When I came out of my aunt's palace, I happened to meet a eunuch who was in a hurry, and the eunuch was very suspicious, so I followed him together. Unexpectedly, the man disappeared outside the walls of Changli Palace. Later, when I entered Changli Palace, I saw the door of Qingyan Hall swaying open."

Later, he sneaked in and found that there was a secret passage on the bed in the inner hall of the Qing banquet hall.

"You mean, in Changli Palace?"

Ning Subai nodded, "Yes, it's the Qing Banquet Hall of Changli Palace." ”

After speaking, he added another sentence, "It is the palace where the prince's mother lived when she was a concubine." ”

Changli Palace, just on the side of Yang's uterus. If there is a secret passage leading to the outside of the palace in Changli Palace, then, in the case of the murder of the envoy, when the princess of Northern Xinjiang died in the palace, that is, before Hua Wuxian was framed as a murderer, how could the person he vaguely saw in eunuch clothes but with extremely abnormal steps be able to enter and leave the palace at will.

And the person who led Ning Subai to discover the secret path may also be this person.

Thinking of this, Xiao Qinglang couldn't help but glance at Ning Subai, and secretly thought that after all, Ning Subai was not a capable person, and it was really difficult to follow one person and discover such a secret passage. Unless the person released the water and did it deliberately.

In other words, maybe that person is the mastermind of the whole thing, and he is also the person behind the scenes that Xiao Qinglang and Xu Chu have been tracking. Even if he is not, he must also be the one who knows the inside story, or the most important confidant of that person.

After all, even if he is behind the scenes, it is impossible to reveal the secret passage connected to the palace at will. After all, that secret path is something that even the current emperor doesn't know, and if you take 10,000 steps back, it will also be a back road

Somehow, Xiao Qinglang suddenly felt a chill rise from his heels, as if he was now in an invisible danger. This instinctive instinct instantly clouded his heart with a heavy haze.

If the secret passage is on the side, it would be easy to say, but it appeared in his mother's palace. Although the Qing banquet hall is not the main hall, it can be used as the main concubine of Changli Palace, and there has never been a person to move in, so this matter has been investigated deeply.

If the secret passage was done by the previous emperor, or if it was left by the previous emperor, then it is easy to say. If it was really the mother's concubine's doing, then even if he tried his best to investigate, I am afraid it would be difficult to clear the comments left by the emperor on the mother's concubine.

The tip of Xu Chu's pen paused slightly, so that a drop of ink dripped directly onto the booklet used to make notes in his hand, and then fainted a small grind. The flickering palace lights made Xiao Qinglang's side look more and more handsome and sharp, but it also made him feel a little more lonely.

She knew what Ning Subai's words just now meant. To put it simply, it means that Dong Ruiyang's case is also in the palm of that person's hands. Even Aunt Hong should be that person's pawn. But if you think about it deeply, why did that secret path appear in Changli Palace, and how could that person know so clearly?

It's just that now, no matter what kind of speculation there is, she can't say it, and she doesn't even dare to show a trace of inappropriateness. What should happen to this matter, she should wait for Xiao Qinglang to figure it out

If he wants to track it down, he can only accompany him. If he were going to stop there, it would be wise.

At this time, Xiao Qinglang's figure was still straight, and his momentum was also his usual calm and noble appearance, but Xu Chu, who knew his every move, felt that Xiao Qinglang at the moment was inexplicably a little rickety.

After a dead silence, Xiao Qinglang's eyes finally flashed with a dark light. He glanced at Xu Chu, bowed his head slightly, and motioned for her to put away the pen and paper, but after a moment, he turned his head to look at Ning Subai and suddenly asked, "That day, Yang Gong was frightened by the haunting, was it because of you?" ”

That incident caused the concubine of the Yang uterus to have a fetal gas, which made the emperor and queen very angry, and even handed over the matter to the inner court for investigation for a time, and it was extremely important to find out who used the means of the charm to frame the emperor's heir.

Originally, the princes of this dynasty were scarce, and now there are even fewer children under their knees, except for the crown prince and the three princes who were demoted to concubines, and now there is only one young prince in the deep palace. Therefore, after suspecting that there were concubines on the side who wanted to compete for favor, or deliberately wanted to make the Yang uterus angry, the emperor was immediately furious and ordered the queen and the inner court to join forces to rectify the harem

It's a pity that the inner court checked and searched, and only found some people who harbored evil intentions but didn't have time to make a move. In the end, the matter was put on hold for the time being, but Lou An, the head of the inner court, was punished a lot.

This matter is so ferocious, even people like Xiao Qinglang who don't easily interfere in the affairs of the harem have heard of it. If it weren't for the fact that he was too busy investigating the case these days, I was afraid that the inner court would have already sent someone to invite him.

