"Ling'er understands, Mother, please rest assured."
The Empress Dowager gave a few more instructions before leaving Liuyue Palace to return to Lanqing Palace to rest. This matter was known not only to the Empress Dowager, but also to Emperor Ye Lingfeng. Ye Lingfeng ordered the commander of the palace guards to lead people to search every place, and to find out the slightest clue.
However, a day passed and no clues were found.
The next day, several more palace maids and eunuchs died in the palace, and just like before, they were frightened to death. This time, all the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace were terrified. They were so afraid that they would turn pale and change color when they talked about it. They even walked around in broad daylight with suspicion and kept screaming. This made Hai Ling very upset. Who was behind this? She had to catch this person, otherwise more and more people would probably die.
Inside the hall, Hailing frowned in deep thought, while Fuyue led the chief eunuch Yuanfu in.
As soon as Yuanfu entered, he greeted her and then carefully began, "Your Majesty, this morning, when I was examining the bodies of the dead palace maids, I found a letter on one of them."
After saying that, she presented the letter, which Fuyue took and handed to Hailing.
Hailing opened the letter and saw that it had no signature or name, but she knew it was written to her. The few words were enough to tell that it was written to her by the person who was behind it all.
"The game has only just begun. You killed the person I loved, and now I'm going to avenge him, so just you wait."
Hai Ling, furious, clenched the paper in her hand and slammed her fist on the table beside her. With a gloomy face, she waved for Yuan Fu to leave. She needed to find a way to lure this person out, otherwise he would become increasingly insane. Moreover, the letter said that she had killed the person he loved. Who was this person? There were quite a few people she had killed, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Who could it be? It was truly hard to imagine for a moment.
Yuanfu withdrew, and no one dared to speak in the main hall. With such an incident in the palace, the Empress was in a bad mood, so who would dare to speak out of turn? Everyone remained silent until a eunuch outside the hall announced, "The Emperor has arrived."
Hai Ling, who was inside the main hall, had recovered somewhat. Although her complexion was still not good, it was much better.
Ye Lingfeng strode in from outside the hall, his demeanor steady and powerful. He wore a white brocade robe with a dragon embroidered with gold coins on the front, exuding a domineering and flamboyant aura. He also wore a bright yellow brocade robe over it, with a thin brocade belt around his waist that swayed lightly with his movements. His whole body radiated an indescribable brilliance. Seeing him approach, Hai Ling felt much more at ease. With one more person, there was one more thing to consider. It would be good to investigate who was behind this mess.
"Night, what brings you here?"
Hai Ling rose to greet him, walking all the way to Ye Lingfeng. She was about to bow when Ye Lingfeng stopped her, waved for someone to leave, then put his arm around Hai Ling's waist and sat her down on one side of the hall. He asked softly, "Ling'er, is it the death of the palace maids and eunuchs that's bothering you?"
Hai Ling nodded, then handed Ye Lingfeng a letter that Yuan Fu had presented earlier: "This is the letter Yuan Fu received earlier, take a look?"
Ye Lingfeng smoothed out the letter that Hai Ling had previously messed up, and his expression immediately turned cold and stern.
"The people behind this are absolutely despicable."
“I’m afraid he’ll come out to harm people again tonight. More than a dozen people have already died in the palace. Now everyone is on edge, and the eunuchs and palace maids are terrified. They’re suspicious even in broad daylight, let alone at night. If this continues, things will get out of control. It’s not just in the palace, but I’m afraid the rumors will spread to Bianliang City as well.”
Hai Ling wasn't worried about what the people of Bianliang would think if they knew about this. The main problem was that this person was hiding in the shadows, killing people every now and then. That wasn't a good thing either. And that pretty face of hers was just so ugly.
Ye Lingfeng didn't speak, but looked at the letter in his hand, thinking very seriously.
"This person claims you killed someone he loves. Who was it?"
Hai Ling really couldn't figure it out. She had traveled from the Great Zhou Dynasty to Northern Lu, and from being the daughter of a general in Northern Lu to where she was today. To be honest, she had experienced so many people and events, and so many people had died because of her. How could she know who it was? Right now, no matter who it was, the important thing was to find it and capture it.
"If we just catch him, we'll know who he is, right?"
Ye Lingfeng agreed with Hai Ling's words. He casually tossed the letter aside, reached out and put his arm around Hai Ling's waist. The two of them stood close together, seriously thinking about how to catch the mastermind behind it all.
Soon Ye Lingfeng spoke: "Tonight, I will personally assign people to be placed throughout the palace. As soon as this person appears, we must capture him."
"Alright," that's the only way. This person must have scared so many people to death overnight. They'll definitely reveal themselves when they get moving. We didn't pay attention before because of the inadequate security. This time, we'll go out at night and catch this person hiding in the shadows.
