The light of the sky broke through the last darkness before dawn, adding a few golden rays between the white of the fish belly and the azure of the sky. Ji Erlan pushed open the window with her hand, letting the cold air blow in, washing away the suffocating atmosphere in the house all night. She was slightly puzzled and asked, "Is there anything else between the emperor and the Lan nobles that is not known?" ”

"To be precise, it's not Lan Guiren." Yang Zhen's eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked at a bird outside the window jumping on the branch, and said, "There is one person, maybe few people remember it anymore." But I still have an impression. ”

Ji Erlan heard the unusualness in his tone, and asked hesitantly, "Who is it?" ”

"It's the personal palace maid who has served the emperor since childhood, Tinglan." He turned his gaze back to the room, looked at Ji Erlan who was standing at the junction of light and dark, and said slowly: "She is five or six years older than the emperor, she was the maid next to the Empress Dowager Song before, and because of her intelligence and carefulness, she was assigned to take care of the diet and daily life by the side of the Emperor Dao. The emperor also likes her very much, and is very dependent on her, and before he succeeded to the throne, he had always served Tinglan around, almost never leaving. ”

"It's not surprising that the feelings cultivated since childhood are inevitably much more generous than others." Ji Erlan spoke, his voice paused, and asked, "The prince said that Tinglan has been serving the emperor until he succeeds to the throne?" And after that, where did she go? Why don't you continue to serve the emperor? ”

"It's because the relationship is too close, so the Empress Dowager Song felt that it was inappropriate and took precautions against Tinglan. Therefore, just a year before the emperor succeeded to the throne, that is, when he was sixteen years old and Tinglan was in his early twenties, the Empress Dowager Song separated the two. ”

Ji Erlan was puzzled: "It's just a palace maid, even if the emperor values it more, at most she will be a concubine, why does the Empress Dowager Song care so much?" ”

"The Empress Dowager Song attached too much importance to power, so when the emperor was young, she was less caring than caring, and put all her thoughts on the emperor. Tinglan came to the emperor's side in her teens, and it was the best age for a woman, who played the role of a sister, confidant, and even a mother, giving all the tenderness and beauty to the emperor. At the same time, he was the first person in the room after he became an adult. ”

When Yang Zhen said this, his face was slightly unnatural, but Ji Erlan didn't seem to notice it, and just thought about what he said. So, he continued: "Such complex emotions between the two have almost robbed the Empress Dowager Song of all the possibility of being relied on and trusted as a mother. For a long time, as long as the emperor has Tinglan by his side, he can feel at ease, and the mother of the Empress Dowager Song has almost become a dispensable person. ”

Ji Erlan suddenly felt something, and said: "Empress Dowager Song feels that the emperor is no longer dependent on her because of Tinglan, so she wants to get rid of Tinglan and let the emperor return to her control?" ”

Yang Zhen looked at Ji Erlan's expression, acquiesced in her statement, and said, "You know the behavior of the Empress Dowager Song, and I can't wait to hold everything tightly in my own hands." The emperor became more and more estranged from her, but he was so attentive to a palace maid, she would inevitably feel uncomfortable in her heart. Just like the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the world, there is always some sense of competition, and the attitude of the man in the middle is very important. ”

Ji Erlan completely understood what he meant, and said: "Presumably, at this time, the Empress Dowager Song did not mean to take away Tinglan, but she must have expressed her thoughts, and even had a dispute with the emperor over Tinglan's affairs, but the emperor did not seem to understand his mother's feelings, and blindly protected Tinglan." This made the Empress Dowager Song really feel a sense of crisis. ”

Yang Zhen nodded: "That's right, Empress Dowager Song thinks that if she is allowed to do it any longer, Tinglan is likely to become a huge threat." The emperor may do something against her because of Tinglan. What's more, at that time, the Empress Dowager Song was already sure of the throne. As the future emperor, there should not be such things or people around him, it will become a fatal weakness, and it is absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, the Empress Dowager Song was unwilling to tolerate Tinglan's existence, both intellectually and emotionally. ”

Ji Erlan remembered that when Xiaoshuang said that something had happened to the Lan nobles last night, the emperor showed the first time, and the look he looked at the queen mother was clearly a mixture of various emotions such as questioning, heartache, and incomprehension. As if asking: You have taken Tinglan away, don't you even want to leave me a person like her?

But then, he seemed to understand that Lan Guiren's death was unlikely to be the hand of the Queen Mother, and that expression dissipated without a trace.

She sighed and said, "I think, Tinglan is probably long gone." ”

"I don't know how the Empress Dowager Song finally disposed of Tinglan, in short, she disappeared a year before the emperor succeeded to the throne." He pursed his eyebrows, was silent for a while, and said, "The reason why I told you so much about Tinglan is because I have another guess. ”

"What is it?"

"I think that even if the Empress Dowager Song has planned to get rid of Tinglan, there are many ways to make her disappear reasonably, but the situation back then was that Tinglan suddenly disappeared one morning, very abruptly, there was no reason, there was no buffer, and the world evaporated......"

Yang Zhen still remembers that morning, he sat in front of his father's sickbed and served the decoction with his own hands, and heard a few quarrels between the emperor and the Empress Dowager Song outside the door.

