C73

Seeing that Qiao Qiao was still insistent, Qingwu's eyes revealed a hint of worry. She tightly stared at the figure of Qiao'er who was still getting further and further away.

Ji Mingyuan's thin lips curved up. When he saw that Qiao Qiao was still climbing up the palace walls, he jumped up and landed on the trunk of the willow tree. He was still standing at the same height as Qiao Qiao.

"I knew that your kung fu was extraordinary." Qiao Qiao chuckled softly. She wasn't too surprised to see Ji Mingyuan here, but her eyebrows creased as if she had suddenly thought of something. "So, it seems that the people who can break in right in front of your eyes aren't common people."

Ji Mingyuan did not answer, but only nodded to himself. He had been too careless in what had happened today.

"Tell me, who would want to use me to get rid of you?" Qiao Qiao suddenly smiled. A glint flashed through her eyes.

"Your Majesty's meaning is … Imperial Concubine Luo did this? " Ji Mingyuan immediately understood.

"Such a stupid framing, it really does resemble his style." Joe's cold lips were still slightly pursed.

"So Xiyue's disappearance has something to do with him as well?" Ji Mingyuan frowned.

"No, Xiyue's disappearance plan is perfect, and she's very careful. It's definitely not something that an idiot like him can think of. Someone might use him to eliminate that little palace maid." Qiao Qiao's eyes still narrowed. If she were to find out who was playing with them, she would definitely make him regret everything he had done today!

"Then what is the purpose of the Emperor climbing up the palace walls for?" Ji Mingyuan asked as he looked at the palace walls.

"It's so that people will have lingering fears in their hearts. Once a person's heart starts to panic, they will reveal themselves. Wouldn't it be much easier to follow the lead and look for clues?" Qiao Qiao still had a proud smile on his face.

"In the past, everyone said that the Emperor of Qiao was a useless and unambitious person, but now, it would be hard to find such a crafty person in the entire Qiao Country." Ji Mingyuan looked at Qiao Qiao with admiration. The more he looked at her, the more she seemed different from before.

"If I were an unconscious monarch, just based on the word 'crafty', I would be able to exterminate your entire clan." Qiao Qiao still shot a deadly glance at Ji Mingyuan. It was fortunate that she came from the twenty-first century, where all men were equal, and she had freedom of speech and expression. Otherwise, in this ancient feudal era where power was the most important, she would have pulled his tongue and given him a great sin!

"But chenqie loves the actions of the Emperor." Ji Mingyuan smiled as if he understood Qiao Qiao's temperament.

"Scoundrel." Qiao once again rolled his eyes, but his gaze landed on the palace wall at the side. "Look, it's as I expected. The corpse entered your inner courtyard from here." Joe still pointed to the footprints on the palace wall.

"The footprints are very light, very small. It should be a woman who knows martial arts." Ji Mingyuan carefully examined the footprints as he spoke.

"A woman who knows martial arts?" Qiao Qiao still frowned. There were many women who knew martial arts in the imperial harem.

"Right." Ji Mingyuan nodded his head. "But we can't confirm it completely. After all, the palace walls are narrow, so we can't see all the footprints. Who knows, maybe it's a man tiptoeing in."

"No, she's dragging the corpse with her, I'm afraid it would be very difficult for her to tiptoe in." Joe shook his head.

"But even if it's a woman who knows martial arts, with her petite body, dragging a corpse inside would still be a bit difficult." Ji Mingyuan frowned as he spoke.

"What if the footprint was from a corpse?" Joe chuckled with his brows still raised.

"You mean the body came to my inner court on its own?" Ji Mingyuan was filled with disbelief.

"It sounds unbelievable, but it's not impossible." Joe's face was still full of an unpredictable smile.

Ji Mingyuan clearly didn't understand what was going on.

"The show is ready. We should get down." Joe continued to curl his lips and was about to climb down the stairs.

When Ji Mingyuan saw that Joe was about to lift his foot, he raised his arm and wrapped it around his waist. Despite the momentary panic on Joe's face, both of them landed gracefully on the tree trunk.

"You …" Qiao Qiao was still pointing furiously at Ji Mingyuan.

"Chenqie only saw the Emperor take one step at a time. It was too arduous, so she sought a shortcut for the Emperor." Ji Mingyuan grinned. He hadn't noticed that Qiao Qiao was still angry at her. On the contrary, just as he was about to embrace Qiao Qiao, the faint aroma of pear blossoms assaulted his nostrils. He truly couldn't bear to let go.

"Humph!" Qiao Qiao gave a cold snort. Then, he walked towards the coffin at the side. "Open up!" Qiao Qiao still shot a glance at the people behind him, and shouted coldly.

"Yes." Qingwu bowed as she received the order. Then, she ordered someone to open the coffin lid.

At this time, the face of a young eunuch who had been sneaking around since he had climbed the stairs suddenly changed. Taking advantage of the moment everyone's gaze was focused on the coffin, he carefully retreated.

The corner of Qiao Qiao's lips still curled up. It seemed that the show today was already planned by the listeners and that Yu'er was already about to take the bait.

