The mistress is reborn, no one who bullies me can escape

Xue Jinhua was not a stupid person. At that moment, she understood the reason.

It turned out that he was still so suspicious. Even at this point, he was still worried about whether someone was following him!

Xue Jinhua secretly guessed what he was thinking, and then decided not to continue following him, but to hide quietly in a dark place, patiently waiting for the opportunity.

Sure enough, Xue Laosi walked back and forth several times, looking around vigilantly. After confirming that there was no one around, he finally felt relieved.

Not long after, he walked towards the side hall.

Xue Jinhua knew that he was suspicious by nature, so she didn't dare to get too close to him for fear of alerting him.

As expected, after a while, Xue Laosi suddenly turned back.

This time, after confirming again and again that no one was following him, he finally felt completely relieved and turned around and walked into the hall.

Xue Jinhua exhaled lightly, then followed carefully and tiptoeingly.

At this moment, a gentle voice came into my ears: "Silang..."

This gentle and charming call was like a spring breeze, causing Xue Jinhua's heart to tremble violently.

Such a charming and moving voice would make Xue Laosi, a man, feel overwhelmed. Even Xue Jinhua, who is also a woman, could not help but feel weak all over after hearing this voice, as if half of her body was about to melt.

"Didn't I tell you that we can't meet each other these days? Why do you always turn a deaf ear to my words?"

The voice was as cold as spring water, and contained an obvious reproach, but the other party seemed completely unaware of it. The pair of soft, boneless, vine-like hands fell directly on his neck without any scruples.

At this time, Xue Jinhua, who was standing nearby, could not see clearly what was happening in front of her due to the limitations of her position.

However, not long after, a discordant sound reached her ears.

This was the dark, damp and dilapidated cold palace. The intermittent, high and low notes seemed to be wrapped in cold air and drifted slowly into her ears.

Xue Jinhua couldn't help but shudder, thinking to herself: Is Fourth Brother really crazy? You know, as a prime minister in the court, he dared to do that to the emperor's woman...

With such a bold and reckless behavior, could it be that he really doesn't want to sacrifice his own life?

Originally, Xue Jinhua wanted to get closer to take a closer look to see what the woman looked like.

But the loud and sharp cries continued to come, so she didn't dare to move forward rashly for a while.

Her cheeks instantly turned red like ripe apples.

She tried her best to open her eyes wide, trying to see the woman's face through the hazy vision, but her eyes seemed to be shrouded in a layer of fog, making it impossible to see clearly for a while.

At this moment, a voice of anger came from inside, and that voice was like a sharp sword piercing her heart: "Silang, what's wrong with you?"

The call was full of the woman's dissatisfaction and reproach, as if she was very unhappy with his pause at this moment.

However, for Xue Jinhua who was standing outside the door, this sound was undoubtedly a heavy hammer, hitting her fragile heart hard.

In an instant, she felt as if her heart had fallen into an ice cellar, freezing cold to the bone.

Faced with such a situation, she turned around without hesitation and planned to leave the place.

But just as she took a step forward, Xue Lao Si suddenly shouted from behind: "Who?"

This sudden question frightened her so much that her whole body trembled and her breathing almost stopped.

She was terrified and ran forward at full speed.

At the same time, after hearing the sound, Xue Laosi quickly turned around, took big steps without hesitation, and ran wildly in the dark night, chasing straight in the direction where Xue Jinhua left.

In the blink of an eye, the two came to a corner.

With the help of the bright moonlight, Xue Laosi vaguely saw a figure running hurriedly in front of him...

At this time, Xue Jinhua was so frightened that she didn't even have the courage to look back. She could only quicken her pace.

"Shiro..."

This gentle call seemed to pass through layers of fog and reach Xue Laosi's ears directly.

His steps suddenly stopped and he turned back subconsciously.

Standing not far behind him was Xue Jinhua. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes seeming to want to see through the darkness and see the person who had made the call, but she failed in the end because of the angle, she could not see the woman's face.

