C79

The next morning.

As usual, Qiao Qiao was walking in the imperial garden after the morning assembly. From time to time, he would turn his head and speak a few words to Qingwu. It was unknown what they were talking about, but the two of them were having fun.

In the darkness, a pair of sharp eyes was staring at the two of them. Their faces were filled with jealousy and hatred, and they didn't hide it at all.

Yingyue clenched her fists tightly. She thought that after Xiyue died, the emperor would place importance on her, but she didn't expect that there would be another matter of Qingwu standing in her way. She clearly heard from the emperor that Qingwu wanted to marry her out of the palace last night, was she not worth the emperor's trust?! Afterwards, Yingyue's lips curled up in a cold smile. Since she could personally cut off her own elder sister, how could she be afraid of a little Qingwu? Even if her skills were better than Xiyue's, she still wanted to cut off her arms and legs to see if she was still useful in front of the emperor. She wanted to see if the emperor would pay any more attention to her!

"You still can't bear to do it?" A mocking smile appeared on Yingyue's face as she turned around to see a young maid standing behind her with eyes full of hatred looking in Qiao Yifeng's direction.

Ying Yue knew that this person was none other than Hua Bai Ning, who wore a mask on her face, and she had even helped fabricate Ying'er's identity as a rank 5 palace maid. Although Qiao Qiao still had her by her side, she did not have much power in her hands and could at most give Hua Bai Ning the status of a rank 5 palace maid, but it was a pity that the rank 5 palace maids rarely saw the emperor, and in addition to her always being by his side, it was hard for Hua Bai Ning to get close to Qiao. Thus, she placed heavy responsibility for her assassination on Ying Yue.

"Big Sister Hua." Yingyue slowly lowered her head, ignoring the fact that Qiao and Qingwu were still in the garden talking and laughing with each other as they got further and further away.

"I really don't understand. You can be so heartless to your own sister, but why are you still so protective of Qiao?" Hua Bai Ning smiled coldly, seemingly confused.

Big sister Hua doesn't know, but ever since Xiyue was young, she only knew how to suppress me with her big sister's identity. Teach me how, it's natural for me to hate her, but the emperor truly loved me with his heart, and furthermore, when everyone was young and focused on Xiyue, he was the only one who truly doted on me. Yingyue was full of gratitude. As she spoke, her thoughts had already drifted off into the distance.

Ten years ago, Yingyue was only four or five years old, but she was still the same age as Qiao Qiao. At that time, she was chased by family hatred and was forced to enter the palace to serve them.

However, she was originally one of the eight chosen by the late emperor to protect the princess, but was then sent to become a third level palace maid in an instant. She was originally one of the eight chosen by the late emperor to protect the princess, but was then sent to be begged by the late emperor to not let her sister suffer any hardship.

She was unwilling to accept that, on what basis could they teach martial arts daily, while she could only do chores on her own? In her spare time, she was mocked by others, saying that she was really too stupid, only the late emperor removed her from the job, saying that her bones were too low, and she could only be a lowly servant for the rest of her life.

She hated them. She vowed to trample on the people who bullied her today, so she secretly practiced the martial arts these eight people learned while she was cleaning the place. This was so that one day, she could ruthlessly trample these people under her feet.

In that moment, she was so scared that her entire body was trembling, and the steward was so scared that she didn't dare to retaliate, but rather received a beating from someone. At that time, when she was only eight years old, her butt was beaten badly and her flesh was mangled, and she had not even been out of bed for ten days. However, during these ten days, what she had been waiting for was not the care and care of her sister, but the sudden desire of the emperor.

She always remembered that day, the sun was shining very well. Due to the pain in her butt, she didn't dare to lie down, so she had to lie on the bed. She twisted her body and turned around to apply the medicine. Suddenly, the afterglow in front of her was obscured by a beautiful image. She slowly raised her head and saw a girl who looked like a doll with pale pink skin, slightly pouting lips, full of childishness. She was stunned, and said only four words to the little girl who was her age, and could not help but say the deepest words of her heart.

You're so beautiful.

The girl smiled. This smile was even more adorable and playful. In her entire life, she had never seen such a cute and beautiful girl before.

"How did you get hurt?" She asked while pointing at the bloody quilt with her little finger.

"Since you've committed a crime, you should be punished." Yingyue lowered her eyes and replied.

"What's your name?" she asked again, frowning.

"Yingyue." "No," she replied.

"Fine, Yingyue, I am called Qiao Zhuang. From now on, you can serve me by my side." She laughed.

