The candlelight in the royal study swayed, casting the figure in the corner.
The emperor sat behind the imperial court, his eyes filled with anger: "I have received the news. Have the secret guards of the Hou Mansion found out Pei Huan's whereabouts?"
Song Shuwan lowered her eyebrows and said, "I have not yet returned to the emperor."
"boom!"
The emperor patted the imperial court heavily and said: "How could such a big man in a wheelchair disappear for no reason?"
Song Shuwan was speechless. She also received the news later, so she probably didn't know as much as the emperor.
As time passed, the emperor pinched his painful eyebrows and said, "The city gate has not yet opened, so Pei Huan must still be in the capital, but tomorrow morning..."
Song Shuwan raised her head. Even though she was still wary of the emperor, at this moment, she looked directly at the emperor.
"Why didn't the emperor issue an imperial decree and directly close the city gate?"
The emperor lowered his eyes slightly and asked in a majestic tone: "Do you know how much impact this imperial edict will have on the capital?"
Song Shuwan said without being humble or arrogant: "I don't know how much influence it will have, but I know that if the crown prince cannot be found, the emperor's heart will definitely not be at peace. If this is the case, why bother? Closing the city gate is actually the easiest way.
It’s a labor-saving way, isn’t it?”
The emperor said nothing, but looked at Song Shuwan intently.
The atmosphere in the imperial study gradually became stagnant, and a silent sense of oppression fell on Song Shuwan, but she seemed not to notice it and still looked at the emperor.
"Hmph, don't you think I haven't thought about it? I don't know why the people behind him wanted to arrest Pei Huan, but now that he has disappeared, the only thing I can do is search. Closing the city gate is indeed a simple and labor-saving way, but have you ever thought about it?
Is it possible for a dog to jump over the wall in a hurry?"
The dog is so anxious that he jumps over the wall!
Song Shuwan's pupils shrank slightly. She thought about this possibility, but...
"Once the prince is taken out of the capital, he will face no worse fate than closing the city gate. Your Majesty, please save the prince's life!"
Song Shuwan kowtowed heavily and lay motionless on the ground.
The emperor was speechless. I don't know how long it took, but he sighed: "I know you are eager to save people, but I have more to consider than you think. You can just step back. I am tired."
"Can……"
Song Shuwan still wanted to speak, but she paused as soon as she said a word. Pursuing him might be able to achieve his wish, but pursuing him at the wrong time would only make people bored.
The king of a country is not someone who can shake his mind with a few words of entreaty.
"My wife brought the person arrested by the prince into the prince. I wonder if the emperor wants to see her?"
The emperor was silent for a long time, shook his head, waved his hand and said: "She will stay in the Marquis Mansion for the time being. When the time comes, she will be sent to the palace."
Sent to the palace?
Song Shuwan felt that these four words were a bit strange, so she couldn't help but glance at the emperor, and after a few moments, she bowed and left.
The rain outside stopped at some point. Song Shuwan looked at Xingzi who came out, and thought of Pei Huan, whose condition was unknown now, and felt a little irritated.
Both of them have their own goals, but she is the only one who knows nothing about them. This feeling is particularly frustrating.
After leaving the palace, An Yi came towards me: "Concubine, the Emperor's side..."
Song Shuwan raised her hand to signal him to be silent first: "Let's talk after we get home."
An Yi reacted, quickly looked around, lowered his head and retreated to the side.
Returning to the Hou Mansion, Song Shuwan repeated the emperor's words, and her face darkened for a moment.
"How could the emperor do this? It is obvious that the prince is doing this for..."
"Be careful what you say."
Song Shuwan interrupted him and leaned back unconsciously: "I know you are anxious, but now is not the time to be anxious. If there is no hope for the Emperor, we have to rely on ourselves to find the person. I think the people under the Crown Prince
Not worse than the Emperor’s people, right?”
The room fell into silence, and An looked up: "The prince's people are naturally no worse than the emperor's. Please rest assured, prince concubine, my subordinates will definitely find him."
Not long after the dark room was turned on, it was daybreak. Song Shuwan rubbed her swollen and sore eyebrows and was about to sleep for a while. Unexpectedly, the concierge came to report that a boy came from outside and claimed to be from Prince Yong's Mansion.
Send a post.
"This is the post sent by the boy."
After the concierge explained the situation, he respectfully handed over the post.
Song Shuwan took it and glanced at it casually, frowning slightly. The post was blank. Is this really a post sent by Prince Yong's Mansion?
"Fei Yuan, go and ask if this post is really from Prince Yong's Mansion?"
Fei Yuan stepped forward, took the post and left.
On the other side, An Yi has sent people to guard the four gates of the capital, but there has been no gain at all at the end of the day.
In the evening, Song Shuwan received the report and felt strange. The four city gates were the only way to leave the capital. Pei Huan fell into the hands of others. If those people wanted to take him away, they had to go through the city gates. But if there was nothing unusual...
Just as I was thinking about it, a voice came from the yard asking: "Is the Crown Princess here?"
Song Shuwan came back to her senses and gave Baicao a look. The latter walked around and then turned around, his eyebrows becoming more serious.
"The prince's concubine, it was the message from the Marquis, saying that it has been a long time since I had a meal with the prince and the prince's concubine, and I miss him deeply, so..."
She didn't finish her words, but Song Shuwan heard clearly and couldn't help but sneer: "I sensed something was wrong, so I deliberately tested it and told the messenger that the prince and I were going out of the city to burn incense today and were not free."
Baicao passed the message.
Half an hour later, Song Shuwan left the Hou Mansion with a dozen people.
In the Qingzhu Courtyard, Mr. Hou and Mrs. Hou heard the process, and both of them felt very strange.
Mrs. Hou frowned and said, "Is it possible that the news is wrong? In fact, nothing happened to Pei Huan?"
The Marquis remained silent and took out an envelope from his arms. He suddenly received a letter last night. The letter said that Pei Huan had been taken away and his whereabouts were unknown. He asked the Marquis to take action immediately if he had any arrangements. He had doubts in his heart.
I wanted to test it out during the day, but I didn't expect that Song Shuwan would come up with such a trick.
Are you leaving Beijing to burn incense?
The Marquis's eyes darkened: "Get ready, I will arrange for you to enter the palace. Remember, you must make the Queen Mother happy, so that the Queen Mother can speak, and the step-son can have a chance to inherit the position of Dingyuan Marquis."
Mrs. Hou nodded: "Don't worry, Mr. Hou, there will be no problem."
Here, Mr. Hou and Mrs. Hou were busy entering the palace to please the Queen Mother.
On the other side, Song Shuwan led people to leave the capital. They did not go far. After being about six miles away, they quickly turned back and went to the villa where the Queen Mother had stayed before.
However, as soon as Song Shuwan got off the carriage, an arrow suddenly flew towards her. When the army was about to launch its attack, the flying kite shot down the arrow.
At the same time, everyone saw the note tied to the arrow.
Fei Yuan stepped forward and picked it up: "The Crown Princess, the note said that the Crown Prince is in their hands, and they want the Crown Princess to go alone to the ruined temple twenty miles outside the city... to change someone."