Seeing that Al Yunduo was not convinced, Chu Miaoer couldn't help but give some advice: "Concubine Yun, you are a talkative in the palace. It may not be a bad thing for you to explain this matter clearly in front of the queen.
If it is false, you will not suffer this injustice in vain."
Sure enough, after hearing this, Al Yunduo just brushed his sleeves angrily, turned around and walked to the side of the couch. Without saying a word, Ling Xiang started to tremble.
Who in the palace is not observant? The Fourth Princess and the Empress are obviously colluding with each other, but why did the Empress, who clearly hated Concubine Yun so much just a few days ago, speak up for her? Today she made a mistake that will last forever!
"The Empress, please be clear! Please be clear, the Queen, what I said is true, and heaven and earth can learn from it!" Lingxiang kowtowed and cried, "The Queen must not be deceived..." In the blink of an eye, her hands
They were firmly grasped by the little eunuchs one by one, and the rest of their words suddenly disappeared into Chunliu's handkerchief.
"Why do you need to do this?" Chu Miao'er took a deep look at her and felt sympathy. The palace maid misjudged Chu Qianqian's reaction to this matter, and now she is in trouble. Either she will die today, or Al Yunduo will be killed.
She was thrown into the cold palace, but even if she won, what good end would a slave who betrayed his master get in the palace?
The noise finally died down. Chu Qianqian and Chunliu nodded, and continued to ask: "I specially sent someone to invite Chief Tong to come over. I want to hear what Chief Tong has to say about this?"
Tong Zhuo had no intention of provoking disputes in the harem. He looked at Ling Xiang's body that was locked tightly but kept twisting, screaming silently, the veins on her neck protruding, and the red bloodshot eyes clearly visible. Tong Zhuo knew that as long as he
If she shook her head at this time, Lingxiang would be taken out immediately to be executed, but it was clear that her fault was not hers.
He stared at Lingxiang quietly, and the time passed so quickly, but Lingxiang felt as if she saw the compassion flashing in his eyes. Just when Chu Miaoer's heart was racing, Tong Zhuo finally
Made a sound.
"Back to the Empress, as the leader of the Imperial Guards, it is my duty to protect the palace, and it is my mission to protect my master. What she said... I met the concubines in the harem in the rain late at night. This is right.
The slander of the minister is also an insult to the imperial guards..." Tong Zhuo lowered his head and clasped his fists with his hands, his voice was low but sonorous, "It also betrays the sincerity that I have shown to the emperor over the years."
Hearing what he said, Al Yunduo was really relieved. She was so afraid that this slender head would tell the truth.
"That's the case, Chunliu," Chu Qianqian patted her sleeves, stood up slowly, looked coldly at the disheveled Lingxiang on the ground and said, "I have been told by this palace that Lingxiang deliberately framed Concubine Yun.
If he can be punished, he should be dragged out immediately and beaten to death with sticks, and this should be reported to all the palaces to serve as a warning to others."
Seeing that the situation was not going well, Lingxiang quickly kowtowed and begged for mercy, and changed the words she shouted: "Empress, the slave is wrong, slave... I'm blinded by this, please forgive me for serving you for many years."
For your sake, spare your life, my dearest lady..."
Obviously, even if she breaks her head and shouts, Chu Qianqian will not be stingy with her.
"Perhaps if you are tougher, I will intercede for you, but unfortunately, what I hate most in my life is you who eat the inside out!" Al Yunduo raised his hand, slapped her face with a crisp slap, and said sternly,
"In Dongjue, a slave like you who betrays his master will be skinned and thrown out to feed the wolves."
Seeing Lingxiang trembling with fear and collapsing to the ground, Chu Qianqian only raised her hand, and Chunliu had someone drag her out.
"Please forgive me, Queen!..."
Lingxiang's wails could be heard intermittently, but Chu Miao'er never expected that the queen, who was always known as a "virtuous" person, would announce a person's death sentence so calmly.
This was also the first time that she had a profound understanding of the phrase "people are like grass and grass", but she could do nothing. From the moment she chose to help Al Yunduo, it meant that Ling Xiang would surely die.
"Since there is nothing to do, Chunliu, please send Leader Tong back," Chu Qianqian said politely, "I have wasted Leader Tong's time today."
Tong Zhuo nodded slightly, clasped his fists on his chest, and said in a deep voice: "I am very pleased to be able to clear up the Queen's confusion. I will not trouble the Queen. I will leave on my own."
Listening to the high-sounding official talk of the two people, Al Yunduo suddenly felt a chill. Tong Zhuo's stern look reminded her of the relaxed and comfortable look on their faces when they were chatting yesterday. I'm afraid not even anyone in the palace could People have seen him talk freely... Al Yunduo thought secretly.
Qing Glaze outside first saw Ling Xiang being taken away, and waited and waited but never saw Tong Zhuo coming out. Just when she was extremely anxious, she saw Tong Zhuo striding out of the room and walking towards the entrance of the courtyard. She He was extremely happy, but in order to hide himself from others, he hid in the grass behind him with a light leap.
