Empress Zhaoyuan left Zhaoyang Palace, accompanied by Cuiling, followed by several palace maids and eunuchs carrying lanterns. Axiang led the way, and the group headed towards the woods in the north courtyard.
Yun Yibo had been hiding in the corner listening to their conversation. When he saw them walking outside, he put on his long robe, picked up Xiaobai, and quietly followed them from a distance.
"Little White, let's go!"
As he secretly followed, he pondered that the dead body in the dry well seemed to be related to his imperial sister.
Could the murderer who harmed the princess be in the dry well?
Could that person have started the fire in the Buddhist temple?
Who exactly wants to harm her imperial sister?
...
Walking into the backyard, the night was dark and windy, the dew was heavy, the moonlight was cold and clear, and there was no sound.
The eunuchs and palace maids looked around in fear. A cold wind blew, making them shiver and goosebumps rise on their necks.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" The wind howled mournfully, like the sorrowful cries of wronged souls.
"I've never been here before. Is there anything unclean here?" The little eunuch trembled with fear, tugging at the sleeve of the eunuch beside him.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
"I wasn't afraid at first, but now that you've said that, I'm a little scared too. It's all your fault!"
The palace maids and eunuchs walking behind muttered and pushed each other, looking around nervously, and holding each other's hands tightly in fear.
"Your Majesty, let's go back to the palace. I'm scared." Hearing the discussions behind her, and looking at the dilapidated and gloomy surroundings with the moonlight barely visible, Cui Ling was so frightened that she clung tightly to the Empress's arm.
"What are you afraid of?! You spineless coward, you think I'd eat you up?!"
"Quiet down, you lot!" Empress Zhaoyuan said in a low voice, stopping the whispers of the crowd.
Ah Xiang, carrying a lantern, boldly led the way.
She really didn't want to come to this gloomy place a second time, but for the little princess, she was willing to endure any fear or hardship.
Reaching the well, she breathed a sigh of relief; she had finally arrived.
The well was located in the middle of the abandoned north courtyard. The group walked around the dead branches and avoided the thorny twigs, and gathered around the well.
"Your Majesty, it's this well." Ah Xiang suppressed her fear; she didn't want to look at it again, the image already deeply imprinted in her mind.
Now, whenever she closes her eyes, she sees that pale, swollen, and wide-eyed face.
Empress Zhaoyuan nodded, carefully walked to the well, glanced inside, and gasped when she saw the person inside.
Good heavens, what kind of karma has this been created?!
Being an empress is really tough!
[Yun Beiye, if you had known you were the Crown Prince and Emperor, you should have let someone else save you when you were crippled!]
What a tragic fate! I, the Empress, am destined to suffer every single day!
Seeing that the Empress was unsteady on her feet, the palace maids behind her quickly ran over and helped her up.
"Your Majesty..." Cui Ling's voice was choked with sobs.
“There is indeed someone in the well,” Empress Zhaoyuan said in a low voice.
Why hasn't Zhao Zhongquan arrived yet?
As everyone was in a panic, they heard footsteps behind them.
Zhao Zhongquan led ten eunuchs dressed in dark blue palace attire and wearing eunuch hats. The eunuchs were also carrying white loads and walking hurriedly.
"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress." Zhao Zhongquan and the eunuch behind him bowed.
The Empress nodded, and seeing the burden on Zhao Zhong's back, she secretly praised him. As expected of someone who had been in the palace for a long time, he could roughly guess what had happened and what kind of preparations needed to be made without being told.
"Quickly, carry the person out of the well," the Empress waved her hand.
"Yes, Your Majesty, please rest for a while." Zhao Zhongquan smiled and pointed to the open space to the side.
The Empress and the others stepped aside and walked to an open space.
"You guys, quickly get the person out and put them on this carrying pole!"
Empress Zhaoyuan took out a handkerchief, covered her mouth and nose, turned her back, and refused to look at the well again.
On a dark and windy night, a group of people stood quietly beside the well, while another group busied themselves at the well's edge. Several eunuchs laboriously pulled the person out of the well.
A stench wafted over, and the eunuch's body dripped water all over the ground.
Ah Xiang looked at the eunuch being carried out, still feeling lingering fear. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye; the eunuch looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, and his body was already swollen from being soaked in water.
"Ah, poor kid, so unlucky," Zhao Zhongquan sighed.
"Did you accidentally fall into the well?" a eunuch in Zhaoyang Palace asked curiously.
"A slip?" a eunuch muttered with a cold sneer. "Who would come here for no reason?"
Ah Xiang glanced at him but didn't say anything.
"When they carried him out just now, I saw that he had swollen marks on his head from being beaten. He might have been knocked unconscious and thrown into the well," a junior eunuch said.
As they were talking, a gust of cold wind blew by, making everyone shiver.
Looking at the eunuch on the white pole, Ah Xiang felt a wave of nausea wash over her. She squatted down and dry heaved. Since the Xin Zhe Ku (a place for palace servants) didn't have much good food, she didn't eat much either, only dry heaving and vomiting up the acid from her stomach.
"Woof woof woof!" Yun Yibo was squatting behind a big tree, watching the group, when suddenly the little white dog in his arms darted out.
"Little White!" Yun Yibo called softly, inwardly realizing they were about to be discovered.
Upon hearing the sound, Zhao Zhongquan shouted, "Who's there!"
Several eunuchs followed the sound and dragged the person hiding behind the tree out.
"The Crown Prince?" Zhao Zhongquan looked at Yun Yibo in surprise.
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