The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

Chapter 251 The unknown secret

Zhao Xuan and Gu Zhanghua stood in front of Empress Dowager Nie. They both clearly felt that Empress Dowager Nie knew in her heart that Tian Shiliu was not the real person, so why was she still standing there like an idiot?

Why not expose it to their faces? So they can continue to act and deny it!

Empress Dowager Nie was conflicted and kept looking Zhao Xuan up and down, her eyelids twitching.

All the civil and military officials in the court, including her son, admitted that the woman in front of them was Tian Shiliu. Even though she was the empress dowager, could she deny the decision of His Majesty?

But she couldn't deceive herself by asking her to recognize this fake Tian Shiliu.

Empress Dowager Nie waved to Nanny Feng.

"Take them back first."

Nanny Feng hurriedly took the palace maids and eunuchs away, gently closed the palace door, and stayed at the door to wait.

At this time, only Empress Dowager Nie, Zhao Xuan and Gu Zhanghua were left in the hall.

Empress Dowager Nie looked at Zhao Xuan with a half-smile, her tone tentative but also somewhat affirmative.

"You are not Tian Shiliu."

Zhao Xuan walked forward and squatted in front of Empress Dowager Nie, shaking her legs and starting to act coquettishly.

"Empress Dowager, are you kidding me? I'm Tian Shiliu, and I miss you so much. If you hadn't recommended me to the Xia Kingdom for marriage, I wouldn't be living the good life I do today."

As she spoke, Zhao Xuan thought of Tian Shiliu's tragic life experience. If Tian Shiliu had any wishes, the people she most wanted to repay were the Queen Mother and Tian Shang.

She couldn't be polite to Tian Shang, but for the old man in front of her who had never hurt her, she was willing to be filial to him on behalf of Tian Shiliu, so as to fulfill Tian Shiliu's wish.

Zhao Xuan looked up at the empress dowager, her eyes full of admiration. Empress Dowager Nie had lived in the deep palace for a long time and had been neglected by the former Yue Emperor Tian Yi for many years.

Although she is now the Queen Mother, the traces of years of hardship in life have carved deep wrinkles on her face, her hair is half white, and her hands on her knees are skinny.

The only thing missing is her eyes, the whites of which are a little yellow, which is what we call old age, but they still radiate a gentle and loving light.

Zhao Xuan felt like she was possessed by Tian Shiliu. Without Empress Dowager Nie's kindness, she would have died quietly in the palace.

Zhao Xuan felt a lump in her throat and pressed her face against Empress Dowager Nie's palm.

"I lost my mother when I was born. Can I call you mother?"

Empress Dowager Nie felt her heartbeat pause for a moment, then she found that the back of her hand was wet, and she gently held Tian Shiliu's face.

There were tears on the child's face, and his big watery eyes were clear and bright, looking at him sincerely.

People only know that Empress Dowager Nie had only one son, Tian Shang, in this life. However, she and Tian Shiliu's mother were pregnant at the same time. She accidentally miscarried the baby at eight months of pregnancy, and it was a fully formed baby girl.

The baby girl lived in her arms for less than an hour before she died.

As an unfavored concubine, no one would seek justice for her or investigate the real reason for the miscarriage. Even she herself did not have the heart to seek justice for her daughter.

Just assume that everything is fate, and that the child was simply destined not to be born into this world.

But she was unwilling to give up and was saddened by her daughter's death, so she cared so much about the Sixteenth Princess that she was willing to risk violating palace rules to find the Sixteenth Princess in the Ye Ting.

She only told this to her son Tian Shang, and Tian Shang treated the then Sixteenth Princess like his own sister.

These are the unknown secrets of Empress Dowager Nie.

If her daughter could grow up safely, she would be as big as a pomegranate. Thinking of this, Empress Dowager Nie couldn't help but lower her voice.

"Pomegranate, are you okay?"

Zhao Xuan held Empress Dowager Nie's hand and put it against her face, and she spoke out Tian Shiliu's thoughts.

"Mother, I'm fine. I won't suffer from the pain anymore. I won't have nightmares every night. I won't be bullied. I can finally sleep well..."

Yes, Tian Shiliu is sleeping forever in the valley of Jiaoyangyu, bathing in the warm sunshine and bright moonlight.

Her grave is covered with flowers.

It was not known whether Empress Dowager Nie understood or not. She bent down, held Zhao Xuan in her arms, patted Zhao Xuan's back gently, and could not help but burst into tears.

Gu Zhanghua stood aside, his eyes watching his nose, his nose watching his heart, his heart surging.

I thought it was understandable that all the ministers in the court could not tell whether the princess was real or fake. After all, few people had seen Tian Shiliu, who grew up in the imperial palace.

But the empress dowager who personally recommended Tian Shiliu for marriage should be acquainted with Tian Shiliu, so how could she not tell them apart?

Could it be that Sister Xuan acted so well that Empress Dowager Nie was fooled?

Zhao Xuan and Empress Dowager Nie hugged each other and cried for a while, and Zhao Xuan wiped Empress Dowager Nie's tears.

"Mother, please stop crying. Be careful not to hurt yourself."

"Right, right, right! Look, I was so excited that I forgot to look at my seats. Come on, sit down and talk."

Empress Dowager Nie let go of Zhao Xuan and shouted towards the door.

"Madam Feng!"

Nanny Feng hurriedly trotted over to Empress Dowager Nie and bowed.

"What are your instructions, Queen Mother?"

