Neverland

Song Xueyao died in early spring.

Just after the Awakening of Insects, all things revived, and a spring rain came down one after another from the sky, followed by a thunderclap that woke up the permafrost.

The imperial garden is full of vitality. The green grass that has just sprouted is mixed with the clear dew formed in the early morning. The smell is refreshing and sweet, which is a typical spring atmosphere.

The flowers and grasses that are all over the palace city are not under the control of the emperor in the world. Let him pay attention to filial piety with white flags for dozens of miles inside and outside the palace city. The colorful flowers should bloom or bloom extremely gorgeously.

Probably because the empress died young, the living people in the palace city had no interest in enjoying the spring. Xu Muzhou followed Yan Cen all the way from the outer palace to the inner palace, and the eunuchs and maids he saw all lowered their heads and looked at each other. Hastily.

The little sparrow resting on the palace wall happened to step on a two-finger-wide gap in the sun. Before it could stand still, it was startled by a stone flying through the air and jumped up.Xiaoque poked her head to look at the culprit under the palace wall, and flew away angrily.

Xu Muzhou looked away from the palace wall in boredom, looked at Yan Cen in front of him, and felt that something was wrong with him.

Yan Cen seems to talk very little today.

Ever since he was picked out of the crowd by Yan Cen 10 minutes ago, the other party seemed to have never voluntarily spoken except for some necessary explanations.Although you can get a response when you talk to him, no matter how you look at it, you always look preoccupied.

——Did something happen that I don't know about, Xu Muzhou thought inexplicably.

While he was thinking like this in his mind, Yan Cen, who was walking in front of him, had stopped at some point, turned around and before he had time to speak, he almost bumped into Xu Muzhou who hadn't braked.

"Muzhou." Yan Cen pressed his shoulders, frowned and said, "Why are you out of your mind?"

Xu Muzhou: "..."

Inexplicably feeling that the villain had sued him first, Xu Muzhou gritted his teeth in resentment.

"I'm fine." Xu Muzhou said, "It's you, what were you thinking along the way?"

"I'm thinking about Song Xueyao." Yan Cen dragged him to the base of the palace wall, and said in a low voice, "It stands to reason that the empress's death was either a sudden death or an illness. Both cases will be handed over to the Imperial Hospital. After the inspection is correct, it can be buried, how could it be brought out to Pingjianying, a private soldier belonging to the emperor, to investigate."

"Perhaps there is something strange about the Queen's death." As soon as Xu Muzhou brought up the matter, the messy conjectures just now were swept away. He guessed along Yan Cen's train of thought, and said, "If it's not a disease, it's not a violent death." If he was killed, but was killed, wouldn't it be normal to find someone to investigate the case?"

"No." Yan Cen shook his head and said sternly: "Your thinking may not understand the ancient way of doing things... Let me make an analogy, Song Xueyao, as a queen, is the master of the harem. If she was murdered, then Who will kill her?"

"By other concubines in the harem." This was Xu Muzhou's first reaction. After he finished speaking, he saw that Yan Cen's face did not ease up. After thinking about it, he said hesitantly: "...or conspiracy theory, yes Killed by the emperor?"

Yan Cen didn't mention it, Xu Muzhou hadn't thought of this before.He had been thinking before that Song Xueyao had lived such a smooth life, so what obsession was there.

But now think about it in a different way-what if she died wrongly.

That seems to make sense.

Anyone whose bright and beautiful life is cut off by the middle, probably has resentment.

"It's all possible." Yan Cen said, "But if you think about it carefully, if Wei Wenxuan managed to kill Song Xueyao by himself, then he would definitely not ask Pingjian Ying to investigate this matter secretly."

Xu Muzhou was stunned for a moment before realizing that the "Wei Wenxuan" Yan Cen was talking about was the cheap emperor.

"You just call the emperor by his name like that?" Xu Muzhou said dryly, "Be careful and punish you for the crime of treason."

"What's the matter." Yan Cen frowned and lowered his head to pull the white cloth filial piety belt tied on the side of his belt, and said with disgust: "If it weren't for the inconvenience of the many people in this place, who would give filial piety to a little girl."

Xu Muzhou: "..."

Judging from his tone, it seems that he hasn't taken the dignified emperor seriously.

Xu Muzhou was very worried, in this era where every step was one step at a time, whether he and Yan Cen would be pushed out of the Meridian Gate and beheaded before finishing the task.

"... Forget it." Xu Muzhou struggled to get the topic back: "Does that mean that Song Xueyao's death was done by another concubine in the harem?"

Contrary to Xu Muzhou's expectations, Yan Cen still shook his head and said, "I'm not sure."

"The dignified queen, if she was really framed to death by the concubine, then the emperor's first choice for investigating the case should be the eunuchs around him, not us people." Yan Cen said.

"Why?" Xu Muzhou said.

"It's true that the Pingjian Camp belongs to the emperor himself, but our existence is not a secret." Yan Cen explained: "If such a family scandal really happened, the emperor would not want too many people to know...not to mention the large number of people Miscellaneous, it would be good if it was found out to be a misunderstanding, but if it is found out that a concubine is really obsessed with ghosts, then what should I do."

