Back in Guangyang Palace, Zili was still angry, she had always been moody, but when she encountered this incident, she could not let go. When the three of them were palace maids together in the Chang'an Palace, they supported each other and helped each other, especially Yifang, who saved Chu Ruo from fire and water several times. Now goodbye, she has become like this, Zili is full of sadness.

"Yifang, don't you get angry with her attitude?" Zili looked at Yifang's face and was very puzzled.

"I always feel that if something seems to have happened to Chu Ruo over the years, she will never become like this for no reason."

Zili's reason, which was concealed by anger, finally returned to her mind, and after being reminded by Yifang, she also remembered Chu Ruo's performance at the night banquet, she seemed to be a completely different person, and she didn't even have half a shadow of the past.

"So what are we going to do?" Zili always felt in his heart that if he came to the palace at the beginning, he would not coexist peacefully with them.

Zili's intuition was not wrong, at this time in the Xi'an Palace, Chu Ruo stared at a dagger in his hand expressionlessly. The dagger was stained with dried blood, and it looked terrible in the lamplight.

Chu Ruo's personal maid was originally serving by the side of the Empress Dowager Bo, and thinking of every lovely person around Chu Ruo, the Empress Dowager Bo gave her Yunzhu.

At this time, Yunzhu was fetching water and came in to serve Chu Ruo to freshen up, and as soon as he stepped into the house, he saw this scene. Chu Ruo held a blood-stained dagger, staring at his hands gloomily, and the candlelight was imprinted on his face like a ghost.

Yun Zhu's hand trembled involuntarily, and the basin was almost unstable. Chu Ruo heard her voice, so he quickly put away the dagger.

"How long have you been in the palace?" Chu Ruo didn't speak, let Yunzhu serve her to freshen up, but in the end, she asked a question.

"Beauty, the slave has been in the palace for nearly five years."

"Five years." Chu Ruo did the math, "Before Su Mei entered the palace, you were already here, right?" ”

"Yes." Although Yunzhu didn't know why she suddenly asked Su Meiren, she still answered truthfully.

"You can tell me a good story about her, from the time she entered the palace to the present, the more detailed the better." Chu Ruo clasped his hands, and his expression was faintly nervous.

The next day, the Yi Fang Trustee sent Chu Ruo a lot of things, Liu Heng didn't know that they had known each other before, and praised her for her general knowledge. As a result, the concubines of each palace sent gifts one after another. Chu Ruo accepted it all, but he didn't even look at it, so he let people put it in the warehouse, and only left the one sent by Yifang by his side.

It's some ordinary jewelry, not particularly expensive, but it is very suitable for the first time. She took it out and gestured on her head a few times, and finally a long-lost smile appeared on her face. It's just that this smile didn't last long, and Yun Zhu walked in. As soon as Chu Ruo saw her, he quickly changed his expression.

"Do beauties like these hair accessories? Slave and maid come and bring it for you! Yun Zhu stepped forward with a smile.

But Chu Ruo preemptively knocked over all the headdresses he had just held in his hands to the ground: "It's all ugly!" Send everything to me! In the future, they are not allowed to bring in the things they send, especially the plain beauty, did you hear clearly?! ”

"No." Yun Zhu didn't dare to say more, but he felt that this thin beauty had a strange temper, and he was still looking at her and laughing, and he turned his face in the next second.

When Yunzhu went out and closed the door, Chu Ruocai quickly picked up those hair accessories and carefully hid them in the cabinet. It was as if she was hiding some treasure, and her every move was as if she were caressing the cheek of her loved one.

At this time, in the Guangyang Palace, Yifang also asked about Chu Ruo.

"Did she take everything?" Yifang asked while watering the flowers.

Teng Ling nodded: "I accepted it all." ”

Zili was not angry when he was on the side: "Yifang, she clearly wants to draw a line with us, why did you send her something!" ”

"I always feel that Chu Ruo is still the same Chu Ruo as before, but in the years we have been apart, something must have happened to her." Yifang carefully observed Chu Ruo's eyes, although her face was full of gel, the feelings in her eyes would not deceive.

"But now she doesn't want to tell us anything...... Zili seems a little embarrassed, she also cares about Chu Ruo, but she hasn't seen her for many years, so it is inevitable that there are some speculations in her heart.

