Du Ankang has not been with Bai Li for a long time. It was only a few months ago that Bai Wanqian asked him to follow Bai Li when Bai Li entered the Qiuzhi Academy. After all, Du Ankang, who is in the sixth level of armor-breaking, is considered a good player in Kyoto.
Although he felt embarrassed at his age, he would not be as frustrated and angry as Bai Li. The most useless thing in the world is powerless emotions.
Creak, the door opened.
Bai Li walked out of the room, holding a dagger in his hand, which scared all the waiters and servants and took a step back.
"Let's go, follow me and kill Yu Zhi." Bai Li was full of hostility. All day long, his mind was filled with thoughts on how to kill Yu Zhi and Qiu Ruoruo.
But he didn't have many options. He couldn't kill Qiu Ruoruo, so he could only attack Yu Zhi. His father is the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, and his official rank is higher than that of Qiu Ruoruo's father, but Qiu Ruoruo's grandfather was once a Taifu.
This cannot be compared.
Du Ankang grabbed Bai Li's right hand holding the dagger. There was no expression between his brows. Facing the angry child, he said calmly: "Are you sure it's Yu Zhi?"
sure?
uncertain.
Bai Li was also confused. His analysis made sense and was very likely close to the truth. If Yu Zhi had known about it, he would have praised this boy as being as good as Bai Yu. However, it always feels a bit far-fetched to trace the cause by using Yu Zhi and others as the murderers.
The shame of asking is that he is willing to enmity with the Minister of Household Affairs? And the eldest lady of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division is actually an accomplice? Is there a guy who is at the top of the Qingyun Trial Ranking List who is also willing to do such a low-level thing?
Very unlikely.
They would never have thought that Yu Zhi was just avenging Ye Qinghuan. If he couldn't squeeze Du Ankang, a hard persimmon, he would pick out Baili, a soft persimmon.
"If you want to go, go ahead. If Ye Qinghuan is with Yu Zhi, you won't be able to pass him. Besides, Qiu Ruoruo is not something you can handle," Du Ankang said again.
Bai Li relaxed his arm and pushed away the waiters and servants. He turned around and said to Du Ankang: "Please help me, sir."
Without the usual friendly tone and address, Bai Li asked for help for the first time, and he asked for help from his own staff. He was very sincere and solemn. Logically speaking, the master orders the servants. But...will Du Ankang agree?
…
Yu Zhi still followed, making Qiu Ruoruo proud several times along the way. He made an excuse - to look for clues about the men who beat him and kidnapped him.
I have to say, this excuse is... very lame.
The gate of Prince Zhao's Mansion is very large. The last time he came here was late at night, so Yu Zhi didn't see it clearly. Now that he can see it clearly, Yu Zhi feels that the Qiu family's gate is rather small.
Yu Zhi was walking on the marble floor, feeling a slight chill, and suddenly felt something. He turned back and glanced at the more majestic palace opposite.
Seeing Yu Zhi stop, Qiu Ruoruo asked doubtfully: "Brother Xiaoyu?"
Yu Zhi scratched his head and looked at the war flag flying in front of the palace, feeling unspeakably uncomfortable in his heart.
"What is that?" Yu Zhi pointed to the black battle flag inlaid with gold patterns, with a tiger embroidered with gold silk thread on the flag.
Qiu Ruoruo looked in the direction of Yu Zhi's finger and said, "The battle flag of the King of Side by Side is also the royal flag of the current King of Chu."
"Oh." Yu Zhi responded, and then walked towards Prince Zhao's Mansion. He felt a little familiar in his heart, and he always felt that he had seen this battle flag somewhere.
This was the first time Yu Zhi met King Zhao, a middle-aged man with a bookish spirit.
After a day of treatment, Prince Zhao's life was saved, and the doctors in the palace also saved their own lives. Although Prince Zhao was still in a coma, his breathing became smoother.
King Zhao had no intention of receiving the three of them, and their identities were not worthy of King Zhao's reception. He just asked people to take them around the yard to look for some clues.
When the three of them were leaving, they met the maid coming from the opposite door. The maid held a box in her hand. The box was very delicate and contained something very precious.
"My wife heard that the prince was assassinated, so she asked the slave to bring the thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum. She wished the prince a speedy recovery." The maid said, and handed the box in her hand to the housekeeper of Prince Zhao's palace.
"Little slave girl, would you like to come in and sit down?"
The maid bowed and smiled, and politely declined: "Madam cannot live without people, and the slave needs to go back to serve her as soon as possible."
Both sides stopped being polite.
On the carriage back, Qiu Ruoruo was very depressed. After all, she didn't find any useful clues. This was the second day, the second day without a clue.
"Who is that maid?" Yu Zhi asked for no reason.
Qiu Ruoruo thought of the delicate-looking maid just now. This was the first time she had seen her. "That person should be the maid of King Chu's wife."
"Is the King of Chu the King of Side by Side?" Yu Zhi said, "The wife of the King of Chu should be called the Princess of Chu. From what you and the maid said, why are you just calling her the wife?"
The title of princess is not something that can be taken off casually.
