It was in the embassy when the moonlight shed in the evening.

"What? You should fail?"

In the room belonged to the General, a man with a moustache anxiously roared. The loud voice could even be transmitted into the roof.

Then he stood beside the window, alertly looking around the street and closing the window.

Suddenly, he turned around and stared at his subordinates with anxious eyes.

The two men in black-feathered armor immediately lowered their heads, simultaneously and firmly saying in Ying language.

"I couldn’t finish my task, so I will make hara-kiri."

"B*st*rd! It is in Da Yi, not in Ying State! Do you want to make more trouble?"

General Yuancang slowly sat on a chair, casually taking up his pipe and lighting it up. Then he violently smoked.

"Sakata Aki is too proud, but he should fail in the second competition. Even if he beat the woman in the final competition, the result would make no sense. At that time, only does he die can we keep our Emperor's dignity."

"You are excellent men in the Wooden Ninjutsu. I had thought you must be able to kill Sakata Aki, impute it into that woman, and then take her book, which could be a perfect result. Alas! You let me down!"

"We could just be successful, but one person suddenly appeared. Our fight attracted the Imperial Guards in the Palace so that we lost the opportunity and had to leave."

One man explained in a low voice.

General Yuancang pondered for a while, and then he soliloquized.

"So, I could only be a complete villain."

...

It was in Book Hall of the Palace.

When Honour Guards led Huanan Xin to the place, Gu Yunxi was in disheveled hair and crouching. She crawled and tried to find something, muttering and being freaked.

"The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies... The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies... Where... Where is it...?"

As the lanterns and candles lit up, the whole Book Hall was as bright as the day.

Huanan Xin let other people leave, only leading Liang Zhen and one Honour Guard into the room. He looked around, seeing those shallow and deep scarlet handprints in the corner, on the ground, and on the white wall. Immediately, he was fiercely astonished.

Huanan Xin strode and crouched to embrace his beloved Gu Yunxi as some evident sadness appeared in his astonished eyes.

"Yunxi, don't be afraid. I am here, and I will accompany you."

In spite of the spotted dragon robe contaminated by the blood in her hands and sleeves, he held blank Gu Yunxi in his arms. After sadly closing his eyes, he said in a low voice, which could only be heard by him and Gu Yunxi.

"Yunxi, why are you here? Why... Tell me what happened, and I will help you!"

"I... The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies... The book my mother gave me has been lost..."

In the several years, she had been always stressed and nervous. Now the accident suddenly happened.

Eventually, Gu Yunxi collapsed and rushed into Huanan Xin's arms, bursting into tears. She sobbed and muttered, saying without using an honorific.

Gu Yunxi was always independent and calm, so Huanan Xin had never seen her embarrassment and sadness as today. Suddenly, he became sadder.

"Yunxi..."

A scream in his back suddenly occurred, which broke Huanan Xin's words. Then a deep "bang" occurred.

Huanan Xin turned around, seeing Mrs. Yuancang crawling and sobbing. Beside her, it was an angry interpreter from Ying State.

"Your Majesty, what happened? Please give us a reasonable excuse!"

"Your Concubine Yun should kill her opponent, Mr. Sakata? Oh, my god! Mr. Sakata is the official most admired by our Emperor. But now he is killed in Da Yi! You must strictly punish this murderer!"

"She hasn't killed him..."

Before Gu Yunxi explained, Huanan Xin frowned and roared. The imposing manner astonished everyone there, including Gu Yunxi.

Being gradually awakened, she turned to be sensible as her eyes were not blank.

The interpreter was frightened by Huanan Xin's roar, madly squinting his eyes.

Mrs. Yuancang sadly crawled to Sakata Aki's corpse. Suddenly, she took the hairpin with blood and showed it to Huanan Xin, ceaselessly shouting.

The interpreter translated what she said.

"Mrs. Yuancang is asking Concubine Yun. Is it her jewelry? It was contaminated by Mr. Sakata's blood. Now that we have seen the evidence, could it be that Your Majesty want to safeguard her in our presence?"

