Chapter 226: The Banquet Ends
“Marquis Zhou’s Heir, what are you doing here? What happened to Prince of Chu?”
“I saw His Highness Prince of Chu in the hall just now. He had too much to drink and was making a fuss about going to Lake Taiye. I saw that his attendants and palace maids couldn’t hold him back, so I helped out.”
Zhou Jingyun said, looking at the attendants and guests who had gathered around.
“I was originally afraid that he would jump into the water, but I didn’t expect His Highness to just look at the water, sit quietly by the lake, and then lie down and fall asleep.”
He said as he looked down at Li Yu, who was lying beside him, and smiled slightly.
“He’s sleeping quite soundly.”
The people around them were stunned once again.
Zhou Jingyun raised his head to look at them, as if he had just noticed everyone, and asked, “What’s wrong? Is the banquet over?”
These words instantly livened up the stunned crowd.
“Something happened just now!”
“Prince of Chu is here! Just now, the Princess thought he… cough, caused trouble.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ze, who was standing outside the crowd, looked away and turned to leave.
“Inspector, aren’t you going to take them away for questioning?” The Imperial Guard followed and asked in a low voice.
Zhang Ze sneered, “Question what? Everyone saw them here, and they also saw that Li Yu wasn’t in the heated room earlier.”
That’s true. They weren’t caught at the scene, and questioning them afterwards wouldn’t yield anything. The Imperial Guard frowned and said, “It’s also difficult to interrogate Princess Jinyu’s people…”
Since Young Miss Zhu was deliberately framed by Princess Jinyu, she definitely wouldn’t allow anyone to interrogate her people.
They couldn’t interrogate Young Miss Zhu and Madam Zhu either.
As they were speaking, an eunuch ran over and whispered something into Zhang Ze’s ear.
Zhang Ze’s face darkened, and he nodded, “I know what happened.”
The eunuch was a little surprised. He had only relayed what Young Miss Zhu had said about seeing Empress Yang. He himself felt confused and didn’t know if it was true or not, but Zhang Ze said he knew what happened.
What happened? Did they really see a ghost?
But Zhang Ze didn’t say anything more.
“Tell Her Majesty not to do or say anything.” He only said this.
The eunuch replied, “Yes, sir,” and then asked, “Aren’t you going to take a look, Inspector? His Majesty has dismissed everyone.”
The banquet is over just like that? Well, the deceased Empress has returned, so how could the Emperor still be in the mood for a banquet.
“To the palace gate,” Zhang Ze said, “Get the list of attendees.”
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In her blurry vision, Linde Hall was bustling with people, but not with gorgeously dressed guests, nor was there the sound of drums and music. There were only bare-chested craftsmen and the clanging sounds of palace repairs.
“I was the one who suggested to His Majesty to rebuild Linde Hall.”
“They all scolded me for wasting people’s resources and money.”
“But it looks good, doesn’t it?”
Hearing the question, Bai Li looked away.
The person wasn’t standing shoulder to shoulder with her like before, but was swinging on a swing, her red dress fluttering.
“It looks good,” Bai Li said.
The person on the swing smiled, “I thought you were going to say it’s just wood and stone, all the same.”
Bai Li also smiled, “Everything is different, how could it be the same.” She looked at Linde Hall again.
Before entering the Imperial City with Li Yu, she had thought that with Bai Ying’s cautiousness, the Imperial Bell would definitely be hung in Linde Hall. So how could she avoid disturbing the Imperial Bell?
Then find a Linde Hall without the Imperial Bell.
So at the moment when Li Yu finished his drink and was helped up by the eunuchs and palace maids, she summoned Jiang Mian’er.
She led these people into Jiang Mian’er’s dream, back to the Linde Hall of decades ago.
Interweaving the real and the fake, the tangible and the intangible, weaving a grand dream.
Dreams are meant to be woken up from. When one wakes up, some people can only have their dreams shattered.
The person on the swing swung over, her red dress brushing past like clouds and mist, “Little girl, you’ve really done your sister in. She won’t be able to become Empress in this lifetime.”
Bai Li looked at her and smiled, “How can you say it’s my fault? It should be the Emperor’s fault.”
The person on the swing laughed heartily, “You’re right.” She was about to say something, but suddenly swung high, “My old Linde Hall is about to disappear.”
The person on the swing swung over and collided with her.
With the collision, the light and shadow shattered.
Bai Li suddenly opened her eyes. The old Linde Hall without the Imperial Bell dissipated, and the real Linde Hall appeared before her eyes, along with eunuchs and palace maids rushing about.
The palace maids wore double buns, pink jackets, and skirts, with pale makeup and thin eyebrows, their expressions uneasy.
“Excuse me, sister, where is Princess Jinyu?” Bai Li stood up straight from beside a pillar and asked.
