Pure gold, 100g
Afterwards, Bai Shi followed A Qiu all the way to the capital, still in order to find the whereabouts of her master and senior master.
Bai Shi once said that their lineage of incantations, because they were connected to the gods and spirits and skilled in prayer and incantations, had always been valued, or rather, exploited, by the powerful and influential in the palace.
Especially when there is political turmoil and the situation is unstable, people are more willing to believe in the supernatural and the supernatural than in their own abilities.
A Qiu immediately turned around and asked, "May I ask, Your Highness, are the names of those two great shamans Qi Luo and Qi Shang?"
Consort Chen sighed softly, "The summoning of shamans in the palace has always been a secret matter. How could the spirits be revealed to the public and made known to everyone?"
Ah Qiu then understood that although Consort Chen said she would no longer concern herself with palace affairs, she must still be worried about Xie Lang's health. She also still had spies within the palace, so even a secret matter like Zhao Ling inviting a sorcerer into the palace could not escape her notice.
Although Xie Lang had hurt her, she couldn't help but care about his health, and she was also afraid that Zhao Lingying would go too far.
While under house arrest, she couldn't intervene personally, but she needed to make sure A-Qiu and Xie-Chao understood the general situation.
Ah Qiu kept it in mind, then cupped her hands again and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Consort Chen gave her one last deep look and said earnestly, "You must also be careful in everything you do."
When A Qiu and Xie Tiao left the Vermilion Bird Palace, it was already late at night. Apart from a few guards on duty, most people in the palace should have been soundly asleep.
She remembered that when she first came to the palace, she also spent the whole night wandering around the palace, and had even disturbed Consort Chen, Sikong Zhao, Zhongli Wuyan and others. But at that time, she was accompanied by someone else.
People have to grow up eventually, but she was so unwilling, the price of which was losing the protection of the person by her side.
Seeing that she had remained silent the whole way, Xie Tiao couldn't help but ask, "Junior Sister, now that Her Majesty has decided not to get involved in this matter, what should we do next?"
A-Qiu walked beside him with light steps and simply replied, "Just one word: wait."
Xie Tiao exclaimed, "Wait for what? Just watch Father Emperor be deceived and coerced, and wait for Consort Zhao to become Prime Minister or Empress?"
A-Qiu countered, "Don't you think, Senior Brother, that Her Majesty didn't tell the whole truth?"
Xie Tiao carefully recalled Consort Chen's words and suddenly realized, "You mean, Her Majesty told us not to interfere in anything because she knew that Consort Zhao's true purpose was not to seize power."
Aqiu nodded and said, "Yes. The Empress and Zhaorong have been sisters for many years. Given her deep understanding of Zhaorong, she would not say such a thing without reason."
At this moment, they were taking a shortcut from the Vermilion Bird Hall back to the East Palace. During their time in the palace, A-Qiu had already memorized the general layout of the palace. Now, they deliberately chose routes that would avoid the eyes of the guards and watchtowers, making their way back silently so that their actions that night would not be discovered.
In A Qiu's view, whether Zhao Lingying became prime minister or empress was Xie Lang's own choice, not something forced upon him by others. If Xie Lang distanced himself from his only son because of a few words from Zhao Lingying, then he was simply being foolish.
Unless she intends to depose Xie Lang as emperor, she has no reason to interfere with his decisions.
Xie Tiao hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "As a son, how can I stand by and do nothing while my father is being manipulated and deceived like this?"
A Qiu stopped and glanced at him, but only sighed inwardly.
It's good that Xie Tiao has this intention.
Just then, a clear and gentle voice was heard not too close to them, saying leisurely, "So, may I ask, what does Your Highness wish to do this time?"
Upon hearing this voice, Xie Tiao's face turned ashen, and he immediately took a step back.
A Qiu immediately sensed the danger and flashed in front of Xie Tiao.
She recognized the person from their voice.
The former "Azure Phoenix Guard" of the Flying Phoenix Four Guards, now the powerful Director of the Imperial Library, Zhao Lingying, the "Master of Writing," actually came in person.
Zhao Lingying, with his hands behind his back, strolled out from the front at a leisurely pace, seemingly having been following them for an unknown period of time.
A-Qiu quickly recalled all the events of the evening in his mind.
When they sneaked into the Cloud Dragon Hall, Rong Jian was inside. From then on, Rong Jian escorted them all the way to the Vermilion Bird Hall.
Now, both she and Rongjian are among the top experts in the world. If someone is spying on them, it's impossible for them not to notice.
Therefore, the most likely scenario is that Zhao Lingying sent people to monitor the people in the Vermilion Bird Palace, and when they discovered that the people had sneaked into Consort Chen's palace at night, they notified Zhao Lingying to wait there.
It's not easy to monitor and track a martial arts master, but it's much easier to monitor a house.
Since Zhao Lingying intended to control Xie Lang, she naturally wouldn't ignore Consort Chen, Li Lanxiu, with whom she had a deep and loving relationship in the past.
Although this couple was deeply in love, it now seems like a joke.
Zhao Lingying, dressed in a yellow palace gown, was as pretty and elegant as ever, but her face held an indescribable air of calm.
She wasn't carrying the judge's pen that made her famous, which made her look no different from any other female official.
Anyone who saw her, if they didn't know her name, would only think that she was a beautiful, intelligent, and skilled female official who was deeply favored by the emperor and was good at calligraphy and painting among the many people in Jianzhang Palace.
But when A Qiu thought that it was Zhao Lingying, a talented woman accustomed to using a phoenix-shaped brush and a purple inkstone, who had painstakingly drawn her and Gu Yi's faces on the paper and issued an order for all prefectures to arrest and stop them, a chill ran through her heart.