The emperor's tone was a little anxious, and he said: "Queen Mother, Tinglan was assigned to me by you, and she has been cautious and dedicated for many years, what are you dissatisfied with, so you can't tolerate her?" Didn't you promise her to stay? Why did you go back on your word? Where the hell is she now? ”

Empress Dowager Song's voice was cold, and she said: "I do this, naturally there is a reason, you will never have this person in the future!" ”

Yang Zhen came back to his senses from his memory and asked Ji Erlan: "Have you noticed what the emperor said?" ”

"Well, the emperor said that the queen mother had promised him to let Tinglan stay."

"That's right, the Empress Dowager Song has always been tough, but she will do everything she promised. But she repented on Tinglan's matter. ”

"What the prince means is that there was a sudden accident that made the Empress Dowager Song have to kill Tinglan."

"Exactly." Yang Wei got up from the chair, paced two steps slowly, and said: "At that time, it was the critical juncture of the change of the throne, and Tinglan was so close to the emperor, did she inadvertently know something secret, so that the Empress Dowager Song refused to let her go?" ”

Ji Erlan pondered for a moment before saying, "If the prince wants to investigate this matter, I'm afraid it's a little difficult. If Tinglan was still alive, she would be about thirty years old now, and the palace maids who worked with her back then must have been released from the palace. ”

"I want to investigate, but I don't want to. Through this matter of Lan Guiren, it would naturally be good if he could find out something. If you can't find out, there's no way, after all, so many years have passed. ”

It was already bright outside, and the twilight of winter had already gotten up, but they noticed that Ji Erlan was talking to the king of the cross, so they were all waiting outside and did not come in. Yang Wei said: "Let's not talk about this first, about the death of Lan Guiren, where do you want to start?" ”

"At the moment, there are only two clues. One is what the prince told me, about the fingertip of Xu Gongzi. There is also one article, which is some of the contacts of the Lan nobles in the palace. ”

"Well, then, when you go to Dali Temple today, remember to put on men's clothes."

Ji Erlan was stunned, but he didn't expect him to remind himself of this ......, "This is nature." It's not very convenient to run around in a skirt. ”

As soon as Yang Wei left, Twilight finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "This prince is really true, he comes to talk to the girl at every turn, and he doesn't shy away from it at all...... If someone sees it, how can you say it clearly? ”

"Presumably, the prince never regarded me as a girl." Ji Erlan smiled and said: "Okay, don't talk about this, you guys quickly pack up, find a set of men's clothes for me, and follow my father to Dali Temple to investigate the case today, the stakes are very high, and you can't be sloppy at all." ”

Everyone was ordered to go their separate ways, and in a moment, Ji Erlan was tossed from top to bottom. When I got out of the yard, I met Ji Chenglin coming here, and when I saw Ji Erlan's little boy's dress, I was stunned for a moment, and then nodded and said, "That's good, let's go, don't delay the business." ”

When he arrived at Dali Temple, before Xie Tang came, Ji Erlan asked where Xiaoshuang and the others were being held, and casually called an attendant to come out for questioning. "What errand did you receive in Yunhua Palace?"

The chamberlain had a delicate face and spoke very neatly, and replied, "The villain obeys orders in front of the nobleman and runs errands to pass on messages." ”

"In this way, you should know more about the personnel that Lan Guiren comes into contact with on weekdays." Ji Erlan didn't beat around the bush and asked straight to the point: "So, do you know that Hanjiang has been in contact with outsiders for a while?" Or are there people in other palaces who often come and go or know each other? ”

The chamberlain thought for a moment and said, "Han Jiang has a gentle temperament and treats people kindly, but she is very timid and doesn't like to deal with strangers, so she has almost no contact with people outside Yunhua Palace. ”

"Before, you said that she didn't have any conflict with Lan Guiren. But other than that, did Han Jiang ever ask for something from Lan Guiren and then be rejected? ”

The waiter shook his head slowly, thought for a while, and said, "No...... Don't say that Hanjiang doesn't have anything to ask for, even if she does, she may not dare to say it to her master. ”

Ji Erlan frowned: "Think about it carefully, did Han Jiang say anything special on weekdays, or did he have any angry and dissatisfied emotions?" ”

The chamberlain looked distressed, and after a while, he suddenly said, "I remember, Hanjiang seems to have been worried about his future. ”

"Oh? Tell me about it. ”

"Han Jiang is a sentimental person, and once said by chance that the palace maid can leave the palace at twenty-five. But she is the personal palace maid of the Lan Guiren, and it is very likely that she will stay in Yunhua Palace as an aunt in charge. She said that she didn't want to stay in the palace, and she was afraid that Lan Guiren would not let her leave. ”

"Why didn't Lan Guiren let her leave? Isn't there still a shinoshuang? ”

"It is precisely because Xiaoshuang has already asked for the consent of his master, and he can leave the palace as soon as he is old, so Hanjiang is worried. After all, the two palace maids who serve closely can't both leave, and usually one of them stays as a housekeeper's aunt. ”

Ji Erlan was puzzled: "Why did Xiaoshuang decide to leave the palace so early?" ”