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The passing palace maid was startled and let out a short scream. When she saw that it was also a palace maid…
“You scared me to death! I thought I saw a ghost too.” The palace maid muttered, then looked at Bai Li. She looked unfamiliar. “You…”
“I’m from the Prince of Chu’s Residence.” Bai Li hurriedly said.
“The Prince of Chu’s Residence? Go over there quickly.” The palace maid said, pointing in a direction, and whispered, “The Princess is very angry.”
Bai Li thanked her and merged into the crowd leaving the palace.
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Zhang Ze stood at the palace gate. Night was slowly falling, and the palace lanterns and torches were lit in advance, bright as day, illuminating everyone who passed through the gate.
People had different expressions: uneasy, excited, indifferent. Every face was stopped by the Imperial Guards for inspection and verification.
This caused whispers again.
“What are they checking for? Are they checking for ghosts?”
“Is it really haunted?”
Zhang Ze didn’t care or pay attention to these words. He listened to the Imperial Guards calling out names and quietly looked at the faces of the people passing by.
The guests who came to the banquet were actually very simple. Parents brought their children, at most four or five people, without maids or servants, until Princess Jinyu’s group arrived.
Princess Jinyu’s face was gloomy, and the palace maids and eunuchs beside her lowered their heads, trembling with fear.
Four other eunuchs carried a sedan chair, and Li Yu was sitting on it, still asleep.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, are you alright?”
A palace maid followed closely behind, clutching the sedan chair and asking in a low voice, her expression concerned.
Zhang Ze’s gaze swept over her, and the next moment, someone stood in front of him, blocking his view.
Zhang Ze narrowed his eyes.
Zhou Jingyun.
“Is His Highness alright?” Zhou Jingyun asked, looking at Li Yu on the sedan chair, then at the palace maid beside him, his expression concerned.
The palace maid’s voice was timid, “I don’t know, he hasn’t woken up.”
Zhou Jingyun then looked at Princess Jinyu in front, “Princess, please call an imperial physician to take a look.”
Princess Jinyu turned her head from the sedan chair and scolded with a frown, “He’s already embarrassed himself enough by getting drunk!” She then looked at Zhou Jingyun, “Marquis Zhou’s Heir, since when have you been so concerned about our Li Yu? I thought you disdained associating with us royals, otherwise, you wouldn’t have refused my invitations time and time again.”
Zhou Jingyun said, “You misunderstand, Princess. It was just a matter of bad timing.”
Princess Jinyu sneered, “Alright, I’ll pick a time when it’s convenient and invite the Marquis’s Heir to visit, but not today.” She then scolded the palace maids and eunuchs, “What are you dawdling for? Hurry back to your residence!”
The eunuchs carrying the sedan chair quickened their pace, and the palace maid didn’t dare say anything more, lowering her head and following quickly.
Princess Jinyu’s eunuchs also hurriedly shouted for others to make way. Princess Jinyu sat on her sedan chair with a sullen face, not stopping her eunuchs. When she saw Zhang Ze standing at the city gate, she sneered again, “Zhang Ze, what are you checking for at the palace gate? Such a large Imperial City, haunted in broad daylight, why aren’t you investigating who’s behind this!”
Zhang Ze bowed and said, “I will do my utmost.”
Princess Jinyu didn’t pay any more attention to him. With a gloomy face, she and her entourage quickly walked out of the Imperial City.
Zhang Ze stood up and looked at their retreating figures, then turned his head and saw Zhou Jingyun approaching.
“Marquis’s Heir.” Zhang Ze smiled, “You’ve really helped Prince of Chu a lot this time.”
Zhou Jingyun said, “Prince of Chu is safe and sound, so there’s no need to talk about helping.” He then leaned closer and whispered, “Something happened at the banquet. Inspector, you should go and see if Consort Bai needs any help.”
Zhang Ze looked at him and suddenly whispered, “Have you seen her?”
Zhou Jingyun’s heart skipped a beat. What did he mean?
“Who?” He asked directly.
Zhang Ze looked at him and didn’t say anything more. He just waved his hand, indicating that he could leave.
The Prince of Chu’s Residence carriage arrived. Princess Jinyu had already gotten into the carriage and left first. The eunuchs were busy carrying Li Yu onto the carriage.
Bai Li stood by the carriage and looked back. Night had already fallen, and the Imperial City was brightly lit, with countless people surging, making it impossible to see where Zhou Jingyun was.
“His Highness is lying down.” The eunuchs said.
Bai Li nodded to them and followed them onto the carriage. The curtain was lowered, and the carriage swayed forward.
“Ah Li,” Li Yu’s voice murmured.
Bai Li looked at him. The young man was lying in the carriage, still with his eyes closed, his expression a little flustered, his hand raised in front of him.
Bai Li held his hand and softly said, “I’m here.”
The tense hand relaxed, Li Yu murmured something, his brows and eyes softened, a smile appeared on his lips, and he fell back into a deep sleep.
Going for a checkup, general anesthesia, so no update tomorrow~
