This ritual is very grand, almost a year and a half, those Taoist priests stay in the palace, and naturally those selected female dependents also have to accompany them every day. Xu Meiren's body is weak after being grounded, and she has not fully recovered now, but fortunately, the emperor is sympathetic and takes care of her in all aspects.

An Su was very cautious on the first day of the practice, and carefully inspected the surroundings of the Dharma Hall, and the people who came and went also observed each other, and there was nothing unfavorable to Xu Meiren, so he was a little relieved. It's just that An Su's sharp eyes saw the pendant tied around the waist of the long-bearded old man who was the leader, the ornament was very peculiar, like the horn of a rhinoceros, but it was very small.

At that time, An Su passed by the long-bearded old man, and involuntarily stared at the ornament around his waist for a while. He seemed to notice An Su's gaze, and only raised his head and smiled at her, looking quite kind. An Su didn't doubt him, and the old man didn't seem to notice what she was looking at.

After three days of doing the ritual, it was still peaceful, no one was unfavorable to Xu Meiren, An Su and Mo Sheng were also a little relieved, and they always felt that they were too sensitive. But on the night of the third day, something unexpected happened, although it seemed to have nothing to do with the Huanning Palace.

The misfortune is in the dance hall.

Before the night was late, according to the rules of the dance studio, the dancers had to continue training after dinner. But the pomp and circumstance of the Dharma in the past few days, the girls all wanted to see the grand event, and the teaching grandmother exempted them from training after dinner, and let them rest for a few days as long as they did not make any mistakes.

The dance hall, which was supposed to be lit up with music, fell silent after dinner. But it didn't take long for the silence to be broken by a terrible scream.

"There's an assassin - catch the assassin - " I don't know which dancer shouted, but before the guards outside could enter, they saw a naked man rushing out.

The guards chased after him, but the man seemed to be familiar with the environment, and he disappeared after a few clicks. When the dance hall was quiet again, the lights came on, and the teaching grandmother and the steward eunuchs all arrived.

"It's strange, how could there be an assassin in the dance hall all of a sudden?" Mama Xi's face was puzzled, "There are only dancers in the dance workshop, and then there are some rough palace maids and eunuchs, and there are no noble masters, so what kind of assassin can assassinate here?" ”

Although Mama Jiao Xi said that she was a little angry, the meaning of her words was quite clear. What she said made sense, this assassin came to the palace with the audacity, presumably not as simple as assassinating some lowly palace maids. But if you want to assassinate your master but go to the wrong place, it will seem a bit far-fetched.

"Are you all here?" The eunuch in charge looked up and asked.

As soon as the assassin's incident came out, Mama Jiao Xi gathered the entire dance workshop here, just to see if anyone was injured, and also to take this opportunity to find clues.

"Except for Sister Xuanrong, they're all here." A timidly report of a named little palace maid.

"Why didn't Xuanrong arrive?"

"Sister Xuanrong said that she was sleepy and wanted to sleep in the room, so she was too lazy to come and go."

"That's it, it's okay for people to be fine, so let her go!" Mama Jiaoxi sighed, unwilling to delve into the matter. Xuan Rong has always been accustomed to doing her own thing in the dance workshop, she has someone behind her, her appearance is also excellent, and her dancing skills are also superb, and she will definitely have a bright future in the future, and no one wants to offend her at this juncture.

"Who is Xuan Rong? Why didn't everyone get here but she didn't arrive? Could it be something to do with the Assassins? "The people in the dance workshop know Xuanrong's temperament, but the guards outside don't know, they only focus on their own errands.

"Brother Guard, Xuanrong is the best girl we dance here, and it is understandable that this capable person has a stubborn temper." Teach Mama Xi to help say good things.

But the guards were not so convincing: "What is extenuating! Everyone is here, but she is not the only one, which proves that she has a relationship with the assassin, otherwise why not come? ”

"This ...... Brother Guard, I should guarantee that our Xuanrong girl will never recognize that assassin, she is just a little stubborn, of course she can't do such a bold thing! ”

"Someone! Go search the house called Xuanrong! "The guards didn't listen to Mama Xi at all.

"The eldest brother of the guard has such a big temper, although we are dancing girls, we are also the daughters of good families, how can we be searched by men at will?" A woman's voice came from outside, and a beautiful girl slowly walked in, it was the Xuanrong they talked about earlier.

"Oh, Xuanrong, grandma's good Xuanrong, you can be regarded as here." Mama Jiao Xi hurriedly pulled her to the front, and forcibly played the circle, "The big brothers of the guards are worried about your safety, and the assassin may still be wandering around, and they are also worried that you will meet you." ”

"Then I'll thank you guys." Xuan Rong bowed generously, and the long sleeves of her dance dress crossed in front of the guards, "Mama, since I'm here, I'll go to the side to practice dancing." As for the assassins, I still bother the guards to catch them slowly! ”

"You! What kind of attitude is this! The guards were angry at Xuanrong for being so uncooperative.

