Nightwatcher

At this moment, Xu Qi'an couldn't hide the astonishment and surprise on his face.

The results detected by the Qi Wang technique made him suddenly vigilant, and various thoughts collided with each other, sparks flying.

He quickly thought of two possibilities: First, Lang'er actually didn't like mung bean cakes, and the reason why he showed a love for them was because he wanted to please Concubine Chen Gui.

Two, she was lying, and the qi-watching technique did not detect it, which meant that she had a magic weapon to shield the qi-watching technique.

The first possibility cannot be judged for the time being.

The second possibility is what made Xu Qi'an's scalp tingle and the adrenaline secrete crazily.

How could the maids of Jingxiu Palace have a magic weapon to block the qi-watching spell?

What is she doing with the magic weapon that shields the qi spell?

Unless, she needs to use this magic weapon these days to deceive the world. Unless she knew she would be questioned in the near future.

What has she done these days?

She has been to the Royal Pharmacy!

As for whether he was stiffened by Li Daitao, in fact, Lang'er standing in front of him was an "outsider" disguised as Xu Qi'an, and he felt that it was unlikely. A human skin mask would not be able to hide from his observation.

It is even more impossible if it is the "transformation" technique of a high-level powerhouse. This is the imperial palace, and high-ranking powerhouses can't sneak in at all.

"Master Xu?"

Lang'er frowned, squinting at Xu Qi'an who had lost control of his expression.

"It's not easy to draw conclusions. Maybe she just doesn't like mung bean cakes, and she accidentally said what was in her heart."

Thinking in his heart, Xu Qi'an didn't panic to stabilize his emotions, but kept his expression "terrible", stared at Lang'er, and said in a slightly displeased tone:

"Although Miss Lang'er is the person next to Concubine Chen Guifei, she is too tempered. This official has shed blood for the court and made great contributions. Miss Lang'er's attitude is so contemptuous. Do you have a problem with this official?"

Lang'er glanced at him, and said calmly: "Master Xu has thought about it a lot, the slaves are not contemptuous, and they have no objections to Sir."

After a pause, he saluted and said: "The servant is still in a hurry to go back and serve the imperial concubine."

After speaking, he stepped over the threshold and left.

Seeing the back of the palace maid leaving, Xu Qi'an's heart sank to the bottom of the valley.

Just now, Lang'er still didn't lie in the feedback of the qi technique.

The questioning in the last sentence is that Xu Qi'an is covering up his gaffe, and he is also digging a hole to wait for Lang'er to jump.

First of all, Lang'er was very impatient with this questioning, and she also disliked him, Xu Qi'an could confirm that she wanted to send him away as soon as possible.

When normal people face questions like "Do you hate me", out of politeness, they will subconsciously perfunctory and refuse to admit it, so this constitutes a lie.

But in the feedback given by the qi-watching technique, Lang'er's mood was extremely stable, and no lie was detected.

From this, it can be almost confirmed that this court lady has a magic weapon to shield the qi-watching technique, which also proves that she has a guilty conscience and deliberately uses such means to avoid torture.

Here, a frightening truth is revealed.

She is the one behind the scenes!

Chen Guifei? !

At this moment, countless details and clues emerged in Xu Qi'an's mind, and the pheromones were like a boiling lake.

I really didn't expect to leave here quickly and report my discovery to Duke Wei and Huaiqing. Xu Qi'an didn't want to stay in Jingxiu Palace any longer.

It felt like entering some barren mountain hotel in the dark of night, only to find out that it was a haunted house. The receptionist is a vicious ghost with eyeballs hanging on his face, rotten flesh, and maggots crawling around.

Plates of food on the table are maggots, feces, carrion, human heads

Xu Qi'an was the living person who inadvertently peeked at the secrets of the haunted house, his scalp was numb, he just wanted to pretend that he didn't know anything, and then left quickly before the evil ghost could react.

"I'm done asking, little eunuch, let's go back."

Xu Qi'an took a deep breath and asked to leave calmly.

"yes!"

The little eunuch didn't doubt that he was there, he responded quite easily, and followed Xu Qi'an across the threshold of the side hall.

etc!