"Since she doesn't want to say it, then let's wait, and one day the former Chu Ruo will come back." Yifang was in no hurry.

Being in the same place, there are more days to meet. In the afternoon of the next day, Yifang was in the small garden, and Chu Ruo met him head-on. She observed this Chu Ruo's expression, and saw that she was still indifferent, so she didn't say much, but only saluted each other. It's just that before the two parted ways, Liu Heng walked over to them.

"The concubine is the king."

"Yifang, this king was about to go to Guangyang Hall to look for you, and I happened to meet you here." Liu Heng walked directly towards the Yifang, and then his eyes fell on Chu Ruo next to him, "My cousin is also here!" ”

"The concubine is enjoying the flowers here, and she happened to meet a plain beauty." Chu Ruo was also indifferent to Liu Heng, but he was not as cringe as before, and he was a lot more confident in his words.

"What does the king seem to have on his mind?" Yifang just noticed Liu Heng's frowning brows.

After the matter between the queen and several princes, Yifang has always been very sensitive to Liu Heng's emotions, for fear that he will be sad for a long time because of this matter, and every time he frowns, Yifang will think of ways to comfort him.

"This time it's a matter in the court, Ziqian came to report that there is a big mansion in the east of the city, which seems to be the residence of a rich and noble family. But the family likes to be quiet, and the house is also built in the suburbs, and few people approach it on weekdays. It took a month or two before anyone noticed that the house was stinking, and when they opened the door and went in, they saw that all the family was dead. Too much time had passed, the corpses had decomposed, and the house was in shambles. ”

"At the foot of the royal city, how can there be such a tragedy?" Yifang was also shocked.

Liu Heng nodded and said: "Because it is in the royal city, this family is also a bit famous among the people, and this matter has caused an uproar outside the palace. But the officials in charge of the case couldn't find any clues, and the murderer's way of killing people was very brutal, and everyone was stabbed several times, which was really shocking. Thinking that such a person could not be brought to justice for a long time, the people were also very worried, and their complaints about the government were getting deeper and deeper. ”

As soon as Liu Heng's words fell, Chu Ruo over there stumbled, attracting everyone's attention. Her expression was suddenly a little dazed, and she was barely able to stand firm after being helped by Yunzhu.

Yifang hurriedly relieved her and said: "When Bo Meiren first entered the palace, she heard such a thing, she must have been frightened, so let's go back to the palace to rest!" ”

This time, Chu Ruo did not refute Yifang's kindness, and only turned to Liu Heng and saluted: "The concubine retired first." ”

"What does the king want to do with this?" Yi Fang asked while going back to the palace with Liu Heng.

"The king has sent several important officials to investigate the matter thoroughly, but the matter has spread so quickly that even the palace is talking about it, which makes people panic."

"Don't you even have a clue about this?" Yifang always felt that as long as things sat down, they would definitely leave clues to follow.

Liu Heng thought for a while and said: "It's not that there are no clues at all, according to the wounds on the corpse, I judged that the murder weapon should be a sharp short knife or dagger." ”

"It's a clue, but there are no suspicious people, and this clue won't be used for a while."

The two discussed for a while, but they didn't come up with a reason. Yifang kept this matter in mind, after all, she felt uncomfortable when she saw Liu Heng worrying about this matter at this time.

On this night, Yifang couldn't sleep in the palace over and over, so he wanted to go out for a walk. Usually at this time, Teng Ling will follow her, but at this time it is very late, Teng Ling has also fallen asleep, Yi Fang fortunately did not wake up anyone, and walked to the outside of Guangyang Hall alone.

The lights on the palace road flickered on and off, and the moonlight tonight was not bright, and it could only barely make people see the road ahead. Yifang walked aimlessly, when she suddenly heard some shouting, and she followed the sound of it, coming from the room of some guards.

As a harem concubine, Yi Fang was inconvenient to get close to the guard's room, so she stood around the corner and listened. Fortunately, their voices are quite loud, and they can be heard clearly standing here, and it seems that someone is gambling money. This gambling money is naturally not allowed in the palace, and these guards are also bold, although it is not their day of duty, but if it is discovered, they will definitely be punished.

Yifang was going to think of a good way to deal with this matter again, and after listening to it for a while, he was about to leave, but a short knife was crossed around his neck. The shiny dagger dangled her eyes, making it impossible for her to see who was coming.

