In Chuxiu Palace

Concubine Xu swallowed the last bitter medicine soup and frowned.

Gu Yunxi presented the candied fruit, but the porcelain plate was gently pushed aside by Concubine Xu.

Wiping her mouth with a handkerchief, Concubine Xu sighed.

"Unexpectedly, Cairen Zhao is usually straightforward, but she acts viciously. Now she has been put in prison, and the five generations of her family cannot enter the Palace forever. She deserves it. Even without her, there will be no end to the deceitful things in this imperial harem."

"Your Grace, someone wants to borrow a knife to kill a man, but Cairen Zhao becomes the scapegoat."

"Really?"

Concubine Xu was stunned, staring straight at Gu Yunxi's tight face, with an astounded expression.

"Xiaoye Chamber was troubled by snakes. Is there something hidden behind it?"

Gu Yunxi nodded and looked around with vigilant eyes. Seeing that Concubine Xu stretched out one hand to signal her to come closer, she then whispered in Concubine Xu's ear.

After Concubine Xu heard this, her eyes suddenly widened, thinking for a moment with her solemn brows and saying,

"This interlocking trick is very useful! If it is Gu Yunjin who did it again, in terms of her brains, someone must help her."

Gu Yunxi stepped back, and sneered.

"It's nobody but Commander-in-chief of the Western Depot. Recently, Your Grace has not been well and able to greet Empress and the Imperial Noble Concubine. The servant who followed your order to send fruit and cakes to the two palaces came back and said that she could always see Master Ming in Yongning Palace."

Concubine Xu narrowed her eyebrows, raised her eyes freely, and sighed.

"I was originally calm, and I always thought that this imperial harem belonged to the Emperor, and newcomers will settle in every year. Life is perishable. Now that I cannot change this fate, if a newcomer can take the place of me to serve His Majesty, it will be better."

"However, Gu Yunjin was arrogant and had no fear of doing anything. Relying on the support of the Wans and the Western Depot, she became more reckless, and actually thought of a plan with my son as the target. In this way, I cannot turn a blind eye!"

The sonorous remarks fell into Gu Yunxi's ears. She bowed her eyebrows respectfully and her eyes gradually became cold.

Hearing these, she didn't need more instructions from Concubine Xu. She already understood what to do next.

Coming out of the Main Hall, Gu Yunxi was grabbed by Lanxin before she even stepped into the small kitchen, and she was pulled all the way back to the side room.

Closing the doors and windows tightly, Lanxin was mysterious.

"Muxue, last time you asked Mr. Fan for inquiry, and he asked it out for you."

"Really?"

Gu Yunxi was considering other things and was listless. However, when Lanxin said this, her eyes lit up and became shining.

"I have asked you for a long time, and thought you forgot it!"

Lanxin shook her head.

"Because the two things are too confidential, it always takes a lot of effort to find someone to inquire. As long as it's your requirement, no matter how difficult it is, I will let Mr. Fan help you."

Gu Yunxi was grateful and moved. She thanked Lanxin too much and began to urge her to say quickly.

At this moment, Lanxin frowned. Her eyes were solemnly silent, and she passed Gu Yunxi's serious face and looked down.

"Let's talk about the damsel case two years ago first. Honour Guards said that seven damsels were lost at Spring Banquet, and only two were found by the Eastern Depot after searching in many foreign countries. It was also pitiful. Apart from being raped, one was lunatic and the other was dumb. His Majesty didn't kill them to accumulate blessings for the little prince. He sent them to the imperial mausoleum and ordered them to the old eunuch who kept vigil beside the coffin to make a couple..."

"The imperial mausoleum? Really?"

Before Lanxin could finish her words, Gu Yunxi shouted out in surprise, holding onto Lanxin's wrist with both hands.

Lanxin felt pain in her hand being strangled, and she murmured repeatedly with a painful expression.

Gu Yunxi hurriedly released her fingers when seeing it, and apologized with blushing ears.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry. I, I am too excited!"

How could Gu Yunxi not get excited?

The only familiar face she saw in the stone house where she was held for a year was Baoting, the damsel who was rescued by the guards of the Eastern Depot from thousands of miles.

This meant that the final place for the damsels after they returned was the shelter of the da*n masked man.

Lanxin didn't know much about the thoughts buried in her friend's heart, so she rubbed her wrist and nodded firmly to confirm.

"Yes, they went to the imperial mausoleum in the northwest of the outskirts of Jing City. It's the imperial mausoleum in Mount Yin!"

Gu Yunxi secretly memorized the place name, and immediately asked,

"What about Pei Rushi? What can be found out of her birth?"

Lanxin sat at the table, poured herself a glass of water, and drank it. She wiped her mouth, and continued.

"Oh, she worked in the Palace many years ago as a chief maid of Concubinary Kitchen, and was ordered to marry Lord Protector Zheng..."

Gu Yunxi's expression froze. She was so excited that she forgot to breathe. Then she interrupted Lanxin with the trembling.

"Wait! You just talked about... Lord Protector Zheng. Who is he?"

If Pei Rushi was her mother and she married Lord Protector Zheng, wasn't that man... his father!

Who was he? Gu Yunxi would certainly find out.

