Suspect
Jiang Yi tried to leave the palace based on her memory of where she came from, but unfortunately, she was terrible with directions and couldn't even find the East Palace gate.
Even if she could leave the East Palace, it would be useless. She didn't have a palace exit token, and the guards at the palace gates would probably arrest her as a petty thief.
After wandering around aimlessly for a while, I finally found a quiet place, sat on the steps, and picked an unknown wildflower, leaving it completely bare.
That despicable He Lin! As a married man, how dare he be entangled with another woman right in front of her! She was getting angrier and angrier the more she thought about it…
A young eunuch, carrying a basket, looked around, seemingly not expecting such a large, living person to be on the steps around the corner. He was nearly scared out of his wits, gasping for breath and staring at her warily.
"Who...who are you?"
Jiang Yi, fearing she might be blocking his way, patted her bottom and stood up, grinning as she said, "I'm accompanying my young master to a banquet, but I accidentally got lost, so I'm taking a break here. May I ask, sir, where is the banquet? I'd like to go find my young master."
The young eunuch listened to her say this, let out a heavy sigh, and pointed out: "Go straight ahead from here, then turn right and go through the corridor, then turn left and you'll reach the main hall in the middle."
Thank you.
The young eunuch nodded to her and subconsciously tugged at the red cloth covering the basket.
Jiang Yi didn't pay any attention and pretended to walk a few steps in the direction she pointed. When she looked back, the little eunuch had walked away with the basket, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
I went back the way I came and sat down in the same spot, bent my legs, and rested my chin in my hands, lost in thought. It was quite nice here; the sun was shining brightly and felt warm on my skin. The only downside was that there was a bit of a draft, which made me feel a little uncomfortable.
"ah--"
A terrified scream suddenly came from not far away, startling Jiang Yi so much that she opened her eyes and looked toward the source of the sound.
"Help! Snake! There's a snake!"
"..."
Jiang Yi jogged along, and as she approached the room, she heard shouts from inside, which startled her.
Snakes? How could there be snakes in the Eastern Palace?
"Bang bang bang..."
Inside the large side hall, someone was banging on the door, accompanied by cries for help: "Is anyone home?!"
"Help! There are snakes inside!"
"..."
Jiang Yi's heart was pounding. How could someone be locked up in the side hall? What should she do? Should she intervene? She had promised He Lin before coming that she wouldn't cause trouble, but she didn't have the key to rescue him!
She spun around a few times, then caught a glimpse of a stone on the grass beside her. After hesitating for a fraction of a second, she decisively picked up the stone and took a few deep breaths in front of the door lock.
"Step back, and I'll break this lock."
"Please hurry! My young lady has been bitten by a snake and fainted!"
"..."
Jiang Yi aimed at the door lock and smashed it hard a few times. With a "click," it actually broke open.
What a terrible lock! It's not durable at all. If this lock were this easy to break in modern times, the lock sellers would probably be furious.
Without thinking twice, Jiang Yi immediately threw the stone aside, removed the lock ring, and pushed open the palace door. There she saw a little maidservant kneeling on the ground, crying her eyes out, with someone in her arms. It was none other than Shangguan Muya.
"She was bitten by a snake?"
The maid sobbed, "Yes, please save my young lady."
"Where is the wound?"
"It's on the back of my hand!"
Jiang Yi lifted her hand and looked at it; Shangguan Muya's left hand had turned bluish-purple on the back.
"This snake is poisonous."
"Then what should we do?"
Jiang Yi didn't speak, but squeezed the edge of the wound hard, to no avail; the poisonous blood couldn't be squeezed out.
"I'm not familiar with this place, go and call someone quickly."
As she spoke, she tightly wrapped the silk handkerchief that had fallen to the ground around Shangguan Muya's wrist to stop the spread of snake venom.
The young maid panicked, answered repeatedly, and quickly ran out, lifting her skirt.
Jiang Yi looked down at the person with her eyes closed. Strange, she had come to the side hall to change into her dance clothes and was bitten by a poisonous snake. Was it an accident or someone's doing it? Who wanted to harm her?
