Su Luo placed her hand on the forehead of the man in front of her, but felt no abnormal temperature. Frowning, she said, "He's not running a fever. Why does he look so pale?"
Rong Yi stared intently at the lovely woman in front of him. Unable to resist, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. Then he ruffled her hair and said, "Silly girl, let's go quickly."
Seeing that he was fine, Su Luo dropped her hand. Then, as if recalling something, she said, "My master used to love going to teahouses. Let's search the teahouses in the capital carefully."
Among everyone, she knew Bai Juechen quite well, as they had spent about a year together.
Back then, Bai Juechen often went to teahouses, but instead of listening to storytelling on the first floor, he would go up to the second floor, find a quiet window - side seat, order a pot of tea, and sit quietly looking at the people outside the window for an entire afternoon.
After hearing her words, Rong Yi also sent people to investigate. However, he knew that four days had passed. They had already scoured the small capital but found no trace of Bai Juechen. That man was probably deliberately hiding.
On the other side, in the palace.
Just as Dongfang Yi was approaching the Queen's Palace, a maid rushed out. It was Xiaolan.
Xiaolan was sent by Helian Qi after Xiaoqian's death. He was worried that Donghua alone couldn't take good care of her.
Hearing the commotion, she rushed in front of Dongfang Yi. Tears glistened in her eyes. She knelt in front of the woman and choked out, "It's all the slave's fault. I let this happen to you, Your Majesty. When the Emperor comes, the slave will surely go and plead guilty in person!"
Her apologetic tone made Dongfang Yi frown. She said to her, "The Empress Dowager is not someone you can stop. Why say such things? Get up quickly!"
Then she strode into the Queen's Palace.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she noticed something unusual. There were many new faces in the palace, and some feather - clad guards with weapons were standing in front of each palace gate. It was obvious that they were sent by the Empress Dowager to monitor her.
Seeing this, she couldn't help but snort. They were treating her like a criminal. Although she was in a different place, the Empress Dowager still really couldn't trust her!
Shu Concubine beside her also frowned. She didn't think much and shouted at them loudly, "Who allowed you to enter the Queen's Palace!"
But no one paid any attention to her. Xiaolan covered her mouth and whispered, "They were all sent by the Empress Dowager."
Hearing this, Shu Concubine frowned even more. She was about to shout a few more words but was stopped by Dongfang Yi waving her hand. Then the three of them entered the sleeping quarters. Fortunately, the maids in the palace remained the same, so they didn't need to be too cautious when speaking.
"Your Majesty, how could the Empress Dowager do this? Isn't this clearly surveillance?!" Shu Concubine said angrily as soon as she entered the palace. Her two eyebrows were almost knitted together.
Seeing her like this, Dongfang Yi couldn't help but sigh. Then she curled the corners of her lips and said, "It doesn't matter. I always knew the Empress Dowager wouldn't make things easy for me."
The Empress Dowager had always disliked her. Now that she thought Dongfang Yi had harmed Helian Qi, she must hate her to the bone. If she made things easy for her, she wouldn't be the famous Empress Dowager.
"But aren't you aggrieved, Your Majesty?" Shu Concubine said, her voice full of pity.
Dongfang Yi reached out and tapped her on the nose as a form of comfort and said, "What do I have to be aggrieved about..."
The one who was suffering the most now was Helian Qi. He still hadn't woken up from his coma. But with her current situation, it was impossible for her to go out and see him. This was the only thing that made her feel extremely aggrieved.
On the other side, in Consort Chu's palace.
Consort Chu frowned, her eyes wide open. She swept the tea set on the table to the ground with one hand and then shouted loudly, "Why was Dongfang Yi released?!"
The maid kneeling on the ground, her shoulders still trembling slightly, lowered her head and stammered, "I... I heard that Prime Minister Dongfang pleaded with the Empress Dowager, so the Empress Dowager released her."
Hearing her words, the anger in Consort Chu's eyes intensified. She pushed the table over with another force and gasped for breath to relieve her anger.
"Why? Why is Dongfang Yi so lucky to be pleaded for? When I was trapped in the cold palace, did anyone care about me? Huh?!" she shouted in a hoarse voice.
She went crazy and smashed the sleeping quarters all over. The maids beside her just lowered their heads and said nothing, for fear that their actions would further anger the woman in front of them.
When Consort Chu got angry, she was really terrifying. After every outburst of anger, several corpses would be carried out of Consort Chu's palace. These were all palace servants who had made small mistakes that could have been ignored, but they had caught her at a bad time and lost their lives.
But this time, Consort Chu only got angry for a while and quickly calmed down. Then she sat on the grand - master chair and began to think. She thought that although Dongfang Yi had been released, according to the informants, the Queen's Palace was now heavily guarded, no different from the cold palace. Moreover, the Empress Dowager disliked her so much. How could she easily let her go?
Thinking of this, her mood eased a bit, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up into a knowing smile.
As long as Helian Qi never woke up again, Dongfang Yi was just a nominal queen. Without a backer, she was just a weak ant and would be at her mercy.
Even if she wanted to resist, she couldn't withstand the large number of people on Consort Chu's side.
Thinking of this, she threw her head back and laughed wildly. Her powder - covered face showed a slightly perverted smile.
She never thought that Dongfang Yi would finally be under her feet!
At this time, in Consort Dong's palace, she was holding a letter in her hand. It was just sent by her father through someone.
It wrote about her father's confrontation with Prime Minister Dongfang today. He guessed that Prime Minister Dongfang already knew everything, which meant that they would be on opposite sides in the court from now on. The only thing she was looking forward to now was that Prime Minister Nangong could return to the court quickly, so that she wouldn't be left in a weak position.
After reading it, Consort Dong put the letter on a candle and slowly burned it, for fear of leaving evidence that would be used against her in the future. After all, this letter was secretly sent in.
Thinking of this, she felt even more uneasy. She heard that the Queen had been released, which proved how powerful the Dongfang family was. Whatever her family did was just like hitting a stone with an egg. They could only choose to rely on others.
After thinking about it, she sighed deeply. Then she changed into a night - suit. Taking advantage of the night, she decided to visit Consort Chu again.