Chapter 134: Concubine Ye is not dead?

On the second day, when the sky had just begun to brighten, Jun Zechen walked out of Kunning Palace.

He was dressed in solemn and dignified court robes, his whole body was as straight and upright as a pine tree, and his aura was majestic and captivating.

An Shun followed him carefully, with his head lowered and very respectful.

At this moment, His Majesty's majestic voice came from afar.

"An Shun, go secretly and thoroughly investigate Ling's plot to murder the empress."

Jun Zechen paused and continued.

"Remember, the Queen must not find out."

When An Shun heard this, he was shocked. What does His Majesty mean?

Jun Zechen's eyes, which showed no emotion, stared straight ahead like a deep pool.

Yaoyao, what are you hiding from me?

The first rays of sunlight in the morning shine through the window lattice onto the bedroom.

Su Jingyao woke up slowly, but Jun Zechen had already left.

Her eyes revealed a trace of fatigue and melancholy. Because of what happened last night, she felt heavy as if a huge rock was pressing down on her and she couldn't relax.

But Su Jingyao will never miss any details.

She sat on the bed expressionlessly. After a moment, she said calmly, "Miaoyun, go get Doctor Jin."

When Li Jing arrived at Kunning Palace, Su Jingyao was already leaning against the head of the bed, with her dark hair neatly combed and her appearance tidied up.

She leaned there, like a quiet painting.

"Your Majesty, your humble servant pays his respects to you." Li Jing bowed respectfully.

"Please take a seat."

Miaoyun moved swiftly and brought a stool over and placed it next to Li Jing.

After Li Jing slowly sat down, Su Jingyao continued, "Take a look at the wine stains on the hem of my palace dress last night. Is there anything wrong with it?"

She suspected that the wine sprinkled on the palace skirts contained drugs that attracted snakes.

Afterwards, Su Jingyao ordered Miaoyun to bring some of the snakes that were chopped to death by the guards last night.

Li Jing used to do business and traveled far and wide, so he had a wide range of knowledge. Whether it was the specialties of various parts of the kingdom or some strange and peculiar things in the neighboring countries, he had more or less some understanding of them.

Li Jing smelled the wine stain, frowned slightly, and then looked at the type of snake carefully.

"This snake is called the rock-dwelling pit viper, and it is a highly venomous snake." Li Jing said solemnly.

"The wine stains on your majesty's dress have dried up, and it is difficult for me to tell whether they contain substances that attract snakes."

"But there are many people in the north who walk on the edge of a knife and can train rock vipers."

"Putting young pit vipers in a special container and stimulating the snakes with special smells and vibrations of a specific frequency will make them respond to these signals," Li Jing explained seriously.

After listening to this, Su Jingyao felt confused.

How could so many snakes be sent into the palace without anyone noticing?

This is incredible.

It looks like Jun Zechen needs to replace his guards. They are so useless!

Then Su Jingyao changed her mind and wondered if someone among the guards had ulterior motives and was involved in this matter?

Thinking of this, a sharp light flashed in Su Jingyao's eyes.

"Miaoyun, did the palace maid find out anything last night?"

"Master, the maid last night was named Yi'er. I have carefully checked all her records since she entered the palace, including her identity before entering the palace. Yi'er seems to have a lot of connections with the Ye family."

Miaoyun shook her head slightly as she spoke, seeming to be very confused by this discovery.

"But the Ye family has been abolished, and Concubine Ye is dead. Could it be that Yi'er is going to avenge the Ye family herself?"

Seeing that her master had no reaction, Miaoyun continued to ask questions.

"Master, even if Yi'er was a member of the Ye family before, she wouldn't sacrifice her entire life to avenge the Ye family. Could it be that there is someone behind her?"

A solemn look appeared on Su Jingyao's face.

Ye Family...

The Ye family is a century-old family, and the Ye family was not completely wiped out by Jun Zechen, so it is not surprising that they can continue to control Yi'er.