Mama Jiao Xi was still beside her for a while before she reluctantly let the guards continue to do things.

"Leader Pei, I just saw the figure of the assassin below, it seems to be different from ordinary assassins." It wasn't until the guard's mood eased a little that someone next to him spoke.

"How is it different?"

"The man was naked, and he seemed to have some clothes in his arms." The guard squinted and recalled, "Actually, in the eyes of his subordinates, that man is not so much an assassin, but more like he has come here to have a tryst with someone. ”

"Tryst?"

"That's right, the subordinate thought, maybe that person was a good friend of a certain dancing girl or palace maid in the dance studio, but he came here for a tryst but was mistaken for an assassin, so he shouted out casually."

"There's some truth to what you're saying." Chief Pei nodded, but immediately took the case again, "Whether it is an assassin or a tryst, it is a violation of the palace rules, check it for me, this person must be found out." ”

"But everyone has run away, how can I find out this?"

"If it's really a tryst, the man ran away, isn't the woman still here?" Chief Pei's gaze swept over the dancing girls and the palace maids, "Mama Xi, I remember that the people in your dance workshop are all neat and tidy, and you are not allowed to bring anything else, right?" ”

"That's true, what Chief Pei said is good."

The people in the dance workshop are different from ordinary palace maids, ordinary palace maids can still have some objects of their own, but the dancers need to maintain a body shape suitable for dance. In order to prevent them from starving, they were not allowed to possess any personal belongings, as did the ladies of the dance house.

"Then let me search it, if you find personal belongings in their room, it must have something to do with the adulterer."

As soon as these words came out, the dancing girls and the palace maids all gasped, even if they didn't have adulterers, they would occasionally hide some small things, and they couldn't hide all of them. However, if she didn't worry about these at the beginning, she had always been well-behaved, and she would never do anything she didn't let do, and she had nothing to hide.

"Chief Pei, all the rooms of the dancing girls and palace maids have been searched." The guards moved quickly and came back in a while to report.

"How? Is there a catch? ”

"Accompanied by Mama Jiaoxi, we found this in the room of a dancing girl." One of the guards pulled out a pendant that looked like a rhinoceros horn, delicate and small, and looked very valuable.

"Found it in whose room?"

Mama Jiao Xi stepped forward and replied, "Bo Churuo's door." ”

Chu Ruo was originally only supposed to watch the play, but at this time, she was taken aback, and she almost subconsciously spoke: "How is it possible?" It's not mine! ”

"Of course I know it's not yours, it's your adulterer!" Chief Pei put away the ornament as evidence, arrested her for me, and tortured her severely, and was sure to make her tell the adulterer's name and surname. ”

"No, I didn't, I've never seen this thing before, I didn't have a tryst with someone, I didn't!" Chu Ruo's argument paled in comparison, and Chief Pei seemed to have already found her guilty.

"That's all for today's matter, if anyone dares to act recklessly in the future, they will end up like her." Chief Pei said loudly, "It's just that I will report to the emperor and the queen mother, what to do with her, and then there will be a decision, first press down and put her in the prison cell of Yongxiang." ”

An Su heard about this in the second morning, she accompanied Xu Meiren on the ceremony, and she couldn't leave easily, and she didn't hear the gossip of the palace people at the beginning. It happened that Xu Meiren didn't like the lunch in the imperial dining room, so she asked the small kitchen of Huanning Hall to make some pastries and send them, and when An Su went back to get it, she heard the discussion of a few little palace maids over there.

"Are you telling the truth?" Ansu asked hurriedly as he grabbed one of them.

"Of course it's true, this has already spread throughout the palace, and that Mai Ji is really daring. You know, the queen mother's least favorite thing is that the palace has hooked up in private, and the dancing girl happened to hit the muzzle, and I heard that the love tokens have been found. But she has a backbone, and she was beaten to the point in the prison cell of Yongxiang, and she still refused to tell the adulterer's name. ”

"Are you sure that the dancing girl's name is Bo Churuo?" An Su still didn't believe that Chu Ruo would do such a thing.

"Of course it's certain, everyone knows about this person now." The palace maid was so excited that as if she wanted to say something, An Su had already run away quickly.

She never believed that Chu Ruo would have any adulterer dealings, Chu Ruo was timid and weak, and he would definitely not be so bold. A few days ago, she said that she was bullied by Xuan Rong, and now that this incident has happened, An Su always feels that she has nothing to do with that Xuan Rong.