Chapter 27
"I noticed that you looked serious just now, but what happened?" Cang Xu caught up with You Yang, and the two of them flew over the eaves and walls in the night sky.
You Yang said succinctly, "Those two were poisoned to death. Just from what I heard, I can't figure out what methods the person behind the scenes used to cause these two people to die so silently from poisoning in the cell."
"After the Dali Temple jailers discovered this, they informed Nan Qi, who quickly rushed to the palace to find the Fifth Prince."
"When he comes back, he will definitely send people to surround the Dali Temple. If we don't leave now, we will be stuck."
Cang Xu didn't expect You Yang to be so meticulous, and suddenly understood why his master wanted to take her under his command.
"I'll explain the rest to you when I get home."
As You Yang spoke, she glanced down. As she expected, Song Yunlan not only came back, but was also followed by a large group of Palace Guards.
He hurried up the stairs, then suddenly stopped as if he felt something and looked up at the roof. All he saw was the pitch-black night sky, without even a star.
Nan Qi looked over suspiciously, "Your Highness?"
Song Yunlan withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and continued walking inside.
"Surround the Dali Temple. No one is allowed to leave without my permission. Everyone must wait for inspection by the Imperial Guards."
——
After returning to Prince Xuan's Mansion, You Yang pushed open the door breathlessly and ignored Song Yanting who was sitting and drinking tea. He found a place to sit down and poured himself a cup of tea to quench his thirst, feeling relieved.
I was almost discovered by Song Yunlan.
Cang Xu was so stunned by You Yang's calm and composed process that he was pinned to the spot.
Although her last act of tyranny was unintentional, this time she knew her master was here and still dared to act as she pleased.
What's more, the master is not angry at all. He must have lost his mind.
Cang Xu didn't have the courage of You Yang, so he didn't dare to act rashly. "Master."
"Get up." Song Yanting's eyes wandered between the two dusty men. "What news have you heard?"
Cang Xu repeated to Song Yan the news that You Yang had told him.
Hearing the mention of the Prime Minister, Song Yan's eyebrows trembled slightly, and he asked suspiciously, "Ji Ping?"
"I didn't expect this old guy to have such thoughts."
"He puts on airs on a daily basis. I'm afraid the memorials he has submitted to me will pile up like a mountain."
You Yang was almost done resting, "From what you said, Ji Ping is usually honest and upright. In the eyes of the people, he is a rare good official?"
"But how did such a person manage to become the behind-the-scenes boss of Chun Hongfang without making any noise? Even your people didn't notice their actions."
The more You Yang thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong.
In the story, Song Yanting is the mastermind behind the scenes, his wisdom almost invincible. At the end of the story, he not only seizes the throne from the hero but also forces him to commit suicide.
There is no other villain besides him, but it sounds like there is another one.
Could it be that because of the different perspectives, the villains' experiences are mostly glossed over in the storybooks, and the main focus is on the tragic love between the male and female protagonists.
"Everyone in the court is wearing a mask and pretending to be submissive. In the end, it all comes down to whose mask is the strongest."
Facing this unfathomable opponent whose identity is unknown, You Yang would definitely feel anxious and uneasy, but Song Yanting never seems to show such emotion on his face.
Instead, he was actually laughing.
His narrow, long phoenix eyes were filled with excitement for the unknown challenge. "Let me see what kind of faces you have under your masks."
…
The Dali Temple was surrounded by heavy troops from inside to outside.
The coroner was performing an autopsy. Song Yunlan checked all the suspicious people and then went to the cell.
The coroner saw him and hurriedly bowed, "This old servant pays homage to His Highness the Fifth Prince."
Song Yunlan stood beside the two corpses, examined them carefully, and asked, "What poison caused their death?"
The coroner handed him the remaining powder of the crested red that had just been scraped off the wound.
"Reporting to His Highness, these two people died of Hedinghong."
"The poison entered his body through the whip wounds. The wounds were relatively even and not contaminated much, so the poison didn't take effect immediately. Instead, he vomited blood and died half an hour later."
"Whip wounds..." Song Yunlan suddenly remembered, "Nanqi, go get the basin of salt water."
Soaking the long whip in salt water before using it is a necessary step in the interrogation of the prisoner. If he does not put the whip in salt water at that time, the jailer who carries out the execution will also put it through the salt water.
It turns out that these two people have already become the abandoned pawns destined to die by the mastermind behind the scenes.
He hadn't gotten any information out of the two men yet, and now all the clues were gone. For now, he was forced to follow this weak clue and continue his investigation.
Nan Qi took the order and brought the wooden basin over, "Your Highness."
Song Yunlan asked him to bring it to the coroner and asked, "Take a look and see if there is any poison in it."
The coroner used a silver needle to test for poison, but after passing the needle through salt water, there was no change.
"Your Highness, this salt water is not poisonous."
"Non-toxic?" Song Yunlan walked forward in surprise and took a closer look at the wooden basin. He finally realized that this wooden basin was not the one he used at that time.
He was furious, "Who changed the salt water in this basin?"
The Dali Temple Minister knelt down in fear.
"Your Highness, the salt water in the Dali Temple prison is required to be changed daily by a dedicated prison guard."
After all these events, Song Yunlan suddenly understood that his being summoned to the palace was actually a plan by the person behind the scenes, and he was deliberately sent away.
