The female secret guard's face was burned red by the high temperature caused by the fire, and she didn't know how to answer Tianwu at the moment. She was holding Su Yu, the head female official of Yuehan Palace, in her hand, but Su Yu was also very hesitant and lowered her head even more.
Tianwu frowned, feeling a bad premonition in his heart. He ignored Zhang Yuan's pulling and exerted great force, pushing Zhang Yuan away, and rushed straight into the sea of fire.
Zhang Yuan was so frightened that he quickly shouted: "Secret Guard! Stop him!"
The secret guards around Tianwu were not there for nothing. Even if some of them rushed in to put out the fire and look for people, there were also some who would never leave Tianwu even if they died. Seeing that Tianwu was about to rush into the sea of fire, without waiting for Zhang Yuan to speak, several secret guards appeared and stopped Tianwu in an instant.
However, Tianwu had already lost his mind. He frantically tried to shake off the secret guards, and shouted in collapse: "Let me go! Let me go! You slaves all want to live! Come on, drag them out and chop them up! Let go, I want to save people, Pianpian! Pianpian!"
People were terrified. The Empress was the first to kneel before Emperor Tianwu, grabbing his robe with both hands and begging: "Your Majesty, please calm down. You are the emperor of Dashun. Your life is not your own, nor is it Concubine Yun's. It belongs to thousands of people in Dashun! There are already so many people fighting the fire. If you rush in, you can't help the fire at all, but it will disrupt the order of the firefighting. If you really want to do good for Concubine Yun, you should stay outside and take good care of yourself, so that the people below can concentrate on saving people. Your Majesty, I beg you, calm down!"
As the queen knelt and begged, all the concubines behind her also knelt down and there was crying for a while.
Tianwu was so angry that he was shaking, but he finally calmed down a little. He asked Suyu, "Who was with your master when the fire broke out?"
Su Yu calmed down at this time. She came to Tian Wu and said, "Your Majesty, before the fire, Concubine Yun had already gone to bed. Concubine Yun never liked to keep anyone around when she went to bed, so there were no servants waiting in the bedroom. But the servants didn't go far either. There were people outside the door and in the yard. The fire started in the front yard, and then somehow the back yard also caught fire. The servants were busy putting out the fire, and when I entered the bedroom to wake up Concubine Yun, I found that no one was in the bedroom."
After she finished speaking, she winked at the female secret guard beside her, who immediately said, "I guess your Highness must have discovered the fire and hid away on her own."
"Where could she hide?" Tianwu stamped his feet and immediately ordered the palace servants: "Look for her in a secluded place!"
Fortunately, the fire had died down by then, and the guards were soaked in water and could rush in without any problems. A moment later, another group of imperial guards who had gone in to look for someone rushed out, but they reported the same thing to Tianwu: "Your Majesty, we didn't see Concubine Yun in Yuehan Palace."
At this time, the concubines finally raised doubts, and someone said, "Could it be that Concubine Yun is not in the palace at all?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was an inconspicuous woman of low status, but the queen recognized her with her sharp eyes and asked, "Lady Jing, what do you mean by that?"
The one who spoke was Concubine Jing. She raised her head and looked at Tianwu greedily, as if every glance she gave would be one less, and she wanted to see everything about the man in front of her.
Seeing that she was only looking at the emperor without answering, the queen's face turned cold. She stood up, took two steps toward the concubines, and said, "I think Concubine Jing is not feeling well today. Someone, send Concubine Jing back to the palace."
Before anyone could make a move, Concubine Yuan Shu suddenly raised her voice and reprimanded Concubine Jing, "Concubine Jing, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say anything you want. What do you mean Concubine Yun is not in the palace? Where else can she go if she is not in the palace? Did she escape from the palace?"
This sentence once again pushed Yun Fei's whereabouts to a critical point.
Tianwu listened to these words in a daze, and suddenly his heart trembled, as if the truth was about to come out, as if Concubine Jing and Concubine Yuan's words had all come true.
He didn't dare to think about it anymore, nor did he dare to ask anyone to go in to verify it. He just asked Zhang Yuan blankly: "Is what they said true or false?"
Zhang Yuan was so angry that he glared at Concubine Yuan Shu fiercely. This glare made Concubine Yuan Shu almost think that the eunuch wanted to kill her to silence her. Then, she heard Zhang Yuan said to Tianwu: "It is possible that Concubine Yun fled Yuehan Palace in a panic because of the fire. I think this is what the two ladies meant when they said they were not in the palace."
Tianwu suddenly realized: "Yes, that's right, she is not in Yuehan Palace. That doesn't matter. Who wouldn't run when there is a fire? Pianpian is not a fool. Hey, why are you still standing there?" Seeing that the fire in Yuehan Palace had been almost put out, and the billowing smoke was suppressed by the palace people with basins of clean water, Tianwu commanded the imperial guards who were standing there staring blankly: "Hurry up and look for her in other places in the palace. Once you find her, bring back Concubine Yun immediately!"