At that moment, Yingyue was completely stunned. So this noble and beautiful porcelain doll was none other than the most respected princess of the whole of Qiao Country — Princess Qingran.

From then on, she jumped from the lowest level palace maid to the princess' playmate. As for the princess, even though she wasn't bestowed the title, her position in the harem was no less than that of the third level palace maid. The previous group of people who bullied and mocked her slowly disappeared …

"Yingyue? Yingyue? " It was only when Hua Bai's eyes were filled with impatience that he waved his hand in front of Yingyue's eyes, interrupting the memories in Yingyue's mind.

"Sister Hua …" Yingyue bit her lips. She only told Xiyue about assassinating the Emperor to make her suffer even more. She only wanted to be loyal to the Emperor, but she never had the desire to truly kill him.

"If you still can't do it, I'll have to do it myself." Although Yingyue looked simple and cute on the outside, she was actually extremely shrewd and shrewd. She was not someone that a delicate young miss like Luo Qingqing could compare to and could not use such a threatening method to deal with Yingyue.

"Big Sister Hua, no, I …" "Allow me." Yingyue bit down hard on the corner of her pale lips and replied.

"Alright, I hope this is the last time you'll promise me. Don't break your promise." Hua Bai Ning raised an eyebrow, the corner of her lips slightly lifted as she walked away.

Yingyue looked at Hua BaiNing's departing figure and let out a light sigh. She had promised elder sister Hua that if elder sister Hua helped her take Xiyue's life, she would do everything she could to fulfill her wish.

It looked like she could only let the Emperor down.

Yingyue clenched her fists, as if she had made a great decision in her heart.

"Aunt Yingyue, the emperor is looking for you." In the distance, a small palace maid's shout caused Ying Yue to come back to her senses. She slowly released her fist, and the anger on her face was instantly replaced by kindness. She turned around, faced the direction of the voice, and said in a sweet and gentle voice:

"He's coming."

Behind the imperial garden, a raging farce finally ended. Inside the imperial garden, two figures that had thought they were gone suddenly appeared once more.

Qiao Qiao coldly looked at Yingyue's back, her face revealing an extremely sorrowful expression. At the beginning, she was only suspecting it, but she didn't think that it was really Yingyue who did it.

"Your Majesty, when did you suspect Yingyue?" Qingwu stood behind Qiao yet again and carefully asked.

"Early." "But I've been giving her a chance." He hadn't expected that he would lose Xiyue's life.

"Then why …" Qingwu seemed confused as she asked again.

"I've always thought that she would still have a bit of conscience. At the very least, she wouldn't act against her own sister." Qiao Qiao still lowered his eyes. He didn't expect that she would cause so much trouble while raising a tiger. In the end, it was Xiyue who ended up getting hurt.

"Then what does the emperor plan to do?" Qingwu asked.

"I would really like to see how she plans to kill me." Qiao Qiao's eyes still flickered. This was the last chance she gave Yingyue. It wasn't just because she grew up with Yingyue, but also for Xiyue. She knew that Xiyue would care about her sister the most in her life.

"But Your Majesty, what if …" Qingwu asked with concern.

"There's no chance. The most important thing right now is for us to catch Hua Bai Ning, and it's …" "Capture him alive!" Qiao Qiao's eyes still narrowed. She could give Ying Yue a chance, but it was impossible for her to do so!

"Then why didn't the emperor just have me deal with that fellow?" Qingwu tightened her grip on the sword at her waist, her face was fierce.

"Do you think that Hua Bai Ning is a small fry? I'm afraid that before you even make your move, she will have already escaped. At that time, you will be able to alert her and it will be even more difficult to catch her. " Qiao Qiao still pursed her lips. Although she had never seen Bai Ning before, but just based on the few times she had harmed her, she knew that this opponent was not simple.

"Then how does the emperor plan to capture her?" Qingwu asked.

"Spreading rumors within the palace, just say that I have found Xiyue's murderer, and the clue lies in the silver needle on the palace maid's corpse." The corner of Qiao Qiao's lips lifted slightly and he added, "The silver needles are in the coroner's hands. Tell him that I will summon the coroner tonight to confirm the murderer, and then …" Qiao Qiao's body was still slightly leaned back and whispered into Qingwu's ear.

"Yes, this servant understands." Qingwu paused for a moment before accepting the order. Although her thoughts were crude, she understood that this move of the emperor's was called catching a turtle in a jar.

Qiao Qiao still laughed out loud. He was afraid that this turtle from tonight had caught more than one.