The tingling sensation on her scalp gradually faded. Yun Xi quickly averted her gaze, shook her head, and tugged at the corner of her lips.
"It's nothing. The night breeze is a bit chilly. It gave me a little shock. I'm fine now. Let's go."
"Okay."
Yi Yuan didn't suspect anything. He carefully adjusted the cloak on Yun Xi's shoulders, then moved closer to her to block the wind before escorting her forward.
Neither of them noticed that at the corner of the attic, the white figure that had just disappeared reappeared.
Quietly and eerily, it faced the direction where everyone had left.
At this moment, Yi Zhen, who was closely following Emperor Zhaohuan, seemed to sense something. She raised her hand to adjust the hairpin on her head. Taking advantage of turning her head, she gave a meaningful look at the figure on the attic.
The banquet came to an end.
After the Lantern Festival, the capital city seemed to get busy all of a sudden.
Yun Weisheng and Yun Qi went to the military camp every day. Liu Jingyue managed the affairs of the Yun family, checking the manors and shops that had been taken care of by Yun Weisheng's second elder brother after the Yun family moved out. She also took Yun Qi to Qiao Yan's family to finalize the marriage. She had to prepare the dowry for her daughter and the betrothal gifts for Yun Qi. There were so many things to do that she was constantly on the go.
Yi Yuan quietly went to Shuozhou to check out that strange mansion.
As for those holy masters that Xie Huaiyue had been keeping an eye on, for some unknown reason, they seemed to have suddenly disappeared. There was no trace of them at all.
Even Hun Yuan could hardly leave the palace.
Yun Xi had sent several messages into the palace, but could only get sporadic replies.
It seemed that something was quietly unfolding.
Jiang Ning was so worried that she couldn't sleep well every day. Yun Xi was also concerned about the Jianjia Palace and the figure she had accidentally seen that day.
So the two of them discussed and then pulled Ling Yan along. They changed into Taoist robes and entered the palace.
Seeing the Golden Lotus Token, the guards at the gate didn't stop them.
Everything went smoothly. The two of them, being familiar with the way, soon arrived at the Chaogan Hall.
Hun Yuan was concentrating on teaching Lian Yi divination. When he saw the three of them coming, he was surprised for a moment.
The next moment, he jumped up happily and said with a smile,
"Why did you come? Why didn't you send someone to inform me?"
Lian Yi also stood up at once and greeted them with gestures.
After responding one by one, Yun Xi took out with a smile what Yi Yaofeng had asked her to bring for Lian Yi and told her to go and play first. Then she sat down and chatted with Hun Yuan.
Yun Xi carefully examined Hun Yuan's complexion. Not seeing anything amiss, she directly asked,
"Senior brother, why haven't you left the palace these days? When I sent you messages, you only replied with one or two unimportant sentences."
"Alas,"
Hun Yuan waved his hand.
"Don't even mention it. It's all because of that seventh prince of the Ying State. He will arrive in a few days."
"I heard that there is also a national teacher traveling with him. He knows astronomy and geography. He is extremely powerful. His Majesty has given a strict order that I must stay in the palace these days to study intensively, take good care of Lian Yi, and not meddle in anything else. If there is a competition at that time, we must not let the Ying State win and look down on us."
"Oh—"
Yun Xi and Jiang Ning exchanged a look. Both of them felt relieved.
They didn't ask any more questions. Yun Xi changed the topic and said,
"Senior brother, have you ever been to the Jianjia Palace in the imperial city?"
"The Jianjia Palace?"
Hun Yuan shook his head.
"I haven't been there. It was the palace of the late Concubine Qing. Both the late emperor and His Majesty have ordered that no one is allowed to enter. I..."
Hun Yuan suddenly stopped and stared intently at Yun Xi.
"What's going on? Did you discover something?"
"Is what you mentioned in your letter about something important related to this?"
Yun Xi raised her hand to signal Hun Yuan to wait a moment. First, she got up cautiously and looked around. Not seeing anyone else, she walked back and sat down. Then she lowered her voice and said,
"On the night of the Lantern Festival banquet, I saw a white figure in the Jianjia Palace."
"Eek～"
Jiang Ning instantly got goosebumps all over. She shivered and moved closer to Yun Xi, frightenedly saying,
"Really? You must have seen wrongly."
Yun Xi patted Jiang Ning's hand affectionately and said seriously,
"I'm absolutely sure. I didn't missee. And when I was looking for a gift before, I met a palace maid. She also said that some cleaning maids had once encountered something unclean in the Jianjia Palace."
"However..."
Yun Xi paused and frowned.
"I don't think it was a ghost. It was a person."
"Previously, A Yuan told me that it was Concubine Qing who played a crucial role in the late emperor's decision to remember His Majesty, who he had not really cared about, and pass on the throne to him before his death."
"According to the information we got before, this Concubine Qing was from the Ying State. A person from the Ying State who was extremely favored by the late emperor and had done a great favor to His Majesty."
"You mean..."
A flash of inspiration crossed Hun Yuan's mind. He replied uncertainly,
"The figure you saw was Concubine Qing?"
"She actually didn't die. The late emperor and His Majesty made a fake death for her during the epidemic to protect her from the eyes and ears of the Ying State?"
Jiang Ning nodded in agreement.
"In this way, His Majesty's reason for sealing off the Jianjia Palace becomes more reasonable."
"Impossible!"
Hun Yuan suddenly got excited and said firmly,
"I was in the palace during the epidemic that year. I was the one who covered Concubine Qing with the white cloth. I remember very clearly that at that time, the old prince brought Yi Yuan into the palace. They even came to offer incense. Master performed the religious service himself. I watched with my own eyes as she was burned to ashes right in front of me. How could she not be dead?"
Hmm...
Yun Xi lowered her eyelashes and frowned in thought for a while. Suddenly, she looked up and said seriously,
"We'll know whether she's still alive or not if we go and take a look."
"Even if Concubine Qing is really dead, there must be many secrets hidden in the Jianjia Palace."
Hun Yuan stood up at once and exaggeratedly said,
"Are you crazy! I'm not even allowed to go there, but you still want to take a look. Do you not want your life anymore?"
Yun Xi and Jiang Ning were both startled by him, and they both gave him a dirty look in unison.
Yun Xi pulled Hun Yuan down to sit back down again and gritted her teeth, saying,
"Keep your voice down. Are you afraid others won't hear you?"
"I didn't say we should go in directly. Aren't you in charge of guarding the palace? With such a good excuse, you can just go to His Majesty and say that when you were studying divination, you happened to make a divination and found that there was something fishy in the Jianjia Palace. You need to go in and check it out with me, your junior sister. That's all."
Yun Xi thought this was a perfect and very reasonable excuse, but Hun Yuan shook his head like a rattle.
"No, no. We can't just make up such things."
He then muttered guiltily, "Do you think I haven't tried before? His Majesty directly refused and said we'll talk about it if something happens."
Yun Xi, Jiang Ning: …
"Since neither this nor that will work,"
Yun Xi angrily clenched her fist.
"Then we'll just have to take a risk."
"I've already inquired about the time when the palace maids clean. It's just the right time for us to go now. Let's go!"
"Alas... wait,"
Hun Yuan quickly spoke up.
Yun Xi stopped. She thought Hun Yuan was going to persuade her not to go. She had even thought of the words to refute, but then she heard Hun Yuan say,
"Take Lian Yi with us."
Yun Xi: "Huh?"
Hun Yuan winked mysteriously and said,
"Take her. You'll know why later."