Ruan Xizong nodded and instructed the eunuch to take the Empress of Beilu away to wash her hands.
Hai Ling stood up and led Shi Lan out of the main hall with the palace maids. When they passed by Ruan Jingyue, Ruan Jingyue slowly stood up and politely said, "I would like to ask Empress Ji for a favor?"
Hailing stopped and looked at her. The two faced each other, their eyes locked in a contest only they could understand. On the surface, everyone saw that the Queen of the Hairpin Flower was very polite to this Empress Ji.
Hai Ling smiled and asked, "Please speak, Your Majesty?"
"Everyone in the world knows that Empress Ji is resourceful and intelligent, and few in the world can rival her. Therefore, I would like to ask Empress Ji to tell me who killed Princess Huai?"
Hai Ling glared coldly at Ruan Jingyue. If we're talking about intelligence, Ruan Jingyue, even after more than a year, is no less clever. On the surface, she was respectful to her, but in reality, she was pushing her aside with a few polite words. If she answered, she would be getting involved in the family affairs of Nanling Kingdom. If she didn't answer, she would be going against the meaning behind Ruan Jingyue's words. Everyone in the world says that the Empress of Beilu is clever, but that's not all there is to it.
Hai Ling's lips curled into a smile, and she whispered in Ruan Jingyue's ear, "This is a matter of Nanling Kingdom's domestic affairs. The princess is worrying too much."
After saying that, she walked out with a smile. Now, the outsiders didn't know what the Queen of Beilu had said, and they all stared at Ruan Jingyue. Ruan Jingyue's face was extremely ugly. She didn't expect that both of her attempts to make things difficult for her had been easily blocked by Ji Hailing. It was as if she was hitting cotton, unable to exert any force at all. On the contrary, Ji Hailing had easily resolved the situation.
Inside the main hall, Nguyen Hee Thong ignored everyone else and immediately ordered officials from the Ministry of Justice to investigate the matter.
King Huai was still mourning his deceased queen, and the palace was no longer as lively as before.
Ruan Xizong of Nanling Kingdom never expected such a thing to happen at the palace banquet for entertaining envoys from other countries. His face turned extremely ugly, and he was completely devoid of his previous gentleness and elegance. He was very gloomy. Prince Huai carried Princess Huai away, and the Minister of Justice also withdrew to arrange for people to investigate the murder of Princess Huai that night.
Hailing led Shilan and followed two palace maids to a side hall to wash their hands.
Hai Ling thought of Xi Liang and asked the two palace maids about Xi Liang. However, when the two maids heard what they asked, their faces turned ugly, and they shook their heads repeatedly, saying that they knew nothing about the War Prince's Mansion.
However, it was precisely their expressions that indicated that something must have happened to Xi Liang in the War King's mansion. I hope she's alright.
Hai Ling felt nervous. Fortunately, Shi Mei quickly found her and helped her back to the main hall where the banquet had been held. Along the way, Shi Mei quietly reported the information she had gathered to Hai Ling.
"I heard that Princess Qinyang is not doing well in Nanling Kingdom. That Prince Zhan has a beloved concubine. Because of the concubine's jealousy, she was killed. Now the Prince Zhan has placed the concubine under house arrest, and she can't leave the mansion at all."
Hai Ling's face was extremely ugly. She never expected that Ruan Xiyin would have a woman and then marry Xi Liang. Didn't Liang'er say that he liked her? How could it end like this? If she had known this would happen, she shouldn't have let her marry into Nanling Kingdom in the first place.
Although the palace banquet continued, everyone was distracted, so the new emperor of Nanling Kingdom ended the banquet early and ordered people to take the envoys from several countries to the post station to rest. Everyone got up and left, all of them thinking that today's palace banquet was really tiring.
Aside from a few princesses, who were only concerned with whether they could marry the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, they had absolutely no interest in the death of Princess Huai.
Under the escort of the court officials of Nanling Kingdom, Ye Lingfeng and Hai Ling returned to the post station and entered the Falling Flower Pavilion.
This time, the accompanying ministers did not leave, but gathered together in the main hall, all of them with grim expressions.
Ji Shaocheng spoke in a sinister tone: "I never expected that Ruan Jingyue didn't die back then, and now she dares to be so arrogant. It's despicable."
