"However, you are right about one thing." Huo Wuyou said.
Xue Zhiyi just smiled at him and waited for him to speak.
He only said: "The forces in the court are growing and declining. If they take a step back, I can take a step forward."
Xue Zhiyi smiled slightly: "I wonder how far the Marquis has progressed?"
Huo Wuyou said, "Father had many close friends and old subordinates in the past. They are still serving in the court. Now that Prince Cheng and Prince Gong have both suffered losses, they have lost several of their men, leaving several vacancies in the court. Naturally, they all want to fill them with their own people, and neither side is willing to give in. As the two sides are fighting—"
Xue Zhiyi held his chin in his hand and said, "As the two sides fight, Your Majesty will think that instead of using their people, it would be better to promote court officials who are not involved in the faction and place them in it."
Caught off guard, Huo Wuyou nodded her head: "Smart!"
Huo Wuyou smiled proudly: "Not only that, His Majesty asked me what reward I wanted. I said that I gained a lot from supervising the case this time, and I wanted to enter the court to gain some experience."
Xue Zhiyi adjusted his hair as usual and asked, "So, where did His Majesty assign you to work?"
"Your Majesty has just punished Ge Mingli, dismissing him from his post and confiscating his property." Huo Wuyou raised his thumb and pointed at himself: "So now, the position of Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple has fallen to me."
Xue Zhiyi nodded in understanding: "Congratulations, Marquis of Lin'an. You can use this opportunity to better investigate the old case in the future."
Huo Wuyou was in a good mood and asked her, "Do you want to go out of the palace for a walk?"
"Leaving the palace?"
After being locked up in the palace for so many days, it would be a lie to say that I don’t want to go out.
She asked, "My Lord, you want to do more than just hang out with me, right?"
Huo Wuyou asked her back: "Can't you?"
When facing Huo Wuyou, she didn't even realize that her eyes had softened a lot.
She smiled and said, "Of course."
Huo Wuyou's eyes lit up slightly, and he stretched slowly: "Then I will take it as an invitation for you to hang out with me?"
Xue Zhiyi didn't answer him, but only asked: "Actually, the Marquis still has serious matters to attend to, right?"
Huo Wuyou sighed in boredom: "You guessed it again."
Xue Zhiyi just pretended to listen attentively.
Huo Wuyou only heard: "I found someone, maybe she can be useful to you."
…
In the carriage leaving the palace, Xue Zhiyi glanced out the window at Huo Wuyou who was riding a horse.
He tilted his head and looked at her: "Why are you wearing a veil? It's not like you can't leave the palace."
Xue Zhiyi was dressed in ordinary attire for those outside the palace. As the weather got warmer, her clothes became lighter. However, she had a veil on her face, so only the outline of her face could be vaguely seen.
Xue Zhiyi said, "I can appear outside the palace, and so can the Marquis, but it's best if we don't get seen together."
Huo Wuyou narrowed his eyes, leaned over, approached the curtain and asked her, "Are you afraid of being discovered by Gu Shichong?"
Xue Zhiyi felt inexplicably guilty. She blinked and said, "It wouldn't be good if anyone found out."
Huo Wuyou just snorted lightly, sat up straight and said nothing more.
The carriage stopped in front of a house in an alley. It was close to the downtown area but not noisy. It was really a nice place.
It was the house that was originally bought for Xue Runing.
Xue Zhiyi was stunned: "What are you doing here?"
Huo Wuyou just said, "Follow me."
Then he walked up and knocked on the door.
Seeing the two of them, the person who opened the door was also startled.
"Miss! Miss is back!" The little girl Su Yue seemed to have grown a lot taller, and her chubby little face became much prettier.
She called out joyfully, "Qiuyun! Qiuyun, come quickly!"
When Qiuyun came hurriedly, a smile suddenly appeared on her face: "Miss!"
Xue Zhiyi took their outstretched hands and said, "Long time no see."
The two of them pulled Xue Zhiyi to look at it again and again, and then welcomed her and Huo Wuyou in.
Xue Zhiyi took off her veil, looked at each other carefully, and asked about their well-being for a while. Only after making sure that everyone was safe did she finally feel relieved.
According to the two, they lived in this house, guarding the spirit tablet for Xue Runing, and from time to time took their own embroidery to the market to sell. Their lives were much more comfortable than before in the Xue Mansion.
In this way, Xue Zhiyi has nothing to worry about.
After saying all this, Xue Zhiyi asked Huo Wuyou, "The people that the Marquis of Lin'an wants to bring me to see shouldn't be Qiuyun and Suyue, right?"
"It's definitely not them." Huo Wuyou replied.
He asked Qiuyun and Suyue, "Some time ago, someone was released here with you. Can you take us to see him?"
Su Yue nodded, stood up and took them to a room in the back hall. She didn't expect that there was someone guarding the room.
After opening the door, Xue Zhiyi stepped in, only to see that the person locked inside was a woman who looked very familiar.
Xue Zhiyi's eyebrows jumped: "You are... Caizhi?"
The maid who served Fu Rongxin in the past.
Xue Zhiyi looked at Huo Wuyou in confusion. Huo Wuyou just said calmly, "She has something you want to know."
Seeing them coming, Cai Zhi stood up and knelt stiffly before Xue Zhiyi: "This servant greets the Third Young Lady."
Xue Zhiyi's expression was calm: "No need to be polite. You are not my servant, and I am not the Third Miss. Stand up and speak."
Caizhi then stood up, but she didn't know what had happened and she didn't look very well.
Huo Wuyou explained, "When I was investigating your background, I found Caizhi. After the Xue family was ransacked, she was also sold. I found her from a human trafficker."
When Xue Zhiyi heard that it was related to her life experience, her heart tightened. She nodded and smiled at Huo Wuyou: "Thank you."
After thanking her, he said to Caizhi, "If you have anything to say, just say it."
She was very curious about the relationship between Caizhi and her life experience.
Cai Zhi simply hung her head, hunched her shoulders, and said, "Before I began serving my cousin, I had always worked at An Xian Ju. As far as I can remember, I've been living in the Xue family, and I've always considered myself an orphan without a father or a mother."
She paused, then continued, "When I was implicated by my cousin and imprisoned, I never imagined that a woman would bear all the suspicion and stigma for me, and eventually die tragically in prison. That woman... was none other than my long-lost mother."
After hearing this: Xue Zhiyi was stunned: "You are... Mei Gu's daughter?"
Cai Zhi nodded. "I was also told about this in prison before my mother died. My real name is Mei Aruan. I disappeared for no apparent reason when I was young. The reason for my disappearance was..."
She bit her lip. "It was because my mother was obsessed with money and accepted Fu Ling's bribe to swap the babies born on the same day in the restaurant. My mother had no time to take care of me, so someone took advantage of her. Moreover, Fu Ling wanted to use my life to blackmail my mother..."
Hearing this, Xue Zhiyi was already speechless with shock: "..."
After a moment's silence, she asked, "What else did Mei Gu tell you?"
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