C206

One second to remember [Brushstroke Pavilion] [Free of charge, read the wonderful novel!]

"Xiao Hua, be careful!"

Chu Junyi held Shen Ninghua tightly in her embrace. She swept a glance at the carriage before suddenly lifting a nearby table to block Shen Ninghua's path. "Ning Hua, take good care of yourself!"

It was already chaotic outside the carriage. Shen Ninghua held onto the table, a tense look in her eyes as she said, "The people who have come are not friendly. Be careful."

Chu Junyi pursed her lips and nodded. She parted the curtain of the carriage and leapt out. The fan in her hand danced in the air, sending all the arrows flying in her direction.

Suddenly, dozens of black-clothed men flew out from the two sides of the street. They held cold, shiny blades in their hands as they charged towards the people in the carriage.

The Guard Commander Zhou Quan was injured on the arm, and upon seeing the man in black, he frowned coldly and shouted, "Who are you people? How dare you stop the princess and her consort?"

The leader of the men in black sneered, raised his arm and said, "Save the princess and her consort, kill all these people!" After shouting, he did not give anyone a chance to speak and directly slashed at the surrounding imperial guards with his sword.

The killing intent on Chu Junyi's face was intense as she pinched the fingers of her fan. These people were here to frame them, and their kung fu skills were superb. The imperial guards were no match for them.

Within the carriage, Shen Ninghua, who had heard the sounds of people killing each other outside, had a terrifyingly calm look in her eyes as her mind quickly spun. First, it was to mislead them, then it was to scheme that something happened in her mansion, and when the Emperor called for help, it was to stir up a so-called 'rescue'.

Indeed, the empress was worthy of her title. This was a good move, a big one!

Seeing the surrounding imperial guards being chopped to death, Zhou Quan quickly gave the order to defend himself. Looking at the people falling to the ground, he coldly spoke to Chu Junyi, "Prince Consort, His Majesty has announced that you entered the palace to interrogate them. You actually sent people to intercept the imperial guards? This is a heinous crime!"

Chu Junyi smirked, and the folding fan in her hand fended off the cold sword that was stabbing at his heart. "Sir Zhou, these people are dressed in black, obviously not wanting others to know their identities. Don't you think it's strange that they're shouting for the princess and me to be rescued?"

Zhou Quan paused for a moment before frowning. Indeed, if these people truly had strong martial arts skills and wanted to save a life, it wouldn't be good to just quietly fight them and run away. There was no need to shout out loud the moment they appeared.

How was this saving someone? This was clearly trying to shoot an arrow at someone! Not only that, he also wanted to throw a bucket of dirty water on top of it!

Chu Junyi fanned the men in black out to save them, leaving the men in black behind to kill the rest on the spot.

After everything was quiet outside, Shen Ninghua got off the carriage, walked up to the man in black on the ground and squatted down to take off the veil covering one of the men in black.

The leader of the imperial guards frowned. He wanted to step forward to stop her, but Chu Junyi blocked his line of sight. "Sir Zhou, these people are not friendly. They first failed to intercept and then tried to frame the princess and me. Now that they've been captured, we have to get to the bottom of this."

Zhou Quan paused. "Princess, Prince Consort, it would be better if these people were brought into the palace and interrogated by the Emperor. After all, the Emperor is waiting for you two at the palace. We can't keep him waiting, can we?"

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes and said, "Master Zhou, you've seen how powerful these people are. Although they were knocked unconscious, who knows if they would suddenly attack us after entering the palace. First, tie them up with ropes and then waste them to remove their poison sacs to prevent them from going berserk or committing suicide, don't you think?"

Zhou Quan nodded his head. "The princess' words make sense. Men, follow her instructions."

"Yes, milord."

After dealing with the man in black, Zhou Quan looked at the bodies of the imperial guards on the ground with a pained look in his eyes. "Take our brothers back to the palace and settle them. I'm going to ask for an explanation on behalf of my brothers."

"Yes, milord."

Empress Zhao Hui Ying sat beside him and passed him a cup of tea, "Your Majesty, we haven't investigated this properly yet, so it might be a misunderstanding. Don't be too worried, just ask the princess into the palace and we'll know."

Upon hearing the empress's words, she immediately cried out loud, "Your majesty, this servant entered the palace two years, and wholeheartedly served the emperor with all my heart. I was blessed by the heavens to finally have the emperor's flesh and blood, and this servant's heart is wild with joy, I only wanted to open a branch and scatter the royal family's leaves, who would have thought that my poor child would leave in a hurry without even meeting my father? This servant has let the emperor down!"

Baili Qing Cang raised his eyes, and abruptly grabbed the teacup offered to him by the Queen before slamming it onto the ground, "Why hasn't Princess Zhao Hua entered the palace yet?"

The head steward hastened to report. "Reporting to the emperor, the leader of the imperial guards, Lord Zhou, personally sent someone to invite them. They should be arriving soon."