Wenbin and the others naturally knew that Princess Jingyue of Nanling Kingdom originally wanted to marry the Emperor, but the Emperor did not want to marry her. Later, he even cut off one of her arms and imprisoned her. Today, when they met, she naturally held a grudge, which is why she picked a fight. However, she was too out of touch with reality. Their Beilu Kingdom held such an important position, while she, Ruan Jingyue, was just the queen of a small island country. How dare she be so arrogant?
Thinking about it this way, the group nodded: "Ruan Jingyue has indeed gone too far. She dared to be disrespectful to the Empress. She should be taught a lesson."
"And that young emperor of Nanling Kingdom went too far, he didn't even punish her."
The Imperial Censor spoke angrily.
At the head of the table, Hai Ling paid no attention to the ministers' words. Her mind was focused on the news that Shi Mei had obtained. She never expected that Xi Liang would end up like this. That damned Ruan Xiyin, she would not let Xi Liang suffer in vain.
Seeing that Hai Ling had been deep in thought and looked troubled ever since she washed her hands, Ye Lingfeng knew that she must have something on her mind, so he quickly ordered the people in the hall to leave first and that they would talk about it later.
In the main hall, no one was there. Ye Lingfeng reached out and took Hai Ling's hand, asking, "What happened?"
The couple knew with just a glance that something must have happened, otherwise Ling'er wouldn't have such an expression.
“I sent Shimei to find out about the War Prince’s mansion. It turns out that there was already a concubine in the War Prince’s mansion. After Princess Qinyang married into the War Prince’s mansion, she killed the concubine. The War Prince then imprisoned the War Princess and wouldn’t let her leave the mansion.”
"What? Such a thing actually happened? Princess Qinyang is not of such character as to do such a thing."
Ye Lingfeng's eyes darkened. No wonder the young emperor's face darkened when he mentioned Princess Qinyang's marriage to the Zhanwang Mansion, a marriage alliance between the two countries. It turned out there was another layer of truth behind it.
"What does Ling'er plan to do?"
"I will go to the War King's Mansion tomorrow."
If it weren't so late, she would have gone over right now. She wanted to see how the War King treated Xi Liang. If he hurt Xi Liang, she would definitely not let it go.
"I will go with you."
Ye Lingfeng was afraid that Hai Ling would suffer a loss, but this time Hai Ling shook her head: "No need, you play with the kitten in the post station, I will handle these matters."
Tomorrow, going to the War King's Mansion will certainly not be easy to see the War King's Consort. It is no secret that she and Xi Liang are sisters; everyone in the entire Southern Ling Kingdom knows this. So, if she causes a scene at the War King's Mansion, nothing will happen. Even if she cripples a group of people in the War King's Mansion, those people won't be able to say much to her. But going at night is a different story. He is the Emperor of Northern Lu.
"good."
"Let Shi Mei, Shi Zhu, and the other two follow you."
"Yes," Hai Ling nodded. With these four people, she would be even more powerful, and she would dare to brave any danger.
After the two had settled the matter, they went to their room in Luohua Pavilion to rest.
The next day, just as dawn broke, Hai Ling got up without even having breakfast. She was no longer listless as she had been in the past few days; instead, she was full of fighting spirit. She ordered Shi Mei, Shi Zhu, and two others to accompany her to the War King's Mansion. She also took several other subordinates with her. The group left the post station and headed to the War King's Mansion.
War King Ruan Xiyin was still a military general, so the War King's mansion appeared very rough, with a tall vermilion iron gate and two stone lions on the left and right sides of the gate, which was particularly majestic. As soon as Hai Ling arrived outside the gate of the War King's mansion, she waved her hand and coldly ordered Shi Zhu: "Knock on the door for me and say that I want to see the War King's Consort."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Shi Zhu gracefully dismounted, stepped forward and knocked on the door. Soon someone opened the door and came out. A man who looked like a manager respectfully asked who she was looking for.
When Shizhu said that the master wanted to see Princess Zhan, the steward opened his mouth wide in disbelief, then shook his head and said that the princess would not see anyone.
At this moment, Hai Ling had already gotten off the carriage and was leading several of her subordinates to the main gate of the War King's Mansion with great momentum. Upon hearing the old steward's words, she immediately ordered Shi Zhu: "Break through! Anyone who dares to stop me today, I will break their legs."
After saying that, Shi Zhu waved his hand and rushed inside. Then Shi Ju followed suit, and Hai Ling, Shi Mei, and the others followed, all the way into the Zhan Wang Mansion.