in2ebook Chapter 393 1
Chapter 393 1
After Lu Xuan and Xu Shu left, a tender sprout emerged from the antique shelf in the house.
Lu Xuan looked at the swaying branches and smiled in surprise: "You're back so soon?"
Huai Ling transformed into a puff of green smoke and quickly condensed in front of Lu Xuan, blinking his two big eyes: "Master, I see everything clearly."
Jiang Xing was also very surprised, "It was so fast? Did Jiang Yuanfeng notice?"
"No, no, there is no trace of him in the palace now!"
Lu Xuan was relieved. "He lured me into the palace that day, but was injured by the Sect Master's restriction on me, and he also suffered a backlash, so he must be injured. Today we heard his voice in the secret passage, and he should have left the palace later."
She pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Huai Ling: "Tell me what you gained from your trip to the East Palace today!"
Huai Ling nodded obediently. "That Crown Prince you're talking about, I think he's quite nice. He might look a little silly on the surface, but when I saw him talking privately with those two young ladies in green, he seemed quite normal, not hesitant at all!"
Jiang Xing's eyes lit up with joy, and he stood up from his chair immediately: "So, Yan'er is safe and healthy!"
Lu Xuan nodded. "Perhaps Jiang Shaozhao himself is injured, and his attention has been distracted by our affairs these days, so he hasn't had the chance to go back to the East Palace to attack the Crown Prince."
"Perhaps there's another reason," Jiang Xingdao said. "He's already promised his brother that Jiang Xu will be made the crown prince. Based on his understanding of the Queen, the Third Prince, and the others, he must have known they would assassinate Yan'er, so he's unwilling to harm him. Have you forgotten what he said in the secret passage? Yan'er's survival is only beneficial to his brother and him. Without Yan'er, they won't be able to keep the throne!"
Lu Xuan agreed with him and continued to ask Huai Ling, "What about the other thing I asked you to do? Find out the secret passage under the East Palace. Is it connected to the secret passage we took earlier? And what's in that secret passage? Have you found it?"
Huai Ling nodded vigorously again, "I found it, and I found this one too!"
He said this with a hint of pride, and looked at Lu Xuan pleadingly, "This is great news. I've told the Sect Master. Can you let me play freely in the palace for a while?"
Lu Xuan lowered his head and smiled, "Alright, I'll agree to it with reluctance! But don't hurt anyone, and don't show it in front of others!"
Huai Ling smiled cheerfully, then quickly revealed the whole news. "There's also a secret passage beneath the Crown Prince's bedroom, but that secret passage isn't the same as the one we went to today. The two aren't connected, and the one beneath the East Palace is a dead end. However, the decorations and arrangements inside the two secret passages are exactly the same."
"Exactly the same?!" they both said in unison.
"Yes, the one we went to today was obviously modeled after the one in the East Palace. The patterns and stones, as well as the objects displayed, are very similar!"
"Besides the agarwood shavings, is there anything else under the secret passage of the East Palace?" Lu Xuan stared at Huai Ling closely.
The room was extremely quiet, and Jiang Xing held his breath, waiting for the answer at this moment.
Huai Ling squinted her eyes and thought: "Apart from the agarwood shavings, there is nothing else..."
"So what?" Jiang Xing asked anxiously.
"There is a person."
"Alone?!" Lu Xuan and Jiang Xing felt as if a thunderbolt had flashed over their heads, causing their mouths to open into ovals.
Lu Xuan: "Who is it? Did you see it clearly?"
"A dead man."
"dead?!"
They were startled at the moment, just like two frightened rabbits.
Lu Xuan looked at Jiang Xing with a determined look.
"It must be him. The evil spirit in the East Palace came from that dead man!"
"That person indeed had the evil spirit that the Sect Master mentioned. When I got close to him, I felt extremely uncomfortable all over, so I quickly returned. However, the smell inside was quite pleasant..."
Lu Xuan paced back and forth, thinking, "I know why there are agarwood chips in there! I think it's to cover up the stench of corpses coming from the people inside, so they deliberately put a lot of agarwood chips in there! But..."
She paused, "Looking at the evil aura in the East Palace, it has been there for at least a few years. Why hasn't anyone sent that dead man away in all these years?"
"Perhaps he has forgotten, or perhaps the person who killed him or disposed of him is no longer alive."
Lu Xuan disagreed with Jiang Xing's statement. "Judging from Jiang Yuanfeng's Qiankun Five Qi Formation, he must have intentionally excluded the East Palace. He's been in the Imperial Palace for so many years, it's impossible for him not to know about the evil energy there. Without years and months, there wouldn't be such a large area of such intense black. So it's obvious that the man who died in the East Palace must have been dead for fifteen years. And fifteen years ago, this is definitely not a coincidence."
Jiang Xing took her hand and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "Okay, don't think about it. You were so scared today, and it took you so long to get back. Aren't you hungry?"
Lu Xuan was startled back to his senses by her movements. He glanced at the lit lanterns around him and realized that they had been chatting from day to late at night.
"Yeah, I feel like there's something missing in my stomach."
Jiang Xing lowered his eyes and pulled her towards the dining hall, unable to resist joking, "Just now, I was disturbed by someone's rumbling stomach and couldn't think straight."
Lu Xuan glared at him, blushing, "No wonder I was wondering why you didn't answer me at all!"
He chuckled softly and said, "My beloved concubine's health is naturally more important than anything else. If I let you go hungry, what will happen if the little bit of flesh you have worked so hard to gain disappears again?"
"Besides, I think we can put the matter of the secret passage in the East Palace aside for now. The most urgent matter now is to clarify what happened in the secret passage today. When we go to court tomorrow, we must help Brother Lu get Ji Xiangli's body here..."
Tired, the two finally prepared to eat and rest.
But the heavy thoughts could not be wiped away from Lu Xuan's heart...
The next day.
After the arrival of autumn, the rain has become gentler, less violent and heavy than in summer, and more gentle and low.
Early in the morning, Jiang Xing entered the palace in the drizzle.
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
Looking at the officials paying homage, the emperor was in a good mood and smiled as he asked all the officials to stand up.
He was in a very good mood yesterday after receiving Jiang Shaozhao's approval for the position of crown prince.
Now the position of crown prince is in his hands.
He had also made up his mind that he would wait until Xu'er recovered from his injury and was no longer suffering from the sickbed, and then announce it immediately. It would be a double happiness, and he would definitely be very happy.
The most important thing is that when the time comes, he can legitimately accept congratulations from all officials!
Not like now.
If an imperial edict is issued now to change the crown prince, Xu'er will have to come forward and face all the officials. Even without mentioning the injuries on his body that make it difficult for him to be seen by others and his strange walking posture, all the officials can guess what they are thinking.
It might even hinder him from ascending to the Eastern Palace.
After thinking for a long time, the emperor glanced around and unconsciously passed by a smiling face.
Jiang Xing?
Why is he here again?
When the emperor met his smiling eyes, the smile on his face immediately faded.
unlucky!
"If you have a petition, please submit. If you don't, please leave the court—"
He Yuanguang understood the emperor best. When he saw Jiang Xing, he knew that something bad was going to happen, so he planned to order the court to adjourn early.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
The person who spoke was Lu Xuan.
Jiang Xing didn't move. Instead, he looked at the emperor with a smile, then deliberately nodded in the direction of General Lu, and gestured to the emperor in a very intimate manner: It's time for you to do the work!