C107

After returning to the palace for more than half a month, Wang Su was busy with the various papers he had dropped earlier, as well as handling other matters in the palace. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and they had moved to the palace in the outskirts of the capital with the empress yesterday. He said that he wanted to see the full moon in the wilderness.

After listening to the Imperial Study's young eunuch speak, the period of time that the Emperor left the palace saw quite a few incidents. Not only were there people who suspected that the Emperor was suffering from an epidemic disease, the situation in the capital seemed to have quietly changed as well. Zhuang Li thought back to that day when Wang Su had rushed back to the capital to visit the Prime Minister Zhao after receiving Eunuch Li's message.

The situation in the capital had always changed in the blink of an eye. Now that it was finally a full moon, the matter of the water elementalists could barely be brought to a conclusion. The Emperor had arranged to see that all the important officials of the imperial court had already settled into the palace.

No matter what, Zhuang Li had not seen Yue Susu ever since he returned, and she opened her eyes everyday. what they were facing were the palace walls on all four sides of the Imperial Study.

As if nothing had happened, the four walls of Imperial Study, as usual, avoided the undercurrents in the palace. But this peace made Zhuang Li feel even more uneasy … It seemed to be brewing something.

In this half a month, Zhuang Li had only seen Qing You and the only young eunuch he had. Li Liangxiao was also not in, but hearing that it was something to do in the capital, Zhuang Li's intuition told him that it was related to West Cold, but he did not know whether to ask. She only said that last time she saw Little White, it said that he would go to the West Cold with Li Liangxiao.

She started to worry about this matter again. Since it was related to West Cold, then naturally it was related to Ge Ya? Was she going to bring Ge Ya back?

She didn't know what kind of bad news would await her … Sometimes, she would worry about not knowing what her little sister looked like now … The Great Phoenix Emperor, whom they hated to the bones, had now become the person they loved. The person he wanted to protect by his side …

How to deal with these complex emotions?

Nanny Lv, who was guarding the mountain as the sun set, brought over a lunchbox. In the evening, there were more mosquitoes, so Zhuang Li let Qing You take the lunchbox and eat inside the house.

"Miss, it's full moon today. Although the emperor isn't in the palace and there's no celebration in the palace, it's still Mid-Autumn Festival."

"Alright, alright, alright. After dinner, why don't you come out at night and see the moon?"

Naturally, she also didn't want to miss out on the moon. When she was young, she lived together with her mother every year until the mid-autumn fifteenth. She would definitely watch the moon eat moon cakes.

Later, when I went to college and was reluctant to go home to save money, I had to watch the moon call my mother. It was as if he could go back to when he was young and act coquettishly in his mother's arms.

He opened the first layer of the lunchbox, which contained a few small dishes, as well as a plate of delicately made mooncakes. The second layer contained meat and rice, while the last layer contained chopsticks.

Zhuang Li always felt that it was a little strange when she picked up the chopsticks. Ever since Zhuang Li returned to the palace, she discovered that the chopsticks had been replaced with sandalwood that was carved with plum blossoms. The wooden chopsticks were light and smooth, bringing about a sense of beauty. However, when she held them in his hands today, she felt that they were a bit out of proportion to his hands. She took the two wooden chopsticks and weighed them in her hands. Only then did she realize that the two chopsticks looked exactly the same. When she held them in her hands, she realized that there was a difference in weight. Moreover, the difference was extremely obvious, as if it was purposely discovered.

Zhuang Li brought the chopsticks to the window, and under the light of the sunlight, he observed carefully. Only then did she realise that the color and the material of the two chopsticks were slightly different, although she had already tried to hide it, but as long as she observed carefully, she could tell that they were not the same chopsticks.

The slightly heavier chopstick had a slight mark on its tip, which seemed to be able to be opened. Zhuang Li grabbed both ends of the chopsticks and exerted a little strength, and as expected, the chopsticks separated from the crack.

Is Hollow...

"Miss … "This, this is …" Just as Qing You was about to shout out, Zhuang Li hurriedly reached out and covered her mouth.

It was obvious that someone wanted to use this method to send a message to her, and using such a secretive method was to hope that no one would know about it and not reveal it.

She pulled out a roll of paper from her hollow chopsticks.

At a quarter past nine, see you at the He Jiang pavilion...

Zhuang Li did not recognize the words written on it, but the writing was beautiful, and it seemed to be written by a woman.

It was very normal that she didn't recognize him. After all, she hadn't seen many people writing in the palace, and the only words that she could recognize were those of the emperor …

"Miss, what does that mean?"

Zhuang Li was also confused, although on the surface, he only said that he had arranged to meet her, but who had? And what was it? Originally, Zhuang Li had not planned to bother with it, until Qing You had reminded him.

"There are words after the note!"

Zhuang Li turned the page, and sure enough, there were two words written on the back of the note. The words were written in the middle, so it was unclear if it was a form of address or signature. But when Zhuang Li saw those two words, her heart could not help but sink. She knew that she couldn't avoid it this time.

On the back of the note was written:

Elaeagnus mollissima

"Yueyu?" "Who's Yueyao?"

Zhuang Li frowned, at the time Qing You went to the Zhao Mansion to serve her, she was already very sick. She was assigned to work in the kitchen, and by the time she was officially transferred over to take care of Zhuang Li, Du Yueyao was already dead. She didn't know Zhao Ci's mother's name, she only knew that there was a Sixth Madam who had died from illness and was arranged to take care of the child that Zhao Ci's wife left behind.

So when Qing You saw the two words Yue Yao, he didn't know who it was.