His brows furrowed into a frown, "Who is it today? Bring him here to see me."
Unexpectedly, their people had also infiltrated the Dali Temple.
Song Yunlan had to be on guard, and he sent his personal guard Nan Qi to monitor them to prevent any further mistakes from happening along the way.
Just when he thought everything was safe, Nan Qi came back with a wet corpse covered with a white cloth.
Nan Qi: "I failed in my duty and was a step too late. I found this jailer in the well of the Dali Temple."
"There are no external injuries on the body. He must have committed suicide by jumping into the well."
"Coroner, please go and take a look."
Song Yunlan was extremely distressed. Since returning to Beijing, he had finally found some clues, but in the end, they were all broken by this little jailer.
He had not been in the capital for a long time, and he did not expect that various forces had already penetrated so deeply here.
Nan Qi placed the person next to the other two bodies, and after the coroner examined him, he found something wrong.
"Your Highness, this man did not commit suicide by jumping into the well. I smelled the scent of Poria cocos and licorice in his breath. He may have drunk a tranquilizing decoction before dying, and was then thrown into the well after he passed out."
Song Yunlan seemed to be lost in thought.
"Nanqi, go find any suspicious people this jailer has had recent contact with. Bring them here if you find any. Anyone who resists will be charged with obstructing the Dali Temple's investigation."
——
Song Yan heard that all the arrangements were completed. It was late at night, and it would be better for You Yang to go back home and sleep instead of staying there.
She climbed in through the reserved window.
After a while, Qingyun knocked on the door.
"Is the young lady awake?"
"Well... come in." Youyang was in a heavy mood.
She didn't sleep at all...
Qingyun pushed the door open carefully, and when closing the door, he looked outside to make sure that there was no one around before closing the door with peace of mind.
She came to Youyang with tea, her face a little solemn. She stared at her with worry, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.
You Yang raised her eyebrows, "Just say whatever you want to say."
Qingyun: "Miss, have you been out at night these past two days?"
To her surprise, Qingyun asked so directly that she felt a little guilty for a moment.
She was stunned for a moment, then laughed awkwardly, "How could that be? I went to bed early these past two days."
"Miss, I grew up with you, you can't hide anything from me."
A few days ago, the wind was very strong outside. Qingyun just lay down and heard the whistling wind outside.
She was worried that Youyang had caught a cold due to neglecting to close the window, so she got up from the couch and came to look for him in the middle of the night.
I knocked on the door for a long time but there was no response from inside the house.
She then recalled that on her tenth birthday, the young lady collapsed in the room without a word.
Qingyun was still scared when he thought about it now, and hurriedly pushed open the door.
Later she found out that the young lady was not in the room at all. She searched for her all night long but did not dare to make a sound, for fear that Liu Mei would cause trouble again.
Fortunately, she remembered the instructions given by the young lady before she left, and guessed that she had other arrangements. She suppressed her worries and got through the whole night. Sure enough, the young lady showed up the next morning.
"The young lady has changed since she returned home. She's become like she was when she was a child, always having her own ideas and loving to sneak out to play."
"You went there secretly without telling me where you were going, and made me worry all night."
Upon hearing this, You Yang couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in surprise.
No wonder no one suspected anything even though my personality changed so much after I came here.
It was understandable that Liu Mei and the others didn't know much about the original body, but Qingyun, who had been with the original body since childhood, didn't suspect anything. It seemed that the original body had a very similar temperament to them when they were children.
In the story, this girl is absolutely loyal to her original self.
After You Miaoyan drank poison after his original body was sealed, he set fire to the palace and burned it to ashes.
No one cared about her, the concubine hated by the emperor, and it was Qingyun who rushed into the sea of fire alone.
But in the end, not only did she fail to find her original body, she was burned by the flames, leaving behind ugly and horrible scars. She was humiliated by the senior palace maid beside You Miaoyan, and was sent to the cold palace, where she dragged her sick body to serve the deposed concubine, and finally died an untimely death.
Youyang raised her beautiful eyes slightly, thinking that it was time to re-examine the relationship between herself and Qingyun.
Trust is very rare in the world of cultivation. Cultivators will not easily give their trust to anyone, let alone someone in her situation.
She sighed softly, "Well, it's not impossible to tell you."
"Really, miss?!" Qingyun was very happy.
You Yang nodded, "Actually, I sneaked out these past few nights because I found myself a new job."
"Double the monthly salary, and you can still act tyrannically."
"I see. Then Qingyun would like to congratulate Miss. I will go to the small kitchen and light a fire to make her a crispy duck as a celebration."
"You don't ask me what job I found?" You Yang was a little surprised.
Qingyun knew the limits of this matter. "No matter what the task is, it is not for servants like me to interfere."
She smiled and said, "Young lady is so smart, Qingyun thinks that must be an excellent job, otherwise, with your lazy nature, why would you agree to it?"
You Yang arched his nose and scratched the tip of her nose, "You are getting bolder and bolder, be careful or I will deduct your monthly salary."
Qingyun pursed his lips and smiled dotingly, "Okay, okay, Qingyun will go and make the two young ladies' favorite food to apologize to them."
You Yang: "If it doesn't taste good, I won't forgive you."
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