Lanxin was awkward and a little fear grew between her tight eyebrows. She waved her hands to Gu Yunxi repeatedly.

"What you inquired about is something that is forbidden in the Palace, and Mr. Fan didn't make it clear. He only told me that Lord Protector Zheng was a beloved minister of the former Emperor. He made numerous military exploits when he was young and was conferred a dukedom by the Emperor."

"However, later, Lord Protector Zheng offended others, and his whole family was massacred overnight, which became a major unsolved case in the capital more than ten years ago..."

Lanxin really didn't dare to continue speaking, because she found that her friend's face was shockingly pale at this time.

"Muxue, are you OK?"

Lanxin's lips trembled, and she looked at Gu Yunxi in amazement with a shocked expression. Then Gu Yunxi's hands and feet trembled as if she had been struck by lightning, and her eyes turned up.

Lanxin rushed forward to support her to the bed, and helped her take the rouge box of hibiscus flowers. She dipped a finger in the brown ointment to feed Gu Yunxi.

Gu Yunxi leaned on Lanxin and faintly resumed her breath. Her small face with cold sweat turned sanguine.

Just now, the extreme ups and downs of emotions induced Gu Yunxi's drug addiction. Fortunately, she swallowed Hanfu Cream in time, and the drug addiction was suppressed.

For one moment, she felt she was in heaven, and was happy that she had a father and a mother. She was no longer an orphan.

For the other moment, she heard that the whole family was murdered, and the murderer was unknown. The shock of falling from heaven to hell was too strong for her to accept it for a while, and she couldn't distinguish the authenticity.

After a while, Gu Yunxi lowered her head and asked weakly,

"Have you ever found out... who killed Lord Protector Zheng's family?"

"This is..."

Lanxin was horrified and shook her head constantly.

"Muxue, Mr. Fan and I really did our best. These old things are taboo in the Palace. Mr. Fan risked his life to ask about this. I said everything I know."

Gu Yunxi's face was numb and she made a thorough search in the box and cabinet with shaking hands. She found a bag of silver from the bottom of the box and gave it to Lanxin.

Lanxin was shocked and angry, and threw the purse back. Her cheeks flushed and swelled.

"What are you doing?"

Gu Yunxi was stunned, and her expression dimmed.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean anything else. Mr. Fan helped me find out such important information. Drinking and eating tea must cost money. I can't ask him to contribute and pay!"

"Good friends don't care about this. If you insist, I'll be angry with you!"

Lanxin helped Gu Yunxi put away the purse and looked at her worriedly.

"Muxue, why do you want to inquire about the taboos in the Palace?"

"Don't worry about so much. I'm also a helper."

With eyes flickering without attention, she told a lie vaguely.

Lanxin pouted and glanced at her.

"Well, I'll go ahead and work on the meal."

Only Gu Yunxi stayed in the side room.

She was silent, and her mind was running fast.

Pei Rushi, Master Leng's girlfriend in his youth, served in Concubinary Kitchen and she must be good at cooking.

After being ordered to marry Lord Protector Zheng, she would break up with Master Leng. It was reasonable to give him The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies as a souvenir, but...

If I were the daughter of Lord Protector Zheng and Pei Rushi, who could kill my parents? How did I survive?

Strangely, she thought of that dream. The weird dream that was full of killing and blood tortured her for more than ten years.

Did Master Leng save me?

He adopted me and spoiled me because he loved my mother, right?

Suddenly, this thought, like a poisonous thorn, deeply inserted into Gu Yunxi's weak heart, causing her to suffocate.

She felt that she would be with this poisonous thorn for the rest of her life, and it would be difficult to pull it out of her heart.

"Pei Rushi is your mother."

"Being regarded as someone's shadow by him, don't you care?"

The words of His Highness circulated in her ears, like a shadow, and could not be erased like a ghost.

Gu Yunxi couldn't bear to be bothered and her face became sad inch by inch. She hung her head vainly, and put her fingers into her hair sideburns.

At this moment, she believed in the words of His Highness. Master Leng loved her with affection for her mother.

Gu Yunxi was always grateful to God for making her meet Master Leng. His gentleness and all his emotions for her made her believe that it was his love for her.

She didn't understand until today that there was still a kind of emotion in the world called "love me, love my dog".

For her, it's not love but sympathy.

Suddenly, the truth was like a big net that covered the sky and sun from the sky, blocking all the warmth and sunlight. Her world sank into darkness because of it.

She gradually lost her way...

It was night, and Gu Yunxi returned to that dream again.

At the age of five, she stood among the white snow, surrounded by blood, fire and dead bodies.

With a shout, Wenren Junzheng, wearing a hat on his head, appeared and brandished a big knife in his hand.

She saw different things and as soon as she was lifted by him, a cold glow flashed by.

At the moment when she fell to the snow, she saw the half-cut arm, and the vivid five fingers pointed at her horrified face, shaking horribly.

She was irritated. She cried and raised her head, looking at Master Leng with scarlet eyes.

He was wearing a Chiliarch official suit and his right sword was stained with blood. He stared at Wenren Junzheng who was holding his mutilated left arm with an evil expression, and uttered a distressed cry to her.

"Ruo…"