Her attitude of "do whatever you want with me" was truly infuriating. It made Dongfang Yi immediately frown her beautiful eyebrows. Then, raising an eyebrow, she said, "It seems Yaoji knows something about the box and the jade flute. I wonder if you anticipated this?"
After saying that, she clapped her hands. Immediately, the group of guards walked in again, dragging a maid with them. This maid was the one Yaoji had sent to deliver a letter in Lanfang Garden just now.
When Yaoji saw that she had also been captured, her expression froze for a moment. Then, feigning calmness, she said, "Your Highness, why did you capture her? She's just a low - ranking maid."
"Oh? Really?" Dongfang Yi raised an eyebrow and asked.
When Helian Qi had ordered the servants to arrest Yaoji just now, Dongfang Yi had guessed that since Yaoji was now in a trap, she would surely try to send someone to deliver a letter to the Southern Neighboring Country. So, she had someone keep a close eye on any servant in Yaoji's palace who showed any signs of strangeness. Then, they had captured this maid.
"Come on, search her!" she said in a deep voice.
Immediately, a big and burly maid came forward and started searching the servant who was lying on the ground. Soon, she took out a letter from the maid's bosom and presented it.
Yaoji's face immediately changed. Her eyes looking at the woman in front of her were filled with a trace of fear.
Dongfang Yi seemed to enjoy seeing her frightened look. She also knew that there must be some important clues in this letter. So, she opened it and read it, then handed it to Helian Qi beside her.
As expected, the content of the letter did not disappoint her. It said how Yaoji had harmed the queen, and then how her plot had been discovered. She was in great danger and was asking for support. Originally, this was a letter for help, but now that it had fallen into Dongfang Yi's hands, it had become Yaoji's death warrant.
"Come on, arrest Yaoji, the woman who tried to assassinate the queen and committed many evil deeds, and throw her into the dungeon!" Helian Qi said in a cold voice.
No matter how much Yaoji shouted at the top of her lungs, saying, "You can't treat me like this. I'm the princess of the Southern Neighboring Country. My mother - country won't let you go!"
She still couldn't stop the strong servants from dragging her away.
"Whether you're a princess from anywhere, even if you're a princess from heaven, you can't harm others!" Dongfang Yi said as she watched Yaoji's figure gradually disappear.
Hearing this, Helian Qi turned his head and stared at her intently. Then, he said, "Whoever harms you, no matter where they are, I won't let them go."
Concubine Chu saw everything between them. Her teeth began to bite her lips hard. Although this incident was not a bad thing for her, seeing the woman in front of her so proud and the emperor's pity for her, she couldn't help but feel jealous. She even had the urge to kill her.
At this time, Dongfang Yi had already stood up, holding Helian Qi's arm. She coldly said to Concubine Chu in the distance, "Be smarter in the future. Don't be so stupid and be used by others."
After saying that, she strode out of Concubine Chu's palace without looking back.
Concubine Chu, who was still standing there, watched her back gradually disappear from her sight. She couldn't help but feel extremely angry. Then, uncontrollably, she raised her hand and overturned the table beside her. She whispered angrily, "Dongfang Yi! I hate you! I will never let you go!"
After leaving Concubine Chu's palace, the two looked at each other and smiled. They felt as if they had solved a long - standing problem. They had always suspected Yaoji before, and even reached the point of certainty, but they had never been able to arrest her. Now that they had finally got rid of her, they really felt extremely relieved.
"Finally, we've caught the real murderer and avenged Xiaoqian!" Dongfang Yi said with a beaming smile.
Helian Qi reached out and tapped the tip of her nose. Then, he said, "You were really charming just now."
Seeing that he seemed to be teasing her again, Dongfang Yi raised her hand and tapped on his chest. But the two were laughing happily. Even Donghua beside them was infected by their atmosphere and couldn't help laughing out loud.
Just as they were about to return to the queen's palace to have breakfast together, Ru Yi rushed over in a hurry. Then, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, many ministers have come to the Qianqing Palace. They should be here because of Yaoji being thrown into the dungeon."
Hearing this, Helian Qi couldn't help frowning. He knew that those old guys must come to lecture him, but he didn't expect them to come so quickly. It seemed that there were really many informants in the palace.
Thinking of this, he said to the woman beside him, "I'm sorry, Dong'er. I can't have breakfast with you." Dongfang Yi naturally understood his difficulties and also knew what he was about to face. So, she nodded and comforted him, "It's okay. Don't be angry with them. I'll wait for you to come back in the palace."
After saying that, the two rushed in their respective directions.
When Helian Qi arrived at the Qianqing Palace, there were about ten ministers standing outside the palace gate. Among them were even Prime Minister Dongfang and Prime Minister Nangong. When they saw him coming, they all shouted in unison, "Your humble servants pay their respects to Your Majesty."
He ignored them and walked straight into the Qianqing Palace and sat on the highest throne.
The group of ministers followed him in. The first one to speak was the Secretary of State. He was in charge of the tributes from various countries and was supposed to maintain good relations between the Eastern Sheng and other countries. After hearing that the princess of the Southern Neighboring Country had been thrown into the dungeon, he had immediately gathered the ministers and rushed over.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant is deeply concerned about the assassination attempt on the queen. But we can't just throw the princess of the Southern Neighboring Country who came for a marriage alliance into the dungeon. As we all know, the dungeon is a place to detain criminals, but Princess Yaoji didn't harm the queen at all. So, why can't we let this big thing turn into a small one and the small thing into nothing?"
After he finished speaking, Prime Minister Dongfang beside him couldn't help shouting angrily, "Secretary of State, what do you mean? Do you mean that we should let that spy from the Southern Neighboring Country kill the queen before we can convict her? Since she has already attempted to assassinate, we can't tolerate her!"
Prime Minister Nangong also rarely agreed with his opinion and said in a deep voice, "Indeed. What Yaoji did is really outrageous. So, Your Majesty must not tolerate her."
He had already realized that that woman had seriously endangered his plan. Not only did Concubine Chu become more and more out of control, but the emperor also trusted him less. So, he couldn't let her stay any longer. That's why he chose to stand on the same side as the old Dongfang guy and said the same thing.
The important ministers below obviously didn't expect these two people who had always been against each other to agree on something. They didn't know what to say.