The fire this time wasn't really serious, it was just that there were some traces of fire on the side of the main yard, so Li Qi arranged for the Queen and the others to stay in the side hall.
Because the fire was not big, after a while, the fire in the yard was put out and cleaned up. However, the next day, someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had to come and fix it.
As the Palace Mistress, Luo Qing naturally could not let Li Qi handle this matter alone, so she stayed behind to help investigate this matter.
"It's cold at night. Esteemed Empress can go back to the palace to rest." Li Qi didn't really want the Empress to stay here. This was a matter of her palace, it was better to investigate on her own.
Luo Qing, who was seated on his seat, had a look of dissatisfaction on his face. However, he quickly concealed it and put on a proper smile, "As the master of the rear palace, how can I ignore the loose water in the Consort Xian Palace?"
Her words made it so that Li Qi didn't have to persuade her anymore, and she also didn't bring it up again.
They did not fall asleep that night as they waited for the results of the investigation.
When the sky lit up slightly, Lian Yun hastily ran into the side hall and blessed the two of them.
"Greetings, esteemed empress, Concubine Xian."
Luo Qing looked tired, with a deep frown on his face. He glanced at her impatiently, "Can you find out why?" For no reason at all, she sat here all night just to show her majesty as the empress and to make the emperor more satisfied with her.
Lian Yun gasped for breath as she stopped. "Reporting to the Empress, they found out that a palace maid accidentally touched a candle and lit a quilt, causing a fire in the palace."
She told him the truth about the results of marble temple's investigations, but she was still a little suspicious in her heart.
Hearing this, Li Qi's brows slightly furrowed, her lowered eyes seemed to be thinking about something.
It couldn't possibly be this simple. She had clearly been drugged, so how could it just be a mistake on the part of a young palace maid?
However, she did not voice out her doubts in front of the Queen. Luo Qing did not seem to be satisfied with this answer, but she still felt relieved. "Since that's the case, let that palace maid fetch the twenty tablets." He actually got such an insignificant answer in exchange, and couldn't help feeling a bit angry in his heart. "If you're this careless, how can you serve the palace? How can you serve the imperial concubine?!"
The empress's unprovoked anger actually caused Li Qi to be stunned, her words seemed to be all for her own sake.
"Since it's an order from the empress, let her take the board herself." Without leaving a trace, she once again pushed the blame onto the empress …
The empress didn't feel comfortable listening to this, but she was too tired to pursue the matter any further. She spoke a few words before returning to her own palace.
After sending the empress away, Lian Yun sent the small palace maid who was in trouble back to bring the board back. By the time he returned, Li Qi was already ready to dress up.
"Lian Yun, do you think it's really that simple now?" She gazed at the woman in the bronze mirror, her expression calm. Her voice was very soft, but it was loud enough for her to hear.
Lian Yun was also not a young palace maid who was not familiar with the affairs of the palace, so it was naturally hard for her to believe him, "Did the Empress sense anything?" If it wasn't for her sensing that something was amiss, she probably wouldn't have asked her this question.
"Last night, my room was drugged. Luckily, I didn't use that much, or else …" At this point, she clutched the pearl hairpin tightly and her pupils shrank.
"Conundrum medicine?" Lian Yun was shocked, her face full of worry: "Is the Empress's body in a serious condition?"
She waved her hand, "I'm fine, but it's not that simple."
Hearing her words, Lian Yun could not help but think deeply about it, worrying about the Empress's safety.
Although Li Qi treated people coldly, but she did not go around to form hatred with them, it was not enough to make his imperial concubine hate her to the point of wanting to burn her to death, right?
"I still do not know who it is, but I will not let it slide!" If he couldn't find the source of the panic, how could he feel at ease?
"For such an important matter like this, the Empress should report it to the emperor. If the emperor comes forward to investigate, we can protect the Empress as well." Lian Yun had always thought of things that would save her some grievances and allow her to do less dangerous things.
But she shook her head resolutely. It wasn't appropriate for him to investigate this matter. Luo Qing had already convicted that palace maid. If she said that the culprit was someone else without a proof, then it would be feared that Long Li would be displeased and the person behind the scenes would be alerted.
"Only the two of us know about this. I will personally investigate and definitely not leak it out."
Although Lian Yun felt uneasy, she did not dare to retort and agreed.
Some of the pieces of wood on the other side of the main yard had been burned black. She had purposely made the people from the Internal Affairs Bureau come back a day later, so that she could find out if there was anything she could do before the scene was cleaned up.
After walking around his house, he did not find any clues. However, before he left, he found a small corner of the wall outside the house …
Picking it up, she saw that it was a token without a word. Her heart was filled with doubt. In the imperial palace, the palace maids and eunuchs all had tokens that clearly indicated their identities, but this token didn't have a single word on it.
But why did she feel so familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before?
Since it wasn't the palace's command medallion, it was very likely that the mastermind behind it wasn't someone who lived in the palace for a long time.
She decided to leave the palace to see if she could find any clues. He had changed into casual clothes and disguised himself before leaving the palace. Originally, he was going to go to the restaurant to inquire about the news, but he just happened to run into a group of people.
A luxurious palanquin stopped in the middle of the road, and from it walked out a jade-green lady. She had a slim waist, but her facial features were slightly delicate and pretty. The corners of her eyes were slightly raised with a somewhat arrogant expression.
She walked out lightly with a gentle smile on her face. Li Qi recognized it with a glance. It was the Dragon Valley concubine's room temperature mountain range she had seen a few days ago!
Hiding in the dark, he quietly observed her movements.
As soon as she stepped out of the sedan chair, the owner hurried out to welcome her. "You're finally here!"
"Have you seen any beautiful flowers recently?" Her voice was pleasant to hear, but her gaze was extremely arrogant, causing the onlookers to have no choice but to make way for her.
The owner smiled obsequiously. "I'll leave all the good stuff to you! I'm waiting for you to pick one! "
Hearing this, Wen Ling raised his eyebrows in satisfaction. She actually liked the envious looks of the crowd. Who didn't know that she was Ninth Prince's Mansion's concubine? Even if she wasn't his concubine, she was still Ninth Prince's Mansion's concubine after all.
Li Qi had no interest in her, but just as she was about to leave, she was attracted by a ray of light. It was on the waist of the guard standing behind Wen Ling. It was a token without words!
The nameless order badge came from the Ninth Prince's Mansion? Could the mastermind be the Dragon Valley? In an instant, she seemed to have woken up, but her brows were tightly knitted. She did not expect that this matter had something to do with the Dragon Valley!
If he wanted to deal with her, he wouldn't need to burn her in his sleep, right? If he thought about it, there were many ways to kill her, but he shouldn't have to take the risk of being discovered. Moreover, if he wanted to get rid of her, then why did he have to save her time and time again?
However, she suddenly recalled the bait that Long Gu had thrown at her and slightly frowned. Perhaps it was because she did not agree to cooperate with him, which was why she wanted to silence him. Refusing again and again seemed to bring about a fatal disaster.