The young chamberlain lowered his head and said: "My lord, our queen never communicates with outside the palace. Even when the Marquis of E came to Haojing to see the king, he only met the brother and sister in the palace and never sent anyone out of the palace. Even inside the palace.

, and rarely interacts with other empresses. Therefore, there is no one in Xuanning Palace that you can mention."

The face of the chamberlain Jia turned from sunny to gloomy: "Then wouldn't Aunt Fox's words be in vain?"

"It's not for nothing." The young chamberlain looked up at E Xiu who was sitting on the seat, and said hesitantly: "Ms. Meizi often sends her maids to look for Eunuch Shu Diao of Qiuli Palace. I think this has nothing to do with the palace."

Matters of external contact should be left to Qiuliao Palace."

Oh? This is an important clue. The chambermaid Jia raised her eyebrows: "Who is Meizi's personal maid?"

Everyone in the hall stepped back on their knees, and there was a little palace maid who was about fourteen or fifteen years old with a delicate face. She was trembling like chaff: "This slave is --- Sister Meizi's palace maid, named Meng Gui."

"Without further ado, have you ever gone to Qiuliao Palace to deliver a message for your master?" Jia, the chamberlain, asked directly.

After a long while, Meng Gui slowly straightened up her back, her eyes were somewhat calm, and she said proudly: "Sister Meizi and the second concubine have treated me with so much kindness that it is hard to repay it! You want to take credit from the king and ask us to frame the empress.

, but it is absolutely impossible!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Meng Gui suddenly got up and rushed towards the palace wall, intending to commit suicide. The face of the chamberlain Jia changed drastically------

Before he could scream, the tall and round chamberlain beside him had already rushed over, grabbed Meng Gui with only one hand like an eagle carrying a chicken, and threw her at the feet of chamberlain Jia.

"Well done, Qi Zhong!" Jia, the chamberlain, praised his subordinate's agility and spat at Meng Gui: "Bah! For your master's evil heart, you ruthlessly killed the queen. What kind of loyalty is this?

?I want to see if it is my inner chamberlain who is tougher, or your bones!"

He refused to talk nonsense anymore and simply ordered: "Two nuns, let's do it."

The two nuns who had just tied Mei Zi came back at some unknown time. As soon as they got the order, they immediately took out a ball of cloth from the big bag on the ground and shook it gently. It turned out to be a gray and black coarse cloth half a foot wide and more than ten feet long.

Meng Gui panicked and got up quickly to run away, but was caught by a woman and pinned down on the table.

Then the two of them kept wrapping their hands, left and right, and the wide strips of cloth first tied her hands, feet, and body flatly, and then continued to wrap them up, wrapping them up and down, and wound them dozens of times.

Meng Gui was tied tightly to the desk, her back pressed against the cold hard board, and her whole body was like a silkworm chrysalis. The coarse cloth was so strong that she couldn't even move a finger. She couldn't help but exclaimed: "What are you going to do? What are you going to do?"

Are you going to torture me?"

The chambermaid Jia looked left and right with great satisfaction: "On the contrary, I'm afraid that the girl won't be able to think about it and will hurt herself." As soon as she finished speaking, a ball of smelly cloth was stuffed into her mouth to prevent her from biting her tongue and committing suicide.

He turned around and smiled: "The two nuns are very capable!"

A woman said: "This is a trick to serve the ignorant nobles in the palace, to prevent them from hurting themselves, but it makes the adults laugh."

The chambermaid Jia nodded and said: "Take her to the chamberlain prison and give her some soup every two hours. She won't need to eat. Let her take care of her."

Seeing Meng Gui being carried away by the chamberlains, the young chamberlain who had just reported her walked forward with great hope. Chamberlain Jia glanced at him with disgust: "You go to clean the courtyard of the middle palace first, and I will arrange for you later. As for that,

You--" He turned his meaningful eyes to everyone in Xuanning Palace: "I'm tired today, so I'll just stay here. Come back tomorrow, you have to think clearly about what to say, if you can't let me

If you are satisfied, then you can only go to the Queen’s Mausoleum to serve you------"

In the back hall of the main hall, in an inconspicuous corner, the exhausted Zhou Gongding had no time to rest and was listening to the report from his retainer Mei Shu. The two whispered, and Zhou Gongding's expression became more and more serious.

"So, Concubine E Ci has been dug out? Mei Zi and Meng Gui have been taken to the inner chamber to be tortured?"

"I have been asking for a long time, and it is indeed like this." Uncle Mei also looked worried: "The king personally gave Yi Jijiu wine and ordered her to be buried as a queen, but she has already pretended to be buried. Those in Xuanning Palace were frightened.

, I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before we spit it out. My lord, fortunately, we only have one person in contact with the palace. As long as this clue is cut off, Duke Zhao will not be able to grasp the evidence. You should make a decision early!”

Ji Ding's face showed a rare hint of intolerance: "But these years, Shu Diao has always been loyal to me. How can I bear to do this?"

"Oh my lord," Uncle Mei hurriedly said with cupped hands, "If you continue to break up, you will be disturbed! Now that Meng Gui has been exposed, the next step is to be cunning. By then, torture will be worse than death, so why not do it now?

After it is over, I will also take care of his family outside the palace. I think he is also happy to do so."