The empress frowned, a beautiful curve appearing between her brows, but her eyes were cold. "Director Zhao, go ask again. We should be there by now."

"Yes, Empress."

Just as he was about to make a move, movement came from the door. "Your Majesty, Princess Zhao Hua and Prince Consort have arrived."

Baili Qing looked at the door coldly, "Call them in."

The moment Shen Ninghua entered, she saw her red-eyed concubine sitting by her side and Baili Qingbai sitting on her with an ugly expression on his face.

"Ning Hua greets royal father. Long live royal father, long live your life.

She bent down to pay her respects. However, Baili Qingyuan did not call out first like he did in the past. Instead, he was silent for a moment before asking, "Ninghua, did you make the Ice Spirit Fragrance in the Empress' palace?"

Shen Ninghua raised his head and replied, "Reporting to Imperial Father, I made it."

"Then what raw materials does the Ice Soul Fragrance use?"

"Mainly plum blossoms and some harmless spices."

"Not really."

Baili Qingyuan frowned, "Do you know the result of Chen Jun's inspection of the Ice Soul Fragrance?"

Bai Li looked at Chen Jun with a calm expression.

"Reporting to Your Highness, after the official's inspection, it was found that the Ice Soul Fragrance contained musk and red flowers, which caused great damage to the woman's body."

"Father, when I brought the Ice Soul Fragrance into the palace, I had already checked it with the Imperial Physician Guild in advance. The Imperial Physician has confirmed that the Ice Soul Fragrance is not harmful to the human body, and this is something that the Imperial Mother can prove."

Zhao Hui Ying nodded. "Indeed. Previously, it was indeed only used by me after the imperial physician examined it."

He got up and knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his pale face: "Your majesty, that Imperial Physician already told us that he was threatened by Princess Zhao Hua, which is why he hid the danger to his body from the Ice Soul Fragrance. Now that the baby in this servant's womb is gone, Your majesty, that's also your prince, ah, please be the master for our unborn child."

Baili Qing Cang clenched his teeth, "Men, Lord Fu Chi, please get up. You just slipped and the ground is cold. If you are injured, you will be in trouble."

Shen Ninghua turned to look at the nobleman and asked, "Did the nobleman lose his life?"

Shen Ninghua's brows slightly creased. "Honored one, please be cautious. As the daughter of Imperial Father, and Imperial Father dotes on me, am I stupid? I actually dared to harm Imperial Father's son?"

"Princess, are you still unwilling to admit it? After the Empress asked you for spices, you intentionally designed the Empress to send harmful spices, with the intention of damaging the Empress's phoenix body. If the Empress hadn't treated us kindly and bestowed spices upon us, things wouldn't have been exposed so quickly, and you're still lying to us now. Now that all of the concubines in the palace have been harmed, you're finally happy? "

"I don't have the slightest grudge towards Imperial Mother. I hope that your highness will not spout nonsense and judge me for my crimes based on a few guesses. Your highness has exaggerated the truth."

The noble man's tears flowed unceasingly down his face, making him look heartbroken. "Your Majesty, I beg of you to uphold justice for this servant."

Even his family members were burnt to death by the fire. All he left behind was a confession stating that the spice you sent into the palace was poisonous. Do you have anything to explain? "

"Father, Xiao Hua dare ensure that the spices I send into the palace does not have any problems."

Empress Zhao Huiying spoke up, "Your majesty, this matter should be considered over long term. Although there are confessions, but whether there's a misunderstanding or not, we still have to continue investigating. The weather is cold right now, why don't we let Ning Hua get up first?"

"You get up first."

Shen Ninghua pulled herself up from the ground and swept her gaze across the clean and clean floor. An ice-cold murderous intent flashed in her eyes.

Baili Qingfeng frowned as he felt a headache coming on. He inadvertently saw the bloodied body and remembered that Shen Ninghua had not arrived for a long time. He frowned and asked, "Zhou Quan, what happened to you?"

"Your majesty, on the way here, this official encountered an assassination."

"What?" Baili Qing Cang slapped the table, "Assassinate? "Who dares to assassinate the princess and her consort in the capital, with the imperial guards present as well?"

This was simply challenging the imperial power!

"Those black-clothed men first released cold arrows, then carried out assassinations. At that time, they shouted for the princess and her consort to be rescued, so that they could be killed off!"

Baili Qingfeng's eyes were filled with rage as he looked majestically at Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi. With the heavy pressure of someone in a superior position, he shouted, "Kneel!"

Shen Ninghua knelt on the ground, his head lowered and eyes downcast. "Ninghua, Imperial Father just told you to come in and ask. How dare you send people to assassinate the imperial guards?"

"Father, your son has not."

"You didn't? Xiao Hua, you're getting bolder and bolder now. "

The chamberlain quickly walked in. "Your majesty, all the officials have entered the palace and requested to see the emperor. They said that the various madams and misses were all in the princess' residence."

The empress sat on a chair with a calm expression, looking down at Shen Ninghua from high above. The golden phoenix steps on her head shone brilliantly …