Chapter 296 - 296 Disappointment

296 Disappointment

Yu Niaoniao fetched a bucket of water, washed her hands, and wiped a chair.

She sat in her chair and waited for Xiao Juan to pick her up.

She waited for a long time and couldn’t help but fall asleep against the back of the chair.

When she woke up, it was almost dark outside. Yu Niaoniao could not help but feel a little nervous.

Why wasn’t Xiao Juan here yet? Could it be that Shen Junzhi had lied to her? Did Shen Junzhi actually not inform Xiao Juan?

Yu Niaoniao stood up and walked to the door. The cold night wind blew in her face, making her shiver. She wrapped her clothes tighter around her and hesitated whether to continue waiting here or go out and take a look.

In the evening, the Glazed Jade Palace looked even colder than during the day. Especially when the night wind blew past her ears, she could faintly hear someone crying.

Coupled with the remains of the baby dug out from the backyard, it was simply an excellent setting for a haunted scene.

If it were a timid girl, she would definitely cry from fear. Fortunately, Yu Niaoniao firmly believed in Marxism and did not believe that there was any supernatural power in this world, so she was not too afraid.

What troubled her more now was her hunger. She had not eaten for most of the day. She was thirsty, hungry, and very cold. She really could not stay in this lousy place anymore!

Just as she decided to leave the Glazed Jade Palace, she suddenly heard footsteps. Immediately after, the front door of the Glazed Jade Palace was pushed open from the outside.

A group of people walked in quickly with lanterns.

The person in the lead was Duke Lang, Xiao Juan!

He walked very quickly, bringing with him a biting cold wind. His deep and cold eyes were dark, and his handsome face was tense without any expression.

It was not until the moment he saw Yu Niaoniao that his eyes lit up again, and the expression on his face softened.

Yu Niaoniao was pleasantly surprised. She pounced at Xiao Juan.

“Baby, you’re finally here! I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!”

Xiao Juan caught her. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

Originally, he had been staying in the Zhengde Hall with the other royal relatives. Because the Emperor was around, no one dared to leave casually. When it was noon, the Imperial Kitchen sent lunch over.

After lunch, it was already afternoon.

As usual, the palace hired famous performers to perform. The emperor, the empress, and the empress dowager had to watch the show and interact with the royal family.

However, at this moment, news of the Princess Consort of Lang County killing someone suddenly spread out from the Biquan Palace!

Xiao Juan’s first reaction was disbelief.

It was impossible for Niaoniao to kill someone!

However, Princess Tao Ran insisted that she had seen the Princess Consort of Lang County kill someone with her own eyes.

The evidence seemed conclusive, so Xiao Juan had to believe it.

The emperor ordered a search for the Princess Consort of Lang.

Xiao Juan did not look for Niaoniao with the others. Instead, he stayed at the crime scene and carefully examined the palace maid’s corpse.

The palace maid was killed by an arrow.

This small arrow was very familiar to Xiao Juan. He had specially customized it for Niaoniao to protect herself.

Based on his understanding of Niaoniao, she must have been forced to shoot the crossbow because she had no choice.

Xiao Juan picked up the dagger that had fallen to the ground and looked at it.

This thing was very unfamiliar. It shouldn’t be something that Yu Niaoniao used.

It most likely belonged to the palace maid.

Then, he looked at the palace maid’s hands. There were calluses on her palms. This was a characteristic that only martial arts practitioners had.

How could an ordinary palace maid know martial arts?

Xiao Juan ordered someone to get the register from the Internal Affairs Division for information about this palace maid. After a careful check, he accidentally discovered the truth: This palace maid was actually an imposter!

She was not a real palace maid, but a fake.

As for her true identity, there was no way to know for the time being.

The clues that Xiao Juan had found were presented to the emperor.

When the Emperor found out that an unknown person had sneaked into the palace, he was furious and ordered Noble Consort Shu to be called over to be reprimanded.

“Is this how you manage the harem? An imposter was openly operating under your nose, and you didn’t notice at all! Is this your ability? You’ve really disappointed me!”

Noble Consort Shu was originally waiting to see Yu Niaoniao make a fool of herself. She did not expect this fire to burn her in the end.

She knelt on the ground in fear and asked for the Emperor’s forgiveness.

The emperor punished the chief steward of the Imperial Attendant Division and the commander of the Imperial Guards for their failure to ensure safety.

Noble Consort Shu did not end up well either. She was ordered to be grounded for a month.

During her imprisonment, she could no longer interfere with the affairs of the palace.

The sixth prince, Shen Rui, tried to plead for his mother, but he was also reprimanded by the emperor.

Since there was a problem with the identity of the palace maid, there was room for reconciliation for the murder of the Princess Consort of Lang County.

However, they still had to find her.

This time, Xiao Juan also joined the search.

It was not until it was almost dark that he found Yu Niaoniao in the Glazed Jade Palace.

Seeing that her nose was red from the cold, he touched her small hands which were also cold. Xiao Juan immediately took off his cloak and wrapped it around her.

Yu Niaoniao immediately felt much warmer.

She looked up at the man in front of her and asked, “How did you find this place? Did Shen Junzhi tell you?”

Xiao Juan said, “Shen Junzhi? Is he the person you wanted to investigate previously? Does he know that you’re here?”

Yu Niaoniao was stunned. Shen Junzhi did not look actually for Xiao Juan.

He really lied to her!

Yu Niaoniao was very disappointed.

She had known Shen Junzhi for so many years and had always trusted him. She did not expect him to betray her trust in the end.

Yu Niaoniao said truthfully, “Shen Junzhi was also in the palace. He happened to meet me and brought me here to take refuge. He also said that he would go to Zhengde Hall to look for you and tell you that I’m in the Glazed Jade Palace. Have you never seen him?”

Xiao Juan frowned. “No.”

Yu Niaoniao asked, “Then how did you find this place?”

“We searched the palaces one by one. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have found you so late.”

As Xiao Juan spoke, he sized her up from head to toe. He saw that other than her face turning pale, there was nothing else wrong with her.

He relaxed. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Xiao Juan was about to bring Yu Niaoniao out of the Glazed Jade Palace when she stopped him.

“I found something here. I don’t know what to do with it. Let me show you.”

Xiao Juan followed her to the backyard and saw the remains of the baby on the ground.

Yu Niaoniao roughly explained the process of discovering the remains.

“This child died a strange death. Do you want to investigate?”

Xiao Juan said in a low voice, “This matter might be related to the emperor. We have to report it to the emperor and let him make the decision.”

Yu Niaoniao had no objections.

Xiao Juan personally put the remains of the baby into a box and sent them to the emperor. He reported everything to the emperor and asked him to make a decision.

The old emperor looked at the skeleton in the wooden box and was silent for a long time before speaking slowly.

“Go ahead.”