Zhou Gongding silently stared at the sunset on the horizon for a long time, and his voice was as cold as ice: "The Qiuli Palace has been sealed like an iron barrel, and it is impossible to get in or get out. It seems that the only way is to use the last resort."

"Shu Diao and your Excellency have made an agreement long ago. When you see the signal, you will understand it."

"I hope so." Zhou Gongding sighed.

"Master, aren't we going back to the main hall to report to the king? Why are we still looking west?" Qi Zhong asked Jia, the chamberlain, with a confused look on his face.

"You, you are so brainless!" Jia, the chamberlain, said with a look of annoyance: "Strike while the iron is hot, don't you understand? What if you arrive late and all the physical evidence is destroyed?"

Qi Zhong suddenly realized: "It turns out that master is going to Qiuliao Palace! Wow!"

Turn around the palace alley in front, and walk about a hundred steps further in to the palace gate of Qiuliao Palace. Within the vermilion palace wall, a huge white paper kite suddenly rises, which looks very strange against the bloody setting sun.

Summer is not the best time to put paper kites, so this paper kite looks very abrupt and has a somewhat weird shape. The whole body is a regular diamond shape, very huge, as big as a seven or eight-year-old child. There is also a cry drawn on it in black ink.

The face, triangular eyes, and a dot of heavy ink on the lower head represent tears. The most horrifying thing is a blood-filled mouth half open, with a tongue hanging out. Even though the sun has not yet set, everyone is afraid when they see it. If

Seeing such a white kite at night is no different from seeing Bai Wuchang.

"Master, what the hell is that?" Qi Zhong pointed at the white kite and asked in surprise, "Should we send a few people over to have a look?"

"That's all, Qiuliao Palace is right in front of us, it's more important to do business." Jia, the chamberlain, said decisively, but there was still a faint uneasiness in his heart. This white paper kite was too weird------it seemed to be something ominous.

mega?

Qi Zhong kicked open the door of Qiu Liao Palace. Seeing such a group of aggressive people breaking in, the palace people knew it was not good and could not escape. Jia, the chamberlain, had a solemn face and walked straight to the dormitory where Ji Jiang lived.

.

Ji Jiang was lying alone on the couch. He didn't move when he saw Jia, the chamberlain, coming in. He only asked coldly: "The chamberlain has almost become a regular visitor to my Qiuliao Palace. What advice can you give me now?"

The chamberlain Jia gave a perfunctory salute: "Second concubine, I have been ordered by the king to summon Shu Diao to come for questioning."

"Shu Diao? Huh! You first took Father Shang away from me, and now you want to take Shu Diao away? Do you still have this second concubine in your eyes?" Ji Jiang was furious, but his tone was full of helpless desolation:

"Is this palace so insignificant in the eyes of the king?"

"So that the empress will know." The chamberlain Jia's voice was as cold as ice: "The king has used dove wine to kill Yi Ji, and is preparing to bury the queen. Concubine E Ci bribed Wen Po and used the opportunity of childbirth to murder the queen, and the crime has been confirmed.

Please also ask the empress to cooperate in handing over Shu Diao so as not to anger the king and implicate herself."

Ji Jiang took a breath. She didn't expect that the matter would be revealed so quickly. She suddenly showed a hint of cowardice. She hesitated and said: "Shu Diao Shicai was still here. Later, he said that he was going to show his respects, so he went out. He has not been there since.

return------"

Somehow, the chamberlain Jia Hu raised his head and looked sideways at the sky. The strange white paper kite that was wandering near the Qiuliao Palace just now disappeared. He suddenly understood and shouted: "No!" and turned around.

He ordered Qi Zhong: "Hurry up and search Shu Diao in Qiu Lia Palace. I want to see him alive and his body after death. Even if I dig three feet in the ground, I have to find him!"

"promise!"

The sky was already dark, the wind was cold and the stars were sparse. The cool night breeze blew away some of the horror in people's hearts. The Qiuli Palace was brightly lit, and dozens of servants and guards were flowing in. The lanterns they held in their hands were far away.

It looks like a flickering fire, busy and busy.

The inner bedroom is not as bright as the outside. The chamberlain Jia sat in front of the desk with his arms stretched out, looking at the dancing candlelight on the side. A moth trembled with trembling wings, weak but firm, slowly approaching the flames. He left at noon.

He had been busy working in the main hall until now, and he was really tired. If it hadn't been for Shu Diao's disappearance, he would have rested long ago.

Qi Zhong approached lightly, with a puzzled look on his face: "Master, brothers inside and outside the palace have searched, and indeed we can't find Shu Diao."

"Are you sure he is in the palace? Didn't he run out before we came?"

"It's impossible. The Qiuli Palace has been sealed for a long time, and not a single fly can fly out. I also asked many people in the palace, and everyone agreed. Today's lunch will still be served by Zhu Diao, and he will also serve it in the afternoon.

My second concubine, where can I go in such a short time?"

The chamberlain Jia walked slowly for a few steps, then turned on his heels and asked, "Who was the last person who saw him?"

"It was the little palace maid who was waiting outside the dormitory door. She saw Shu Diao going towards the back garden with her own eyes. She thought he was going to pay tribute, so she didn't pay attention."

"Let's go to the back garden." Jia, the chamberlain, waved decisively.
Chapter completed!