Xu Qi'an's steps froze suddenly. If Concubine Chen Gui was the person behind the scenes, then what happened to the empress would be the price Chen Gui Concubine was about to pay: deprivation of her position and being left in the cold.

Whether the prince will be abolished or not, what will happen to the prince is uncertain, Xu Qi'an doesn't care, what he cares about is: What about Lin'an?

She is very happy today, because the case is about to be solved, and it will be a matter of time before the prince is acquitted.

But in the future, I may personally push her concubine mother into the abyss.

After she knows this, she should hate me.

Compared to Huaiqing, a girl like Lin'an's psychological endurance is worse. It is possible for the mother and concubine to be thrown into the cold palace, or even given white silk and poisonous wine.

Not to mention the emperor's favor, but only in terms of position, the imperial concubine is far from the empress.

The empress is the official wife of the emperor, and maybe killing a concubine will not be given to death, but what about the noble concubine, does the noble concubine have such treatment?

"Master Xu, Master Xu?"

The little eunuch saw Xu Qi'an standing there in a daze, so he couldn't help shouting a few times.

Xu Qi'an suddenly came to his senses, and he still didn't think of a way to get the best of both worlds. At the same time, some confusion flashed in his heart. After learning that the person behind the scenes was Concubine Chen, he still didn't solve all the doubts.

Let's go back first, don't tell Wei Yuan about this, for the sake of Lin'an, me, I will think about it

When they reached the gate of the courtyard, the eunuch who guarded the gate looked at Xu Qi'an resentfully.

But when Xu Qi'an approached, he immediately restrained his emotions, being honest and respectful.

"By the way, you took my money and went inside. Did you pass it on?" Xu Qi'an stopped in front of the eunuch guarding the gate.

"certainly!"

The eunuch guarding the door said helplessly: "The villain passed the pass, but sister Lang'er said she didn't see it. The slave is greedy and doesn't want to return the bank note, and it's not easy to explain to the lord, so just"

So she was prepared Xu Qi'an nodded and was about to leave when Lang'er's voice suddenly came from behind.

"Master Xu, go slowly!"

"Miss Lang'er."

Xu Qi'an's back muscles tensed quietly, and he turned around as if nothing had happened: "What's the matter?"

The pretty lady-in-waiting stopped, with a faint smile: "Your Majesty, I want to thank Mr. Xu for breaking the Concubine Fu case and making His Highness the Crown Prince wronged. Please come over and thank me in person."

The muscles that Xu Qi'an had just relaxed tensed up again. Perhaps because of "being guilty of being a thief", my scalp is a little numb.

"I still have important business to do, so it's inconvenient to stay. The Concubine Fu's case is done according to the order, and it's my duty. The empress doesn't need to thank you." He doesn't want to see Concubine Chen now.

"Master Xu is so polite."

Lang'er covered her mouth and smiled lightly, and said like a joke: "My lady said, if Mr. Xu doesn't go to see her, she won't let Mr. Xu step out of Jingxiu Palace."

Fuck mud horse! !

Xu Qi'an's heart sank in vain, and he quietly diverted his soul, sensed his surroundings, and confirmed that he had not received any feedback of "dangerous signals", and then he was relieved.

I didn't tell anyone about my discovery just now, including Lang'er, she didn't notice the clues. It is impossible for Concubine Chen to know that I have seen through her tricks. She should just want to thank me. She pretended to take a step back and said, this is the palace. There are big internal guards outside, Lin'an inside, and the eyeliner sent by Emperor Yuan Jing to supervise me, Chen Guifei can't and dare not do anything to me here

Besides, I am not a vegetarian because I have two Li Yuchun's cultivation with one knife.

"Alright, please trouble Miss Lang'er to lead the way."

Xu Qi'an turned to the little eunuch again and said, "You also follow."

The two of them followed Lang'er, who was dressed in a lotus color palace attire, through the corridor in the front yard and into the back yard.

The main house of Jingxiu Palace is an exquisitely constructed two-story attic with layers of black tiles, cornices and horns, and twelve eaves beasts squatting on the square roof.

