Long Fei Ye still had matters to attend to, so Han Yunxi didn't dare delay. She left a few words with Baili Mingxiang before leaving.
However, she didn't know that Baili Mingxiang had followed her as soon as she arrived at the guest hall and was waiting by the wall outside.
Not long after, she saw His Highness and Han Yunxi come out one after the other.
As soon as they reached the door, His Highness took Han Yunxi's hand.
She knew that His Highness treated Han Yunxi special, but she never expected it to be like this. The action of holding hands was so natural, as if they'd been used to it for many years.
"Your Highness, from the moment I saw you, I thought you wouldn't fall in love with anyone."
Bitterness welled up in Baili Mingxiang's heart, but her smile was still as gentle as ever.
She smiled as she watched the person she'd been thinking about for more than ten years disappear into the distance. Even when she couldn't see him anymore, she still stubbornly watched.
"Xiang 'er, why are you doing this?" Suddenly, an unhappy voice came from behind her.
Baili Mingxiang jumped in fright. She turned around and saw that the person standing behind her was none other than her father, Baili Yuanlong.
"Father, I just came over. Has His Highness and the others left? "She pretended to be calm as she asked indifferently.
"You're still pretending in front of your father?" Baili Yuanlong reprimanded unhappily.
"Father, Mingxiang doesn't know what you're talking about." Baili Mingxiang was at a loss.
"You and His Highness, you … Girl, you should understand your status!" Baili Yuanlong's tone softened.
"Father, don't worry. Mingxiang has always understood my status and mission. Mingxiang definitely won't disappoint you and His Highness. "Baili Mingxiang's tone was so resolute that Baili Yuanlong wondered if he'd seen wrong.
Baili Yuanlong couldn't say anything else and could only leave.
As soon as he left, Baili Mingxiang recovered from her grief. She almost ran to the door, hoping to take one more look. She really wasn't sure if she'd be able to see His Highness again before the Beauty's Blood matured.
Unfortunately, when she arrived, Long Fei Ye's carriage had already left.
In the carriage, Han Yunxi was conflicted for a moment before she asked pitifully, "Your Highness, I want to go home. Can you send me home?"
Although Emperor Tianhui and the empress dowager didn't forbid them from leaving the palace, the empress dowager had arranged living quarters for her and Chu Qingge. It was obvious that she wanted them to stay in the palace for the next three days.
If she did not want to live in the palace, she could only ask Long Fei Ye to help her settle it.
Long Fei Ye looked at her expressionlessly and didn't say anything.
Han Yunxi waited for a while. Seeing that Long Fei Ye didn't respond, she could only lower her eyes resentfully.
Before long, Han Yunxi raised her head again. "Your Highness, I don't want to return to the palace."
However, Long Fei Ye still ignored her.
This time, Han Yunxi was thoroughly listless. At a time like this, it'd be better if she didn't cause him any more trouble.
But when the carriage stopped and Han Yunxi got off, she didn't see the palace gates, but the familiar Duke of Qin's estate.
Han Yunxi was both surprised and delighted. She didn't know what to say, but could only smile foolishly.
Long Fei Ye's face was as cold as ice. Icily, he said, "Is it that funny? Why aren't you going inside? "
"Oh!"
Han Yunxi might not be smiling anymore, but her happiness was written all over her face.
After making sure Han Yunxi was inside, Long Feiye turned around and couldn't help but break into a soundless laugh.
Han Yunxi didn't enter the palace until the morning of the third day. Neither the empress dowager nor Emperor Tianhui pursued the matter.
Heaven knows how Chu Qingge had spent the past three days. As soon as she saw Han Yunxi, her gaze was enough to kill someone.
"Miss Chu, have you found the murderer?" Han Yunxi asked with a grin.
Although there was still a day left, Han Yunxi didn't want to waste it. If Long Fei Ye hadn't shown up the day before yesterday, she would've told the truth long ago.
She could see through a small case like Noble Consort Yun at a glance. Chu Qingge hadn't overestimated herself, but underestimated her.
Chu Qingge had already found out everything about Noble Consort Yun's palace. She already had proof that Noble Consort Xiao had been framed, so she needed to find out who did it.
Although Emperor Tianhui had scared her out of her wits, Chu Qingge still maintained her haughty, lofty, and cold demeanor before Han Yunxi.
"Esteemed wangfei took you so long to come back. You must have found out the truth long ago, right? Why don't we find the empress dowager and emperor so they can hear you tell them how Noble Consort Yun died? "Chu Qingge smiled mockingly.
But Han Yunxi simply replied, "Alright! Go invite them. "
"You!" Chu Qingge was frightened. "Han Yunxi, don't joke with me!"
"Who's joking with you? Someone come, invite the empress dowager and emperor over. Just say that this wangfei's already found the true culprit behind the poisoning!" Han Yunxi said loudly.
Chu Qingge shook her head in disbelief. It wasn't until the empress dowager and Emperor Tianhui arrived that she realized it was all true.
"Yunxi, I knew you had the skills," the empress dowager was as kind as ever, but only towards Han Yunxi, not Chu Qingge.
Chu Qingge was so nauseous that she couldn't think straight. Tianning's empress dowager clearly disliked Han Yunxi, so she should be on her side!
Emperor Tianhui was on her side, but she didn't even dare to look at him right now, much less show off in front of him.
All she could do was remain silent. She only wanted to see what kind of truth Han Yunxi could give them. Could she really find out in a single day?
Han Yunxi truly didn't like any of the people in front of her. She was in a hurry to get things done so she could leave the palace for business.