"Snap—"
There was a sound of tree branches snapping outside the window. Jiang Yi looked up sharply and saw a figure rushing past.
Who is that? The murderer?
Her intuition told her that this matter was not so simple.
Jiang Yi frowned, and was about to carry Shangguan Muya out quickly when, unexpectedly, a "boom" erupted, flames swept in, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.
Holy crap, what deep-seated grudge has Shangguan Muya committed to deserve this? People hate her to this extent, not only releasing poisonous snakes to bite her, but also setting her on fire before leaving.
Seeing the fire growing larger and larger, Jiang Yi was anxious and, by pulling and dragging, the two of them finally managed to move step by step to the entrance of the palace.
"Cough cough..."
A series of hurried footsteps approached, and my heart finally settled down.
"Miss!"
The little maid was nearly frightened to death when she saw this scene. She ran over crying and screaming, followed by a large group of people. Looking around, it seemed that most of the people at the banquet had arrived.
In an instant, the side hall was thrown into complete chaos.
A group of people rushed up, shouting and yelling. They grabbed one person at random and asked what had happened. Jiang Yi wanted to roll her eyes. Were these people blind or blind? A palace behind them was on fire, flames were shooting into the sky. Couldn't they see that?
Yin Zhaobai strode over, picked up Shangguan Muya, and rushed out. On the way, he ran into He Lin and the others, and subtly gave them a look.
"Second sister-in-law, are you alright?"
Jiang Yi, still shaken, sat on the ground, disheveled and panting, and waved her hand.
At this moment, the person with sharp ears heard this and rolled their eyes around a few times before tentatively asking, "Young Master He, what did you just call him?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's attention was drawn to them.
He Yu touched his nose and laughed it off, saying, "It's nothing, I was just asking casually."
"I heard you call him 'second sister-in-law'?"
"..."
The group's gaze fell on Jiang Yi.
Qi Junyuan finally spoke: "What exactly is going on?"
Jiang Yi quickly stood up and bowed. This was the East Palace, the Crown Prince's territory. He was having a proper banquet at home when the entire palace inexplicably caught fire. It was truly an unexpected disaster. As one of the parties involved, she naturally had to explain the whole story to him.
"Your Highness, as I was passing by, I heard cries for help coming from inside the palace. Someone had locked the palace doors from the outside. After I broke the lock, I found that Miss Shangguan had been bitten by a poisonous snake. When her personal maid ran to call for help, the palace caught fire. Oh, and I also saw a sneaky figure at the window. That must be the murderer. He fled in that direction."
Jiang Yi was afraid that she wouldn't be able to explain it clearly verbally, so she pointed in a direction with her finger.
After pointing out the direction, Jiang Yi inadvertently met He Lin's gaze, but she couldn't quite understand the emotions deep in his eyes.
Someone interrupted, asking, "Young Master Lin, is this person your servant, or your mistress whose identity you're concealing?"
He Yu glared at the man and clicked his tongue impatiently.
Is this ever going to end? Does it even matter who she is at this point? What are you trying to achieve by harping on this?
Jiang Yi pursed her lips, wondering what He Lin would say.
By this time, the fire burning in the palace had been extinguished. The Crown Prince first gave his attendant a look, signaling him to lead his men to investigate in the direction Jiang Yi had indicated.
Then he looked at He Lin and asked, "Young Master Lin, what exactly is going on?"
He Lin glanced at Jiang Yi, who was covered in dust and dirt, and took off his silk cloak to put it on her. Although he didn't say a word, that was enough.
The young men and women present looked at each other in silence, and then began to whisper among themselves.
Well, it seems she's inadvertently caused He Lin trouble again, but she did save Shangguan Muya, who is the daughter of the current prime minister. As long as the murderer is found, she should be fine, right?
...
As it turns out, Jiang Yi had oversimplified the matter.
On the day of the Crown Prince's birthday banquet, such a big incident occurred in the Eastern Palace. Someone dared to release a snake to bite people, set fire to the palace, and accidentally injure the Prime Minister's daughter. Any one of these crimes would probably be a capital offense.
