Chapter 8
"Your Highness, I don't know what you've heard, but I won't admit to anything I didn't do. If Your Highness doesn't believe me, I'll naturally leave."
Cheng Zhixuan finished speaking and stepped back. What did the emperor say to Zhou Erlan? Fortunately, he was prepared.
After hearing Cheng Zhixuan speak so righteously, Zhou Erlan dispelled her doubts about him. After all, he had saved her from thieves several times.
Pursing her lips, she suddenly thought of the arrow feathers that had been sent to her, and asked Cheng Zhixuan, "You really didn't lie to me?"
"Really? How could I lie to the prince?" Cheng Zhixuan nodded.
"Then I will believe you for now. My sister sent someone to deliver the arrow feathers. Mu Tou has already gone to find the people from the Dali Temple to check it out. We will know the truth after a check." Zhou Erlan said, looked at him, and left with a flick of his sleeves.
Cheng Zhixuan followed him, walking calmly. No one saw him last night, so even if the Dali Temple took the opportunity to intervene, they wouldn't be able to find out anything.
The Dali Temple only sent a coroner, who went back after checking whether the arrow contained poison.
Mu Tou took the result and grabbed the arrow. He imitated the way the emperor used to hunt, holding the arrow between his fingers. He tried several times but failed to turn it successfully.
"Mu Tou, where are the people from Dali Temple?" Zhou Erlan came in and saw that Mu Tou couldn't even turn the arrow around, so he rolled his eyes in disgust.
"Ouch!" Mu Tou was frightened by the sudden sound. The arrow almost hit his face, so he quickly threw it away.
"Your Highness, the coroner said there's arsenic underneath..." Before Mu Tou could finish his words, he saw his own prince rushing to Cheng Zhixuan, grabbing him by the collar, and punching him in the face.
"Zhixuan! Didn't you say there was no arsenic?"
"Hiss!" Cheng Zhixuan was knocked aside by Zhou Erlan's punch, and he turned his head to take a breath.
"Your Highness, I really didn't wipe it off..." Cheng Zhixuan turned around, with a trace of blood hanging from the corner of his mouth, and said with determination in his eyes.
"Then why did the coroner find out that it was arsenic!" Zhou Erlan widened his eyes in anger, and the hand holding his collar kept tightening, and veins bulged.
If it weren't for the Emperor's sister's good fortune, last night...
"I..." Cheng Zhixuan didn't know what to say when he saw Zhou Erlan who was so angry. He had underestimated the position of Zhou Xuanqing in Zhou Erlan's heart.
"Uh... Your Highness, that... I haven't finished yet... The top is arsenic, and the bottom is sleeping powder..." Mu Tou scratched his head, hesitantly interrupted the terrible atmosphere between the two, and quickly spoke.
"What?" Zhou Erlan looked back at him, his bulging veins twitching twice.
Bastard!
She turned around and looked at Cheng Zhixuan, who had an innocent look on his face, pursed her lips, not knowing what to say.
Cheng Zhixuan grabbed Zhou Erlan's hand, asking him to let go. He said weakly but firmly, "Your Highness, I really didn't use arsenic. For the past three years, I have always known that the emperor is very important to you. How could I hurt her?"
Seeing the guilt flashing in Zhou Erlan's eyes, he spoke again with sympathy: "Your Highness, you don't have to feel guilty. It's my fault. I only applied the sleeping powder, but I don't know why the one I took from the emperor contained arsenic. I just hope there is no rift between Your Highness and the emperor..."
Zhou Erlan frowned slightly upon hearing this. "Yes, why would the arrow feathers sent by the imperial sister contain arsenic? Arsenic would be instantly fatal if it were absorbed into the bloodstream. How did the imperial sister manage to return to the Daming Palace alive from the Imperial Garden after being shot by an arrow?"
If it weren't for Tang Mi, the emperor might have lost his life last night... Thinking of what Chang Xi said, Zhou Erlan walked to the chair and sat down.
Tang Mi? Could she be that old man Tang's granddaughter? The one I met at the Imperial Hospital? Could I go ask her?
"Mu Tou, follow me into the palace and have lunch with the Emperor."
Zhou Erlan finished speaking and left in a hurry. Mu Tou followed closely behind, and before leaving, he glanced at Cheng Zhixuan who was standing with his hands on the table.
He always felt that this guy named Zhixuan was so scary, effeminate, and troublesome!
In the Imperial Garden, Chang Xi walked back and forth, plucking flowers when he had nothing to do. Looking at this beautiful Imperial Garden, he sighed and wondered why it was not time for dinner yet?
A group of people were walking towards them. Chang Xi saw the concubine and the little prince coming over, and hurried over with a whisk.
The concubine, dressed in a crimson palace dress and standing on a flowerpot, was supported by the little prince Zhou Qiuyu, who was dressed in a navy blue robe. She looked at Chang Xi, who was holding flowers and a whisk, and raised her head arrogantly.
Upon seeing this, Chang Xi quickly bowed and said, "Slave, I greet the Queen Mother and the little prince."
"Get up quickly! You are a favorite of the emperor, I can't accept this gift~" the concubine said, rolling her eyes at Chang Xi. A eunuch always puts on airs!
"Look at what the Concubine said. I don't deserve it. It's all because of the Emperor's favor. By the way, I wonder where the Concubine is going?" Chang Xi said with a forced smile, looking at the Concubine with his bright eyes.
"I heard that the emperor was assassinated and injured, so I brought Yu'er to see her. After all, I am the only old person in the palace, and it is my responsibility to take care of the emperor when he is injured." The concubine couldn't stand his small eyes, so she looked away with disgust and said with a loving face.
Chang Xi nodded, made way, and said with a smile: "Thanks to the imperial concubine taking care of the palace, it just so happens that I am going back and will go the same way with the imperial concubine."
"Okay~" The concubine responded, holding her son's hand and walking forward.
At the beginning, the concubine dowager and the little prince Zhou Qiuyu escaped by hiding in a jar. After the princess ascended the throne, she brought them from Nanshan into the palace. After all, they were the descendants of the late emperor.
I didn't expect the concubine to become more and more presumptuous! Or perhaps her ambitions are growing! Chang Xi thought as he walked, holding the whisk.
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