0p0 Chapter 157 Restless
Chapter 157 Restless
"Don't worry, Marquis Yueyang. I will investigate this matter thoroughly and will give you all an explanation when the time comes." Xiao Heng said in a serious tone.
"Li Zhao!" Xiao Heng called out, "I order you to bring people to conduct a new investigation immediately, and allow you to deploy the Imperial City Guard at will."
"Yes!" Li Zhao knelt down and accepted the order. He stood up and took a few steps back. He waved his hand and took away the few people he brought from the Dali Temple.
After Li Zhao left, Yueyang Hou did not make any trouble and sat back. At this moment, everyone had no interest in feasting. Xiao Heng ordered his men to hastily compare the prey, and after rewarding each other according to their merits, everyone dispersed.
The winner this time was the prince of Yueyang Marquis. He deserved the reward for hunting two wolves. Perhaps as a form of compensation, Xiao Heng gave him a generous reward. However, it seemed that the prince was not interested in this at all. Instead, he was particularly interested in the two wolves.
After this happened, Xiao Heng was the first to leave the table, and the rest of the people also dispersed. The Queen wanted to help Xiao Heng prepare for the evening banquet, while Concubine Shu went back to fiddle with her jewelry, vowing to make a splash at the banquet. Xiao Heng left the preparations to the Queen, waiting for Li Zhao's examination results.
Xiao Heng felt uneasy until this problem was solved. Logically speaking, the Imperial City Bureau should not have such mistakes, but he was afraid that this time it was not such a simple problem.
Su Minglang was also worried about this problem, but her worry was completely opposite to Xiao Heng's. With Li Zhao's ability, if he carefully checked from beginning to end, he would definitely find something unusual. She was afraid that by then he would find that person earlier than herself.
If this is the case, I am afraid that her career will fail. Where can I find such a clean person? No father, no mother, no wife, no children, no worries.
"My lady, why are you so uneasy?"
Xiaozhu walked into the tent carrying a pot of hot tea and saw that the Queen had stopped writing for a long time. Upon closer inspection, her eyes were already dull and she didn't know where her mind was wandering.
"Nothing." The queen came to her senses and was surprised to find that the ink on the tip of the pen had dried up long ago, leaving a large stain on the rice paper, but she didn't even notice it.
She has been feeling uneasy ever since she parted ways with Su Minglang last time. What she said that day was too much. She wanted to find a chance to explain but was always blocked by Su Minglang without a word.
She had never seen anyone with such a temper and didn't know what to do for a moment.
On the other hand, Su Minglang’s actions really made her uneasy. She always felt that Su Minglang seemed to be planning something in secret, but everything in front of her was blurry and she couldn’t see anything clearly.
I don’t know when it started, but Su Minglang seemed to have become a different person. She no longer wanted to stay close to Xiao Heng like before. Instead, she had her own social circle and got to know many people. What’s more, it seemed that she had a hand in all the big and small things that happened in the palace.
The queen couldn't tell whether this change was good or bad, but a feeling of uneasiness emerged from the bottom of her heart and became more and more intense.
But she didn't know what was wrong with her. Even when facing such a person, she didn't want to distance herself from her from the bottom of her heart. Perhaps it was because she had been in that high position for too long, and the people she dealt with on a daily basis either wanted to pull her down from there, or were afraid of her and didn't dare to get close to her.
Only Su Minglang seemed to not care about her identity or her dull temperament at all. The queen had to admit that her mood had improved a lot after becoming friends with Su Minglang. No matter what she was like in private, Su Minglang was always as warm and energetic as a rising sun in front of the queen, but not too scorching.
But where there is sunshine there are naturally shadows. She had never seen the side of Su Minglang hidden in the shadows, and she was even more afraid to peek at it. She was terribly afraid that Su Minglang was not the same as she imagined, because apart from Su Minglang, she was truly alone in the deep palace.
"Are you tired? What happened today was really terrible. You must not go near the woods in the next few days!"
Xiaozhu didn't take any feedback from the Queen seriously and kept muttering to herself, "I don't know how those guys in the Imperial City Department do things. Your Majesty must punish them severely this time."
"Please add some water for me." The queen did not respond but changed a piece of paper and pointed to the inkstone that was almost dry.
"Yes, your majesty." After receiving the order, Xiaozhu walked over excitedly, poured some water from the teapot onto the inkstone, took out an ink stick and ground it carefully.
"My queen, what are you writing?" Xiaozhu leaned over to look at the scattered pages beside her. The pages were densely covered with small characters written in a graceful and gentle style.
It is said that handwriting reflects the character of the person. The Queen's handwriting is really as gentle, virtuous, quiet and elegant as she is.
Fortunately, what she had on hand was not confidential, so she casually pushed the written parts closer. Xiaozhu saw that it was full of details about the dinner. The reward part took up three pages, and even included each family's habits and preferences, interpersonal relationships, etc.
"My lady, why are you writing these things? If you need anything, just tell me." Xiaozhu asked in confusion.
"What happened today has already caused panic among the people. There must be no mistakes at the dinner party." The queen quickly wrote another page and put it aside to dry.
"Some things are too complicated to explain, and it's easy to miss something. I'll write down these things to pay attention to, so it will be more convenient for the servants to do it when the time comes."
"Didn't they say that we should keep things simple when we are away from home? You have worked so hard for yourself, but His Majesty may not be able to understand you at all." Although Xiaozhu said this, she sorted the papers into categories and stacked them aside.
"It's just my job." The queen shook her head and said, "I'm just doing my job."
"Now when we go out, every word and action we take represents the reputation of the royal family. We can keep everything else simple, but the majesty of the imperial power cannot be neglected. We must do everything with all our heart."
Xiaozhu nodded helplessly, not dwelling on the matter any more, and asked, "What were you thinking about just now? You didn't even notice my maid coming in."
"I called you several times before you came to your senses!"
"..." The queen was silent for a long time, not knowing how to start. Her opinion of Su Minglang was very complicated now, but there was one thing: she had never felt any disgust towards her from the beginning to the end.
"Go to Su Zhaoyi later and ask her if she wants to go out for a horseback ride tomorrow."