On the other side, Helian Qi searched the entire forest but didn't find a single trace of Dongfang Yi. So he found Ru Yi and asked him where he last saw his imperial brother and the queen walking together.
After learning the location, he followed the small path. When passing by a bush, he suddenly stopped. The bush didn't look as neat as the others; it seemed as if someone had stepped on it. Immediately suspicious, he got into it.
Sure enough, as he expected, after entering, he found an open space. In the middle of the open space, there was a big pit. Frowning, he walked over, held out his torch to shine but didn't find any figure.
However, the ladder and rope placed on the pit proved that someone had fallen into it, and that person had been taken away.
He climbed down the ladder and explored in the pit. Seeing the dead poisonous snakes all over the ground, his heart rate suddenly accelerated. He couldn't imagine how that woman had faced these.
Then he saw a piece of the corner of a garment on the ground. It was exactly the one that had fallen from Dongfang Yi's body. As for who had taken them away, it was still unknown.
After climbing out of the pit, he walked around the surroundings. Seeing there were many weeds, he knew that all this was a scheme. This place was obviously a well - designed trap.
As he was looking around, he found a shiny object not far away. He walked over and picked it up.
It was a hairpin of a woman, a golden hairpin with glass beads. Dongfang Yi never wore such things. So it could only be an item left by the murderer.
Thinking of this, his eyebrows frowned tightly. If he remembered correctly, this hairpin was the beloved item of Concubine Chu. It must have been left here because she was too panicked to take it with her.
At this thought, a killing intent rose in his heart, and his anger was about to burst out. Immediately, he rushed back outside the forest. He couldn't wait to go back and find out.
While the search in the forest was still going on aimlessly, he was already standing outside Concubine Chu's tent. Then he walked in without hesitation.
At this moment, Concubine Chu was sitting on the bed blank - eyed, thinking about what had happened today. She thought that she had really stolen a chicken but lost a handful of rice. She had let Noble Consort Lian seize the handle.
Just as she was thinking, she saw Helian Qi come to her. The uneasiness in her heart deepened, and even her heart began to beat violently.
"Your Majesty, you've come..." she asked, pretending to be calm.
After all, she mustn't panic first at this time. Otherwise, it would be easy for others to see the flaw. After all, even if she was discovered, only Noble Consort Lian's one - sided words couldn't prove anything.
Thinking of this, the expression on her face became a bit more composed.
Helian Qi, standing opposite her, looked at this woman who still seemed like nothing had happened. He couldn't help but let out a cold snort in his heart. Then he took out the hairpin and asked in a cold voice, "Tell me, where is the queen now?!"
There was an obvious threatening tone in his words, as if he was saying that if she didn't answer, he would take her life.
Concubine Chu was immediately shocked and knelt on the ground. In her heart, she kept asking how her hairpin had got into his hands. Could it be Noble Consort Lian?!
She had done everything so thoroughly. She had even found a way to completely frame her and leave her with nowhere to defend herself.
"Your Majesty, I don't know what you're talking about. How could the disappearance of Sister Queen have anything to do with me?" she knelt on the ground, raising her head and saying innocently.
She was really innocent this time. After all, she had never intended to harm Dongfang Yi. She had really been framed.
Thinking of this, the grievance in her heart deepened, and even her eyes became red.
Helian Qi naturally wouldn't believe her words. After all, she had tried to harm Dongfang Yi many times. How could he hesitate because of this act of feigning pity?
Thinking of this, he said coldly again, "I'll ask you one last time. Otherwise, don't blame me for being heartless!"
His last bottom - line was Dongfang Yi, but the woman in front of him had been challenging his bottom - line again and again. This time, he would never tolerate it anymore.
But Concubine Chu still knelt on the ground, sobbing and saying nothing. This made the anger in his heart rise even higher. Just as he was about to say something else, he heard a shout from outside. Then Ru Yi ran in.
"Greetings to Your Majesty!" he bowed and said.
"What's the matter?!" Helian Qi frowned and asked, a bit unhappy that someone had interrupted him.
"Someone outside is looking for Your Majesty," Ru Yi continued.
Helian Qi's eyebrows frowned even tighter, and there was a hint of unhappiness in his eyes. Then he looked back at the woman kneeling on the ground fiercely, and then walked out of the tent.
The woman waiting outside was dressed like an ordinary woman. When she saw the man walking over, an inexplicable feeling rose in her heart, as if it was excitement or joy.
Helian Qi looked at the woman in front of him in confusion. He always felt that he had seen her somewhere, but he just couldn't remember who she was. Just as he was about to ask who she was, she spoke first, "I wonder if two noble people, a man and a woman, are missing here?"
After she said this, everyone around was shocked, and his face also showed a moved expression.
"Do you know where they are now?!" he asked eagerly.
The woman just gave a soft laugh, and then said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. They were poisoned by snakes before, but the poison has been removed. Now they are resting in my humble abode."
Seeing the worried look on the man in front of her, she understood the weight of the man and the woman in his heart. Her speculation in her heart became clearer.
After hearing this, Helian Qi was also extremely overjoyed. Then he bowed to the woman and thanked her.
All the guards and ministers around were sighing. They didn't expect that the high - ranking emperor would bow to an ordinary rural woman. It was really incredible.
But the woman didn't look panicked at all. Instead, she squinted her eyes as if it was a matter of course.
"If I'm not wrong, you are Princess Shangyang!" Helian Qi said.
Just now, he had been suspicious. Not to mention why an ordinary woman would appear in this royal hunting ground. Just looking at the way she wasn't afraid of him at all, he could guess that she must have an extraordinary identity.
Moreover, he had heard that in the early years, the late emperor had a younger sister. She had originally married the eldest prince of the Western Regions in a happy union, but unfortunately, that man had a short life and lost his life on the battlefield. The Western Regions dynasty all said that she was a woman who would bring bad luck to her husband.