There is an observation deck on the second floor, which is suitable for drinking and enjoying the scenery in spring or autumn.

When he came to the inner courtyard, the little eunuch coughed hard as a reminder.

Xu Qian comprehended and stopped in the courtyard.

Lang'er kept walking, and went into the back room alone, and then Xu Qi'an caught her thin voice: "Mother, Master Xu is here."

Concubine Chen Gui gave a "hmm" and said softly: "I have something to say to Mr. Xu, you all step back and go to the outer courtyard."

Then came Lin'an's voice, and said softly: "Ah? Lin'an is leaving too? I won't leave if I don't."

"Lin'an is obedient."

"snort."

Concubine Chen Guifei, what does this mean? Why do you want to reject other people? Is there something that everyone can't sit in the sun and say? Xu Qi'an frowned.

Immediately afterwards, Lin'an and the two maids in the room stepped out of the threshold and passed by Xu Qi'an, and mounted the tip of his tongue secretly, and said in a low voice:

"Remember to report to the Palace later."

The little eunuch was in a dilemma, he didn't know what to do, so he heard Lang'er say: "Your Majesty said, the rest of you will retreat, don't you have ears?"

"Hey." The little eunuch nodded in response, turned around and followed.

"Wait," Xu Qi'an called to stop him, and reprimanded: "Your Majesty sent you to supervise me, you have to have the consciousness of being an "imperial envoy" and straighten your back."

Immediately, he said loudly: "I am a foreign minister after all, and it is inconvenient to meet with the imperial concubine in private. This little eunuch is in charge of supervising this official, and it is according to His Majesty's will."

On the surface, he was speaking to Lang'er, but in fact he was speaking to Concubine Chen Gui inside.

After a few seconds of silence, Chen Guifei's voice came from the room: "Then wait outside."

"Stay away." Xu Qi'an waved his hand.

The little eunuch retreated obediently.

Standing in the courtyard, Xu Qi'an pretended to tidy up his appearance, but actually took advantage of this short time to weigh the pros and cons, guessing what would happen next.

"If you just want to thank me, there's no need to turn everyone away, in other words, what Chen Guifei said to me cannot be heard by outsiders.

"I asked my little eunuch to stand a little further away, which is a kind of compromise to Concubine Chen. The advantage of standing far away is that I can neither hear my conversation with the concubine, but also can clearly see our every move in the house.

"This prevents Concubine Chen from pretending to be an eagle and eating chickens, but actually accusing me of bullying the concubine. Although this operation is a bit crude, I have to guard against it."

After thinking about it, he entered the room, and saw Concubine Chen Guifei sitting limp and in gorgeous palace attire.

This is the second time Xu Qi'an saw Concubine Chen Gui. The last time was at the ancestor worship ceremony at the end of last year. He yelled at the Shanhe Temple in Yongzhen, and then pretended to be loyal, and met the emperor's women up close.

Chen Guifei and Lin'an have the same face shape, a standard oval face, with beautiful eyebrows, lips, and nose.

In terms of appearance alone, Chen Guifei is slightly worse than the queen, but her temperament is dignified and gentle, and her affinity is stronger than the queen.

However, the gorgeously embroidered dress and the complicated and expensive jewelry on her head destroyed her affinity.

Among the women Xu Qi'an has met, only Lin'an can control luxurious jewelry and clothes, the more luxurious, the stronger her charm.

Just like many girls, they are beautiful when they don't dress up, but once they wear heavy makeup, they look tacky. And Lin'an is the kind of woman who looks better the more gorgeously she is dressed.

This mother and daughter are not the same.

"Master Xu must have heard about it after His Majesty proposed to abolish it in the court this morning."

Concubine Chen Guifei's voice lacked the crispness of a young girl, and added the gentleness of a mature woman, making her feel like a spring breeze.

"I know the humble job." Xu Qi'an nodded concisely.

"Then Master Xu came to my Jingxiu Palace, why?"

"There are still some doubts about this case."

Concubine Chen Gui said "Oh", with a half-smile: "What doubts?"

"This humble job is ignorant, and I have no clue."