But the sharp-eyed Tong Zhuo had noticed her a long time ago, but he did not stop and only glanced at her hiding place as he passed by.
After he left, seeing no one around, Qingglai jumped up quickly, muttering "Great, great, great", saluted Fanghua in the distance, and ran away with a smile. , disappeared in Fengwei Palace in the blink of an eye.
Seeing that she had left safely, Fanghua breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly she saw someone walking towards her like the wind. She took a closer look and quickly turned around and returned to the house.
"The Queen...the Crown Princess, she..."
"Mother," Xu Ning called outside the door, and saw her striding forward with her skirt lightly lifted, with an anxious look on her face. She seemed to have known for a long time that there was someone else in the room, and she still ignored the rules. She smiled slightly before turning her head and saying, "Mother, Ning'er has something urgent to ask you."
If Xu Ning had something urgent, it would be about Fu Lilian. Apart from that, Chu Miao'er couldn't think of anything else, but since she could guess it, Chu Qianqian could naturally guess it too.
"Second sister..."
"Eldest sister, please go and do your work first. Concubine Yun must be very frightened. I haven't seen Concubine Yun for a long time. I have something to talk about. I wonder if eldest sister can agree?" Chu Miaoer knew that she Hui nodded and asked tentatively.
Chu Qianqian nodded, turned around and left without saying anything.
After they left, Chu Miaoer asked Baitao to wait outside the door. For a moment, they were the only ones left in the room, looking at each other.
"The Crown Princess said a lot of good things about you in front of the Queen."
"I know..." Al Yunduo took off his shoes, sat down on the couch, and responded lazily, "She is much better than Chu Xianxue. Fortunately, the prince chose her."
Seeing her disapproving expression, Chu Miao suddenly lost her temper. She walked over and reached out and poked her on the forehead, pretending to be angry and said: "I see why you haven't learned anything after suffering such a big loss." ?Do you still think you are the ones in this palace? You need to be careful in your words and deeds every day in the palace!"
"I know, I know, Princess Princess..." Al Yunduo grinned and covered his head, as if he was really in pain.
Chu Miaoer sighed helplessly and sat next to her.
"Today, the Queen was merciful and didn't go into details, but don't think she doesn't know anything in her heart," Chu Miaoer said in turn, "Don't think I don't know either... Although Ling Xiang has a bad character, she is not just talking nonsense.
?last night……"
Last night... Al Yunduo hugged his knees and was silent in thought.
Last night there was the heaviest rainstorm since she entered the palace, and the snow and wind blew so hard that the windows rattled. After scolding Lingxiang that day, she never dared to step into this room again.
It was snowing so hard again, so no one would bring her any more charcoal for the stove.
Al Yunduo stood up, picked up two sticks of charcoal and threw them into the stove. When they collided with the fireplace, the sparks of fire were extinguished in a flash, but the ashes floated up, choking her and making her cough.
"How could you throw it in like this?"
Al Yunduo was really startled by the sound. She turned around suddenly and saw that the person standing in front of her was Tong Zhuo!
"If any palace maid casually throws charcoal in like you, I don't know how many times she will be beaten to death by the master." He bent down to pick up the iron hook on the side, skillfully turned the charcoal over, and raised it a little higher.
Then it slowly started to burn.
After Tong Zhuo bent down again and put the iron hook in place, he said with a smile: "The way you threw it just now can easily bring out sparks and cause a fire in the house."
"This is what we do when we have a bonfire. We are not as particular as you." Al Yunduo thought of something and pouted his lips and said deliberately, "You broke into the concubine's inner room privately. Now as long as I shout, you, the imperial guard, will
Don’t even think about taking the position of military leader!”
Obviously Tong Zhuo knew that she was just showing off with her words and did not take her words to heart.
Seeing that he refused to agree to her, Al Yunduo looked at the closed window and asked with joy and unbearable curiosity: "Why are you here?"
Why is he here? Tong Zhuo was slightly startled, yes, why would he want to come and see her in such a hot-headed manner? It was obvious that they should not have anything to do with each other since Al Yunduo rejected him that night.
"It's raining heavily tonight, so the patrol happened to be here..." Tong Zhuo explained seriously.
But even Al Yunduo could tell how false his words were. Fengwei Palace was the queen's palace, and the imperial guards had no right to patrol here without the emperor's permission, let alone the inner chamber.
"Tong Zhuo, are you relying on the heavy rain tonight that no one will find you sneaking into Fengwei Palace?" Al Yunduo said with a smile, "If they knew that the upright leader Tong would do such an obscene thing, there would be
what idea?"
Faced with her dirty talk, Tong Zhuo didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled and shook his head. Unknowingly, he had become accustomed to Al Yunduo's irrelevant remarks.
"Then do you know why I climbed over the wall and crossed the courtyard like this?" Tong Zhuo looked at her with burning eyes. Although he said nothing, he successfully caught a hint of shyness in her eyes.
He took out the warm porcelain bottles from his pocket and placed them on the round table one by one. As expected, Al Yunduo covered his mouth in surprise and jumped up.