"Muzhou." Yan Cenyu said earnestly: "The dragon chair is just an ordinary person, he needs rights to control the country... and besides blood, most of these rights come from his subjects."

Xu Muzhou understood.

His way of thinking is too modern, killing people and paying debts is almost his instinctive basis for thinking, but he forgot that in this feudal age, the personal will of those in power was greater than the "jurisprudence".

If Song Xueyao's death was really a murder, then the murderer was nothing more than one of these women in the harem.A woman with a low rank cannot do this, and a woman with a high rank is not easily provoked by her natal family. If one, two, or three is found out, whether Wei Wenxuan wants to deal with Song Xueyao's family impartially, or to cover up someone If a powerful family suppresses this matter, it will cause chaos in people's hearts.

Wei Wenxuan is the emperor, so he will not push himself into a dilemma.

"What's more, if Song Xueyao was really killed by the empress dowager, then the empress dowager who is still in the palace will not agree to investigate the case with great fanfare." Yan Cen sighed: "She would find it embarrassing."

"Who are you missing?" Xu Muzhou asked.

Yan Cen looked at the sky, motioned Xu Muzhou to go forward with him, and then said: "Song Xueyao is the daughter of the Song family. She not only has to learn piano, chess, calligraphy and painting and the rules of her daughter's family since she was a child, but also has her mother to teach the affairs of the back house. .According to Song Xueyao's family background, even if she doesn't enter the palace to be a queen, she must have received the upbringing of the royal family from a young age...After studying for more than ten years, if she can't even control the backyard in the end, she will just lose it in the hands of her concubine. Life, people will only say that the daughter of the Song family is incompetent."

As a modern young man with good roots, Xu Muzhou couldn't understand this magical brain circuit of throwing the blame on the victim.

But it's useless to worry about this. The feudal dynasties have existed for so many years, and the patriarchal society is deeply rooted. No matter what problems they encounter, there are many things that can be blamed on girls. Xu Muzhou consciously can't control it.

"It's a bit miserable." Xu Muzhou laughed dryly: "So you want to say that Wei Wenxuan asked you to investigate this matter, is it a trap in itself?"

"Ten chances, maybe what Wei Wenxuan wants us to investigate is not Song Xueyao's death, but something else, but he can't say it clearly." Yan Cen frowned as he spoke, he looked condescending I endured it for a while, and finally I didn't intend to wrong myself, and spit out this sentence: "It's really... It's troublesome enough to deal with these emperors who only know how to compete with courtiers and women."

Xu Muzhou: "..."

There is nothing wrong, all the preoccupations just now were illusions.Xu Muzhou thought dumbly, it's still Yan Cen himself, the original is authentic.

Yan Cen led him through an unguarded side door, reached out and pressed his shoulder, and whispered a reminder.

"Passing through this gate is the harem, maybe there will be concubines and princesses, don't rush." ​​Yan Cen said: "Look down and look at the ground."

Xu Muzhou slandered Yan Cen's arm while slandering the rules: "Where are we going now?"

"Go to the place where Song Xueyao died." Yan Cen said, "Now that the weather is getting warmer, Song Xueyao can only stay in the Queen's Palace for seven days. We must hurry up."

As he said, he had already led Xu Muzhou into a large garden in a familiar way.

"That's right." Xu Muzhou suddenly thought of a question: "I heard from colleagues in Pingjianying that Wei Wenxuan was infatuated with Song Xueyao. Is it possible that Wei Wenxuan is really in love with Song Xueyao? I like Song Xueyao very much, so I made this decision."

"It's unlikely." Yan Cen seeks truth from facts: "Wei Wenxuan has a large number of people in the harem. Except for one concubine from Fengguo's family, the other three concubines already have two. Bundle."

"Generally speaking, if the empress is young and has no major mistakes, she should not be named a noble concubine to hinder the empress. Let's not talk about whether such a high-ranking concubine will threaten Song Xueyao's absolute status, and it will not be conducive to Song Xueyao's management. Harem." Yan Cen said: "Besides that...Wei Wenxuan hasn't seen Song Xueyao for at least three months."

"How do you know so clearly?" Xu Muzhou asked suspiciously.

Yan Cen: "..."

He was suspiciously silent for a moment, then coughed dryly: "When you were all assembled, I took the time to check the records of the servants in the harem."

The small garden that Yan Cen took him away was not big, and the time spent talking had already gone through. Xu Muzhou followed Yan Cen through another door, and found a palace not far away with the door open, and there was a voice in the air. Come to burn the unique choking smell of yellow paper, listen carefully and you can hear the singing from the hall.

Xu Muzhou listened to it, as if it was some kind of sutra used for salvation.

"What's that place?" Xu Muzhou asked.

"It's a place for sacrifices in the palace." Yan Cen said, "But it's not the main hall for the royal family. Judging from the specifications, it should be used for daily sacrifices or incense burning."

"... Isn't Song Xueyao's mourning hall stopped in her palace?" Xu Muzhou said strangely, "Who is this singing for?"

Yan Cen knew more about these things than Xu Muzhou, he stopped and listened for a while, frowning.

"Go." Yan Cen said, "Go and have a look."