The Empress of Zhen Huan Reborn

Chapter 161: Fire in the Warehouse

Songzhi took Xiaowu along the way without saying a word, and went straight back to the door of the Changle Palace. Songzhi turned around and looked at Xiaowu and said, "You wait here, I'll be back soon."

Xiaowu thought about Nian Shilan's attitude and words just now, and nodded absent-mindedly.

After Songzhi entered the palace, she took out three hundred taels of silver ingots from the silver box according to what Nian Shilan had just whispered in her ear. She also took some of Nian Shilan's own gold and silver jewelry and hairpins. After packing these things, Songzhi walked out of the bedroom and looked at Xiaowu who was still standing there stupidly. Her tone was not bad, but it was definitely not very friendly. She said, "Take it. These things are given by the Imperial Concubine to her family. Don't be greedy, otherwise you know the consequences!"

Xiaowu looked at the package handed over by Songzhi and stretched out his hand stiffly to take it. He thought it would be very light. Xiaowu was still speculating in his heart that Nian Shilan might just want to pretend in front of the many guards. However, the moment he took it, it was so heavy that Xiaowu almost couldn't hold it firmly and almost dropped the package on the ground.

Songzhi saw this and quickly scolded, "Be careful! Don't break the precious things inside."

Xiaowu nodded reflexively. Seeing this, Songzhi was too lazy to pay attention to him and went back to the Yangxin Palace alone.

After Xiaowu saw Songzhi leave, he was curious about what was inside the package, so he opened it in the moonlight. Unexpectedly, the moment he saw it, he was shocked. There were so many silver ingots inside, so many that he had never seen them in his life. Xiaowu then flipped down and saw a lot of jewelry used by women. Although Xiaowu didn't understand much, he knew that if he took these to the pawn shop, he would be able to get a lot of silver.

After Xiaowu tied the package again, he carried it back to his resting place, feeling a little worried all the way.

The emperor was not idle either. He kept Zhou Ninghai to ask him where he found the poisonous snakes again. After Zhou Ninghai said that, the emperor did not speak for a long time before he looked at Zhou Ninghai and said, "Tomorrow you go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get more realgar wine, and then cook wine twice a day in Changle Palace."

Zhou Ninghai was originally a little scared about having to go back to Changle Palace, but when he heard the emperor asking him to get realgar wine, he felt much more relaxed. After all, in Zhou Ninghai's understanding, snakes are most afraid of the smell of realgar wine. If he is fumigated with it every day, he believes that no matter what kind of snakes, insects, rats or ants, they will not dare to approach Changle Palace again.

After Zhou Ninghai received the order, the emperor looked at Su Peisheng and said, "First, check the recent records of people entering and leaving the palace to see if there is anything suspicious."

When Su Peisheng heard the direction pointed out by the emperor, he immediately flattered him, saying, "Your Majesty is wise and powerful."

The emperor glared at Su Peisheng. Su Peisheng naturally realized that the emperor was getting angry, so he quickly trotted back towards the Shenwu Gate.

The emperor also got up and returned to the bedroom, thinking that Nian Shilan had fallen asleep, so he tiptoed into the hall. Unexpectedly, what he saw was Nian Shilan half leaning on the couch, her hand on her lower abdomen, sobbing softly.

Upon seeing this, the Emperor strode into the palace, his voice gentle as if he was afraid of disturbing the young birds outside, "My beloved, why are you crying again?"

Nian Shilan looked at the emperor and said, "I just know that the guard died tragically tonight, and I feel a little sorry for him."

The emperor was stunned when he heard what Nian Shilan said, "Who told you that?"

Nian Shilan leaned in the emperor's arms and whispered, "Your Majesty lost his temper tonight, how could I not know about it?"

Seeing this, the emperor rubbed the top of Nian Shilan's head and apologized, "I was wrong tonight. I disturbed my beloved concubine's pregnancy."

Nian Shilan shook her head, then looked at the emperor with a determined gaze, "Your Majesty, I have a favor to ask of you."

The emperor thought that Nian Shilan might want to punish the person behind the scenes, so he said, "I will not let the person behind the scenes off easily, my beloved concubine, don't worry."

Nian Shilan reached out and stroked the emperor's cheek, sobbing, "No, I want to ask the emperor to give all the guards some rewards tonight and praise them for what they did tonight."

The emperor did not expect that Nian Shilan was just asking for mercy for the guards. He was a little stunned for a moment, then he stroked Nian Shilan's belly and said apologetically, "Okay, I know, my beloved concubine has been wronged tonight."

Nian Shilan shook her head slowly, looked at the emperor sincerely, and said with a trace of worry in her eyes: "If your Majesty feels that I have been wronged, then I don't feel wronged."

The two of them didn't speak anymore and just lay there quietly. Nian Shilan was frightened tonight, and coupled with the unexpected events that happened later, her body felt a little weak, and before she knew it, she fell asleep in the emperor's arms.

The emperor looked at Nian Shilan's sleeping face in the moonlight, and saw that she seemed to be still immersed in fear, with her eyebrows furrowed, tears still lingering on her cheeks, and her face no longer as rosy as before. The emperor felt very guilty and angry at the viciousness of the person behind this.

When Su Peisheng arrived at Shenwu Gate, he saw that the guards at the gate were a little drowsy. Su Peisheng coughed lightly, and the guards were startled. When they saw that the visitor was Eunuch Su, they hurriedly said respectfully: "Greetings, Eunuch Su, why are you here?"

Su Peisheng looked at the guard and reminded him, "Be careful when you are on duty. If you make a mistake, you may lose your head."

The guard immediately smiled and said respectfully, "Yes, yes, thank you for your advice, Eunuch Su."

Su Peisheng didn't say anything else, just said: "The emperor asked me to get the palace gate records in recent days. The emperor wants to see it."

After hearing this, the guard handed the record on the table in front of him to Su Peisheng and said, "Eunuch, these are from the past two days. The previous records are placed somewhere else. I will go get them now. Please wait for a moment, Eunuch."

Su Peisheng waved his hand and said, "We will go with you."

The guards took Su Peisheng towards the warehouse where they kept records of people entering and leaving the palace. Before they arrived, they heard a noisy sound.

"Go to the water!"

"Someone come quickly!"

"Go to the water!"

When the guard heard it, he hurriedly ran towards the source of the sound with some anxiety, and Su Peisheng also followed hurriedly.

When he saw the place where the fire started, Su Peisheng thought something was wrong. Someone was deliberately destroying the evidence. The fire started in the warehouse where the palace records were stored. A group of palace people held bamboo tubes filled with water and worked together to put out the fire.

When Su Peisheng saw this scene, he couldn't help but wonder in his heart why it was such a coincidence that the fire didn't start earlier or later, but only broke out right after the emperor pointed out the direction of the investigation. Could there be a traitor around him?