C52

On one side, Su Mu happily acknowledged someone as his master. The sadness in his heart was diluted. On the other side, Lin Yi had sunk into a deep panic.

He had only gone to pick some wild fruits, yet he had not returned. The wind blew through the bamboo forest, rustling loudly. It was as if he was laughing at his confidence. This area was deep in the forest, and there were few signs of human life. However, who knew if there would be wild boars or hungry wolves.

Lin Yi took a deep breath to calm himself down, then carefully examined the surroundings of the pool. Lin Yi didn't see any excess blood, he only found a few grass leaves lying on the ground.

The Joyous Union within Su Mu's body had yet to be broken. If he were to meet a mountain villager …

No matter what, Lin Yi's wife would still be Su Mu. Lin Yi's palm chilled, but he was still determined.

Lin Yi quickly went down the mountain and found the eighteen hidden guards. He repeatedly warned them to secretly search for someone. The Yan Clan was still the focus of attention, but every household within a radius of five kilometers needed to go scout.

"Remember, the person you will find will be the crown prince's consort. No matter where you find her, you cannot have the slightest bit of emotion towards her, much less report her to the emperor." The Emperor treasured his life, and had always been unwilling to send the eighteen secret guards away from his side. Even if he found the situation grim, after Lin Yi returned to the capital, he would only hand over part of his authority to the Emperor. Everything that Lin Yi had asked the eighteen dark guards to do would be handed over to the Emperor through a secret letter.

The leader of the eighteen dark guards was called Yi, a handsome man. Before he made his move, he seemed more like a useless scholar, and after hearing Lin Yi's words, he stepped forward to accept his orders. "The eighteen dark guards are loyal to the almighty one, the future of the great one is in the hands of your highness." A wise man is a wise man. The reason why the eighteen dark guards have existed and been trusted since the founding of the kingdom is not because of their stupidity.

Lin Yi nodded and returned to the palace.

Today was Wang's day, and Lin Yi had coincidentally bumped into Wang Yu.

Wang Dong bowed towards Lin Yi, and Lin Yi acted as if there was no relationship between the two, nodded slightly, then left.

Compared to outside the palace, the palace was much more dangerous. Any eunuch or palace maid could possibly be the Yan Clan's eyes and ears. Although under his deliberate support, Wang had a certain right to speak in the imperial guards, but if he wanted to use this to topple the Yan Clan, it was the same as a mayfly trying to shake a large tree.

"This official heard that Su Mu had been captured by the Yan Clan. Is that true?" Wang asked as Lin Yi passed by him.

Lin Yi did not know how to explain it. Wang Yu was like his brother-in-law, if he were to speak the truth, it would definitely make him unhappy, but if he were to conceal it, it might not be possible.

Lin Yi hesitated for a moment before saying, "Something happened. I don't know where Su Mu is right now. I'm doing my best to investigate."

Wang looked hesitantly at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi pursed his lips and let him see.

Although his clothes were a bit wrinkled, it didn't mean anything. Su Mu's red color was left on Lin Yi's shirt, so Lin Yi tore off the piece of fabric and hid it in his bosom. The rest was already taken care of. When Lin Yi left the palace, he did not meet Wang Yu.

"If there's nothing else, This King will be leaving first." Lin Yi said as he turned around and left.

When he returned to the Eastern Palace, Bao Fu Cheng was pacing around with a worried look on his face. Seeing Lin Yi, he immediately jumped up. "You're finally back."

"Has anyone come to see me?" Lin Yi saw the expression on the bag and guessed the truth.

"A quarter of an hour ago, the empress came to invite you. I investigated and found that Imperial Concubine, Princess, and a large group of people were in the Imperial Garden. They said that a tea party was being held, and I guessed that she still wanted to get you and the princess together." Bao Fu came over with a face full of a entertaining smile. Lin Yi stretched out his hand as if he was about to beat him up, then immediately ran far away.

Lin Yi did not want to see the empress, but he was afraid that the empress would find him later to read it. After some consideration, he decided to go.

"You go with This King." Lin Yi and Bao Xuansheng grew up together, so they had a good relationship. In private, they called each other 'brother'. Now that they used the term 'brother', it proved that this matter was something Xuanhua had no choice but to do even if he didn't want to.

"This isn't appropriate, is it?" Bag Floating Life still wanted to struggle a bit.

"It's just an imperial garden." Lin Yi's eyes stared at the bag, but nothing came out of it.

With a bitter face, Bao Fu did not want to see the princess at all.

It wasn't that the princess was a faceless person. On the contrary, the princess was very beautiful.

Today, Qingfeng was wearing a light pink, embroidered long skirt with dark pink peach blossoms embroidered on it. On her slender waist was a white brocade belt with cloud patterns, and her hair was tied into a bun with a white jade hairpin.

Zhuo Qingfeng's father, Zhuo Tianxing, was a great general of the Southern Wilderness who guarded the southwest and was also the empress's elder brother. When Zhuo Qingfeng was only three years old, the small countries of the southwest gathered together to attack the great mountain. In order to protect an important mountain pass, Zhuo Tianxing died on the battlefield. When Zhuo Qingfeng's mother heard this grievous news, she lost consciousness on the spot and woke up in the middle of the night. She even committed suicide in the southwest direction.

The empress pitied him for being so weak. She sought the position of princess for the emperor and worried that he wouldn't be able to live on his own, bowing and raising until he was nine years old. As the Crown Prince, Lin Yi had studied four books and six arts since childhood, and rarely had the chance to be happy, but the wind had made up for the Queen's regret.

The empress had to take Lin Yi's identity into consideration when she treated him, but towards Qingfeng, she didn't have to worry too much about him. Thus, their relationship was a bit purer. Qingfeng understood things early, and in his heart, he was thinking about the Queen's good fortune. He treated the Queen like a mother.

Lin Yi carried his bag to the imperial flower garden. From afar, he could hear the faint sounds of a zither.

"This zither is quite good." Bag Floating Life said softly.

"Don't be a fool." Lin Yi reminded the bag to float.

After turning the corner, the sound of the zither became even clearer. The player of the zither also revealed his face. It was Qingfeng.

Lin Yi brought his bag forward and bowed.

"This son greets mother."

"This subject pays his respects to the empress."

When Qingfeng saw the bag floating in the air, he immediately smiled, and with a twist of his fingers, he switched to a cheerful melody.

"I haven't seen you for a long time, but my son seems to have lost a lot of weight. It just so happens that Qingfeng cooked some food for you personally. I'll keep it for you. Come and try it." The Queen was very happy to see Qingfeng so happy. She had asked Qingfeng if he liked Lin Yi, but Qingfeng had denied it, but the empress had only treated Lin Yi as her daughter's embarrassment.

The eunuch added a table and chair and brought two small refreshments. In front of Lin Yi was the sweet cinnamon steamed chestnut cake, glistening yellow, which looked delicious on the outside, but in front of Bao Fusheng was only the chestnut cake. The two cakes looked similar, but in reality, there was a huge difference.

At the tea party, there were also other officials' wives bringing their daughters here. The gentle wind stopped playing the zither, and immediately, there were girls dancing in the background. It was very lively. It was rare for the crown prince to come, so how could he not put in all his effort? The Crown Princess's position was in the air. Who knew if she would be the one to get the pie?