However, at this moment, the crisp sound of jade pendants colliding reached her ears.

That voice was so familiar to Xue Jinhua that her heart was instantly gripped.

Memories came flooding in like a tide, and past events related to the jade pendant kept flashing through my mind.

At this moment, she looked at the flickering lights not far ahead, and her uneasiness became more and more intense.

She knew it was not advisable to stay here for long, so without any hesitation, she lifted her skirt and ran towards the lights.

At the same time, Xue Laosi also keenly noticed that someone was approaching him rapidly.

Not only that, but there were bursts of urgent shouting coming from deep within the cold palace, urging him to leave quickly.

A thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead, and he knew that the situation was not good.

He turned his head and whispered to the woman beside him, "Someone is coming, you should go back first." There was a hint of anxiety in his tone.

Hearing this, the woman's face instantly became extremely gloomy.

She thought to herself, "Someone would come to the cold palace at this hour. Could it be that our affair has been exposed?"

Thinking of this, a chill ran down her spine, making her shiver involuntarily.

Although she was full of dissatisfaction and unwillingness, she still knew what was important and what was not at stake at the critical moment of life and death.

She quickly tidied up her messy clothes, and then disappeared into the night of the cold palace in the blink of an eye.

Xue Laosi remained calm and composed, and methodically cleaned up all the clues left behind.

However, just as he completed these actions, countless torches suddenly lit up around him, tightly surrounding him.

The prince walked out slowly from the crowd, staring at Xue Laosi, who remained calm, with cold and mocking eyes.

He said, "Prime Minister Xue, you are the Prime Minister of a country, but you actually appeared in this cold palace in the middle of the night. No matter how you look at it, it seems a little unreasonable!"

Facing the prince's questioning, Xue Laosi simply lowered his eyes slightly, and there was not even a trace of panic on his handsome face.

He responded in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Your Highness the Crown Prince really loves to joke. If I hadn't been busy, why would I come to this cold palace for no reason?"

If the Crown Prince had not already known that he was having a secret meeting with a concubine here, just looking at how calm and steady he looked at the moment, he might have actually believed his words.

The prince sneered, and approached Xue Lao Si step by step, and continued to ask: "Oh? In that case, then why don't you tell me in detail, why did you come to this cold palace in the middle of the night?"

Xue Lao Si did not flinch, and met the Crown Prince's gaze and answered frankly, "Your Highness, to be honest, the Imperial Master observed the celestial phenomena at night and found that there seemed to be something strange in the harem, so he specially sent this humble minister to come here to investigate carefully."

As long as everything is pushed to the Imperial Master, it seems that no one can shake him in the slightest.

After hearing this, Ling Yan couldn't help but reach out and touch his straight nose bridge. The corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing an imperceptible smile.

Obviously, he was full of doubts and disbelief about these words.

However, Xue Lao Si, who was standing at the side, remained calm and composed. He looked at Ling Yan calmly and said slowly, "If Your Highness the Crown Prince has any doubts about this, you can go and ask the Imperial Master in person. I'm sure the Imperial Master will tell you the truth."

Ling Yan snorted coldly, his eyes as sharp as a sword, piercing directly at Xue Lao Si, sneering: "Humph, you are brothers from the same mother, it is easy for you to cover up for each other."

Facing Ling Yan's questioning, Xue Laosi frowned slightly, but soon recovered and his face remained calm.

At this time, Ling Yan spoke again: "However, according to the information I received, there is an assassin hidden in the harem. I came here to search for him."

"Now it seems that it is quite consistent with the previous prediction of the Grand Master, so I choose to believe what the Prime Minister said."

Before he finished speaking, Ling Yan waved his arm and shouted loudly: "Come here, search carefully! Don't miss any corner!" As his orders were given, a group of guards quickly took action and began to conduct a thorough search of the surroundings.

