Since Wu Nianen could not persuade them, they could only make Shen Lingjue and Feng Ningyan kneel.
The night wind blew even louder, and the hourglass in the palace slowly faded away.
After Zi Ye passed by, the air became very cold. Shen Lingjue took off her cloak and covered Feng Ningyan's shoulders.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Other than thanking him, Feng Ningyan didn't know what to say.
Shen Lingjue sighed, "You and I don't need to thank each other. Not long after you married Ben Wang, you suffered a lot of grievances. If Ben Wang didn't propose marriage to you, how could you have gone to the capital and gotten yourself into trouble? It's Ben Wang's fault. "
Feng Ningyan looked at Shen Lingjue and thought, if you did not propose marriage to me, Shen Youhuang would have mentioned it and her father would have agreed to it.
Didn't you see the tragic ending of marrying that wolf in your nightmare?
She shook her head gently, "It is my fortune to have Your Highness protect me in this life. To be able to advance and retreat with Your Highness is my honor. I hope that I can repay Your Highness' kindness in this life."
Shen Lingjue's heart warmed, she raised her hand to caress her face, but just as she was about to touch her skin, she lightly tied up the ribbon at the collar of her cape.
When this is over, this king will bring you back to the Ningnan County to save your relations. At that time, you will be free to go. "
"Save relatives?!" Feng Ningyan was extremely surprised and could not believe her ears.
Returning to the Ningnan County was something that she yearned for day and night, but she had never told Shen Lingjue about it.
Who would have thought that he would take the initiative to suggest the idea of saving her parents? How could she not be pleasantly surprised?
"The imperial family doesn't have the rules for the three dynasties to return, but this king knows that you have followed the General Feng since you were young, and if you were to suddenly separate, you definitely won't be used to it. Other than that, the assassins of Taiping Inn speak with the language of the Southern Wilderness. Once we return to the Ningnan County, we might be able to find some new clues, who knows. "
Feng Ningyan quickly said: "That's right! Li Yu was shot dead by the concealed weapon, and the wound caused by the concealed weapon was exactly the same as the one on Han Yunmeng's head last time.
"The second time this hidden weapon appeared, it meant that the ones who wanted to kill you and stop our marriage were the same group as those who harmed Consort Shu and Yan Bingren." Shen Lingjue laughed.
"I understand!" Feng Ningyan looked at Shen Lingjue's relaxed smile and suddenly realised, "It's the empress and crown prince!"
At this moment, she understood not only who the Demon Claw was, but also why she had encountered an ambush on her way to the capital, both in her previous life and this life.
That was because whether she married Shen Youhuang or married her, all of these things were taboo to the crown prince.
However, Feng Wei was only loyal to the emperor, Shen Chenxuan, and couldn't possibly be used by the crown prince, so the crown prince wanted to destroy the marriage alliance between the Feng Family and the other princes.
Could it be that the person who framed Feng Wei in his previous life was also the crown prince?
Seeing her lost in thought, Shen Lingjue did not disturb her and just quietly watched her from the side.
Four hours had passed, and it was already the darkest time before dawn. The Emperor slept soundly that night, and did not wake up until before the morning assembly.
Wu Nianen stood beside the emperor and carefully reported, "Herba Euphorbiae, last night, when you were sleeping, King Yu and his wife requested to see you about an important matter. This old servant told them to wait in the side hall, but the prince and the wangfei had come to beg for forgiveness, so they ended up kneeling in the main hall until now. "
"plead guilty?" The emperor sighed tiredly and raised his hand for the palace maid to tie the buttons and jade belt for him. "Is it because of the incident with Chen Ming Gong yesterday?"
"Yes, and no." Wu Nianen was a little suspicious, "Last night, this case was once again rife with complications."
"Causing trouble? This has nothing to do with the two of them again!?"
The emperor was immediately furious. He walked to the main hall and saw Shen Lingjue and Feng Ningyan kneeling in front of Dragon Throne.
Hearing the emperor's footsteps, the two of them hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects.
The Emperor sat down on the Dragon Throne and asked unhappily, "Why did you all kneel down all night? Tell me."
Shen Lingjue then explained in detail about how Feng Ningyan tried to investigate the matter last night, how she followed the mysterious official, how she heard the conversation between Li Yu and the mysterious official, and how he was killed by the concealed weapon.
It was only then that Feng Ningyan found out that she had been discovered by the guards after she had left the Linlang Pavilion. They did not dare to be disrespectful to the wangfei, so they had secretly informed Shen Lingjue and it wasn't until Qin Huainan made a move that he had no choice but to reveal himself.
Following that, Feng Ningyan also told them about Li Yu's anonymous purchase of land and manors in the countryside, and the matter of his concubine Tian Clan taking care of the rent.
However, not mentioning the Empress and the crown prince, she only said that Li Yu had set up Consort Shu and promised Li Yu that he would become the judge of the academy in the future.
Seeing Feng Ningyan was being cautious, Shen Lingjue did not expose the Empress and the Crown Prince so early on, Shen Lingjue nodded in approval.
When the Emperor heard this, his face became so gloomy that it seemed as if there was a layer of ash on the bottom of a pot.
"Who is this person?!"
Feng Ningyan continued: "Wife asked Li Yu who the official he met in the Earth Temple was. Li Yu almost said the name of the 'master', but he was killed. Your Majesty, Wife thinks that Imperial Concubine Su has been wrongly accused … "
The emperor didn't speak for a long time. His expression became more and more dejected.
He did not expect Li Yu, whom he had always trusted, to slander his concubine's pregnancy.
If the Consort Shu had really been reduced to a low birth by the empress's punishment, not only would he let down her kindness in serving him for so many years by imprisoning the Consort Shu yesterday, she would also let down their child.
At this moment, the eunuch outside reported that the empress had matters to attend to.
Before the Emperor's doubts disappeared, he heard that the Empress had come again. When he thought of the children of the Consort Shu, he got even angrier.
"King Yu, wait for me at the eastern side hall with Princess Hua-Yang first. I wish to meet the Empress."
Shen Lingjue and Feng Ningyan retreated to the eastern side of the hall and closed the door.
Although they could not see the situation of the main hall from the door, they could still hear it clearly. The two of them stood behind the door and heard the empress walk in to pay their respects to the emperor.
"Empress, what's the matter with coming to dryness palace so early in the morning?"
The empress folded her sleeves and asked as if she knew nothing.
The Empress did not know that Shen Lingjue and Feng Ningyan were currently in the eastern side hall. She walked to the side of the Emperor and reported to him:
"Your Majesty, chenqie heard from an eunuch early in the morning that there was a murder case in the capital last night. Imperial Physician Li Yu was killed, and the culprit was Yuwangfei Feng Ningyan. "Chenqie knows that this is no trivial matter and hurried over to report to the Emperor."
When Feng Ningyan heard these words, her heart involuntarily thumped. She looked at Shen Lingjue and thought: It was fortunate that he entered the palace overnight, so he was able to explain everything to the emperor before the empress. If I wait for the empress to slander me and for the emperor to summon me, all of the facts would become an excuse.
Seeing that she was looking at him thoughtfully, Shen Lingjue smiled and patted her shoulders, indicating her to be at ease.
"Yuwangfei killed Li Yu?" The emperor was a little confused. "Why would she want to kill Li Yu?"
The empress said, "Yesterday, she and Consort Shu got to know each other at first sight, chatted merrily and even had tea together. It must be because Li Yu exposed Consort Shu's fake pregnancy, Consort Shu was grounded, and Yuwangfei killed Li Yu with hatred in his heart."