The room fell silent for a while, Chen Guifei stared at Xu Qi'an for a long time, the smile on her face gradually subsided, and after a while, she was covered with frost, and said word by word:

"you are lying!"

These three words were like a heavy hammer hitting Xu Qi'an's heart, or like thunder exploding in his ears.

How did she know that I was lying? The stern light in his eyes shot out uncontrollably, and his breathing was rapid, but he restrained all his emotions in the next moment, and said blankly:

"What do you mean by your mother's words?"

"You can look at others with the qi technique, and others can look at you with the qi technique."

Concubine Chen Guifei picked up the teacup, took a sip unhurriedly, and sighed: "I invited you here just to test it out, but your lie just now made it impossible for me to take any chances. Mr. Xu has a keen mind, No matter how delicate the case is in the world, it’s just a trick to you.”

Concubine Chen Gui is a warlock? ! This is impossible.

Why does she want to confess to me, isn't she afraid that I will tell Emperor Yuan Jing?

What is the purpose of her inviting me here?

All kinds of thoughts flashed, and turned into a sigh: "My lady, why bother. I can pretend I don't know."

Then go back to Wei Gong and Huaiqing to deal with you, Xu Qi'an added in his heart.

At this point, the two of them are quite honest.

Concubine Chen's calmness surprised Xu Qi'an, he knew it was definitely not a good thing.

"When did you find out, just now?" Chen Guifei took another sip of tea, calmly as if chatting.

"Yes, I see that Lang'er is pretending."

"But I had doubts before, let's talk about it." Chen Guifei smiled.

Xu Qi'an pondered and said: "Looking back at the history of the concubine Fu's case, I do have a lot of doubts. Why did the empress put the hundred-day spring given by the queen on the table for no reason? If you are drunk, you are not afraid that he will do something wrong? This is not in line with your careful style."

On that day, Huaiqing talked to him about the queen's experience of being thrown into the cold palace, and mentioned Concubine Chen Guifei's emphasis on the position of prince, as well as her narrow-minded and cautious style. Xu Qi'an had this doubt.

He went on to say: "Although the queen can bribe Huang Xiaorou to set up a trap for the prince, how can she guarantee that the prince will go to Qingfeng Palace? And you are the biological mother of the prince, and you know the son Mo Ruomu, and you know that he has thoughts about Concubine Fu. It is more reasonable for Huang Xiaorou to sit on the sidelines and wait for the rabbit.

"Afterwards, from the discovery of Huang Xiaorou's body, to the lowly position to find clues pointing to the queen, the traces of artificial promotion are too obvious. But if Huang Xiaorou disappears right away, it will not achieve your goal of framing the queen.

"Of course, I didn't realize it at that time. I still think the queen is the most suspicious. What I can't figure out is why you sent someone to tear up the income and expenditure booklet of the Royal Pharmacy. That should be the most favorable evidence to identify the queen. Not only In doing so, I exposed myself.”

Concubine Chen shook her head, "It's not superfluous, it was originally the evidence I left on purpose, if you were not the person in charge of the investigation, it would be one of the most useful evidences to attack the queen.

"But your resurrection from the dead was completely beyond my expectations. If Huang Xiaorou's body and the pamphlets of the imperial pharmacy were discovered at the same time, the traces of guidance would be too heavy. I was afraid that you would see something and report directly to His Majesty, so I sent Man tore the booklet.

"So you were suspicious at the time, but you didn't insist that the empress was wronged. Heh, if your majesty knew this in advance, the effect of my palace's crying yesterday would be greatly reduced."

"Then, after learning about the progress of the case from Lin'an, I will put pressure on His Majesty and at the same time send someone to assassinate you. As long as you are dead and the queen confesses, everything will be seamless."

Xu Qi'an nodded slowly, this morning he still felt that the queen was the biggest suspect in assassinating him, and he was determined to divorce Huaiqing. Only after Wei Yuan told him that the queen pleaded guilty did he feel that there was something else hidden in the case.

It turned out that the person who wanted to kill me was Concubine Chen, well, there is no need to say anything, I want to divorce Lin'an.

"I still have two questions about the humble job, I wonder if the empress can answer them?"

