Long live the Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager!
Liu Yi, the head of the secret guards, knelt before the Empress Dowager, awaiting her judgment.
"Liu Yi, how many years have you followed me?" The Empress Dowager asked, her sharp gaze fixed on the direction where He Shunsu and Gu Aqi had left.
"Thirty years!" Liu Yi's tone remained as cold as ever, as mechanical as a machine.
The Empress Dowager nodded and continued, "Thirty years is enough time for you to retire. Alright, help me with this last matter, and I will reward you with a thousand acres of fertile land and ten thousand taels of gold, allowing you to retire and return to your hometown. How about that?"
"Your Majesty! If I have done anything wrong, please point it out to me. I am truly unworthy of such treatment!" Although he said this, Liu Yi's tone remained calm.
The Empress Dowager shook her head, her gaze falling on Liu Yi's face. Thirty years had passed, and Liu Yi's temples had turned quite white, and even a hideous scar had appeared on his face.
"You haven't done anything wrong, but I feel you're too tired and need to rest! Go and find out where that child named Nianci is. Once you find him, kill him for me! After you've done it, I will keep my promise! You may leave, I'm tired!" After saying this, the Empress Dowager had no intention of speaking to Liu Yi anymore.
Liu Yi nodded and led the Empress Dowager away from her bedchamber.
The Empress Dowager leaned against the couch with her eyes closed, while a young palace maid beside her carefully fanned herself.
"Third son, oh third son, don't blame your mother for being ruthless, this child cannot be kept!" A single tear silently flowed from the corner of the Empress Dowager's eye, falling quietly to the ground and disappearing without a trace.
As for Jiang Ling, Zhao Liuqing came over almost every day. Jiang Ling would only pretend to come over when Zhao Liuqing was there, and otherwise she was almost bored.
That night, Jiang Ling was sleeping soundly when she suddenly heard a voice in her ear.
Jiang Ling suddenly opened her eyes, and in the hazy night, Jiang Shan's face appeared before her.
Jiang Ling was startled. If Jiang Shan hadn't covered her mouth, she probably would have screamed.
"I apologize for offending you, Madam!" Jiang Shan said in a low voice, so low that only Jiang Shan and Jiang Ling in the room could hear him.
Jiang Ling frowned as she looked at Jiang Shan. Based on her understanding of Jiang Shan, she knew he would never betray her, but it was really against the rules for him to break into her room in the middle of the night.
"Mrs. An, someone wants to kill you, no, they want to kill the young master!" Jiang Shan's words sent a chill down Jiang Ling's spine.
Jiang Ling reached out and gently tapped Jiang Shan's hand that was covering his mouth, indicating that he could remove it.
Jiang Shan tentatively and slowly removed his hand, but Jiang Ling grabbed his collar and whispered, "What exactly happened?"
"This is not the time to talk about this. I already knocked the young master unconscious and put him in a safe place. I apologize to Anren!" With that, Jiang Shan pressed Jiang Ling's acupoints.
Jiang Ling felt a jolt throughout her body, followed by a tingling sensation. She could only watch helplessly as Jiang Shan picked her up and secretly placed her in the last inconspicuous storage room.
At this moment, Nianci was lying inside with her eyes slightly closed.
"I'm sorry, Madam An!" Jiang Shan said, releasing Jiang Ling's pressure points.
"What exactly happened?" Jiang Ling asked, though she was anxious, she still suppressed her anger.
"I don't know either. Just now, someone suddenly blew sleeping pills into the young master's room. I took the young master away through the back window without making a sound. Please wait for me to investigate the details, Anren! Please bear with me for the night, Anren! I will stay here and guard him!" With that, Jiang Shan gently pushed open the door and stood guard outside.
Jiang Ling didn't know how she got through that night. She felt her whole body was tense and sweat was constantly being secreted. In just a few hours, Jiang Ling's nightgown was almost completely soaked.
When dawn broke, Jiang Ling felt as if she had been pulled out of the water.
"Auntie, it's dawn, you can come out now!" Jiang Shan gently pushed open the door, his voice a little louder.
Just as Jiang Ling was about to get up, she felt dizzy and the world spun around her. Jiang Shan quickly caught her.
"Be careful!" Jiang Shan warned.
Jiang Ling nodded her thanks, then rubbed her numb legs and turned to look at Nianci. Thank goodness, Nianci was still unconscious.
"What exactly happened?" Jiang Ling asked, frowning as she carried Nianci back to her room.
Jiang Shan hadn't slept all night; his eyes were slightly red, and his unshaven beard made him look somewhat disheveled.
"I don't know either, but I found this outside the young master's room!" Jiang Shan said, placing a dark, indistinct object in front of Jiang Ling.
"What is this?" Jiang Ling asked, frowning.
"I've examined it carefully, and it should be a bewitching incense! It should be something from the Imperial City!" Jiang Shan said with a serious expression.
Looking at Jiang Shan's current state, Jiang Ling knew he wasn't lying. At that moment, the Empress Dowager's gloomy face suddenly appeared in her mind, followed by the Empress Dowager's warning words from before.
Jiang Ling was in a state of confusion. If it were before, she could have easily taken Nianci and Jiang Shan and left. Now, she was practically under house arrest and unable to escape.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ling suddenly thought of the Third Prince, He Shunsu.
"Jiang Shan, please deliver a letter to the Third Prince's residence for me later!" Jiang Ling said.
Jiang Shan nodded and followed Jiang Ling to the study. Jiang Ling wrote down the whole story of what happened to Nianci last night in detail, and then had Jiang Shan take it out.
Seeing that no one was around, Jiang Ling opened the system shop and bought a neutral-toned eyeshadow palette, foundation, concealer, and other items.
She was planning to come soon, but she was suffering from a serious illness.
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