At least Qiu Ruoruo's title should be Princess or Princess Chu, not Madam.
Seeing Qiu Ruoruo's weird expression, Yu Zhi said again: "If it's a secret, it's better not to tell it, so as not to cause trouble."
Although Yu Zhi said this, he still wanted to know in his heart. It's really not like Yu Zhi can possess this energy of gossip.
Qiu Ruoruo's expression became relaxed again and she said: "This secret is known to everyone in the court, and there is no big trouble to be afraid of."
Qiu Ruoruo knew that Yu Zhi was not a loudmouthed person, and that the so-called "secret" was well known to the upper class people in Kyoto. Private discussions often occur, as long as they are not deliberately spread.
Facing Yu Zhi's curious gaze, Qiu Ruoruo said: "Madam is not the Princess of Chu. To be precise, Madam herself has never admitted that she is the wife of King Chu."
…
The Prince's Palace is often empty. There are many waiters and servants in such a large palace, and many times there are many people, which makes it feel lonely.
The owner of the palace is not in Kyoto. There are many things to do after the southern tour to reward the three armies, so there is not much time to stay in the palace. The owner once said that the woman in the palace was also the owner of the palace.
Waiters, servants, and guards all did the same. Please please this woman, or... try your best to please.
It's just that the maid named Xiaonu is the only one who can please her.
In the pavilion, the white gauze curtain blocks the appearance of the woman. The woman is wearing a plain white velvet robe, holding an ancient scroll in her hand, and reading between the lines intently.
She doesn't like to go out, and her greatest pleasure is to look at the flowers and plants in the palace. She didn't like the crowds either. She and her slave were the only two people in the small courtyard where she lived, and the usual waiters and servants were not allowed in.
Therefore, she just heard today that the prince of Prince Zhao's palace opposite was assassinated. What assassin? She was never curious, thinking that the son of an old friend should give him something, so she asked the slave to give him a piece of Ganoderma lucidum.
"Madam, the Ganoderma lucidum has been delivered to Prince Zhao's Mansion." The slave nodded, waiting for the response from the woman behind the veil.
"good."
The woman responded, her sweet voice sounding like a spring in an empty valley. The little slave admired the woman in the pavilion very much, and seemed to think that all the advantages of a woman could be found in the person in front of her.
"What else is there?" The woman asked when she saw that the slave did not retreat.
The young slave leaned forward and said respectfully: "His Royal Highness will be able to return to Kyoto in half a month after delivering the message to stay up late with his wife."
"Okay." The woman responded again, only one word. But Xiaonu could hear that Madam was very happy in her heart. The prince she was talking about was the son of His Royal Highness King Chu, the prince of Chu.
"The madam cares deeply about the prince, but is cold-faced towards the prince. This has been the case for several years. Sigh, I really can't understand the madam's thoughts." Xiaonu thought to himself, "The prince is in a respected position, who should not be flattered when he sees it?" , Madam has actually neglected the prince for so many years."
The woman put down the ancient scroll and heard that the Prince of Chu had returned to the capital. Her heart softened like the frozen lake in winter.
"Slave."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Hao'er is going back to Beijing. Tell me some interesting things about Kyoto recently. I should talk to him then."
Xiaonu was already prepared, after all, Kyoto was very "busy" these days.
The gauze curtain was lifted, and the woman's face slowly emerged. A woman should become a woman. She has spent nearly forty years in this world, but there are no traces of time on her face. Her skin is not fair, her face is not round, her nose is quite regular, neither straight nor slumped, her lips are slightly thin, and the only thing that can be said to be beautiful among her facial features is her eyes, which are like stars falling on the earth. .
The women are not tall either, everything is so regular.
All the regular and perfect pieces come together to form an extremely beautiful skin.
Xiaonu felt that as a woman, she had never tired of watching her for so many years, let alone those stinky men. Of course, except for the noble King of Chu.
"Madam is so beautiful, no wonder the prince has been obsessed with her early on."
The woman seemed to have heard such words too many times, and her expression did not change. She put down the ancient scroll and glanced at the slave beside her, signaling the slave to continue speaking.
The little slave stuck out his tongue, knowing that what the woman wanted to hear was still those interesting stories, not these sincere flatteries.
…
"According to what you said, that lady is not the biological mother of the Crown Prince of Chu, but she is very kind to the Crown Prince of Chu." Yu Zhi was puzzled. Compared with the loving mother and filial piety after the stepmother came to power, ordinary people would rather see the love and hatred between the evil stepmother and her stepson.
"Brother Xiaoyu, even if you don't believe me, you should still believe in King Chu's vision. How can a woman who can enter the royal palace be a treacherous person?" Qiu Ruoruo saw through Yu Zhi's thoughts.
Yu Zhi chuckled, "Have you ever seen that lady?"
"The royal family members generally don't often interact with outsiders. What's more, the lady doesn't seem to like to be disturbed. I only heard about her but never saw her."
Yu Zhi leaned out of the car window and squinted at the battle flag, trying hard to think of what the tiger looked like and where he had seen it.