"Tell someone to bring some hot water. This lady and the princess need to wash our faces. Bring some seasonal fruits and go to the imperial kitchen to get some freshly baked cakes. Come back quickly!"

Empress Dowager Nie was usually very quiet and never made any requests. It was rare for her to be in such a good mood as today and want to have some tea and snacks.

Nanny Feng responded quickly and quickly left Fengxiang Palace to make arrangements.

Gu Zhanghua was still confused at this time. He originally thought that he would have to face a big battle side by side with Zhao Xuan, but he didn't expect that the front court would pass smoothly and the harem would also be flat ground.

Empress Dowager Nie wiped her tears, affectionately took the hand of Zhao Xuan who was sitting next to her, and choked with sobs.

"You are such a miserable child. Your mother passed away after giving birth to you. I was living a very miserable life at that time. I also had to take care of Shang'er and was completely unable to raise you."

Empress Dowager Nie tidied up the loose hair on Zhao Xuan's temples and tucked it behind her ears.

"You were so skinny back then, but luckily Shang'er suggested you get married. Look at you now, you've grown up and look really good!"

For Tian Shiliu, it is undeniable that Tian Shang is a good brother, and Zhao Xuan is also willing to speak some truth on this matter for Tian Shiliu.

"My royal brother has been so worried about me. I am very grateful to him for letting me meet a good husband. The prince treats me very well."

At this time, Nanny Feng led the palace maids and eunuchs in one after another. Each of them was holding either cakes or fruits in their hands, and some brought two basins of hot water.

Empress Dowager Nie and Zhao Xuan washed their faces separately with the help of palace maids before sitting together to chat about family matters.

Gu Zhanghua peeled two apples, handed one to Empress Dowager Nie and one to Zhao Xuan.

Empress Dowager Nie looked at Gu Zhanghua, just like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, the more she looked, the more she liked him. She took a bite of the apple and smiled with her eyes narrowed into slits.

"So sweet!"

Empress Dowager Nie put the apple on the plate and reached out to touch Zhao Xuan's fair and smooth face.

"It seems your husband has taken good care of you and loves you. Women need to be loved and cherished. Only when you live a comfortable life can you become beautiful!"

?

In the back hall of Yongning Palace, Wang Huai advised Tian Shang not to be impulsive. To expose the fake princess, there must be evidence. The delegation that escorted Tian Shiliu to the Xia Kingdom for marriage was the best witness.

Tian Shang was indeed a little confused by the sudden appearance of the fake princess. After calming down and thinking about it, he realized that it was indeed the case.

"Sir, please go and ask the chief and deputy envoys of the delegation what exactly is going on. Why is it that the person who came back to visit her parents is not Tian Shiliu, but some inexplicable woman!"

"Yes, I can find out the situation for Your Majesty. Anyway, the fake princess is in our Yue Kingdom now and cannot escape from our control. Your Majesty, please be patient. However..."

As Wang Huai spoke, he took out a drawing from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"I have a very important matter to report to Your Majesty today. King Rongdi has agreed to cooperate, but the conditions he proposed are somewhat strange. Your Majesty, please take a look."

Wang Huai spread out the blueprint. Tian Shang stepped forward, lowered his head to take a closer look, and looked at Wang Huai with a questioning look on his face.

"What's drawn on this blueprint? A crossbow?"

"It is indeed a crossbow arrow. King Rongdi insists that the owner of this crossbow arrow once attacked and seriously injured him. If we can help him find the owner of the crossbow arrow, he will agree to cooperate with Your Majesty and form a united front to deal with the Xia Kingdom."

"Are you kidding me?"

Tian Shang tapped the drawing on the table with his fingers.

"Why do I feel like this is a disguised rejection from the King of Rongdi? You want me to search the entire Qiankun Continent for a needle in a haystack to find someone who shot him, just based on this one blueprint?

"Gold, silver, jewels, rice, flour, food, beauties, and fine wine are all there for him. What's wrong with King Rongdi? If I help him find this person, will he obey me and lead 200,000 cavalrymen to crush the northern border of Xia Kingdom?"

Wang Huai himself did not believe it, but the conditions of cooperation brought back by his subordinates who were sent to the Rongdi tribe to discuss cooperation with the Rongdi King Yingyang were indeed true.

It took him a long time to digest it before he believed that King Rongdi must be serious and not just joking.

He persuaded Tian Shang.

"Your Majesty, let's give it a try. Perhaps King Rongdi has an irreconcilable feud with this man and hates him to the core!

I have secretly informed the owners of all major blacksmith shops that anyone who has seen or ordered the special arrowheads shown in the blueprints should report it immediately, or else their entire clan will be executed!"

Tian Shang's eyelids twitched when he heard this. Is it necessary to be so cruel?

But then they thought, if this was the only condition for cooperation from the King of Rongdi, they would have gotten a great bargain, and it would not be wrong to be ruthless.

"As you say, sir."

Wang Huai rolled up the drawing and put it in his arms.

"I will first ask the chief and deputy envoys of the delegation, Tian Shiliu, for details on your majesty's situation."

After Wang Huai finished speaking, he walked out of the hall.

"and many more!"

Tian Shang called Wang Huai and said to Shi Xiaofu who came to exchange tea.

"Go and have someone carry my imperial sedan chair to escort the gentleman out of the palace!"

"Yes, I will do it right away."

Shi Xiaofu bowed and retreated.

Tian Shang's eyes were sinister, revealing a hint of cruelty.

"Sir, I hope to get accurate information after lunch! Then I will know how to deal with this fake princess!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will definitely do it!"