After I traveled through the book, I was spoiled by five little villains

The emperor was gone, and the members of the opera troupe were detained after they were rescued.

Naturally, the dinner party could not continue.

Mrs. Jiang sat in the sedan chair on her way back home, thinking about what happened tonight and feeling a wave of fear.

Fortunately, she sent Jiang Qiyan and the girls away early. If they had stayed until night, not to mention gossip, even if they were possessed by ghosts, it would be very scary.

They are all unmarried girls, how could they see such unclean things?

Carriages from various families drove out of the Xie Family Guild Hall one after another. When they reached the street corner, they saw the eldest princess' carriage parked there. There was a female general beside the carriage, who was apologizing to her.

Thinking back to the fact that Yan Changqing did not show up today, everyone's mood became very subtle.

Those who had ideas immediately sent someone to check the identity of the female general.

There were not many female generals in the court, and since she was related to the eldest princess, she was quickly found out.

What happened at the dinner made Xie Shu feel instinctively uneasy.

Although Cui Yongwei is not his man, how could he not think too much about the strangeness revealed in it?

What's more, the people behind the scenes borrowed the actors raised by the Xie family to achieve their goals.

Although Xie Shu was not present at the scene, he knew everything that happened at the dinner.

He absolutely did not believe that all this that led to Cui Yongwei's imprisonment was really caused by a female ghost.

Even the emperor's sudden appearance was probably part of the other party's plan.

The more he thought about it, the more frightened Xie Shu felt.

He hasn't felt this way for many years.

When he was cooperating with Prince Ruyang, he seemed to have the best of both worlds, but in fact he was treading on thin ice at every step, fearing that one wrong step would bring the Xie family into an irretrievable situation.

He survived such a dangerous situation with his superhuman skills and perseverance.

However, today is different.

Now, the hands that can easily stir up the situation are no longer his own, but are hidden behind the scenes, watching the situation secretly like he did in the past.

who can that be?

Yan Changqing?

Xie Shu shook his head, and after careful consideration, he denied this inference.

What happened back then had nothing to do with the Cui family. Yan Changqing would not be able to gain any benefit from Cui Yongwei's downfall.

Unlike the Xue family.

The Xue family was the indirect culprit behind the annihilation of the entire Yan family in the failed war. The person most likely to take over as the Minister of the Imperial Guards now is a military general who is on good terms with Yan Changqing.

The benefits he gained were visible and tangible.

Who could that be?

Could it be, Prince Ruyang?

Not impossible.

Prince Ruyang has never been a law-abiding person, and no one understands his ambitions better than himself.

However, what good would it be for Prince Ruyang to overthrow the Cui family?

Or did Jiang Ce betray him?

Similarly, Xie Shu could not find the chain of interests involved.

What he has always believed in is the word "interest".

Just as he was thinking of gathering his staff, his confidant came in and reported: "Sir, the identity of the female general has been found out. She is Wanqi Lou, who escorted the princess of Yuezhi back to the capital with Yan Changqing."

"Wanqi Lou," Xie Shu repeated the name, "Is she a Hu woman?"

"Yes."

The confidant reported: "The Xianbei people were defeated by the Northern Rong people, and were later conquered by Yan Changqing."

On the grasslands outside the northern border, there are far more than just the Rongdi tribe. For hundreds of years, one tribe after another has taken over and become more powerful.

In order to attack the Northern Rong, Yan Changqing formed alliances with various tribes on the grassland and achieved today's military success.

It was not surprising that he had a female general under his command who was of Xianbei ethnicity.

Because of this woman, he had a rift with the eldest princess, and the matter was even exposed. It seems that Jiang Ce's information was correct.

If Cui Yongwei's incident had not happened tonight, the conflict between the princess and the prince would have been exposed.

Xie Shu nodded: "Send more people to keep an eye on the whereabouts of the Princess's mansion and Yan Changqing, and also keep an eye on the people around them."

In this way, Jiang Ce and the Princess' suspicions were all eliminated.

Xie Shu pressed his forehead with a headache and summoned his staff to discuss the matter.

Who is the person behind this?

It's really uncomfortable to be able to only be on guard but not be able to touch the enemy.

The night was thick and overcast.

There were soft singing and dancing in the Yuehua Palace, and the candlelight was swaying.

The Huxuan dance of Altay always made the emperor feel comfortable whenever he watched it.

Towards the end, he stepped forward to the rhythm of the music and spread his arms behind Altay.

Altay smiled and fell into his arms. The emperor lowered his head and kissed her on the forehead.

She took his hand, led him to the chaise longue by the window, and sat him down. She offered him a glass of ruby-red wine with her slender hands.

"Your Majesty, it's so late, I thought you were not coming."

"how come?"

The emperor said, "My beloved concubine, you don't know that I didn't enjoy myself enough when I left the palace tonight, and I got into a lot of trouble."

"What is a muddled lawsuit?"

The Altay Mandarin had an exotic accent, yet strangely pleasant to the ear. Her icy blue eyes were like the clearest gems, looking at him in confusion.

The emperor smiled and pinched her tall nose: "I forgot, you don't understand."

This evening he really left with high hopes, but returned disappointed, and even felt irritated.

Even if Cui Yongwei got angry, he couldn't get rid of the hatred in his heart.

Now, his most favored concubine Yue asked about it. Since she didn't know the ins and outs of the Central Plains, she was the best person to talk to.

So the emperor told him exactly what had happened that night.

Finally, he said, "Princess Yue, tell me what this is all about? I was unable to finish the play, and I still don't understand the matter of the female ghost possessing me."

Because she was not from the same ethnic group, the emperor was particularly relaxed and at ease when talking to her, and he did not pay attention to his words.

"There is one thing I don't understand. If the ghost girl is Cui Yongwei's biological mother, why did she bring the account book to inform him? If she wanted to inform him, why did she protect the account book and refuse to give it to him?"

Altay snuggled in his arms, her voice soft and gentle: "Your Majesty, you are the supreme ruler, how can you understand a mother's heart?"

"how do I say this?"

"That female ghost has been dead for decades, and she is still attached to the mortal world and refuses to leave. She just wants to see her child grow up."

"But Cui Yongwei's children are so grown up now, it's time for him to fulfill his wishes," said the emperor.

"Your Majesty, you just said that she was originally the daughter of the Imperial Censor. I guess her family has a very strict tradition. She has been influenced by her family and hates evil."

Aletai frowned his beautiful eyebrows and said, "She was forced to become the concubine of the Prince of Ningguo, which already brought shame to the family. Later, the father-daughter relationship was severed."

"Your Majesty, this is a woman with a miserable life!"

Aletai said in a trembling voice: "If I were her, I would not know how sad I would be if I saw my own son doing evil in the world."

"She must be extremely conflicted. She wants to stop her son from doing evil, but she also wants to protect him out of consideration for the mother-son relationship."

Altay looked up at the emperor, tears glistening in his eyes.

"She changed her mind and was unwilling to hand it over after the evidence was discovered."

Listening to her words, the emperor recalled the situation at that time. Hua Dan's inconsistent behavior was exactly the same as what Concubine Yue said.