Today the venomous snake bit someone else, but what if it bites the crown prince tomorrow? That would be terrible! So when Emperor Liang learned of this, he quickly dispatched the imperial guards to surround the Eastern Palace. No one at the banquet could leave, and he was determined to find the culprit.
"Sister-in-law, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault for speaking too quickly. But don't worry, as long as what you said is true, I think everything will be fine."
There were plenty of rooms in the East Palace, so the young masters and ladies from different families were interrogated separately. The He brothers and Jiang Yi were locked in one room.
Looking at He Yu's relaxed manner, with his legs propped up on the table and eating grapes, you could tell that he wasn't afraid at all. It's true that people who are used to big scenes are different. Just now, when a young master heard that he was going to be locked up, his legs trembled so much that he had to hold onto a pillar to keep from falling to the ground...
Jiang Yi said indifferently, "I'm just stating the facts. Whether they believe it or not is up to them."
He Yu nodded in agreement: "That's right, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. One thing at a time, you're really unlucky to run into something like this on your first visit to the palace. It's not a big deal, my cousin the Crown Prince has been used to being assassinated since he was a child, he's very familiar with this kind of thing."
Jiang Yi exclaimed sincerely, "Really? He's incredibly lucky to be alive."
He Yu said proudly, "Of course, if I weren't alive, I wouldn't have survived until now..."
"..."
Listening to the conversation between the two, He Lin's eyelids twitched a few times, and he suddenly felt speechless.
Just then, Qi Junyuan pushed the door open and came in; he was alone.
He Yu turned his head and asked, "Hey, is Miss Shangguan alright? Has the culprit been caught?"
Qi Junyuan shook his head, sat down next to him, and poured himself a cup of tea.
"The imperial physicians from the palace have come to treat him. It's just ordinary snake venom, which can be neutralized. They've also given him medication, but he's still unconscious."
He Yu nodded: "Yes, then what about the murderer?"
Qi Junyuan didn't answer him this time, but looked at He Lin instead.
"Young Master Lin, is this truly your wife?"
He Lin remained calm, took a sip of tea, and said, "Yes, my wife wanted to visit the palace, so I brought her along."
Qi Junyuan shook his head helplessly: "This is troublesome."
When the Crown Prince arrived, the two He brothers skipped the formalities of bowing and simply sat in their chairs, letting him pour his own tea, as if they were the rightful hosts. Jiang Yi was nearly speechless with astonishment.
That's normal, after all, they're cousins, so it's understandable.
So Jiang Yi didn't stand on ceremony, pulled up a chair and sat down next to He Lin, asking directly, "What do you mean by this?"
Qi Junyuan was startled and looked up at her.
Jiang Yi hadn't had time to wipe the carbon ash off her face, and she was completely filthy, making her unrecognizable.
"So what if I'm his wife? What does that have to do with the case? Instead of catching the murderer, what are you saying here—"
"Shut up!"
He Lin actually scolded her and told her to shut up? Jiang Yi turned her head and glared at him, then stood up and kicked over a chair, yelling, "What right do you have to tell me to shut up? You're worried about Shangguan Muya being injured, aren't you?"
Qi Junyuan and He Yu were stunned by her aura. What kind of wife did He Lin marry? She had a fiery temper and was easily provoked.
If he dared to be so bold in the Crown Prince's palace, one can only imagine how he would behave at home. The two looked at He Lin with pity.
He Lin: "..."
He Yu couldn't stand it anymore and quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Hey, sister-in-law, don't be in such a hurry. Let me explain it to you slowly."
Shangguan Muya had a crush on He Lin, and she could tell without He Yu saying it; a woman's intuition is often terrifyingly accurate.
As the daughter of the Prime Minister, Shangguan Muya is naturally a strong candidate for Crown Princess. Her injury will likely cause quite a stir in the palace.
Just then, Jiang Yi barged in by accident, and I'm afraid she'll end up being suspected of a crime...
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