Although Xue Laosi's expression did not change at this time, he was secretly complaining in his heart.

He knew that if he spoke out to stop them, he would undoubtedly be seen as harboring an assassin out of guilt. But if these people searched wantonly, what if they really found something...

Just like that, Xue Laosi's eyes met Ling Yan's gaze that was filled with deep inquiry. The two looked at each other, and for a moment the atmosphere became extremely tense.

And in that split second, Xue Laosi suddenly realized - it turned out that the reason why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince deliberately asked him about the purpose of his visit was just to test him.

Sure enough, as expected, he must have thought that he would use his eldest brother as a shield, and then use this as an excuse to start a search here.

It's really unbelievable that he fell for such a simple and crude trick so easily!

At this moment, Xue Laosi looked calm and composed, as if everything was as expected and under control.

However, only he himself knew that deep down in his heart, there had already been a storm.

Fortunately, he had acted swiftly and cleaned up all the places where there might be clues. Even if Ling Yan searched personally, he would not be able to find anything.

At this moment, a loud shout suddenly came: "Your Highness, we found it!"

The shout was like a thunder that broke through the night sky and struck Xue Laosi's heart.

In an instant, his expression tensed up. Even though he had tried hard to remain calm and composed, at this moment, his heart began to waver involuntarily.

It was pitch black all around, and you couldn't see your hand in front of you.

He couldn't help but wonder, had he really cleared all traces just now? What if there were any omissions...

Ling Yan on the other side remained silent, just staring quietly at Xue Laosi's face which kept changing expressions, as if trying to gain some clues through these subtle changes.

After a long time, Ling Yan finally spoke slowly, his tone as calm as water: "What did you find?"

Then, a guard quickly stepped forward, holding an item in both hands and presented it to Ling Yan, while respectfully replying, "Your Highness, it is a red bellyband."

Hearing this, Xue Laosi's hands unconsciously clenched into fists, his nails digging deeply into his palms. He could even clearly feel a slight tingling sensation in his palms.

Just now, he had clearly checked carefully and found that the place was empty and there was nothing left.

However, is this bellyband that suddenly appeared before his eyes real? Or is it all a conspiracy deliberately carried out by the prince?

Ling Yan frowned slightly, thinking to himself, "This cold palace has never been inhabited, how could such an item appear out of nowhere? It's really puzzling."

His eyes flickered, as if he had thought of something, and then he turned his gaze to Xue Laosi who was standing beside him.

Ling Yan's mouth corners slightly raised, revealing a meaningful smile, and he slowly asked: "I wonder if Lord Xue noticed anything unusual when he was here just now? Or did he see anything?"

Facing the question from the Crown Prince, Xue Lao Si hurriedly bowed and replied respectfully: "Your Highness, I have just arrived here and have not yet explored it in depth. I just walked here and did not expect to run into Your Highness by chance."

Upon hearing this, the prince nodded slightly, then glanced casually at the bellyband in the guard's hand and gave another order: "If that's the case, then hand this item over to the Shanggong Bureau for a thorough investigation. Make sure to find out who in the palace uses this item."

As soon as the words fell, everyone could clearly feel that the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Especially Xue Laosi, his face, which had always been as steady as a rock and calm, finally showed an imperceptible crack that could not be concealed.

Ling Yan took in everything, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised, outlining a faint smile: "Prime Minister, are you going to stay here any longer?"

Hearing this, Xue Laosi's face tensed up, and beads of sweat oozed out of his forehead. He replied calmly, "Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already found the key clue, I will not bother you any more."

After saying that, Xue Laosi hurriedly turned around and left in a slightly flustered manner.

Looking at Xue Laosi's receding back, the prince's face became gloomy and unpredictable.

After a moment of silence, he whispered to the guards hiding in the dark beside him: "Follow him!"

This time, he wanted to see whether this cunning fox would show its tail.

After he finished speaking, the secret guard quietly disappeared from the spot and followed closely behind Xue Laosi.