kingnovel Chapter 381 Disagreement
Chapter 381 Disagreement
Long Mohan didn't hear Ji Anni's voice. He just kept walking out with his head down. When he was about to bump into Ji Anni, he suddenly realized her existence.
After a brief moment of surprise, he murmured, "Why is it you..."
After saying these four words, he had no intention of continuing to communicate with Ji Anni and was about to leave quickly.
Ji Anni stared at his back, feeling unhappy. He used to be very gentle and caring towards her, but since he knew she was not Zhao Ji, he immediately treated her like a plague and even avoided her when they met. In fact, Long Mohan was not hiding, but he didn't want his bomb to explode and hurt innocent people.
"Xiao Zhao, why are you here?" Shui Furong poked her head out of the room and saw Ji Anni in the corridor.
"Oh, nothing, I was just bored, so I just wanted to take a walk and come to see you." Ji Anni then turned her eyes away from Long Mohan's back. Looking at Shui Furong's gentle expression, it was hard to imagine that he was angry and smashed a cup in the room just now.
"Come in." Shui Furong waved to Ji Anni.
Nuanhong knew that she was no longer needed here, so after paying her respects to the two ladies, she retreated silently.
#
"What's wrong with you? He is the emperor. How can you lose your temper with him?" As soon as she sat down, Ji Anni questioned Shui Furong with an expression as if the sky was about to fall.
"What does it matter? It's all his fault anyway." Shui Furong was not afraid that the emperor would punish his entire clan. She closed the door and said, "He kept everything from me. He ignored the clues I provided him. He has no sincerity in the joint investigation. He just wants to use me as his running dog."
Hearing Shui Furong's serious words, Ji Anni realized that he was extremely angry.
"Anyway, the matter will be over soon, so it doesn't matter whether I'm a running dog or not." Ji Anni comforted him.
"Who said that the matter is about to end?" Shui Furong shouted, despising Ji Anni's naivety. "From the beginning, he believed that the Queen Mother was the culprit who killed my sister and my nephew, but... I am much calmer than him. After thinking about it, I feel that it is impossible for the Queen Mother to kill the little prince. On the night when the little prince was in trouble, the Queen Mother was resting in the palace and did not leave at all..."
"Perhaps the Queen Mother did not do it herself, but instructed others to do it to the little prince?" Ji Anni interrupted Shui Furong. Because of the precedent of Yan Niang, Ji Anni had to guess this way.
"This possibility cannot be ruled out. However, there may be other possibilities. But that stupid emperor, without making any other assumptions, determined that the murderer was the empress dowager, and wanted to pin all the blame on the empress dowager. If this goes on, what if the empress dowager is really wronged and the real murderer is at large?... Alas, I don't know whether the emperor wants to find out the truth or cover it up." Shui Furong had a lot of trouble with Long Mohan because of this matter, but in the end she still couldn't change Long Mohan's deep-rooted idea that the empress dowager was the murderer.
After hearing what Shui Furong said, Ji Anni became silent. Just yesterday, Yan Niang had revealed to her that the Queen Mother was indeed the culprit who killed Shui Congfei, but she had no motive to kill the little prince.
Ji Anni certainly didn't dare to believe Yanniang's words completely. But now hearing Shui Furong say the same thing, she couldn't help but waver a little, thinking: Could it be that the Queen Mother was really wronged in the matter of the little prince falling into the well?
Shui Furong shook Ji Anni's arm and continued, "Xiao Zhao, I actually have a guess... I only told the emperor, but he didn't believe me at all."
"What?" Ji Anni came back to her senses. She knew that she would be the second person to know Shui Furong's guess.
Shui Furong hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice and said, "When Concubine Hui committed suicide by jumping into the well, she kept saying that she wanted to save the little prince from the well. Don't you think this is strange? If she had nothing to do with the little prince falling into the well, why was she still thinking about the little prince who died in the well before she died?"
Shui Furong's expression gradually became serious, like a detective investigating a major case.
Ji Anni asked half-comprehendingly, "Do you mean that Concubine Hui was related to the death of the little prince?"
"Yes, I'm sure there must be a connection!" Shui Furong patted her chest and assured, "But the emperor doesn't believe what I say at all. I suggested that he start with Concubine Hui, maybe there are clues, but he warned me not to act rashly, and also deprived me of the right to enter the Li Palace. Do you think he is going too far!"
After hearing this, Ji Anni finally understood why Shui Furong had such a bad temper.
"The emperor probably doesn't want you to stir up trouble about Concubine Hui." Ji Anni guessed, "The emperor has deep feelings for Concubine Hui. Concubine Hui's death is the fundamental reason why he returned to the palace."
Thinking of the scene when the emperor took her to Concubine Hui's tomb to pay homage, Ji Anni felt a little heartbroken.
