Ye Zhiqiu was right. As soon as Song Yan learned about this matter, he went to the palace. By then, the emperor had been waiting for him in the imperial garden for a long time. It seemed that the emperor knew Song Yan would come to see him today.
"Greetings to Your Majesty, the director of the Investigation Department."
Song Yan bowed before the emperor. His hasty steps clearly showed that he had rushed here all the way, and even his hair was a bit messy.
The emperor knew why he had come as soon as he saw his appearance. He waved his hand and motioned for Song Yan to sit in front of him.
Although Song Yan was seething with anger, he couldn't act recklessly in the palace after all. So he sat in front of the emperor with patience, and a maid poured him a cup of tea.
The emperor waved his hand, and all the attendants dispersed. In a short while, only Song Yan and the emperor were left in the imperial garden.
"You've come today because of the lotus tattoo, right?"
The emperor took a sip of the tea in his cup and calmly uttered these words. His calm expression seemed to show that he didn't feel Song Yan's anxious mood at all.
"Yes." Song Yan didn't stand on ceremony either. Since the emperor had brought it up directly, he just replied, slightly narrowing his pair of good-looking eyes.
The emperor put down his teacup. The cup made a soft sound when it touched the table. He flicked his robe and calmly said to Song Yan's inquiring gaze, "Then what does Lord Song think is going on with this matter?"
"I've heard that the lotus tattoo was spread by the queen. I suppose there might be some misunderstanding. It wouldn't be good if the queen was framed and wrongly accused."
Song Yan was a straightforward person. He didn't beat around the bush about this matter and directly voiced his concerns and considerations.
But as soon as the emperor heard the word "queen", his face instantly darkened. He waved his sleeve and swept the teacup on the table to the ground. The porcelain made a crackling sound when it hit the ground, and the emperor's voice came through this noise.
"So, according to Lord Song, you're suspecting the queen?"
There was displeasure in the emperor's tone. Everyone knew that the emperor and the queen had a deep affection for each other. The emperor couldn't stand anyone saying a single bad word about the queen. In this situation, one just needed to say some soft words and it would be over.
But Song Yan was just stubborn. Facing this situation, he stood up and bowed in the emperor's direction. He didn't change a single word of what he had just said. "Your servant is just afraid that the queen might be framed by someone with ulterior motives."
"Very well, very well, very well. Lord Song is truly a loyal official. I will handle this matter myself. You may leave." The emperor pointed in Song Yan's direction and laughed out of anger. He waved his robe and motioned for Song Yan to leave.
Seeing this, Song Yan didn't say anything more. He stood up and walked out.
He actually had a better way to solve that matter. There were more euphemistic words he could have used to remind the emperor, but he didn't. As a result, things turned out like this.
"Yes, I've been to the palace, but I didn't find any clues."
Song Yan picked up the teacup and took a sip of the tea in it. As he spoke, he shrugged helplessly.
Ye Zhiqiu could tell from his appearance what the situation was like when he met the emperor. With his straightforward personality and his inability to say a single word of courtesy, he must have ended up on bad terms with the emperor.
Well, it didn't matter anyway. Ye Zhiqiu didn't really expect to get any information from him.
"This lead is now broken. All we can do is wait for the murderer to strike again." Ye Zhiqiu pulled his sleeves closer. There was nothing else he could do in this situation.
Song Yan didn't continue this topic. Instead, he pointed at the mountain of flashy items on the table. "Teacher Ye, why did you buy so many useless things?"
Hearing this, Ye Zhiqiu looked up at the items on the table. His expression didn't change at all. He simply said, "I like them."
These three short words left Song Yan at a loss for what to say. He withdrew his hand and smiled awkwardly. "That's nice. That's nice."
Meanwhile, in the palace on the other side, the emperor came to Chengde Hall and saw the queen taking a nap on the beauty couch. The attendants around saw this and were about to bow in salute, but the emperor stopped them with a wave of his hand.
He waved his sleeve, and the attendants slowly withdrew.
The emperor looked at the queen's sleeping face, and his expression gradually softened. He sat on the wooden chair and picked up the sutra the queen had casually left on the table and started reading.
I don't know how much time had passed when the queen slowly opened her eyes. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the emperor sitting beside her.
She stretched lazily. The bell on her wrist made a soft sound as she moved, and there was a faint pattern of a green lotus on it.
"Ah Jing, how long have you been here? Really, why didn't you wake me up?" The queen slowly stood up. Looking at the emperor sitting on one side, she pouted a little discontentedly and blinked her cat-like eyes.
"It's okay. I just remembered that I haven't seen the queen sleeping for a long time."
Qing Jing just smiled when he saw this. He reached out and held the queen's hand to help her stand up. In his mind, he remembered what Song Yan had said to him some time ago. Although he believed that the queen wouldn't do such a thing, he couldn't be sure that she wouldn't be used.
"Ah Jing seems to have something on your mind? If you don't mind, tell me about it." The queen tilted her head and looked at Qing Jing's expression. Seeing his look, she knew he had something to say, so she just asked directly.
Hearing this, Qing Jing just paused for a moment. Finally, he still asked the question that had been bothering him in his heart. "Why did the queen think of painting a green lotus on your wrist some time ago?"
Hearing this, the queen looked down at the faintly fading green lotus pattern on her wrist. She waved her hand in his direction and said proudly with a smile, "Weren't the green lotuses in the imperial garden in bloom some time ago? I thought they were beautiful, so I painted one on my wrist. Ah Jing, look, isn't it very beautiful?"
As she said this, she seemed to remember something. She immediately stopped talking, and then carefully said, "Your Majesty is asking about the matter of everyone in the palace painting green lotuses on their wrists some time ago, right? I don't know who spread it. Maybe the little maids thought it was beautiful and painted one too. If it makes Ah Jing unhappy, I'll just order them to wash off the green lotuses on their wrists."
Qing Jing reached out and tucked the hair that had fallen on her face behind her ear. He said gently, "Yes, then I'll trouble the queen."
"By the way, the imperial concubine has been very tired taking care of the little princess these days. If Your Majesty has some free time, go and see her often. After all, the imperial concubine is my good sister who I grew up with. She often complained to me some time ago that Your Majesty ignored her."
The queen reached out and held Qing Jing's hand. She gently squeezed his fingertips and said this with her head down. Her tone sounded a bit sulky.
"I sometimes really think that the queen cares more about the imperial concubine than about me." Qing Jing tapped the queen's forehead and said this helplessly.
A smile appeared on the queen's face. Her eyes were curved like a crescent moon in the sky.
"Not at all. Yue'er likes Ah Jing the most."
Hearing this, Qing Jing reached out and pulled her into his arms. In a place where she couldn't see, thousands of thoughts welled up in his eyes.
This case was probably more difficult to handle than he had thought.