"Let's listen to it." Chen Guifei said lightly.

"The prince is already a prince, why does the empress still behave like this?"

Concubine Chen Gui laughed, the smile was very complicated, as if she was laughing at Xu Qi'an, but also as if she was laughing at herself:

"The crown prince is the crown prince after all. If he doesn't take the throne for a day, there is a possibility of changing hands. The queen is always the queen, and the fourth prince will always be the son. If I told you, your majesty originally wanted the fourth prince? If your majesty knew that the queen was not If you don't love him, the fourth prince is already a prince."

Xu Qi'an keenly discovered that when Concubine Chen Guifei said this, there was both joy and resentment in her eyes.

"But even so, after so many years, the position of the crown prince has not changed. Isn't the empress too worrying?"

"What do you know about court affairs?"

Concubine Chen Guifei sneered: "With Wei Yuan around, the fourth prince's chances of winning will always be greater than my son. Wei Yuan always wants to be alone in the court, sweeping away the serious illness, and if he wants to display his ambition, he will definitely win the fourth prince Put on the throne.

"As a woman, I can't beat Wei Yuan, so I can only use my strength from the empress. The empress is the lord of the harem, and the mother of the world is the highest honor for a woman. This palace is also a woman, and I also have eyes for the queen's status."

Regarding Wei Yuan's ambitions, Xu Qi'an had some understanding and knew that Chen Guifei was telling the truth.

"Last question, who is the person behind the empress?" Xu Qi'an asked.

Concubine Chen was obviously taken aback, she was silent for a long time, then shook her head and laughed: "I appreciate you more and more, it seems that Lin'an accidentally dug up a piece of treasure.

"How are you sure that there is someone behind me?"

Xu Qi'an lowered his eyes, looked at his toes, and thought: "If the empress knew what uncle Guo was doing, why did she hold back for so long and didn't act until now.

"If the empress only recently found out about Uncle Guo and Huang Xiaorou, then who told the empress, definitely not Huang Xiaorou. She has been able to endure it for so many years, without any reason, and will not change suddenly and insist on revealing it to you. Among them There must be a matchmaker.

"Besides, the empress knows that Beizhi lied. Si Tianjian's qi-watching technique is not something ordinary people can use. Beizhi just guessed another possibility."

Xu Qi'an raised his head and stared at Chen Guifei's beautiful face, "Your target is the queen, and the person or force behind you is targeting Wei Gong."

The smile on Concubine Chen's face disappeared, she squinted her eyes, looked at Xu Qi'an for a long time, and suddenly said: "Master Xu, what do you think of Lin'an?"

Very nice, Xu Qi'an's heart was moved, but he didn't answer.

"The crown prince told me that when Lin'an reached the age of leaving the court, I kept an eye on it, and then found that since she met you, whenever she came to Jingxiu Palace, the person she talked about the most was you."

Concubine Chen was very persuasive: "My palace has also experienced the age of a young girl Huaichun. I heard that Mr. Xu will be ennobled soon. Although the viscount is not very old, it means that you have entered the noble class.

"I can promise you that within three years, I will take your title to a higher level and marry Lin'an to you."

This is the reason why Concubine Chen Guifei was frank with him.

Xu Qi'an hesitated.

Concubine Chen Guifei took advantage of the victory to pursue her: "Even if you know the secret, it is impossible to identify me. Lang'er has been in poor health recently and suffered a sudden illness, and the imperial physician failed to save her. How does Master Xu feel about this result?"

How could the innocent and lovely Lin'an have a mother like you, who wanted to fool me just by painting big cakes? Xu Qi'an murmured: "Three years is too long, who knows if the imperial concubine is fooling her lowly job."

Concubine Chen Gui frowned, "Two years at the earliest, the matter of becoming a knight is no small matter. You should be clear about this."

"Humble post doesn't mean that."

Xu Qi'an waved his hand and showed a shy smile: "The humble job wants to say that it takes three years to get married, but can we consummate the house first?"

PS: Do you believe me when I said that I took the college entrance examination?

Well, you guys say goodbye to everything, I will slap my mouth and slap my mouth.