In the Starry Hall, a few of his trusted officials were present.
Qing Zhu stood at the entrance of the great hall with his hands clasped behind his back, silently looking outside for a while. Then, under the watchful gazes of the others, he slowly walked back to the center of the group. Looking left and right, he asked, "Could it be the Xiahou family's doing? Is it possible that it was Niu Youde? "
Sima Wentian replied, "The possibility of Niu Youde being the culprit isn't high. Aside from the Xiahou Clan, there's probably no one else who has the ability to sneak someone away under the watchful eyes of so many people without making a sound."
Qing Zhu: "Then how did he do it? Wang Zhuo could still reply with the Star Bell. Was he forced? "
Sima Wentian replied, "This subject suspects that Wang Zhuo might be a member of the Xiahou Clan. When Wang Zhuo left alone, it's very likely that he brought his entire family with him. Other than him, there's probably no one else who would be able to sneak the Wang Clan away."
"Oh!" Qing Zhu stroked his beard and nodded slightly. He looked at the others as if asking if they had any other opinions.
While everyone was pondering, Gao Guan spoke up, "This official has a different opinion. This official thinks that it was done by Niu Youde."
His words immediately attracted everyone's attention, including Qing Zhu. Everyone knew that Gao Guan had been in charge of the Right Ministry for many years and was an expert in investigating cases. Since he said this, he must not be speaking without thinking.
Qing Zhu's interest was piqued. He didn't seem angry at the fact that his concubine was kidnapped. Instead, he asked with interest, "Why do you think so?"
Gao Guan: "Wang Zhuo's reply after the incident is the biggest loophole. It's suspicious that he is trying to cover it up."
Sima Wentian was a bit unconvinced: "What's the point of covering it up?"
Gao Guan: "If he really escaped, there was no need for him to reply. Wouldn't it be safer to leave quietly and not let everyone know what's going on? Why did he have to say that he escaped and alert the eastern army to search for him? Either Wang Zhuo is stupid, or someone forced him to say that to cover up the fact that his family was kidnapped. "
As soon as he said this, everyone nodded silently. Even Defeating Armies, who had always disliked Gao Guan, did the same. He had no choice but to admit that Gao Guan had his ways.
Sima Wentian furrowed his brows and said, "That could also be the work of the Xiahou Clan. We can't prove that Niu Youde did it."
Gao Guan glanced at him. "I only said that I think Niu Youde did it, but I didn't say that he did it. When Niu Youde publicly appeared in the gengzi region's presidential office, I noticed that something was wrong. When I looked at the list of people in the presidential office, I noticed the name of a commander at the bottom. His name was Yan Su. I felt that he looked familiar, so I sent someone to investigate his background. I found that he used to be a commander in Tianjie and had worked with Niu Youde in the Donghua County's presidential office. I had seen this name when I was investigating a case there. There was one thing that Sima of the Left Emissary could not deny. If this matter was really done by someone, it must be a collaboration between the inside and outside. Could Yan Su's appearance be a coincidence? Therefore, Niu Youde has become my suspect! "
Everyone immediately understood. So that's how it was.
After a moment of silence, Lord Qing said in a deep voice, "Gao Guan, your Right Division must intervene in this matter!"
"Yes!" Gao Guan cupped his hands in response.
Lord Qing then said in a deep voice, "The personal guards protecting Consort Qin will be severely punished!"
Defeating Armies wanted to say something but stopped on second thought. The ones who were going to be severely punished were his men. He wanted to protect them, but this kind of thing actually happened to him as a guard. He didn't even know that he had lost his men. This was a huge dereliction of duty, and he couldn't find any reason to protect him.
"It's about time Ying Jiuguang gave me an explanation. I'd like to see what excuses he has this time!" Lord Qing laughed coldly.
Yan Xiu returned to the Netherworld Presidential Office.
In the inner yard, Miao Yi stood at the entrance of the main hall with his hands behind his back. He smiled at Yan Xiu as he strode over, his eyes filled with gratitude.
Standing beside him, Yun Zhiqiu looked at Yan Xiu, then at Miao Yi's reaction. She smiled as well. She knew how worried Miao Yi had been.
"Milord! I'm glad I didn't fail you! "Yan Xiu cupped his fists as he walked down the steps.
Miao Yi quickly walked down the steps and helped him up. He sighed sincerely, "You've worked hard."
"It's my duty." Yan Xiu took two steps back and let White Phoenix out with a wave of his hand. It wasn't appropriate for her to be seen entering and leaving this place.
As soon as White Phoenix saw the smiling Miao Yi, she rolled her eyes and immediately raised her nose.
"It's all thanks to White Phoenix's help this time." Yan Xiu pointed at White Phoenix, not taking all the credit for himself.
Miao Yi smiled and nodded at White Phoenix. "Well done."
"Don't give me that. Don't come looking for me for something like this in the future. I've done what you needed to do. If there's nothing else, I'll be taking my leave. "White Phoenix turned around and left.
Miao Yi smiled. "There's no hurry!"
White Phoenix stopped and turned around, her eyes wide. "Is there anything else?"
Miao Yi gestured to Yun Zhiqiu with his head, then returned to the main hall. Yun Zhiqiu immediately walked over to White Phoenix to talk to her.
After avoiding the others, Miao Yi took out the Star Bell and contacted Xiahou Chengyu. "Lady Consort, I've completed your task."
Xiahou Chengyu was overjoyed. "Really?"
