"The palace has had one incident after another recently. Who do you think is most likely responsible, sir? Yun Mo, or people from the Divine Dragon Palace?"
Upon hearing this, Ximen Yao slowly stood up, pacing the hall. He stopped, then turned to look at Shangguan Yao.
"If Yun Mo had sent people to stay, he would not have easily relinquished power. There is only one possibility: that it is a member of the Divine Dragon Palace faction, or someone else with a grudge against the imperial family."
After Ximen Yao finished speaking, Shangguan Yao's brow furrowed even tighter.
However, he quite agreed with Ximen Yao's words. Yun Mo was currently far away at Fengya Pass; how could he command people from across a thousand miles to cause trouble in the imperial palace?
If he truly harbored ambitions, he would not have relinquished power so easily back then. Or perhaps, his intentions were even deeper and more insidious.
"What you say is extremely true, sir. I will absolutely not let this person hiding in the palace go."
Shangguan Yao stood up and spoke coldly and viciously, his aura intimidating. His dark, deep eyes shot towards Ximen Yao like a sharp sword as he spoke slowly.
"You may rest now, sir."
"Escort His Majesty," Ximen Yao respectfully saw Shangguan Yao out. The delicate sound of voices echoed from the small pavilion outside the hall: "His Majesty is returning to the palace."
Within the hall, a pair of clear eyes, like stars, emanated a strange, bewitching cold glint, fixing upon the endless azure sky…
In Jinhua Palace, Yun Xiao was practicing her body in the main hall. A dark purplish-red embroidered blanket with a hundred flowers was spread out. She had taken off her jacket and was practicing yoga, stretching her legs and arms.
Eunuchs and palace maids coming and going would steal glances at the Empress from time to time. Those who didn't understand the situation would often guess what new scheme the foolish Empress was up to.
Wanwan and Xiuxiu stood to the side. Seeing the people entering and exiting the hall, they were afraid of disturbing their mistress, so they quickly waved for everyone to leave.
"You may go. Don't disturb the Empress while she's practicing."
"Yes, Sister Wan," all of them retreated.
The hall became much quieter. Wanwan and Xiuxiu walked over curiously, squatting down to look at their mistress, who had her leg pulled to her head. Their eyes almost fell to their chins. What kind of martial art was this? They had never seen it before.
"Your Ladyship, what martial art is this?"
Yun Xiao, while stretching, rolled her eyes. "Martial art? These are exercises to train the body. What martial art could it be? You two should try stretching too if you have nothing else to do. It makes the body supple and the curves beautiful."
"No, we won't stretch," the two maids huddled together, shaking their heads resolutely. Just looking at it was a little unnerving. If they were to stretch like this, it would be too frightening.
The two of them were constantly worried if their mistress's legs would break, and also her waist, which was bent into such a curve. Would it snap? Oh dear, their mistress was truly capable of anything.
As the three of them were talking, Xiao Yuan and Xiao Zhao rushed in from outside. They were stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "Your Ladyship, Your Ladyship, something bad has happened!"
"What is it, to be so frightened?"
Wanwan stood up and asked curiously. Xiao Yuan quickly reported, "Prince Lin is here with a large group of guards. They seem to be here to arrest someone, and they're quite aggressive."
"Hmm?" Wanwan was startled. It was Shangguan Lin again. He had come to cause trouble for their mistress last time, and now he was here again. What did he want?
She turned to look at her mistress behind her. With a thud, she brought her leg back to its original position, panting for a few breaths, her face flushed. Fine beads of sweat appeared.
Xiuxiu quickly handed her a perfumed handkerchief.
"Your Ladyship, please wipe your sweat."
Yun Xiao nodded, took it, and wiped her sweat while thinking. Shangguan Lin's arrival clearly meant he was here because of what happened last night.
After the concubines in the harem were drugged, Shangguan Yao would naturally realize that someone was hidden in the palace. Therefore, he summoned Prince Lin to the palace overnight and began searching all the palaces early in the morning.
Yun Xiao immediately thought of some things she still had hidden in her sleeping quarters. She quickly gave a meaningful glance to Wanwan. Wanwan, understanding, walked towards the inner hall with a composed expression.
As soon as she entered the inner hall, she immediately packed everything up. She called for Liu Xing and told him to take it out and hide it, then walked out with peace of mind.
At this moment, Shangguan Lin had already led a group of people charging in, surrounding Jinhua Palace.
The current Empress no longer had the backing of the Yun Wang Mansion, so Shangguan Lin had fewer scruples and directly barged into the palace. Moreover, he was acting under the Emperor's decree, so there was nothing to fear.
Most importantly, the last time he intended to act against the fool, someone had intervened to save her. So, who was this hidden person? Was it someone from the Yun Wang Mansion?
He remembered that Consort Shuyuan had once mentioned that this fool was no longer foolish. It was said that where there's smoke, there's fire.
He had firmly disbelieved it before, but with so many incidents happening in the palace recently, he couldn't help but have his doubts.
First, this foolish Empress might not be foolish. If she truly wasn't, she would definitely be a formidable character.
Second, if she were truly foolish, then there must be a powerful individual hiding behind her, protecting her. In that case, the recent incidents must have been orchestrated by that person. Whichever it was, he would not allow it to happen again.
A group of fierce individuals occupied the main hall of Jinhua Palace in a circle.
Inside the hall, there were only two eunuchs and two maidservants. Upon seeing the aggressive group of guards, they immediately knelt down and said fearfully,
"Greetings, Prince Lin, Lord Song."
They recognized Prince Lin and the guards from the palace, so they were exceptionally cautious.
Shangguan Lin did not reply. He raised his eyes to look at the woman sitting in the center of the main hall on the dark purplish-red carpet. She was wearing a light pink top, her hair was tied up in a bun, and there was nothing else.
Her sideburns were slightly disheveled, her face was flushed, and fine beads of sweat were seeping out. She was wiping her sweat while blinking her large eyes at them.
She was smiling charmingly, as adorable as a pink dumpling, seemingly unaware of the danger she faced.
Her clear eyes held a childlike innocence, and her smiling face was more radiant than the peach blossoms in March, which stunned Shangguan Lin. He could not imagine how deep her schemes would be if this woman were not foolish and all of this was an act.
How could she have deceived everyone in the world for over ten years? What was Yun Mo trying to do?
If he had ambitions, he would not have easily relinquished power. But he had given up great power, so why would he make his daughter feign madness?
At this moment, Shangguan Lin would rather believe the second possibility: that there was an extremely powerful person hidden behind this fool, and that person was the assassin from that day. He was hiding in the imperial palace to protect this fool.
Shangguan Lin's pupils darkened. He paced forward, reached out his hand, and grasped Yun Xiao's chin, pinching it so hard that she frowned. She was displeased, and when she was displeased, she usually threw a tantrum.
With a snap, she slapped Shangguan Lin's hand away, leaped to her feet from the ground, pointed angrily at Shangguan Lin, and grumbled with displeasure, "So dirty, you fool."
As soon as she spoke, silence fell upon the hall. Everyone was stunned. The dignified Prince of the court was being pointed at and called a fool by a fool. It felt so strange.