Immediately afterwards, as if she had thought of something, she asked, "Could you let me take another look at that hairpin you picked up?"
She remembered that the Concubine Lian had mentioned this hairpin earlier.
Hearing this, Helian Qi fetched the item from the table beside him.
Dongfang Yi examined it carefully. No matter how she looked at it, she felt that this thing must belong to the Concubine Chu.
"Does anyone else know that you picked up this thing?" she asked again.
Helian Qi shook his head. After he picked up this thing, he went straight to the Concubine Chu's tent. Then Princess Shangyang showed up. He didn't have any chance to spread the news.
Hearing this, Dongfang Yi couldn't help raising her eyebrows and even a smile curled up on her lips.
Just as she had thought. Helian Qi clearly didn't spread the news about picking up the hairpin, but the Concubine Lian somehow knew about it. This proved that she must be involved in this matter, and it was very likely that she deliberately threw the hairpin beside the trap.
After thinking this through, she said to the man in front of her, "It's really the Concubine Lian. But with her courage, she would never dare to harm me. This means that there must be others involved."
Helian Qi pondered for a while after hearing this. He thought her words made sense and then said, "Dong'er, do you have any good ideas?"
Dongfang Yi then hooked her lips into a smile and replied, "Since Prime Minister Nangong has made a military order, we can't not accept his kindness. As for the right and wrong in this matter, let's test it out first."
Hearing this, he was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that this little woman in front of him could be so cunning. Unconsciously, ripples rose in his heart, and his affection for her grew a bit more.
Among men in the world, few like innocent and naive women. Most of them prefer women who have strategies, know right from wrong, and can share their worries. As an emperor, Helian Qi was no exception.
After thinking this, he reached out and hugged the woman in front of him. He buried his head in her neck and said, "What should I do with you, woman?"
She had just been in such a dangerous trap, and her injuries hadn't fully healed yet. Now she still had to worry about catching the mastermind behind this. How could he not be worried?
But Dongfang Yi didn't think much about it. In her opinion, all this was something she should experience. After all, she couldn't be compared with the women in this era. She was a new - era woman who had been educated to rely on herself since childhood. Even though she deeply loved the man in front of her, she wouldn't place all her hopes on him.
On the other side, in the Concubine Lian's tent.
After the Queen left, she began to think. The more she thought, the more she felt something was wrong. Why did the Queen come to find her as soon as she came back? And her complaining just now seemed a bit too deliberate. Did the Queen already suspect her?
Thinking of this, her heart skipped a beat. She didn't know how to cover up her tracks anymore. At this moment, she couldn't help but think of a woman, Concubine Yao. It was she who had encouraged her back then, re - igniting her desire for revenge.
It was also she who made her determined to cooperate with her. Originally, she didn't have the intention to harm the Queen. But now things had turned out like this. She couldn't bear all the blame alone, could she?
After thinking this, she was determined not to let herself suffer in silence. If she was exposed, she would also drag that woman down. Thinking of this, she got ready. She tied a silk scarf around her neck to cover the red marks.
After all, if the woman saw these red marks, she would surely scold her for provoking the Concubine Chu.
After everything was ready, she rushed to the Concubine Yao's tent.
When the Concubine Yao saw who it was, her eyebrows couldn't help but frown tightly. This was a time full of dangers. Her coming here was like telling everyone that they were in collusion.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help asking, "In this situation, what are you doing here?"
Hearing this, the Concubine Lian couldn't help showing her displeasure on her face. She didn't expect that the Concubine Yao would push her away like this. So she replied coldly, "Don't worry. I was careful to avoid everyone's eyes and come here."
She wasn't that stupid to expose their cooperation at this moment. Otherwise, she would have no chance to turn things around.
"The Queen may have suspected me by now," she continued, telling her current situation.
The Concubine Yao looked unconcerned. Even if this matter was completely exposed, what did it matter to her? The trap was set by the Concubine Chu with the intention of killing the Concubine Lian. She just didn't want to see an innocent person die in vain and helped her out.
If anything, it was the Concubine Lian's excessive ambition. She was not satisfied after saving her life and insisted on putting the Queen to death.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help sneering in her heart, but on the surface, she still frowned worriedly and said, "Then what should we do? What can I do?"
The Concubine Lian could hear the indifference behind her words. She realized that the Concubine Yao had only regarded her as a pawn from the very beginning, a pawn to help her bring down the Queen.
Thinking of this, the anger in her heart welled up, and her eyes became full of killing intent. "If I'm discovered, I won't let you go either. We're in the same boat. If I die, you won't be able to live alone!"
These words were extremely harsh. It was like a threat or a last - ditch effort. Facing all these sudden changes, she couldn't calm down and could only vent her emotions like this.
The Concubine Yao didn't expect that she would want to fight to the bitter end. She also knew that if everything was known by others at this moment, her reputation would surely be implicated. So she curled her lips and said to her in a calm voice, "Sister Lian, why are you so panicked? How could I abandon you? I was just testing you before. I was afraid that you weren't on the same side as me. Hearing you say this, I'm relieved. I naturally have a way to solve all these things!"
She spoke sincerely word by word. After hearing this, the Concubine Lian was a bit hesitant, but in this situation, she had no choice but to believe. So she bit her lips and left a sentence, "You'd better know! Don't forget what you said today!"
After saying that, she turned around and left the tent. She sneaked back to her own place.
As for the Concubine Yao, who was still standing there, watching the back of the woman in front of her gradually disappearing from her sight, the smile on her lips immediately disappeared, and then her face was full of coldness, along with the sneer coming from her throat.
"What are you? You even dare to say that we're in the same boat. You don't even know that I only regard you as a pawn," she murmured.