Miao Yi: "Wang Zhuo and his wife, Wang Zhuo's three concubines, Wang Zhuo's son, and Concubine Zither's family of seven are all here. The two handmaidens of Concubine Zither who participated in the plot against the Emperor have also been captured. In total, there are nine of them waiting to be dealt with, Lady Consort!"
Xiahou Chengyu was extremely excited. He couldn't stop praising Miao Yi. "Lord Niu really didn't let me down. Good, very good! Your contributions will be remembered by both me and the Emperor! "
Miao Yi: "Lady Consort, I will go through fire and water without hesitation." "Lady Consort, do you need to deal with these nine people personally?"
Xiahou Chengyu naturally wanted nothing more than to kill Concubine Zither to vent his anger. However, the situation didn't allow him to do so. She was surrounded by spies, and Miao Yi couldn't send them into the Heavenly Palace's territory. He wouldn't be able to pass the guards' inspection, so he could only give an order. "Leave no one alive. Execute them all!"
Miao Yi: "I understand! But Lady Consort, for this matter, I used some underhanded methods. I hope Lady Consort will keep this a secret. "
Why didn't he just kill them in Domain Geng's Commander's Manor? Why did he let Wang Zhuo reply that he was going to leave? Killing the Celestial Emperor's concubine was not a small matter. If he could avoid people linking it to him, it would be better to avoid it. It was better to not be in the limelight. It was purely to give Xiahou Chengyu an explanation.
Heavenly Palace. After ending the call, Xiahou Chengyu sat on a chair and crossed his legs. He gulped down two mouthfuls of tea. It was as though he was drinking rain after a long drought. His heart was filled with joy, and he really enjoyed the feeling of getting what he wanted with just one command.
At this time, E Mei quickly walked in and reported, "Lady Consort, something happened to Concubine Zither." As she said this, she quietly observed the other party's reaction.
When Xiahou Ling first heard the news from Domain Geng's Commander's Manor, he thought that Old Ninth had ordered Wang Zhuo to retreat. Who would've thought that Old Ninth would suddenly send a message asking if he was the culprit. Only then did he realize that something had happened to Concubine Zither's family. Thus, he sent E Mei to investigate Xiahou Chengyu's situation.
Xiahou Chengyu's eyebrows jumped when he heard the news, "What happened?"
E Mei replied, "Concubine Zither's family of seven, along with two of her maids, suddenly disappeared. It's said that Wang Zhuo didn't want to work anymore and took his family far away. Right now, the Domain Geng's Commander's Manor is in a mess. The Eastern Army has sealed off the border to search, and His Majesty is furious. Concubine Zither's bodyguards have all been severely punished, and the Supervising Right Envoy Gao Guan has personally gone to investigate."
Xiahou Chengyu was very unhappy in his heart, but on the surface, he coldly snorted, "That slut was born to be a troublesome bastard, it's not strange for her to cause trouble. What's there to make a fuss about."
Not long after, Xiahou Ling received E Mei's report from the forbidden garden of the Heavenly Weng Residence. E Mei's judgment was that the Empress was not surprised at all about this matter, and had already known about it beforehand.
E Mei had been by Xiahou Chengyu's side for far too long, and understood Xiahou Chengyu's temperament too well. With just a little probing, she was able to see some clues.
After Xia Hou Ling, who was standing under the towering tree, heard Wei Shu's report, he thought for a moment and then slowly said, "Niu Youde did it!"
Aside from the Xiahou Clan, the only person who could help Xiahou Chengyu do something that couldn't see the light of day was Niu Youde. Although the Emperor had sent the bodyguards out, he didn't have any real power, nor did he have the ability to do such a thing. The bodyguards could fight force with force, but they didn't have the ability to do such a thing in the dark. The Green Lord had the ability, but the Green Lord had other ways to deal with Concubine Zither, so there was no need to take such a risk. If they failed and the Eastern Army found out, then the gains would not make up for the losses.
Wei Shu, who was on the side, said in a surprised tone, "I don't know how Niu Youde did it, it's not easy to take someone away in that kind of situation."
Xiahou Ling, "It seems that the Six Paths is really a centipede that dies but doesn't fall down. His strength is beyond our imagination."
Wei Shu, "Even Lord Jiu suspects that it was Lord Jiu who did it, I'm afraid others will think the same."
Xiahou Ling snorted coldly, "Since Niu Youde won't dare to say anything, maybe it's not a bad thing for the outside world to misunderstand."
Kou Lingxu, who was sitting in the pavilion in the bamboo forest, was silent for a long time, then suddenly asked, "What do you think of this matter?"
Tang Henian and Kou Zheng, who were standing to the side, looked at each other. Tang Henian said, "Now that we have put everything together, Niu Youde's appearance outside the Geng Region Presidential Office was obviously premeditated by the Xiahou family. First, they caused a commotion in the eastern army, then left, causing the Geng Region Presidential Office to strengthen its guard. Then, the Xiahou family made this move, it's like they think the persimmon is too soft, they want to crush it, they want the Ying family to be fully prepared before they make their move, they want to humiliate Ying Jiuguang ruthlessly, and then quietly end the matter. This Xiahou Ling is not simple!"
Kou Lingxu nodded slowly, "I underestimated Xiahou Ling. Continuous planning, hard and soft at the same time, once he made a move, he made Ying Jiuguang, who jumped out of his own accord, lose all his face. Now I know that Xiahou Ta, that old fox, did not choose Xiahou Ling as his successor for no reason. He knows his son the best, and his son should be like Xiahou Ling!" As he said this, he glanced at Kou Zheng, intentionally or unintentionally, but it was hard to tell what he was looking at.
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