But not only did the Ye family not conserve their energy and build up their strength, they also openly exposed their members in the palace.

Aren't they afraid that Jun Zechen will wipe them out in one fell swoop?

The reason why Jun Zechen did not kill the entire Ye family was because Jun Zechen had just ascended the throne and the previous emperor had implemented benevolent policies.

If he kills too many people after ascending the throne, it will easily arouse fear among the people in the court.

Moreover, even if the Ye family wanted to make a comeback, they should not deal with a woman like her.

Anyone who could do such a thing must have a deep hatred for her.

And in this palace, the people who hated her the most were Concubine Ye and Concubine Lin...

But they are already dead...

Last night Ling Yue thought her father was dead, so she made a desperate attempt to kill her.

Her father was living well outside the Great Wall, so why did Ling Yue receive such news?

Someone must have deceived Ling Yue and used him as an excuse to kill someone.

But if Ling Yue wants to believe it, he must at least have a token of General Ling's death.

Some members of the Ye family were exiled to the frontier outside the Great Wall by Jun Zechen...

Could it be that someone from the Ye family really had secretly contacted Ling Yue?

Just when Su Jingyao was puzzled, Xilu hurried in with a look of anxiety and excitement on her face.

"Master, I found this in the peach forest."

Xilu said this and presented the things in his hand.

Su Jingyao glanced casually, but found that what Xilu presented to her was actually a human skin mask. Her eyes widened instantly and her face was full of shock.

Upon hearing this, Li Jing quickly took the human skin mask and examined it carefully with great concentration.

Seeing that Doctor Jin was studying the mask, Xilu continued speaking.

"Yesterday, I ordered people to carefully check the road from the cold palace to the peach forest, but nothing was found."

"But I thought about it carefully. The cold palace already has guards, and even our people are monitoring Ling. It is impossible for Ling to escape easily."

As Xilu spoke, he frowned slightly, with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Afterwards, I searched the peach forest extensively and found traces of the soil around a peach tree being turned over."

"Sure enough, after digging deeper, we found this human skin mask."

Su Jingyao glanced at Xilu with admiration. Although Xilu didn't talk much, he was indeed very thoughtful.

After seeing this human skin mask, the doubts that had been bothering me for a long time finally had an answer.

Concubine Ye, she is not dead!

A complex light flashed in Su Jingyao's eyes.

She was almost certain that someone had replaced Concubine Ye with a human skin mask and rescued her.

Thinking of this, my heart sank.

Perhaps there are former members of the Ye family among the palace guards. After all, the Ye family is a military family, so there will always be some who slip through the net.

After Li Jing took a look, his face became solemn.

"Your Majesty, this human skin mask is well made and extremely rare. The guards of the Shenwu Gate search people entering and leaving the palace every day. They are experienced and it is impossible for such an object to pass through the Shenwu Gate."

"Unless... it has not been inspected by the Shenwu Gate."

Su Jingyao figured out some things and looked more relaxed. As long as everything came to light, there was nothing to be afraid of.

"The dowry for the Five Nations marriage will not go through the Shenwu Gate, but will be inspected by His Majesty's personal guards, and they will only check whether there are items such as weapons."

"It's easy to avoid detection with a human skin mask."

Su Jingyao narrowed her eyes slightly as she spoke, as if she was thinking about something.

Li Jing also frowned.

"So the master suspects that someone from the Five Nations has teamed up with Concubine Ye?" Li Jing's brows furrowed even more tightly, his eyes full of suspicion.

Su Jingyao couldn't be sure either.

Concubine Ming, Concubine Lan, Concubine Xuan, Concubine Ya, and Concubine Ning, they serve as pawns of marriage alliance, and their role is to ensure harmony between the two countries.

Why do we need to help Concubine Ye?

Could it be that...some of the concubines from these countries are here to be spies?

The Ye family wants to collaborate with the enemy and commit treason?

A hint of danger appeared in Su Jingyao's eyes.

Oh.