Hearing Qi Rong's words, Yun Xi's eyes trembled slightly. She laid her head on Qi Rong's broad shoulder, not letting him see the apology in her eyes, and slowly said, "Okay."
However, at this moment, her heart was aching faintly.
She not only had concealed from Qi Rong the matter about his mother, but also the words the late queen had told her:
The tiger tally was in the hands of the traitor Yun Sheng!
Not to mention the crucial importance of the tiger tally to Qi Rong or this battle, just the word "traitor" from the late queen had made her body tremble and feel icy cold all over. She almost lost her footing.
Actually, she had long known that the late emperor's tiger tally was in her father's hands. But her father had always hidden this secret due to his own considerations and never handed over the tiger tally to the then emperor.
She had known for a long time but had never said a single word to Qi Rong.
Because she couldn't abandon her father's safety!
After learning about Qi Rong's mother's current situation, Yun Xi could hardly sleep at night. Even when she briefly fell into a slumber, she was haunted by nightmares and woke up in a start.
She dreamed that the late queen died miserably and grabbed her by the neck, asking why she refused to help her?
Why she refused to convey the message she wanted to tell Qi Rong?!
In the darkness, a warm big hand firmly encircled her in his arms. A gentle voice kept soothing her. Noticing that Yun Xi was soaked in sweat, he picked her up and took her to take a bath.
"Go to sleep. Everything will be okay!"
Finally, after coaxing Yun Xi to sleep, Qi Rong quickly got up, went to the yard, and whistled.
Before long, a black - clothed man knelt at his feet:
"Master, what are your orders?"
This man was Yang Cheng, the leader of the secret guards. Gazing at Qi Rong's cold and gloomy eyes hidden in the darkness, his expression involuntarily became solemn.
When the master looked like this, he was usually extremely unhappy, so Yang Cheng didn't dare to relax.
"Go and investigate if anything has happened in the Kunning Palace recently. Dig deep and spare no expense!"
In the past, he hadn't bothered to focus on the Kunning Palace not only because the empress dowager was cautious but also because he thought it wasn't really necessary.
Therefore, he had only planted many informants around the emperor, the queen, and even Concubine Yu, which was enough for him to obtain the clues he wanted.
However, Yun Xi's anxious state and her hesitant look today made him can't help but suspect: Had he overlooked the Kunning Palace too much in the past? And was there a secret hidden in the Kunning Palace that even he didn't know?!
Hearing Qi Rong's order, although Yang Cheng was surprised, he didn't question it. He immediately bowed his head and said, "Yes, master. I'll go and do it right away!"
As soon as Yang Cheng's voice fell, a dark shadow quickly disappeared into the vast night.
A gust of wind blew, bringing a bit of coolness. Qi Rong's black hair fluttered. His cold black eyes looked in the direction where the wind rose, and he faintly had a premonition.
"It's time to end this!"
Yun Xi woke up before dawn. She subconsciously reached out to touch the position beside her, but it was already empty.
Qi Rong had gotten up earlier than her. It seemed he had been up for some time.
"Miss, what wind is blowing today? You got up by yourself without me calling you?!"
When Yu Zhu entered the room carrying a washbasin and saw Yun Xi sitting in front of the dressing table, already dressed neatly and even having her hair combed, she was startled.
"Yu Zhu, go and prepare something for me quickly. I'm going to the palace to apologize to the empress dowager."
Yun Xi inserted the last jade hairpin into her hair, got up, walked to the cabinet, took out a lacquered red wooden box, and took out a stack of silver notes worth tens of thousands of taels from it.
Hearing Yun Xi's words, Yu Zhu was stunned. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Yun Xi's actions. Immediately, she put down the washbasin, quickly walked to Yun Xi's side, and looked at the empty wooden box, saying, "Miss, this silver is all your savings. What are you going to do?!"
Yesterday when they came back, Yu Zhu originally wanted to ask Yun Xi what had happened in the Kunning Palace. However, because Qi Rong had been by her side all the time, and she could tell that the miss was hiding something from the prince, so she didn't dare to speak up.
Unexpectedly, just one night later, the miss was going to the Kunning Palace again and bringing so many silver notes?
This made Yu Zhu feel panicked!
"Miss, tell me the truth. Did the empress dowager threaten you yesterday? That's why you want to spend money to avoid trouble?!"
Yu Zhu looked anxious. She grabbed Yun Xi's sleeve and stared at her intently.
"Or else, I'll go to the prime minister's mansion right now and tell the master about this. He will surely find a way to help you!"
Not wanting Yun Xi to get into danger alone, Yu Zhu said and was about to turn around and leave when Yun Xi grabbed her clothes.
"Yu Zhu, listen to me. Don't tell father about my meeting with the empress dowager. I have my own plan. I know what I'm doing."
Yun Xi looked solemn. She didn't want her plan to be interfered with at this moment and miss these three days in vain!
Yu Zhu tugged at her sleeve. Seeing Yun Xi was so stubborn, she finally compromised.
"Miss, when dealing with the royal family, you must be more careful!"
"I understand."
Yun Xi patted Yu Zhu's hand. After getting everything ready, she took the carriage to the palace.
Since the empress dowager had said that she could go to the Kunning Palace to chat with her at any time in the future, she could just take advantage of this to gain more opportunities for herself!
Since she didn't have the empress dowager's summons, Yun Xi needed a palace servant to announce her when she came to pay a visit. While she was waiting at the palace gate, two teams of palace servants hurriedly carried two stretchers past in front of her.
An old eunuch beside them shouted anxiously, "Hurry up! If you're slow, it'll be your heads on the chopping block later!"
For some reason, Yun Xi's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she felt a faint, aching unease.
"What's going on?"
Yun Xi subconsciously grabbed the old eunuch's sleeve. The old eunuch was displeased when suddenly grabbed, but when he saw Yun Xi's face, a look of fear flashed across his face. He said with a complicated expression, "In the Fengtian Hall, two lords of the Li family were killed by the King Xian. The emperor is extremely angry!"
At that time, the blood flowed all over the place, and they were busy carrying the corpses!
"What? Which Li family?!"
Yun Xi staggered. Her expression suddenly tightened. Looking at the two teams of palace servants going away, the old eunuch was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead. He struggled to break free from Yun Xi's hand, saying, "Your Highness, please don't make things difficult for this servant. Which Li family could it be in the capital?"
After saying that, the old eunuch bowed to Yun Xi and then quickly walked away.
"How could this happen?"
Yun Xi's face turned pale. Yu Zhu quickly supported her.
An unprecedented fear suddenly welled up in her heart!
From afar, she saw the palace servant who was in charge of the announcement walking over, followed by a maid from the Kunning Palace. Yun Xi immediately braced herself and walked a few steps to greet them.
"Sister maid, how is it in the Kunning Palace?"
This maid was the one who had received Yun Xi's favor yesterday. When she heard Yun Xi's question, she immediately understood that the other party already knew what had happened in the morning court today.
She silently shook her head at Yun Xi, with a cautious expression, saying, "The empress dowager has gone to the Fengtian Hall. I'm afraid she doesn't have time to see you. You'd better go back today."
This time, the two most authoritative lords of the Li family died, and one of them was the empress dowager's own nephew, the Minister of Rites!
At this moment, if Yun Xi entered the Kunning Palace, she might well be implicated!