Chapter 331 – That’S Strange, Was There Someone There
Realizing her mistake, Wei Qiufu immediately corrected herself, “Among the aristocratic families in the capital, the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang can be considered one of the top. With Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle leading the family, even the royal family will not look down on us. Sixth Younger Sister, let’s not talk about this. Let’s go visit Eldest Sister tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay, but…” Wei Yuewu pondered for a moment and raised her watery eyes. “Fourth Elder Sister, aren’t you afraid that Eldest Sister will be irrational and do you wrong?”
This question struck right into Wei Qiufu’s heart. Others might not know about it, but Wei Qiufu knew very well that Wei Fengyao would definitely hate her for dragging her down when she pulled her.
“If she wants to blame me, so be it! Let’s talk about it tomorrow,” Wei Qiufu uttered indifferently and looked toward Orchid Courtyard that was not far ahead. No matter what, it would be best if the Crown Prince could appear at Orchid Courtyard tonight.
There was still only one gatekeeper at Orchid Courtyard tonight. After seeing Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiufu a few times, the gatekeeper let them enter the garden without asking anything now.
The two of them stepped into the quiet Orchid Courtyard. Under the night, the half-blooming orchid, the budding, and the slightly curled petals revealed a bit of elegance to the garden.
The moment they stepped into Orchid Courtyard, they immediately felt as if it was spring because the entire atmosphere was warm, revealing a warmth that was unusual in the winter.
As the wind blew, the fragrance of flowers drifted over, and there was a full moon in the sky. It was truly elegant to the extreme.
The two of them chatted as they walked in. It was still the same path they had taken that day. Ever since Wei Fengyao had brought them into Orchid Courtyard, the path they took was basically the same. It had always been the corridor with the same species of light-colored orchids.
“Sixth Younger Sister, let’s take a break.” Wei Qiufu walked to the corridor and stopped.
“Alright!” Wei Yuewu took a few steps back and moved further away from the pots of Fallen Leaves Orchid. She knew that she was not in the pink of health and could easily be negatively affected by the colorless and odorless fragrance of flowers.
“Sixth Younger Sister, look over there. Is there someone coming over?” Wei Qiufu suddenly asked in surprise, pointing at the entrance of a moon cave with a face full of horror.
Wei Yuewu looked over and after a few glances, she turned back blankly. “Fourth Elder Sister, did you see wrongly? There’s no one there.”
“Oh, okay. It seems that I was mistaken.” Wei Qiufu opened her eyes and looked in that direction a few more times. Then, she massaged her forehead helplessly and lamented, “It’s best if there is no one. Sixth Younger Sister, let’s go to the back and take a look.”
After saying that, Wei Qiufu stood up first. Seeing her stand up, Wei Yuewu also stood up and turned around to follow Wei Qiufu when she walked past her. At this moment, under the bright moonlight, she glanced at the pots of Fallen Leaves Orchid and saw a faint white object that fell beside a pot of the orchid.
She would have missed it had she not looked closely.
Just like last time, Wei Qiufu threw something out while Wei Yuewu was distracted. However, Wei Yuewu wasn’t aware of it the last time, and she only saw Wei Qiufu went to the pots of Fallen Leaves Orchid, picked something up, and stuffed it into her sleeve when they were leaving. This time, Wei Yuewu paid closer attention.
It turned out that the thing wasn’t picked up by Wei Qiufu, but she threw it out…
The two of them went around this corridor and turned around that corridor. They went out of the moon cave behind them and turned to a small rockery in the back.
There were also pots of different orchids placed at the rockery that were arranged in a unique presentation, turning the rockery into a fascinating sight as if it was a real hill.
Wei Yuewu could not help but gasp in awe. Every plant and tree here were especially laborious. Under the faint moonlight, the scene looked more special and appealing to the eye.
“Sixth Younger Sister, enjoy the scenery here. I’ll go up and take a look,” Wei Qiufu suggested with a smile.
“Okay!” Wei Yuewu nodded without looking back as she was observing an orchid at the foot of the rockery.
Wei Qiufu was delighted as Wei Yuewu didn’t notice her. She winked at Ming Yan and walked up alone.
The rockery was not big and there were not many steps. Coincidentally, she could see the corridor. At this time, no one came over. However, she could vaguely see that there was a faint light coming from not far away. She could not help but be surprised and overjoyed.
Wei Fengyao had said that there was no one other than the Crown Prince who could come to Orchid Courtyard at this hour.
All the imperial concubines in the Palace knew that this Orchid Courtyard was the Crown Prince’s favorite place. Because of this reason as well as the fact that the garden was connected to the Crown Prince Mansion, the concubines would not come over casually and would keep a distance.
Wei Fengyao had the privilege to visit this place because the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an wanted to please her after they got married, and he specially asked the Crown Prince for permission to enter the garden. Therefore, the Crown Prince permitted her to visit the garden occasionally since Wei Fengyao couldn’t enter the palace often.
However, Wei Fengyao could only enter through the side door of Chu Xiu Palace. After several trips to the garden, the gatekeeper recognized her as the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an and looked up to her since the Empress Dowager doted on the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an very much. Therefore, the gatekeeper turned a blind eye when Wei Fengyao brought her two sisters last time.
Nevertheless, the two young ladies would be in the Palace for only a few days, and nothing could happen in the Orchid Courtyard. By doing so, the gatekeeper could give Prince Nan’an Mansion and the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang a favor too. Why not?
This was the reason why Wei Qiufu and Wei Yuewu had the privilege to enter Orchid Courtyard so easily.