After discussing the matter and talking for a while, Ye Lingfeng left Liuyue Palace and went to the study to handle things on his own.
But that night, Ye Lingfeng assigned people to guard every corner of the harem, and nothing happened at all. Nothing happened in the palace that night, and nothing happened for the next few days. Obviously, the person in the shadows was very cunning. He just wanted to scare them for two days and then stop. It was very likely that he would strike again when everyone was tired. Hai Ling already knew the motive of the mastermind behind this. So, in her next arrangement, she pretended to be tired first, and then secretly transferred her brother Ji Shaocheng and others to lie in ambush in various parts of the palace. She also ordered the palace guards to take their positions and patrol the palace as before.
In addition, the Empress decreed that matters in the palace should not be discussed indiscriminately. Anyone found to be talking nonsense would be beaten to death and thrown into a well. For a time, the entire palace became quiet again.
While the palace in Beilu was quiet, a fierce argument was taking place in the palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty, thousands of miles away.
Inside the palace where the Empress Dowager resided, Emperor Feng Zixiao and his sister Feng Qian were arguing loudly, both of them looking extremely grim.
Feng Zixiao's handsome features were now tinged with arrogance and coldness. He pointed angrily at his younger sister, Feng Qian, opposite him: "Feng Qian, how dare you speak to me like that?"
Feng Qian's cheeks were flushed with anger, and her chest heaved. Because of her anger, she reached out and gently stroked her chest. In fact, she did not want to anger her brother, but only wanted to reason with him and ask him to think more about the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Now that he was the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he must not act impulsively and repeat the past.
Who knew that as soon as she opened her mouth, her brother would lash out at her like a chicken with its feathers standing on end, launching into a tirade of indiscriminate and shameless insults. So she couldn't hold back any longer and recounted what had happened during his trip to the Great Zhou Dynasty. This made Feng Zixiao's face even uglier, so he adopted the demeanor of an emperor to threaten Feng Qian. But Feng Qian was not easily intimidated and immediately protested.
"So today you remember you're the emperor? Back in Shuangxi Town, you were just a pathetic fellow who lost his memory. I never thought you'd suddenly transform into an emperor and start lecturing me like an emperor. You'd better think about how many people helped you get your throne. I'm not expecting you to be grateful, but don't be ungrateful either. If that's the case, do you even deserve to be an emperor?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Zixiao's face turned green. He hated having his past brought up. In the first half of his life, he was a favored and privileged son of heaven. What happened afterward was something he couldn't bear to recall. Sometimes, he even wanted to erase it all. Now that Feng Qian had brought up these shameful things again, how could he not feel hatred? His handsome face suddenly became ferocious.
"Someone come here!"
The guards rushed in from outside the hall. Feng Zixiao pointed at Feng Qian and immediately ordered, "Arrest her! She's audacious and lawless!"
"emperor."
The guards were surprised that the emperor had ordered them to capture the princess, and hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do.
Just as Feng Zixiao was about to lose his temper, the Empress Dowager, who had been sitting at the head of the table, rubbed her head and sighed, "Can't you two let me say a word?"
The hall finally quieted down. The Empress Dowager looked at Feng Zixiao and said, "My son, let your mother and Qian'er have a good talk."
Feng Zixiao narrowed his eyes, and a chilling, resentful light shot towards Feng Qian. The light fell on Feng Qian like a sharp blade, and she was stunned. She saw murderous intent in her brother's eyes. That's right, she saw the motive to kill her in his eyes. This made her heart tremble. She never expected that her brother would want to kill her.
Feng Zixiao withdrew his hand and ordered the guards behind him to retreat. The hall fell silent again. This time, Feng Qian was so stunned that she didn't react at all. Feng Zixiao thought that Feng Qian was afraid, so he was very satisfied. He walked over, looked down at Feng Qian, and spoke coldly.
"You'd better stay quietly in the palace. You'll be married in three days."
He left with those words, and Feng Qian finally roared like a lioness, screaming, "Feng Zixiao, are you even human? Heaven will surely destroy you!"
In front of the main hall, Feng Zixiao paused for two seconds. He wanted to say something, but then decided against it. His younger sister was still useful, and he planned to marry her off to Yun Feng, the son of General Yun Hai, to consolidate his military power. To prevent any unforeseen events, he decided not to have the Imperial Observatory choose an auspicious date and to have her marry three days later, since the Yun family was also in the capital.
Feng Zixiao walked out of the main hall and ordered the guards outside: "From now on, guard the princess every step of the way. If the princess disappears, you will all be beheaded."
"Yes, Your Majesty."