It's past noon.
Xiao Yuehuai and Su Ying had lunch with Emperor Zhou and Queen Zhou. After coming out of Changqing Palace, they walked slowly to the Imperial Garden. On the way, she pushed aside Su Ying and took A Lu around to the Quesi Gate, and then walked from the Quesi Gate to the Shuangting Terrace. As she walked deeper, she came to the covered bridge behind the Feige Lian Que and squeezed in. In a corridor.
"Princess, what are we doing here?"
A Lu looked around, feeling astonished: "Why is there such a passage behind Shuang Tingtai?"
Xiao Yuehuai suddenly turned her head, made a gesture to silence her, and tiptoed inside. Alu didn't dare to make any more noise, opened his eyes wide, and followed her cautiously.
They followed the narrow corridor and found a dark and small room at the end. Xiao Yuehuai stood tiptoe by the door, stretched out her hand and pushed the wooden door of the room tentatively, and a creaking sound was heard, along with a few whimpering sounds.
A Lu listened with fear. Seeing that Xiao Yuehuai was about to go in, he quickly grabbed her sleeve and lowered his voice: "Princess! Don't go!"
Xiao Yuehuai didn't look back, he just patted her clenched fist with his backhand, pressed against the wall, crossed the threshold, and entered the house without saying a word. A Lu had the courage to follow him. He closed his eyes tightly, not daring to look at the situation in the room, but he still couldn't help his curiosity and narrowed his eyes slightly. The sight made her freeze in place with fright.
In this dark room, lying on the damp and muddy floor, was a little girl who was firmly tied with ropes and her mouth was gagged with linen. Her tear-filled eyes were full of fear and despair.
"Princess Eleven?" Alu called out tremblingly, unable to believe his eyes.
Xiao Yuehuai knelt down, stretched out his hands to tear open the knots tied to the girl's body and hands, took away the cloth from her mouth, hugged her into her arms and said: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here, no matter what Something will happen."
The little girl who was tied up was none other than Xiao Yuehai's eleventh sister, Xiao Manxin.
Alu was stunned and had no idea what was happening. It wasn't until Xiao Yuehuai helped Xiao Manxin up from the ground that she came back to her senses and hurriedly stepped forward to lend a hand.
The two of them helped Xiao Manxin, who was shivering, out of this dark and narrow corridor. As soon as they reached the covered bridge of Shuangtingtai, they heard a whisper coming from the palace corridor on the side:
"Move quickly!"
"Why are you urging her? What's the rush? She's hidden there and tied with ropes all over her body. What else can she do to struggle?"
"It's better to hurry up. The master has told her that she must be sent out of the palace tonight. If we finish this matter as soon as possible, you and I won't have to worry about it all the time."
"..."
Immediately afterwards, there was a burst of rapid footsteps under the verandah next to the frost listening platform.
When Xiao Yuehuai heard the noise, he immediately knelt down, picked up the limp Xiao Manxin, and ran down the covered bridge. A Lu didn't dare to delay, for fear of missing something, so he followed without missing a step.
The three of them hid in the wisteria garden and secretly slipped through the tree-lined path to the exit on the other side, finally turning the corner.
Alu took a breath, gathered his energy and asked: "Princess...what is going on?"
Xiao Yuehuai was not in the mood to answer, and focused on Xiao Manxin. Looking at her waxy face, she felt heartbroken: "Send Sister Eleven back to Fuling Palace first, and I will talk to you later."
A Lu nodded, and the three of them walked towards the east of the Wisteria Garden.
It took a long time.
Xiao Manxin slowly calmed down.
In Fuling Palace, two sisters sat cross-legged on the couch facing each other, with Alu waiting on them. After Xiao Manxin calmed down, Xiao Yuehuai asked step by step: "Sister Manman, do you know those people who kidnapped you?"
Xiao Manxin took a long breath, shook his head helplessly and said, "They are some new faces, I don't recognize them."
Xiao Yuehuai asked again: "Then do you know why they tied you up and what they are going to do to you?"
Xiao Manxin paused and shook his head again.
Seeing this, Xiao Yuehuai couldn't help but frown, and after much hesitation he said, "Sister, did you accidentally break someone's secret? That caused this disaster?"
As soon as these words came out, Xiao Manxin's pale lips trembled unconsciously, and he lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Xiao Yuehuai saw that she didn't want to say anything, so he stopped asking further: "Sister, please rest first."
She patted Xiao Manxin's shoulder and was about to stand up and leave, but the corner of her clothes was gently pulled. Looking back, Xiao Manxin was looking at her helplessly, with panic in his eyes.
Xiao Yuehuai held her cold hand and comforted her softly: "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, I will guard you in the outer hall."
After hearing what she said, Xiao Manxin was willing to let go of his hand and let her go.
There was no sound in Fu Ling Palace.
Concubine Song, the mother of the eleventh princess, received the Holy Will and returned to visit relatives in the past two days and was not in the harem for the time being. So Xiao Manxin was the only one left in the huge palace, allowing the thieves to take advantage of the loophole.
Xiao Yuehuai sat outside the hall, rubbing her eyebrows with her hands, lowering her head and thinking about the whole thing, and gradually fell into a trance.
A Lu checked the doors and windows, opened the door to the inner room a crack, and made sure that Xiao Manxin was within their sight. Then he moved to Xiao Yuehai's side, lowered his voice and asked: "Princess, can you tell me what happened now?" Is it done?"
The girl at the table was immersed in her own thoughts and did not pay attention to the movement next to her. After Alu urged her twice, she woke up as if from a dream and looked over with blank eyes: "This matter is complicated. I only know that... someone wants to harm my sister."
A Lu stared, then moved closer and asked, "Who dares to harm Princess Eleven?"
Xiao Yuehui took a breath, looked at her, and said a name that made her almost jump with fright: "Lu Qiaoyu."
Alu restrained himself, but still couldn't help but exclaimed: "Concubine Xiang, Concubine Xiang???"
"But...why?"
Xiao Yuehuai shook her head: "I don't know the specific reason yet, but my sister must have known something that made Concubine Xiang become cruel. It's just that my sister didn't want to say..."
Aluyu was still shocked. He slowly tasted the taste and said in surprise: "Princess? How did you know about this? How did you know that Princess Eleven was hidden behind the frost listening platform? In the secret passage room?"
Xiao Yuehuai lowered her eyes and recalled the past:
On the fifth day of October, the eleventh princess Xiao Manxin disappeared. When the eunuch in front of the emperor reported to Emperor Zhou, she had disappeared for a day and a night. I searched all over the palace for two whole days, but to no avail.
Later, a descendant of the family discovered her in Liuxiang in the capital. At that time, Xiao Manxin was disheveled and dilapidated, and her innocence had been tarnished by the thieves who had kidnapped her.
The news spread quickly, and the royal family regarded her as a shame and were unwilling to re-investigate the case, leaving her alone to fend for herself amidst the filthy words of the world.
It was not until Ma Boweng, the eldest son of the Ma family in Qinghe and the grandson of Yue Gong Ma Hui, asked Emperor Zhou to marry Xiao Manxin that the rumors gradually subsided. But not long after, the trend in Jinling City changed from being harsh on Xiao Manxin to mocking Ma Bowen.
Everyone in the family regarded their couple as a topic of conversation after dinner, and they always laughed at them in small talk.
In the end, Xiao Manxin failed to resist these rumors, set himself on fire, and died in the princess's mansion, leaving no body behind. Ma Bowen was so sad that he cut his wrists and died for his love.