"Your majesty, do we continue the autopsy?" When Qingwu saw the eunuch leave, she lowered her body and whispered into Qiao Qiao's ear.

"Test!" There may be other clues. " Joe continued to curl his lips and look into the coffin.

"Did the coroner come to see you?" When did he die? What was the reason for his death? " The palace maid inside the coffin looked unfamiliar and did not have any impression of him. It was likely that he was a newcomer. However, Qiao Qiao still circled around the coffin but did not find any wounds on his body. He did not know how fatal it was.

"I've already looked at his report. The coroner confirmed that he died at the time of his death. There are no wounds on his body, only silver needles on the top of his head." Qingwu replied.

"Silver needles?" "Is there any poison on the silver needle?"

"Reporting to the Emperor, there's no poison. It's just an ordinary silver needle." Qingwu truthfully replied.

"Would an ordinary silver needle be able to kill him with a single strike?" Qiao Qiao muttered to himself. In the modern world, acupuncture was just a needle piercing the head. Not only would it not kill, it would also have the effect of calming the mind. Could it be that this was the result of different acupuncture points?

"Reporting to the Emperor, the coroner guessed that this person might have been hit in the head by something heavy. This silver needle must have been pierced through afterwards." Qingwu replied.

"If he was hit on the head by a heavy object and died, then why did he need to stab a silver needle in the head?" The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. Could it be that this silver needle had accidentally pierced the head of the palace maid because of the murderer's panic?

"This …" Qingwu was troubled and didn't know how to respond.

"Maybe it was carelessness?" Ji Mingyuan lightly smiled.

Joe continued to curl his lips. He didn't expect the two of them to think of the same thing.

"Where are the silver needles?" Joe asked, still raising his eyebrows.

"Your majesty, the coroner has taken you away to examine you." Qingwu softly replied.

"Alright, after the test, send someone to deliver it to my chamber." Qiao once again smiled, the light in his eyes once again placed onto the body of the palace maid in the coffin.

This palace maid was dressed in the uniform of a rank 5 palace maid, and could be considered to be a lower and middle class palace maid. There was no reason why no one would recognize her, so Qiao Qiao slowly bent over and stared intently at the person's face. If it was an unfamiliar palace maid, Xiyue would usually be cautious when doing things, so how could she follow her?

"Send someone to carefully examine this corpse, don't miss a single detail." Joe still closed his eyes and turned around slowly.

"Yes." "Yes!" Qingwu replied, then ordered someone to cover the coffin and carry it out.

"Qingwu." Qiao Qiao lightly called out. Seeing Qingwu slowly approaching her, she bent over and whispered into her ear.

"Yes, this servant understands." Qingwu had already memorized the whisper Qiao Qiao had made in her ear just now, so she bowed and said.

"You can leave for now. We have something to discuss." Qiao Qiao still waved her hand towards Qingwu.

"Yes." Qingwu accepted the order and turned to leave.

"In a moment, pass on my decree that we will spend the night here at the Yuanyi Palace." Qiao Qiao's lips still curled up slowly. If he wanted the fish to take the bait as soon as possible, he would have to add another dose of food. Ever since she was assassinated, she had always been on official business, refusing to serve any of the imperial concubines. This was the first time in two months that Qiao had stayed in a concubine's quarters, and it was likely that Imperial Concubine Luo would not be able to hold herself back.

Glimmers danced in Qingwu's eyes as she paused for a moment before accepting the order: "Yes."

Although Ji Mingyuan had already guessed what Qiao was thinking, he still felt an inexhaustible joy and excitement. At the very least, he had the chance to spend a night alone with Qiao.

As everyone retreated, only Qiao Qiao and Ji Mingyuan were left in the room. They looked at each other.

"Tonight …" Joe spoke again.

"Your Imperial Majesty, please rest assured that your concubine will be sleeping on a soft bed tonight." Ji Mingyuan naturally understood that Qiao Qiao was still worried, so he immediately opened his mouth to interrupt him.

Qiao Qiao still nodded slightly. As expected, he was a smart person.

"In that case, I shall go and rest." Qiao Qiao was still looking at the bed within the inner hall. Ji Mingyuan's daily life seemed simple, unlike Luo Qinglun's luxurious and dispirited life. His heart was filled with joy as he watched this scene.

"Right." Who would have thought that at this moment, his heart was filled with so much resentment? She was clearly a monarch, but in her heart, she thought about the pair of them for life, and this person was not him.

Qiao Qiao was still slowly lying down on the bed for a long time without closing his eyes. He didn't know how Xiyue was currently faring, nor did he know if her life was in danger, nor did he know if the person who kidnapped her was here for her or something else.

If she had another goal, it would be fine, but at least Xiyue was safe. If Xiyue had such a tough personality, then she would never betray her. She was afraid that her life would be in danger.

"Sigh." Qiao Qiao still let out a heavy sigh, the sound of it reverberating through the empty inner hall. It was best to pray that nothing would happen to Xiyue.