"I know the Emperor doesn't want others to investigate Concubine Hui after her death, but there is indeed something wrong with Concubine Hui. And I also found a strange coincidence. Concubine Hui used to be Tang Yu's maid. After she became pregnant, Queen Wang was afraid that she would be hated by Tang Yu, so she took her to the Queen Mother's Palace to take care of the fetus. The room where Concubine Hui lived in the Queen Mother's Palace was exactly the room of the little prince. I told this to the Emperor, but not only did he not praise my carefulness, he also scolded me and said that I slandered Concubine Hui's reputation. Just now, because of this matter, I was so angry that I smashed the cup. I didn't say that Concubine Hui was the murderer. I just said that she and the little prince lived in the same room..."
Even now when she thought back, Shui Furong still felt extremely wronged, holding her chin and sighing non-stop. She could only blame herself for choosing the wrong ally, and it was too late to regret it now.
It turned out that Shui Furong and Long Mohan were arguing about this matter. Ji Anni patted Shui Furong on the shoulder and comforted her, "Forget it, you should stop thinking about it and making groundless assumptions."
"How come even you don't believe me?" Shui Furong was so angry that she slammed the table and stared at Ji Anni with her eyes wide open.
Ji Anni hurriedly smiled and said, "It's not that I don't believe it, but I think before there is definite evidence, you should not tell others about your speculation. Just keep it in your heart."
In front of his son, he said that the other person's mother had problems. Which son would not be angry after hearing it? Shui Furong really didn't know how to grasp the timing of speaking, Ji Anni thought.
#
After leaving the West Palace, Long Mohan wanted to rush back to his own palace, but when he passed the somewhat deserted Queen's Palace on the way, he couldn't calm down. He always felt that something in the Queen's Palace hooked him and made him unable to leave. He turned his head and looked at the palace not far away. For some reason, he walked over there as if possessed by a ghost.
Although no one lives here anymore, there are many precious objects placed inside, so there is still a team of more than ten people guarding the door outside.
Long Mohan was the emperor, and no one dared to stop him from entering. But as soon as he stepped over the threshold, a guard ran behind him to report to the general.
Long Mohan did not stop them, not wanting to embarrass them, because he knew they were just following orders. Even if he could get rid of the Queen Mother's shackles this time, the shackles imposed on Long Mohan by the general were no lighter than those imposed by the Queen Mother. In the final analysis, Long Mohan was just a chess piece. The only difference was who was holding this chess piece.
Entering the palace, a familiar feeling hit him. He walked along the corridor, his steps becoming heavy. It seemed that every step he took would recall a story about this place.
According to the remaining fragments in his memory, he turned into an elegant path, walked for a while, and came to a door that had been closed for a long time.
He raised his hand and gently stroked the door. The familiar touch brought back many memories deep in his memory that were about to be forgotten.
Many years ago, he lived here. He lived right here, behind this door.
Although his memory of his father was very vague, his memory of his mother Concubine Hui and his stepmother Queen Wang were still vivid.
It was a happy time, without worries. But one day, an order was issued to send him out of the palace and to the distant Qi State, where he stayed for fifteen years.
When he came back here again, the place was deserted and desolate. Queen Wang and Concubine Hui had passed away one after another, and Long Mohan's memories of this place became very unreal. Everything in the past seemed like a dream.
He pushed the door, but it was not locked. After a slight "creak", the door slowly opened before his eyes.
The furnishings in the room were still the same as before, the only difference was a thin layer of dust.
Even though it was the Queen's Palace, it would immediately become deserted once the owner was gone. Although there were palace maids who would clean it regularly, it was certainly not as thorough as when someone was living there.
Looking at every familiar object in the room, Long Mohan felt mixed emotions, and his longing was no less than when he was in the Qi Palace.
It's so strange, I'm back, but why don't I feel like I'm home? Maybe it's because all the familiar people have disappeared, so this place has become unfamiliar.
For him, this place was no longer a home, but an empty room. There was no Concubine Hui, no Queen Wang, only cold walls and tables and chairs for him to remember.
Shui Furong's words just now echoed in my mind again.
It wasn't that Long Mohan didn't believe Shui Furong's words, in fact, it was quite the opposite, it was because he believed that he got angry and humiliated. It was because of the pain of being stepped on that he got irritable and restless.
He began to regret dragging Shui Furong into the game. He gradually became afraid of Shui Furong's sensitivity and intuition, and always felt that those intuitions were frighteningly accurate.
Long Mohan came to the wall and gently stroked the wall with his fingertips. After a while, he successfully touched a thin line. This thin line usually sticks tightly to the wall and has the same color as the wall. If you don't know the exact location of the thin line, it is impossible for anyone to find it. But Long Mohan knew it as early as fifteen years ago - Hui Fei told him.
Shui Furong was right, there was indeed something wrong with this room, because this thin wire was the switch to a secret passage.