"Ridiculous! How dare you? You should shout to His Majesty and Her Grace!"

Liang Zhen coldly raised his eyes, striding and pushing Mrs. Yuancang away with his horsetail whisk so that she had to go backward.

"Take those things contaminated by blood away from His Majesty in case that they make His Majesty unhappy!"

Mrs. Yuancang violently grasped the hairpin, crawling and crying. It seemed that she couldn't bear that Sakata Aki should be dead. The sadness was not in accordance with her identity and position, which confused people.

Ritual Minister, Wang Can, stood in front of the door, seeing the noisy situation. In the dark, many confusing things occurred to him.

Before two hours, he was accompanying Huanan Xin and foreign envoys in seeing the firework and plays in Imperial Garden.

Along the way, he illustrated and explained in six languages. So, he could eventually use what he had learned, which attracted many people's appreciation. In a word, he became so brilliant.

Later, when Mrs. Yuancang found the major chief of Dachui Kitchen, Sakata Aki, hadn’t been following their group long, she was worried that Sakata Aki might be lost. As a result, she requested Huanan Xin to let someone seek him.

By coincidence, the head of the cabinet Shi Ling in Da Yi reported that Concubine Yun also had not been there for a long time.

Huanan Xin immediately became unhappy and embarrassed, just quietly letting Honour Guards respectively look for them.

Wang Can stood by as a sense of premonition flooded into his heart.

Eventually, a group of Honour Guards came back and secretly told Liang Zhen one message.

Wang Can found Huanan Xin who was hearing what Liang Zhen muttered appeared pale and blank, being so astonished.

In excuse of being ill, Huanan Xin stopped the activity. Except for people from Ying State, the envoys of other countries and part of Da Yi's officials were sent out of the Palace orderly.

When Wang Can knew where Concubine Yun was, he was also astonished.

Then he was ordered by Huanan Xin and told Mrs. Yuancang where Sakata Aki was in Ying language.

Mrs. Yuancang was frightened, immediately requiring Huanan Xin to let her go to Book Hall together with them and see what happened.

The sad scream and cry attracted Wang Can's attention. It was Mrs. Yuancang who rushed up to Gu Yunxi and ceaselessly shouted. Then she was pushed away by Honour Guards.

The interpreter anxiously pointed to Gu Yunxi.

"Mrs. Yuancang asked you why you brought Mr. Sakata here? Why?"

Suddenly, the noisy situation became quiet. Many people stared at Gu Yunxi there in their eyes.

Even Huanan Xin was reminded by the words, blankly lowering his head and looking at Gu Yunxi.

That was true. One of them was from Da Yi while the other was from Ying State. A man and a woman didn't see flowers and fireworks in Imperial Garden. Instead, they went to such an isolated place in the evening. How could they illustrate?

Gu Yunxi said nothing as her watery eyelashes trembled.

The head of the cabinet, Counselor-in-chief Shi Ling, stood by, coldly mocking and sneering.

"Evil Concubine Yun, you must be in a dilemma."

"Previously, you privately met the Ninth Prince in Yonglu Temple, but you happened to escape."

"Now you should meet an envoy from Ying State. A man and a woman were in a room, and the man was dead. I just see how you will explain." Shi Ling thought to himself.

As Shi Ling's mock disappeared in his face, he seriously saluted Huanan Xin.

"Your Majesty, now the thing suddenly happened. One envoy of Ying State was killed, which was also related to people in the imperial harem of the Palace."

"For the sake of the royal dignity, I just request you to let Concubine Yun say what happened in our presence. As a result, we can make a great judgment."

Huanan Xin was depressed as some deep sadness appeared in his eyes.

"What happened? Yunxi, don't worry. You just say the thing, and I will help you."

"Your Majesty, I... I haven't killed him..."

Gu Yunxi could be able to understand what Shi Ling said. He just illustrated she and Sakata Aki appeared in a suspicious place.

