Xiaoxin carefully carried a basin of water and pushed open the door, saying, "Miss, the young master and the others are waiting for you downstairs for lunch."
Dongfang Yi yawned and stretched her body, whining, "It's already noon?"
Xiaoxin whispered with a smile beside her, "Miss, you sleep so soundly..."
Dongfang Yi: "..."
Helian Qi was wearing a jet - black long robe today. The collar was embroidered with red and gold cloud patterns. His shoes matched the robe, and the red and gold patterns made him look extremely noble.
He was dining with his head down. When he saw Dongfang Yi coming down the stairs, he just nodded without saying a word. However, Ruyi beside him called out, "Miss," and then pulled out a chair for her, gesturing for her to sit down and have lunch.
The meal was rather dull. While eating, Dongfang Yi would occasionally glance at Helian Qi beside her. She found that he made no sound at all while dining. This made Dongfang Yi, who usually loved delicious food, not dare to eat heartily, which seriously reduced the quality of this meal.
After the meal, Helian Qi was going to visit the local magistrate's mansion. Dongfang Yi was really bored staying in the inn, so she went with him.
The market was very lively. The cries of the peddlers were endless. This was a sight that could never be seen in the palace.
"This is so delicious!" Dongfang Yi praised while holding a box of nut pastries.
She wandered around and bought a lot of things. Xiaoxin and Ruyi following behind her could hardly hold them all. In Dongfang Yi's mind, since she finally got to be rich, at the top of the food chain, she had to spend the white silver!
At the back was Helian Qi, leisurely fanning himself. He seemed to be in a good mood. His eyes never left the cute woman in front who was laughing and eating.
Maybe this was good too.
When they arrived at the magistrate's mansion, Magistrate Li was already waiting by the door. As soon as he saw Helian Qi and his group coming, he quickly stepped forward, bent down to salute, but was helped up by Ruyi. Ruyi whispered to him, "The young master's surname is Song outside."
"Oh—Master Song, please come into the mansion and have a talk." Magistrate Li waved his hand and made an inviting gesture.
The group entered the magistrate's mansion one after another.
"I didn't expect this place to be quite imposing. This guy must have taken a lot of your money," Dongfang Yi whispered to Helian Qi.
Helian Qi frowned and didn't respond, but quickened his pace to keep a distance from her.
Dongfang Yi quickly followed up and forced a laugh. In her heart, she thought he was so humorless and boring.
Dinner was served in the magistrate's mansion. During the meal, Magistrate Li dismissed all the servants. Then he knelt in front of Helian Qi, presented a piece of cloth, and said, "Please, Your Majesty, investigate clearly."
Helian Qi took it and opened it. He found it was a black hawk totem, exactly the same as the one on the people they met after leaving the palace.
"What does this pattern exactly mean?" Dongfang Yi frowned and asked. This pattern had appeared for the second time, and one time it was related to an assassination. This meant that their trip must have been exposed, and the mastermind behind all these events must be related to this black hawk totem.
"It's the Black Hawk Society, an assassination organization," Helian Qi said with a solemn face.
The purpose of his trip was not only to dispel the uneasiness in the palace and lure out the moles hidden inside, but also to secretly investigate who the mastermind behind the Black Hawk Society was.
"An assassination organization?" Dongfang Yi exclaimed. She had only heard such a term on TV before. She never thought it would happen to her.
"Does this mean that someone hired the people from the Black Hawk Society to assassinate us?" Dongfang Yi asked.
"Your Highness is very smart. Exactly so," Magistrate Li nodded to her and then continued, "After receiving Your Majesty's imperial edict, I started to investigate the Black Hawk Society. After investigation, I found that this society is spread all over the country. The society leader has never appeared, but there are left and right guardians, the Bai siblings, who are good at using poisons and medicines. They lead most of the members of the Black Hawk Society."
"Most of them work for the reward. The highest bidder gets their service. They also have an underground secret trading place, which is in Dongguan City." After saying that, Magistrate Li covered his forehead with a look of pain.
"Two of my capable subordinates sent to explore their underground trading place unfortunately died."
"Okay, I see. Get up," Helian Qi waved his hand to signal.
Then it was time for dinner. Dongfang Yi was all absorbed in thinking about the Black Hawk Society. She didn't even have time to take care of her favorite braised pork. Helian Qi saw that she looked deep in thought and her dazed look as she bit the chopsticks. He couldn't help but sigh. He reached out and held her hand in his palm, whispering, "Don't worry. I will protect you."
Dongfang Yi, who was in a daze, couldn't help blushing when she heard this. What a beautiful love line!
"Ah—Thank you, Your Majesty!" After saying that, she began to quickly scoop up the rice in front of her, so much so that she choked on a rice grain and coughed violently.
Helian Qi frowned unhappily when he saw her like this. He thought this woman was so careless. But he still reached out to gently pat her back to help her catch her breath.
"Why are you so careless?" Helian Qi reproached.
"I'm fine, Your Majesty. I'm fine..." Dongfang Yi said while gulping water and stroking her chest. She kept waving her hand, saying that she was fine. Inside, she was on the verge of collapse. Her face was full of shame. How could she be so embarrassing!
Magistrate Li, who was dining beside them, was stunned. His eyes were full of surprise and disbelief. He had heard that the emperor and the empress were not on good terms, and that the empress was weak and incompetent, and the emperor hated her extremely. But now they didn't seem to be like the rumors. They seemed... very much in love. The empress didn't seem to be as weak and brainless as the rumors said, and the emperor also seemed to care about the empress.
But he didn't dare to think or look too much. After all, the affairs of the royal family were not something a small magistrate like him could speculate about. So he quietly lowered his head and scooped up the rice in front of him.
On this side, Dongfang Yi finally caught her breath. She had no appetite for the rest of the meal. Helian Qi saw what was on her mind, so he stopped using his chopsticks, got up and prepared to leave.
"If Your Majesty doesn't mind, you can stay in my humble mansion for a night," Magistrate Li said.
"No need." After saying that, Helian Qi strode out of the room.
Dongfang Yi behind him waved to Magistrate Li and then followed him.
The magistrate left on the spot took a deep breath.
Dongfang Yi carefully followed behind Helian Qi. From time to time, she would look up at him walking in front. "Wow, even his walking posture is so good - looking," she thought and couldn't help laughing. Helian Qi frowned, turned back and asked, "What are you laughing at, Empress?"
Dongfang Yi covered her mouth shyly and waved her hand in a hurry, saying, "It's nothing, nothing."