C41 Part2

....

The entire Palace was lit up with lanterns.

The lights were bright and magnificent, and the continuous Palace buildings seemed to be bathed in a sea of bright lights.

The straight Palace roads were lit up on both left and right sides, and with lights came the shadows too.

Those shadows under their feet were like long living-being of their own, swinging and dimly moving in the darkness, like dark and bloody swords.

She was not alone, and he was not alone either.

She was the thorn in his eyes, and he was her biggest obstacle, her enemy.

Yet, there they were, walking on the same Palace roads, walking and killing each other with stares.

Murong Ci suddenly felt this whole situation as unbelievable.

She never thought there would be such a day, such a night, that she and Murong Yu would be walking side by side in the Palace, and there was no one nearby.

She took a squint then walked steadily.

As they were walking, his golden embroidered python robe met her silver embroidered silk robe, under the breeze of the summer dark night.

Their robes were colliding together, rubbing and getting entangled with each other, meeting and getting separated repeatedly, getting entangled again and again.

It was just like a period of lingering love between men and women,...from the budding of affection to the lingering love, and then to the old age coexistence of each other, when one's life will come to dusk.

Murong Yu's martial arts were so good that he could detect every little movement, and naturally he could detect their robes getting entangled.

His big hand turned quietly under the cover of the vast robe, as if looking for something.

Murong Ci was surprised to get too close, and moved two steps to the other side.

His hand was lost in the air.

In his heart, there was a faint feeling of emptiness.

※※(N.B.) lol in other words: Regent wanting to hold her hand, but failing miserably. Poor thing! Sigh

※※

....

Xiao Yin worked and lived with Jin Sheng, in charge of the maintenance and consecration of the Fengtian Temple.

There were no other Palace people with them, and they lived in very remote and narrow temple rooms.

Because it was only the two of them, Jin Sheng lived in one room, and Xiao Yin lived in another room.

Murong Ci and Murong Yu asked the Palace people, and finally found the two small rooms.

When Jin Sheng wasn't there, they entered Xiao Yin's room and lit the lamp.

The room was neat and tidy, with a wooden bed, a low wardrobe, a wooden box, a small table and two stools, nothing more.

There were thin quilts and pillows on the bed, neatly folded, and the small table was empty, not even the teapot.

"A man's place shouldn't be so clean and tidy.

It seems that it has been cleaned up."

Murong Ci opened the closet, and there were several sets of napkins and a quilt stacked inside, nothing more.

"We were late, Xiao Yin's accomplices acted very quickly."

Murong Yu pulled up the thin quilt and pillows on the bed, looking for clues that might be left behind,

"Xiao Yin has stabbed Your Highness prepared to die afterwards, so maybe he cleaned up the house himself beforehand and destroyed all the relevant evidences."

They could gain nothing.

They inspected the rooms carefully, and then left.

....

The sky was colored in a dark blue colors, endless in the dark night, with the stars appearing and shining more and more.

Just like how they came, they walked back, silent all the way, with only the night breeze blowing in their ears.

Murong Ci suddenly said,

"It's late, isn't the Regent going back to his Palace?"

"After sending you back to the East Palace, this King will leave the Palace again."

Murong Yu's handsome snow-colored face flashed with stars, and suddenly brightened.

"By the way, has Master Shen ever checked whether Xiao Yin's body was really ※"purified"?"

※※

(N.B.) This is an Ancient Chinese tradition. When a so-called "eunuch", a male servant, entered to serve in the Royal Palace he was "purified" meaning "castrated".

The Palace was a holy place where servants served the Emperor and the Harem in which there were many beauties all there to serve the Emperor. So it is understandable that the Emperor wouldn't allow any male servants in the Palace that could make an heir within the Palace risking to endanger the Family clan and the chastity of the concubines(especially the ones that the emperor had yet to have for himself). Well, the story is after all in Ancient China.

※※

"Why does the Regent bring up this matter?"

Her cheeks became slightly hot, her whole body was cool and it suddenly heated up,

"Zhiyan did not check that."

"Where is Xiao Yin's body?"

"In the East Palace."

Murong Yu walked like flying, Murong Ci quickly followed.

The crime committed by Xiao Yin was not trivial, so she ordered the Palace staff to temporarily place Xiao Yin's body in the most remote chamber of the East Palace.

In this hot summer, the corpse would easily decay, so in accordance to Shen Zhiyan's instructions, the Palace man put the corpse in a coffin with some ice cubes in it.

When they rushed into the chamber, the guards guarding outside saw them and saluted them immediately.

Knowing that the Crown Prince and the Prince Regent were going to examine the body, they immediately took the lamp and opened the lid of the coffin.

"Let's see if Xiao Yin really had a purified body."

Murong Yu ordered the guards.

"What?"

The guards were stunned and in shock.

'If it weren't unlucky enough to be guarding a corpse...Now the Regent wanted them to touch the corpse?

They will be unlucky all year!'

Murong Ci said coldly:

"Do you want the Prince Regent to do it himself?"

The two guards immediately came forward, no longer hesitating, worried of the consequences of angering the Regent!

Murong Yu's expression was cold, silently staring at them without a word, and the guards scalp became numb as they saw him.

Their arms trembled and they started untying Xiao Yin's trouser belt, and pulled the pants down...

Murong Ci quietly turned her head, not watching this scene.

Murong Yu slanted his lips, adding another piece of evidence to his guess...

"Ah!"

The two guards exclaimed,

"My lord, Your Royal Highness, Xiao Yin really doesn't have a purified body."

"So I was right that Xiao Yin didn't have a purified body."

Murong Yu held the lamp close to the coffin, and took a good look inside.

The two left the chamber, heading towards the Sleeping Hall, and the dim and shaky lights stretched their shadow silhouettes long.

Murong Ci asked incomprehensibly:

"Why did the Regent guess that Xiao Yin did not purify?"

'Neither Shen Zhiyan nor I thought of this, but Murong Yu actually thought of it.

How could he think of this?'

"It's just an intuition.

This King wasn't sure whether Xiao Yin had been purified."

In the dim shadow, Murong Yu's pupils became darker and darker.

"It seems that Chang Qing has hidden something from his confession."

"It's not too late to order someone to get him here again."

She made a decisive decision.

"This King will order someone to take Chang Qing into custody immediately.

But it's late now, and we should try interrogating him again tomorrow."

The Sleeping Hall was close at hand, and he stopped quietly,

"Your Royal Highness have a good rest early today. Sweet dreams..."

"Dreams can wait!

It's better to interrogate him overnight!"

Immediately, Murong Ci ordered the guards to arrest Chang Qing.

....

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END of CHAPTER 41 PART 2

.....................to be continued