“Fourth Elder Sister, how is the scenery up there? I also want to take a look.” After Wei Yuewu finished admiring the orchids below, she lifted her skirt and was about to go up the stairs, but was stopped by Ming Yan.
“Sixth Young Lady, it is windy up there. If you go up, you may catch a cold. Our miss will come down soon. Please rest down here.” Ming Yan looked concerned, but she blocked the staircase with her body. It was impossible for two people to go up such a narrow step.
“Is it windy up there?” Wei Yuewu looked up at Wei Qiufu with a puzzled face, as if she was considering whether to go up or not.
“It’s quite windy. I’ll come down first.” Wei Qiufu was afraid that Wei Yuewu would ruin her plan, and she was also afraid that Wei Yuewu would sense something fishy, so she acted as if she was going to come down because of the strong wind.
Wei Yuewu retreated to the side, waiting for Wei Qiufu to come down.
“Sixth Younger Sister, how about we walk further into the courtyard? Last time, we only took a stroll around a few places, and we didn’t get to see more orchids. I heard from Eldest Sister that there are many varieties of orchids in this place. It’s really amazing,” Wei Qiufu suggested.
Did she try to send her away? Wei Yuewu sneered in her heart, but she donned a normal expression and nodded. “Let’s go and take a look.”
The two of them walked back together, farther and farther away from the corridor and the rockery…
Following behind the eunuchs, Wen Tianyao frowned in agitation as he walked casually. What happened during the day was extremely strange.
The appearance of the assassin was inexplicable, and he came and went without a trace. Wen Tianyao was pissed as he couldn’t find anything after the investigation.
However, he knew that it would be difficult for his men to investigate if it was the four heirs-apparent’ doing.
Furthermore, he was clueless as to what they wanted to do and why. Why did they have to exert so much effort and make such a big fuss? It really did not match their usual behavior. Therefore, he could not determine whether it was those men who did it.
He reached a dead-end on the assassin’s matter, but he was certain that the four men had something to do with the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an’s accident, but unfortunately, he didn’t find out who was the culprit. At that time, there were many bodyguards, and everyone said that they did not shoot wrongly. However, the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an was clearly shot by an arrow, and she was still in the Palace at this moment because it was inconvenient to move her around in such dire injury.
Mystery loomed over these two matters. It seemed that there was no connection between the two cases, but Wen Tianyao felt otherwise. It seemed that he had to see the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an tomorrow and ask her some questions. It could not be that these people shot her an arrow for no reason. She must have done something that offended them.
That was why she was shot!
But in order to avoid suspicion, it was better to bring a few more people with him.
When he walked to the familiar corridor, the eunuch respectfully retreated to the side. Wen Tianyao sat down and looked at the pots of Fallen Leaves Orchid. He realized that there were a lot more pots today and chuckled. Someone must have heard that he liked this kind of orchid, so he or she gathered all of the blooming Fallen Leaves Orchid in Orchid Courtyard and placed them here.
He glanced at the Fallen Leaves Orchid and suddenly found something strange. He casually stood up, walked over, squatted down, and picked up the object on the ground.
It was actually an ordinary-looking handkerchief. There was nothing special about the handkerchief. If it was dropped on the street, it would not stir up any trouble. Whether it was the people who dropped it or the people who picked it up, they would not care.
Because this handkerchief was really ordinary and coarse to the extreme.
It was a handkerchief made of coarse cloth with sloppy-looking hems. Judging from the stitches of the hems, he could tell that the lady who stitched this was not very skillful. She used simple stitches to sew the hems, and some of the threads were even dragged out.
It was truly surprising that such a handkerchief appeared in the imperial palace where beautiful clothes and exquisite embroidery were seen everywhere.
Seeing the handkerchief clearly, Wen Tianyao suddenly became stern, and his expression changed drastically.
“Your Highness, what’s wrong?” The eunuch, who had been following by his side, noticed that his aura had changed. He immediately stepped forward and asked with concern.
Wen Tianyao did not speak. He just carefully looked at the handkerchief in his hand. His expression turned colder with a hint of anger in it. As he clenched the handkerchief tighter and tighter, he barked furiously, “Go and bring me the handkerchief in my study!”
“H-Handkerchief?” the eunuch couldn’t react in time and stammered.
“Yes! The coarse handkerchief!” Wen Tianyao snapped coldly. When he thought about how someone would actually use that handkerchief, he couldn’t hide his anger from the corner of his eyes. This was a past that made him feel guilty whenever he thought about it. He didn’t expect that someone would actually be able to know that past and use it against him. Sure enough, it wasn’t just Yan Huaijing and the others who wanted to deal with him.
There were still people in the Palace secretly plotting against him. Otherwise, how would they know about this!
“O-Okay! I’ll be right back!” When the eunuch saw that Wen Tianyao was angry, he immediately remembered the handkerchief. He hurriedly put down the lantern in his hand and turned to run back. Of course, he knew about the handkerchief that His Highness had always attached great importance to.
After the eunuch left, the corridor quieted down. Wen Tianyao was still squatting and looking at the handkerchief in his hand. He carefully looked at it, and his gazes became increasingly fiercer. If it were really the one he had collected, he would have to clean up the whole Crown Prince Mansion.
Suddenly, he felt a little dizzy and his legs numb. Wen Tianyao tried to stand up, but as soon as he stood, he fell back heavily to the pots of orchid on the side, knocking over several pots of Fallen Leaves Orchid along the way…
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