She took out the poison she'd found in Noble Consort Xiao's palace. "This is a red Snow Pole. Only the entire bottle is lethal. Noble Consort Xiao only has half a bottle. First, Noble Consort Xiao wouldn't be stupid enough to keep the poison on her body after poisoning her. Second, Noble Consort Yun wouldn't have died if only half a bottle was used. This was a court lady framing her. She didn't know anything about poisons, so she wasn't the one who poisoned her. "
"Nonsense!" Chu Qingge laughed coldly. She'd said the same thing on the first day.
Noble Consort Xiao's court lady, Baozhu, had taken out the poison. Baozhu had confessed that Noble Consort Xiao had ordered her to poison her. Judging from the half bottle, Baozhu was lying.
Han Yunxi ignored Chu Qingge and continued to speak. "Judging from Noble Consort Yun's corpse, she was poisoned with the entire bottle's worth of poison. That's not much. In other words, there's still half a bottle of poison missing. "
Chu Qingge laughed coldly again at her words. She'd found that out long ago as well.
She'd been searching for the other half of the bottle for the past two days.
Han Yunxi still ignored her and continued. "Why is there only half a bottle in Noble Consort Xiao's place? Where did the other half go?"
"I expect you've already found it," Chu Qingge asked.
She refused to believe that Han Yunxi could find the other half of the bottle in a single day. Leaving aside the fact that the other half might've been destroyed, even if it was still there, it'd take a long time to find it.
"Mm, I found it. It's in Li Changzai's palace. Of course, I'll have to go take a look to find out where it is, "Han Yunxi replied seriously.
Everyone was stunned by the sudden mention of someone they didn't want to do. Only the empress dowager remained calm. Coldly, she ordered, "Someone come, search Li Changzai's Flying Cloud Courtyard."
Soon enough, they really did find half a bottle of red Snow Pole in Li Changzai's Soaring Cloud Courtyard. Chu Qingge couldn't believe it and almost asked Han Yunxi how she knew. But for the sake of saving face, she held back.
Once the bottle was found, Li Changzai was brought before the empress dowager. She cried out, "Esteemed Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, chenqie doesn't know a thing! If chenqie knew poisons, I wouldn't have left only half a bottle in the palace! Chenqie and Noble Consort Xiao are both wrongly accused! "
"Wrongly accused? Each and every one of you has the gall to do something like this right under my nose. Do you all want to die? "the empress dowager scolded.
At this moment, court lady Baozhu suddenly started crying. "Esteemed Empress Dowager, spare me, spare me! This servant will confess, this servant will confess everything! It was Li Changzai who told this servant to frame Noble Consort Xiao! This servant was afraid that she'd bite me back, so I secretly left half a bottle in her palace. This servant is the one who doesn't know anything about poisons. This servant didn't poison her, it was Li Changzai who did! "
Chu Qingge was stunned by her words. She never thought things would turn out like this. She was even wondering why Li Changzai only had half a bottle in the palace!
Han Yunxi only smiled coldly. She could see through everything.
She knew that the true culprit behind the scenes was the empress dowager, while Li Changzai was nothing more than an innocent scapegoat.
The empress dowager had done countless framing schemes in her life. She was an old hand at it, a crafty one at that. She'd circled the case around once more.
She'd bribed both Li Changzai and court lady Baozhu to leave the other half of the bottle in Li Changzai's hands. Without a doubt, she'd left a backup plan to prevent anyone from investigating the case.
As luck would have it, Chu Qingge and Han Yunxi had arrived to investigate.
Even if they found out that Li Changzai hadn't framed Noble Consort Xiao, they'd at least get rid of the favored Noble Consort Yun. The empress dowager would still reap some benefits.
Han Yunxi originally wanted to walk around and find the whereabouts of the other half of the bottle of poison. Unfortunately, Soaring Clouds Courtyard was between her residence and Noble Consort Yun's palace.
She was all too familiar with the red Snow Pole, so the detox system could detect it even from a long distance away. When she passed by Soaring Clouds Courtyard, the detox system had already warned her.
Now was the time for real evidence and witnesses. The empress dowager couldn't find any clues at all. Moreover, Li Changzai and Baozhu would never betray the empress dowager, nor would they dare.
Everything had been done flawlessly.
It wasn't that Han Yunxi didn't want to investigate, but that she couldn't find any evidence. This was the terror of the imperial harem.
"Very well, a trifling Changzai and court lady actually dared to frame Noble Consort Yun! You've got guts. Someone come, take them away and give each of them 30 floggings! "the empress dowager raged.
Li Changzai and Baozhu were naturally begging for mercy, but it was all an act. Soon enough, they vanished without a trace.
Han Yunxi stared at the empty doorway and only felt that the imperial harem was a bottomless pit that ate people alive.
"Esteemed Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, since the truth of the case has come to light, then Yunxi will take her leave."
The empress dowager was very satisfied and wanted Han Yunxi to leave as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Emperor Tianhui had no interest in the case to begin with. No matter how favored Noble Consort Yun was, she couldn't compare to the newbie Xiao!
Han Yunxi left first, leaving Chu Qingge stunned in place. She had no idea how Han Yunxi had discovered the poison! She finally realized how formidable Han Yunxi's poison skills were.
"Your Majesty, I've lost!" It was rare for the icy beauty to admit defeat.
But Emperor Tianhui didn't mind. "Victory and defeat are commonplace in war. Miss Chu shouldn't be unhappy. Have you considered the matter from yesterday?"
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