贵女撩夫攻略

Chapter 007

Chapter 7 – Interrogation

In the dead of the night, a quiet shadow flashed into Pingyang Palace in a rush.

As the saying goes, after the autumn rain comes the coldness. The green bricks leading to the front of the palace had yet to dry when the cold wind had already swiftly arrived lifted up those layers of the satin drapes hanging in the middle of the palace and also mischievously swayed the small flames of the golden branch lamp which immediately obscured the silhouette of a graceful figure.

A woman sat in front of the bronze mirror under the lamp with one hand holding an ivory comb while the other stroking her silky black hair. Her bearing was gentle and graceful with a picturesque appearance. Standing next to her, a personal palace maid was serving her in removing the hairpin and earrings. It seemed she was about to retire for the night. The door was suddenly pushed open gently when another palace maid squeezed through with quick steps. She walked to the front of the woman and whispered a few words into her ear that made the woman immediately knitted her brows.

"Let her in."

"Yes, niang-niang [1]."

The palace maid bowed then went out and returned with a gauntly middle-aged woman following behind with brisk strides and appeared shrewd. Though her arrival this late at night was definitely bringing forth urgent matters yet once she was inside the palace, her steps were unhurried and didn't seem anxious to report the matter. Instead she performed the proper ceremony first. From the look of it, she must have been someone who had gone through many years of arduous hardship in the palace.

"Nubi [2] has seen the Imperial Noble Consort."

"Forego the formalities." Bai Zhixuan turned to face her. She was still charming even without make-up on her face but her brows were tightly knitted, "Aunt Hong, what important matter had happened for you to come so late at night? Did Zihao stir up trouble again?"

"This has nothing to do with the third young master. It's the patriarch who sent someone to deliver a message letting me inform niang-niang immediately tonight." Saying this, Aunt Hong slightly lowered her head and whispered four words, "The mission had failed."

Bai Zhixuan's eyes turned cold. She suddenly slammed the table and stood up. The ivory comb in her hand snapped in two once it was knocked on the white jade narrow table, "What did you just say? Failed again?"

Aunt Hong nodded her head seriously.

The atmosphere unexpectedly turned stagnant and the air had also become thin. Bai Zhixuan's bewilderment gradually shifted to sullen. Her chest unceasingly undulated before she spat some words out after a while, "Thirty top assassins were unable to take down one King Lan manor. Simply useless!"

"Niang-niang, there was a mishap this time. Who would have expected Ye family to be next door and take part in ...."

"Needless to say!" All of a sudden, Bai Zhixuan raised her hand as she simply didn't want to hear these excuses. She directly picked the most significant question to ask, "Did they capture anyone?"

Aunt Hong shook her head lightly, "According to the report, the shadow guards had hurled all the assassins' bodies outside of the city after the assassination was defeated. They have checked. There were exactly thirty corpses and all were our own people."

Bai Zhixuan exhaled a mouthful of heavy breath while her heart slightly felt at peace. She waved her hand after she pondered for a while, "Go back to the Bureau of Shang, Bengong [3] will have my own stratagem about this matter."

Aunt Hong knew she must be very upset at this moment and it was indeed unsuitable for her to stay any longer. This was to avoid getting caught by people with ulterior motives who might use this to make a fuss in front of the Queen Mother. Hence, she complied as she bowed and retreated. Two palace maids surrounded her after Aunt Hong left the palace. They were both confidants that Bai Zhixuan brought with her from the Bai family. Both faces were showing anxieties after they had heard about the matter.