She narrowed her eyes, but the man was shocked when he saw her appearance: "Shangguan girl? ”

I hadn't heard this name for a long time, Yi Fang was slightly stunned, and only after the man's short knife was taken off her neck did Yi Fang rub her eyes and see the person standing in front of her.

"Are you...... Zhou Yafu? Yifang was shocked, "Aren't you supposed to be in the army of Marquis Zhu Xuhou in Chang'an?" How did it end up here? ”

Zhou Yafu put the knife away, and then sighed helplessly: "In the end, I failed the girl's expectations." ”

"If you will only tell me, tell me." Yi Fang suppressed the unwillingness in his eyes, knowing that something bad must have happened.

"I was originally in the army of Zhu Xuhou, and I also thought it was a good place to go, but I didn't expect that I was too eager to make meritorious contributions, which caused dissatisfaction among others." Zhou Yafu sat directly on the ground and explained the matter in detail, "Those people with bad intentions have combined to frame me for stealing the boss's things, and they will put me to death." Fortunately, Zhu Xuhou remembered the girl's old feelings, and tried his best to disagree with me, so he just expelled me. ”

"Then why aren't you looking for Ying'er? I remember that before I left, someone went to inform you about Ying'er's situation. ”

"Thank you girl for finding such a good way out for Ying'er, she is doing well now, I am down like this, don't bother her, let her worry." When Zhou Yafu mentioned his sister, there was some light in his eyes.

"Then why did you come to Daiguo?"

"After I left the army, I was transporting goods to and from various countries, and I had a dispute with someone in the territory of the country, and accidentally injured someone. In order to treat the man's injuries, he lost all the money on his body, and in order to beg for food, he had to come to the palace as a guard. Zhou Yafu was a little embarrassed to talk about this, and his voice was a little quieter.

"Maybe you're here, or you can be more than just a guard." Yi Fang took a fancy to his martial arts, and felt that being a guard in the palace was overkill.

"Miss Shangguan mean, let me join the army again?"

"Despite the bad things that happened in the first two times, you can't be disappointed in all the troops! Could it be that after you have practiced martial arts, you only want to be a guard in this palace? Yifang saw that he seemed to be thinking, so he hit the railway while it was hot, "Although this is not in Chang'an, if you can show your skills, why worry about being buried between heaven and earth?" ”

Zhou Yafu thought carefully for a long time before nodding solemnly: "Miss Shangguan is right, I was confused for a while. ”

"If only you could figure it out." Yifang was very pleased, but immediately corrected, "But don't call me Shangguan girl in the future, my name is Dou Yifang now, and I am a plain beauty who is acting for the king." ”

A look of surprise flashed on Zhou Yafu's face, and then he nodded: "I heard that the acting king is a good monarch, and it's good that Miss Shangguan can marry him." ”

After coming out for so long, Yifang was also a little cold, and it was inconvenient to talk to him more, so he had to go back to the palace after saying goodbye in a hurry.

Just walking on the road, she suddenly thought of one thing, Liu Heng said that in the mansion murder case that caused an uproar among the people, the murderer used a murder weapon such as a dagger or a short knife. Zhou Yafu was pressed against her neck, although she didn't have time to see it clearly, she vaguely felt that it should be a short knife.

Yifang thought about it carefully, and Zhou Yafu mentioned that he had a dispute with people in Daiguo and entered the palace after dispersing all his money. But if he lied, he didn't actually scatter all the money, but wiped out an entire family, and it was possible with his martial arts.

Yi Fang was horrified in her heart, and she always felt that with her understanding of Zhou Yafu, he should not do such a conscientious thing. The two thoughts were constantly wandering in his heart, and Yi Fang couldn't sleep when he returned to the palace, and he was disturbed by this incident.

The next morning, Yifang was dizzy, and Teng Ling called her several times before she regained her senses. When I looked again, it was almost noon.

"Beauty, something interesting happened today." Teng Ling excitedly told her about it.

"What's the matter?" Yifang rubbed his temples in response.

"I heard that there was a guard who had just entered the palace, and he risked killing his head to recommend himself to the king, I thought he was overwhelmed, but I didn't expect that his martial arts were excellent. The king read that he was brave and happy, and he directly accepted him into the Beicheng army, and I heard that he still has an official position! ”