Qing You only knew that the way the Zhao Family treated Zhao Ci after the death of the Sixth Madam was really terrible. Therefore, Zhuang Li was extremely careful not to reveal her identity as Zhao Ci. She did not want to have anything to do with Zhao Family, and since she had lied to the Emperor, she would have to use many, many lies to make up for it … Since she had already walked this path, she would have no chance to turn back …

Seeing the word Yue Yao, Zhuang Li naturally understood that she was referring to Du Yueyao … Recently, she had been suspected by Zhao Qin and the First Madame and had even offended the empress. Naturally, there were people secretly trying to find out her identity.

Could it be that it had already been discovered that she was the child that Du Yueyao had left behind after she died?

It seemed that the disturbance caused by Du Yueyao's Zhao Mansion back then was not small, so how could it be forgotten?

So who was the person who wrote this note?

There were many layers of tight security within the palace, so it was naturally impossible for it to be people outside. It was just those First Madame s in the Zhao Mansion who were harming her so it was impossible for them to send the letter in this way …

If that was the case, then he had to be someone from the palace …

There were only two people in the palace that wanted to harm her … Empress and Imperial Noble Consort Hanqin …

However, both of them were currently in the palace, so why would he invite her to the He Jiang pavilion in the palace?

Zhuang Li bit her lips, momentarily losing her appetite to eat. Receiving such a note was definitely not a good thing, but if she didn't go, then there might be something even more sinister waiting for her …

Someone who could hide a message so secretively in the chopsticks and pass it to her through the kitchen must be meticulous. Now, she was too lazy to think about how the kitchen owner had been bribed, or how the Nanny Lv, who delivered food to her, had been bribed. She sighed as she instructed Qing You to keep all the food. It was already a few minutes past midnight, so she stood up and prepared to leave.

Qing You chased after her and stopped her. In the end, she was still afraid that what happened at Huhe Palace would happen again. There were a lot of things happening in the palace recently, but she didn't receive any news. After what had happened, the Emperor no longer allowed anyone from outside the Imperial Study to enter the Imperial Study. If something happened, no one would know who to call for help.

Zhuang Li could only comfort her by hugging her

"I'm fine. The people who hate me in the palace are all gone, so what else could happen? You should rest early and not follow me. "

Letting Zhuang Li stay behind was naturally for her sake. She did not wish for Qing You to become involved in some things as well. Having Qing You prepare the small lantern, even though there was still the sunset, and the sky was still long gone, Qing You reckoned that by the time she returned, the sky would have already turned dark.

Hejiang Pavilion, Zhuang Li knew about it. It was located right beside the Agility River in the palace, and it was very close to the place where she and Li Liangxiao had placed the river lamp last time. Her letter said that the appointed time to meet was at fifteen minutes past eighteen, but the daily meal time at the kitchen, Green nanny, was fifteen minutes or so so, and from the Imperial Study to the He Jiang pavilion, they had to walk for at least half an hour. It seemed like this person had calculated the time, after Zhuang Li received the letter, she only had the time to decide whether to go or not, and didn't have the opportunity to slowly investigate the intentions of the person who sent her off.

Zhuang Li walked past those lonely pavilions. Although it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, the empress had already decided to go to the outskirts of the palace for festivals, so she didn't make any preparations. However, the palace in the outskirts had probably already made preparations half a month ago. Normally, the servants and eunuchs of the palace's adopted daughters were all there to serve them. Now that the masters were gone, and there weren't any eunuchs or maids carrying things passing by on the way, the entire palace seemed to have become exceptionally quiet.

The last time Zhuang Li took this road, she was accompanied by Li Liangxiao, which made him feel exceptionally safe. However, at this time, she also felt that this road had become especially lonely because of the emptiness.

Under the setting sun, the beautiful pavilion by the Minsheng River appeared exceptionally empty. The pavilion was empty, and there was no one she had expected to find waiting.

Was the time not up yet?

However, a lot of time had passed since they arrived. How could they not have arrived yet?

Zhuang Li could only sit in the small pavilion and watch Minsheng River in a daze. Until she heard someone call her.

"Excuse me, are you Imperial Noble Lady Ya?"

Zhuang Li turned her head around, and saw a eunuch standing in front of him. She felt that this young eunuch was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't recall it right away. She had always been inside the Imperial Study and rarely had the time to walk around. She felt that the reason he looked so familiar was because she felt that the eunuchs in the palace were all dressed up in similar fashion …

"Yes, I am." Zhuang Li replied. The young eunuch stood in front of her, bent at the waist, looking extremely respectful.

"My master ordered me to come and fetch the Imperial Noble Lady Ya. She has already set up a banquet in the palace."

Zhuang Li was stunned. She still wanted to leave when she was at home? How many people in this palace could call themselves masters? Could there be another young master of the Imperial Noble Lady like her?

But shouldn't those young masters follow him to the palace? Even the princes and officials would have to go. If it was not because of some accident, the empress would not be fake.

"Who is your master?" Zhuang Li asked.

"Master said you will know when you get there."

The young eunuch spoke as he bent down even more respectfully, reaching out his arm to help Zhuang Li up. Zhuang Li did not think too much, and held his hand.

At that moment, a kind of stabbing pain transmitted from her hand. She cried out and almost took a step back. She stared fixedly at the eunuch, only to see a crafty smile appear on her previously sincere and obedient face.

Zhuang Li retreated a few steps, wanting to stay away from the eunuch, but it was already too late. The eunuch did not chase after her, she only stood in place and looked at her, as if she was already prepared.

The numbness in her hands gradually spread throughout her entire body, and Zhuang Li gradually kneeled on the ground while leaning against the pillar of the pavilion, as she gradually lost consciousness.