Ning Subai's face turned pale, he only lowered his head, and after a while, he noticed that Xiao Qinglang suddenly got up, so he hurriedly raised his head and admitted with difficulty, "Actually, I really didn't intend to scare her, that day when I sneaked into Changli Palace, I happened to meet Concubine De who was going out to eat, and I could only hide behind the wall first, and then make some noise to scare her." But I didn't expect her to be really frightened."

Later, when he saw that there was so much trouble in the harem, he naturally didn't dare to tell the truth. Originally, even if he was under the fence, because of his childhood experience, he rarely felt a sense of security, but now that there is such a big mistake, he naturally has no courage to admit it.

After all, although the Queen Mother cherishes him, he is certainly not as important as the current and unborn princes in comparison. However, before Dong Ruiyang was resolved, he had to stay in the palace temporarily to avoid suspicion.

When Xiao Qinglang was leaving, he instructed Xu Chu to sign and draw the confession that Ning Subai had confessed, and then looked at him and sighed, "Although the Marquis of the Protector owes you a lot of money to your mother and son, in the final analysis, the estrangement between your father and son is probably just because he doesn't know how to face you. ”

"You resent him for accepting Aunt Hong into the house, but you need to know that under the situation at that time, the Dong family covered the sky with one hand, and he took a concubine as a compromise to stay in the capital to take care of the only bloodline, which may not be a good choice."

"Moreover, Aunt Hong has been with him for many years after all, even if there is no love between men and women, she can give birth to some friendship. What's more, you and the Marquis of the Protector are both men who can't take care of the affairs of the people in the house, and there are many female relatives in the house, and someone needs to take care of them. In addition, you have reached the age of saying goodbye, and the Protector is not thinking about you."

"Su Bai, you are not small anymore, you should have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. If you have been protected like this and your heart is not strong, how dare you say that you will be able to handle it impartially in the future when you face all kinds of cases that test people's hearts in the three legal divisions? ”

After Xiao Qinglang finished speaking, he took the confession with one hand, folded it and put it away and left.

When the door of the palace rang, Xu Chu hurriedly said goodbye to Ning Subai and then chased out.

When night falls, the lanterns are on, and the palace is still peaceful and magnificent, even if it covers the majesty and grandeur in the daytime, it is difficult to cover the rows of splendid palace lights. As for the pavilions and pavilions that stand faintly in the dim lights, as well as the flowers and plants hidden in the red walls and tiles, they naturally also reveal the prosperity of the palace.

It's just that it's bustling, but with an unspeakable loneliness, and it really can't be compared with the streets she once played with him.

The two walked out silently, and along the way they encountered the patrolling Praetorian Guards and guards, and most of them would see Xiao Qinglang and retreat by themselves.

At this time, it was already dark, and the secret passage was in the imperial city, no matter how you investigated, you need to think clearly before you can act after the emperor has obtained the will. What's more, the secret path involved Xiao Qinglang's mother, so they couldn't be allowed to act imprudently.

Therefore, the best choice now is to leave the palace first, and it is not too late to continue the investigation until the thoughts are clear.

"Lord, this doesn't seem to be the road we traveled when we entered the palace?" Xu Chu followed Xiao Qinglang all the way, originally thinking that she should be close to the palace gate, but after walking for a long time, she found that there were more and more guards and Praetorian Guards nearby. And the scenery has also become solemn and majestic, obviously this road is not out of the palace.

Xiao Qinglang bowed slightly, reached out and pinched her somewhat cold fingers and said, "Well, when you enter the palace late at night, you still need to go and salute the emperor." What's more, I still have an important matter that needs to be decided by the emperor today. ”

Hearing this, Xu Chu's somewhat high-hanging heart gradually let go. Sure enough, if you care about it, it's messy, no matter what, Xiao Qinglang has also lived in the palace for many years, how can he be framed casually?

The two of them, who fell silent, walked slowly again between the deep courtyard and the towering palaces. It wasn't until a huge hall with carved dragons and paintings appeared in front of him that Xiao Qinglang stopped.

The two sides of this palace gate are decorated with six dragon jade pillars, which are solemn but do not have the solemnity of the court hall of the previous dynasty. On the vermilion wooden door, the dark lines are staggered, simple and atmospheric, even if it is renovated, it is difficult to hide the heaviness that has been precipitated after the change of dynasties.

"This is the Zhengde Palace, usually at this hour, the emperors of the past dynasties will deal with government affairs here." Xiao Qinglang saw Xu Chu cautiously looking around, and couldn't help but explain with a chuckle.

Xu Chu nodded, "I thought that the emperor would handle government affairs in the imperial study." ”

After all, the last time I saw the driver in the imperial study, there were a lot of twists and turns on the imperial case.

"When the Zhengde Hall is inconvenient to use, the emperor will naturally move the imperial study." It's like the little eunuch who died on a stake, and when blood was splashed three feet, the emperor could not summon people in a place that was not filthy.

"Hey, Lord Xu, Lord Xu's old slave asks for peace to the prince, the prince came to the Zhengde Hall so late, but is there something?"