But now she just thought about the lost book, so when she raised her head, she just muttered and cried.

"I haven't killed him. I just talk with Sakata Aki about cooking skills. Mr. Sakata wanted to see The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies, so I went to my palace to take it. When I came back, he was dead."

"Then I blankly fainted. When I woke up, the hairpin had been in my hand."

Now confronted with the confusing thing and the stress from so many people, she could only illustrate those things.

The first thing now was to make people not confused anymore. After all, a concubine of Da Yi and a foreign envoy were found in a devious loft, which couldn't be illustrated and was not a good thing.

Huanan Xin appeared dark and gloomy.

Pei Rushi wrote the book The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies, which was clearly known by him.

The fact that opponents privately talked with each other about cooking skills was not a rare thing. But why did they avoid people and stay in a quiet loft in the Palace? Anyway, Gu Yunxi's words didn't make sense.

Huanan Xin refrained from his anxiety and unhappiness, just ignoring this confusing thing. What he tried to do now was to prove that Gu Yunxi was innocent.

If someone said Gu Yunxi killed Sakata Aki in person, Huanan Xin could never believe.

Sakata Aki looked handsome and strong.

Gu Yunxi was just a woman and her Kungfu was removed, so how could she kill him just by means of a hairpin?

Besides, she was not a silly woman.

Sakata Aki had never offended her. Even if he had offended her, she would also have minded the whole situation. In a word, she would never try to kill a foreign envoy when they held the cooking competition and foreign envoys were visited into Imperial Garden.

Wang Can seriously heard what Gu Yunxi said, quietly walking into the room and being close to Sakata Aki's corpse.

In his clenched right hand, a green thing held by him attracted Wang Can's attention.

He bowed and took a leaf with blood from the corpse.

Wang Can frowned and rubbed the leaf's stem, quietly thinking.

How strange it was! The Book Hall was a deserted loft, so there were no green plants in the whole building.

And there was no vine near here. Evidently, the leaf with blood was grasped by Sakata Aki before he was killed.

So, where did he find the leaf?

Behind him, when Mrs. Yuancang raised her head and saw the leaf held by Wang Can, she suddenly stopped crying. Her screwy and red face for the sake of crying became pale.

She kneeled and requested Huanan Xin. The interpreter said she was requesting that Huanan Xin could let her go out of the Palace and bring the message of Sakata Aki's death to General Yuancang.

The demand was reasonable, so Huanan Xin couldn't refuse her. He ordered Honour Guards to escort the envoys of Ying State to go out of the Palace until they reached the embassy.

Wang Can felt Huanan Xin was in a dilemma, so he put the leaf away and raised his fists to salute.

"Your Majesty, now the thing has happened. In order to find the truth and prove Concubine Yun is innocent, I think we should summon the manager of Court of Judicial Review and investigate the thing."

Huanan Xin looked gloomy, sighing and patting Gu Yunxi's shoulder.

"So you must stay in your palace for a time. Guards, bring Concubine Yun to her palace. Announce my oral decree. From now on, the door of Jingyang Palace is closed, and people in that palace can't go out."

House arrest could protect her to the most degree.

As Gu Yunxi's eyes were full of tears, she slowly lowered her head. Being sad and calm, she lowered her head and said.

"Your Majesty, I have no other demand. But I just need my mother's book. I just want to find The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies as soon as possible."

Being dazzled, she seemed to fall into an abyss.

Previously, she always calculated other people, but now she was trapped by someone. She never expected this to happen. Just as an old saying went, "When a mantis is trying to catch a cicada, a spinus is behind it."

She sadly turned around, being dragged and held by a eunuch and going out of the room. When she went downstairs, they came across Yue Xilou and Leshuang.

Leshuang lowered his head and said nothing, being calm as normal.

Yue Xilou quietly raised his mouth and sneered, mocking in his heart.

"Ha-ha, everyone must be unfortunate one day..."