She would never forget that just before Gu Yi took her away from the capital, during her battle with Zhao Lingying at Zhengyang Gate, Zhao Lingying had earnestly instructed her to visit her Jiaolan Department more often in the future.
Zhao Lingying's fluctuating attitude made her truly realize that in politics, there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends.
She didn't need to turn around to know Xie Tiao's horror behind her; after all, she had witnessed Zhao Lingying's methods and schemes. With her current absolute power in the palace and the court, it wouldn't be difficult for her to confine the Crown Prince.
But at this time and place, A Qiu had to uphold Xie Tiao's dignity as the crown prince, so she met Zhao Lingying's gaze without flinching and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness is the future emperor. Does he have to report to the Minister of the Imperial Library every single thing he wants to do?"
Unexpectedly, Zhao Lingying's beautiful face remained unmoved by the provocation. She glanced calmly behind A Qiu and said indifferently, "I want her to accompany me for a walk. Tiao'er, you can go back to the East Palace first."
Her reaction also surprised Xie Tiao. Given Xie Tiao's mood at this moment, Zhao Ling should not have questioned him about his crime of trespassing into the Vermilion Bird Palace. He had already offered incense and thanks to the gods in his heart, so naturally, it would have been best for him to run as far away as possible.
However, he simply couldn't bring himself to do it, even though he was a prince and wanted to distance himself from the situation, leaving A Qiu to face Zhao Lingying alone.
Seeing that he did not move, Zhao Lingying finally showed a hint of impatience and said, "Does the Crown Prince think that I would kill someone here?" She spread her hands to indicate that she was not carrying any weapons.
As a civil official, Zhao Lingying had never carried the judge's pen with her when A Qiu visited her in the palace several times in the past.
The only time was at the Zhengyang Gate, when he was responsible for intercepting her and Li Chongyu as they left the palace; naturally, he was prepared to take action then.
A Qiu said softly, "Senior brother, go ahead. If Zhao Rong really wants to deal with me, she has a thousand or ten thousand ways to do so, it doesn't have to be here and now."
What she didn't say was that Zhao Lingying wanted her to walk with him at this moment, so of course he had something to say to her alone.
Xie Tiao was no fool. After a moment's hesitation, he said to A Qiu, "Don't forget that you need to come to my study tomorrow morning to proofread the score of 'Xianchi'." He deliberately raised his voice when he said this. Then he nodded slightly to Zhao Lingying before leaving.
A Qiu was completely bewildered. When had he ever told her to proofread the score? Besides, she wasn't very knowledgeable about music. It wasn't until she saw Zhao Lingying's ambiguous smile as he looked at her that she realized: Xie Tiao was worried about her safety and feared that she might be detained by Zhao Lingying, so he had made it clear in advance that he would see her safe and sound back at the East Palace first thing tomorrow morning.
Zhao Lingying withdrew her gaze and watched Xie Tiao's departing figure, saying with emotion, "Tiao'er has grown a lot these days, and has even learned to protect the people she cares about."
Ah Qiu thought to himself, "Then you're just implying to His Majesty that he's not making much progress."
Zhao Lingying's gaze then fell on the gold hairpin on her head. If it wasn't an illusion, A Qiu clearly felt her suddenly pause, and then she tried to say in a tone devoid of any emotion, "You've been wearing it all this time?"
Ah Qiu then remembered that ever since Zhao Lingying threw this honeysuckle-patterned gold hairpin to her at the Zhengyang Gate, she had indeed been casually sticking it in her hair.
She scratched her head, not yet thinking of how to answer, when Zhao Lingying asked again, "What, don't you find its design clumsy?"
In fact, A Qiu had also pondered this. The gold ornaments popular in the palace were all exquisitely crafted with filigree and inlaid with precious stones, winning with their lightness, intricacy, and craftsmanship. Zhao Lingying, as the most talented woman of this era, naturally had elegant and outstanding taste, but it was puzzling why she spent so much money to create such a heavy, simple, and coarse hairpin, which did not look like a palace item at all.
Ah Qiu truthfully replied, "I don't mind at all. In fact, I find it quite useful. For us martial arts practitioners, it can be used for self-defense in times of crisis, and it can also be thrown out as a hidden weapon. Moreover, if you are traveling alone in the martial world, you can exchange it for money if you encounter an accident. It's pure gold and of the highest quality."
For the first time ever, Zhao Lingying smiled and said, "That was the purpose I had in creating it. I never expected it would finally come in handy with you. What, you didn't pawn it during your trip to the Southwest?"
Ah Qiu realized that if she hadn't immediately followed Gu Yi on his trip, she probably wouldn't have kept wearing the hairpin, since it was a bit heavy and she wasn't someone who liked to dress up.
The reason I've always worn it is that I've actually considered that if I ever need money, I can pawn it, since being outside is not the same as being in the palace.
She said apologetically, "There's nothing I need to pay for, so..."
Zhao Lingying finally couldn't help but burst into laughter, her body trembling with mirth.
After the laughter subsided, she said calmly, "If you had actually pawned it along the way, I would have been able to find your location much faster using it. It was a wise decision of yours not to pawn it."
A-Qiu asked in astonishment, "So, do you want me to pawn it for money, or not?"
She was somewhat confused by Zhao Lingying. She had said that the reason for making this gold hairpin was so that Aqiu could exchange it for money on the journey, yet now she said that if she pawned it, it would most likely attract pursuers immediately. Could this gold hairpin be nothing more than bait and a mark that Zhao Lingying had placed on her?
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