The guards left in response. Zhang Yuan wiped his sweat, feeling extremely depressed. He could only delay it for a while. If he couldn't delay it any longer, he would just have to accept it. At that time, he could only threaten to die. He didn't believe that Tianwu would watch him die in front of him and still leave the palace to find someone.
The guards searched the palace, and because it was Tianwu's order, the search went very smoothly. An hour later, everyone returned to the gate of Yuehan Palace. The deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, who was still on duty tonight, replied to Tianwu: "Your Majesty, we have searched the entire palace, but still can't find Concubine Yun."
"What?" Tianwu's body swayed. If Zhang Yuan and the Queen hadn't supported him from behind, he would have fallen to the ground.
At this moment, Concubine Yuan Shu's voice rang out again, "Could it be that what Concubine Jing said... is right? Did Concubine Yun really escape from the palace?"
As soon as these words came out, the other concubines who had wasted more than 20 years in the deep palace were instantly ignited with anger. Because of the existence of Concubine Yun, they were buried deep in the palace and spent the rest of their lives in desolation. In the past, there were fights between concubines. Although they were extremely dangerous, they always made people feel angry and always made people feel that they were still alive. But since Concubine Yun appeared, any palace fights were meaningless, because Emperor Tianwu treated everyone the same. Except for occasionally accompanying the queen to have a meal, he had not stepped into the harem for 20 years. The Jingshifang had become a mere decoration. The palace people inside lived more comfortably than the elderly, but no one cared about how those young women in their prime should be settled in their lives. They watched their faces get old and their temples turn white. They had seen concubines who couldn't bear the loneliness and had an affair with the guards. Those who were discovered were beaten to death, and those who were not discovered continued to live secretly; they had also seen concubines who couldn't stand the torment and their long hair turned white overnight, and they became crazy after a while.
All of this was caused by Concubine Yun. All of this was a disaster brought upon them by the man in Yuehan Palace.
The words of Concubine Yuan Shu and Noble Lady Jing gave them an outlet that they had been unable to find for a long time. No one knew who was the first to shout, "Concubine Yun is not in the palace? Then why have we been alone in our empty rooms for so many years?"
Questions came one after another, "We are the emperor's concubines. We accept that we can't win his favor, but why doesn't she let us see the emperor when she herself doesn't? She's not even in the palace, why is she pushing us to death?"
"Wow!" Someone finally burst into tears, shouting in collapse, "I was only sixteen when I entered the palace. I had someone I liked, but the palace still chose me. I gave up the person I loved, gave up being with my parents and being filial, and didn't expect to climb to a high position. I just hoped that Your Majesty would at least treat me well. But Your Majesty only favored me three times, and I don't even have a child. I am still just a noble. In the blink of an eye, I am almost forty years old. Who will give me back these twenty years? Who will give me back?"
As she cried, more people started to cry as well. Gradually, some people began to denounce Concubine Yun, "It would be fine if she was in the palace, but since she is not here, the emperor needs to give us an explanation!"
"Yes! We need an explanation!"
"Catch Concubine Yun and send her to the Ministry of Justice's prison."
"A concubine who escapes from the palace should be hanged!"
Tianwu looked at the situation that was almost out of control and listened to the heart-wrenching cries, with despair in his eyes becoming even more intense.
He didn't care about the crying of these women, but he cared too much about whether Concubine Yun was in the palace. If she was, it didn't matter at all. He could just lock up these troublemaking women with a wave of his sleeves, or just let them out of the palace if they wanted. But if Concubine Yun was not there, what would he do?
The Queen frowned as she watched the farce in front of her. She shouted angrily, "Shut up! Are you dissatisfied with your position? All right, I will give you a better destination today!" She pointed at the noble who had just cried and complained that she entered the palace at the age of sixteen and said, "Send her to the cold palace and never let her out!"
Someone immediately rushed forward and quickly pulled the noble lady away. No matter how much she cried, it was of no use.
The queen looked at the other concubines and asked, "Is there anyone else who wants to go and keep her company?"
For a moment, everyone was silent. After the commotion, they quickly regained their senses, and even most of them began to feel scared for their impulsiveness.
But someone was unwilling to accept this result, and Concubine Yuan Shu asked: "What should we do now? Is Concubine Yun considered... missing?"
Before the queen could speak, a voice as powerful as heaven was heard from the distant path, "Who is spreading rumors that my concubine is not in the palace? Who made the conclusion that my mother is missing?"
At the same time, a palace servant sang loudly: "His Royal Highness the Prince has arrived! Princess Ji'an has arrived!"
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