All the ancestors in the capital begged me to be a substitute

Outside the palace of Princess Pingyang.

Not long after the carriage that Shen Lingxi was riding stopped, someone knocked on the window from the outside.

She opened the curtain, and saw Mu Huai'an in a crimson official uniform, and Chu Yan in a black embroidered gold robe behind him, standing outside the carriage.

It's just that compared with Mu Huai'an, Chu Yan didn't change his appearance this time. He lacked the elegance of "Ning Liulang" and was different from the coldness of the guards.

He stood behind Mu Huai'an with a cold expression, condescendingly looking down at her, his handsome face was a bit more noble and alienated by a superior.

Seeing him glance at her coldly, their gazes collided unexpectedly in mid-air.

Shen Lingxi's heart tugged inexplicably.

Mu Huai'an saw that her eyes were all on Chu Yan, so he couldn't help raising his eyebrows and asked, "You, the special envoy of the empress dowager, came here instead of going to Dali Temple, and didn't send someone to inform me. If you didn't go On the way to Fu'an Hall, I saw Xiaodouzi sitting in front of the carriage and following me, I'm afraid I won't be able to see you if I go to Wangxian Village."

As he spoke, he walked forward without a trace, blocking Shen Lingxi's sight.

Shen Lingxi quickly looked away.

She didn't expect to see them here, so she hurriedly got off the carriage to greet them.

Shen Lingxi: "On the way, I heard people talking about the East Palace. Thinking of the maid I caught last night, I suddenly wanted to try my luck."

"Trying luck?" Mu Huai'an's eyes lighted up slightly, thinking that last night, Shen Lingxi found the scene where Yuzhu was killed, leaned towards her, covered her lips and whispered, "This time, are you divination or practice? Do you need me?" Give you a hand?"

"No need." She replied in a low voice.

Behind him, Chu Yan's eyes seemed to inadvertently glance over the corners of the clothes where the two touched, and then retracted lightly.

Shen Lingxi turned sideways to avoid Mu Huai'an, looked at Chu Yan actively, and sincerely greeted, "By the way, is Your Highness okay?"

Knowing that he was the one who saved her little aunt's life back then, Shen Lingxi was very grateful to him from the bottom of her heart.

Of course, if he can return his little aunt to her in the future, she will be more grateful to him.

Now, if Shen Lingxi wants to save her little aunt, she must have a good relationship with Chu Yan.

She had made up her mind last night.

Chu Yan is extremely guarded. She was able to risk her life to test her, so she must not be someone who would easily trust others.

Of course, she also knows that Chaotang Boyun is treacherous, and he must have many scruples to stop him in the court, so there is such a city.

She is not a narrow-minded person, and she must remember the "little vendetta" that he "sent her to die" back then.

Since there are many eyes on him, the grandson of the emperor, in the front court and the harem, there are even many hidden arrows waiting for him to make mistakes.

Although she doesn't have any great skills, this kind of hellish ability may just be able to avoid disadvantages for him.

Shen Lingxi has been burying people for the past few years and sending the dead to reincarnate. She knows that everything in this world is about karma, and no one will be nice to anyone for no reason.

In short, she hoped that from now on, she would treat each other with sincerity and help him.

In the future, he will be grateful for her sincere help, and letting her little aunt out of the sea of ​​suffering is the result.

Thinking of this, Shen Lingxi looked at Chu Yan with more anticipation.

The beautiful eyes were watery, and the twinkling light fell on Chu Yan only.

It seemed that the man in front of him was not a cold-faced noble grandson of the emperor, but some kind of treasure in the world.

Being watched by Shen Lingxi with overly passionate eyes, Chu Yan frowned imperceptibly.

Jaw tensed, eyes averted.

As if he hadn't noticed the difference in her eyes from yesterday, his eyes were cold, and his tone was indifferent: "I'm sorry."

"The girl's feet couldn't move last night, but today she can move as usual. It seems that she is recovering well."

Shen Lingxi smiled at him, with dimples on her lips, "Thanks to His Highness for sending the courtier's daughter back to Shoukang Palace last night, I was able to recover so quickly. I still have to thank Your Highness."

"There's no need to be too polite." The corners of Chu Yan's lips curled up slightly, but his eyes were bright with insight.

The little liar suddenly changed his attitude, but there was no guilt in his eyes.

She had never been so enthusiastic and flattering in the past, deliberately trying to please.

I'm afraid there are other plans.

Therefore, Chu Yan looked at Shen Lingxi with warmer eyes, but the smile drawn by the corners of his lips no longer reached his eyes.

Around the emperor and grandson of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there was never a shortage of flattering and flattering people.

Unexpectedly, she would be one of them.

Mu Huai'an at the side turned his eyes around the two of them, feeling a misunderstanding in his heart.

He hated seeing these two people flirtatiously in front of him.

The matter involved the East Palace. At this time, His Royal Highness, the Emperor Taisun, should not stay in the Beiya.

Biansheng wanted to follow to investigate the case, and met Shen Lingxi in his true colors.

Now that he has no engagement with Shen Lingxi, he has to think about it.

Mu Huai'an intentionally walked between the two of them, coughed, and said to Shen Lingxi: "Let's go, I'm here, no matter what happens, I have to pay a visit to Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess."

After saying that, he turned around and bowed respectfully to Chu Yan: "Your Highness, please first."

*
Princess Pingyang's mansion is the mansion bestowed by the late emperor.

As the most beloved daughter of the first emperor and the younger sister of the present emperor, the Princess's Mansion occupies a vast area, with pavilions, terraces and pavilions, all of which are decorated with carved beams and painted buildings. It is extremely extravagant and luxurious, even more so than the Prince An's Mansion next door.

Shen Lingxi and Mu Huai'an followed Chu Yan to the Princess Chang's mansion, so they didn't have to wait outside the door, they were directly welcomed by the porter to the front hall.

After sitting in the front hall for about a quarter of an hour, Shen Lingxi saw twenty or so servants, surrounded by four servants, carrying a blue soft sedan, coming from the corridor on the east side.

The soft sedan landed in front of the hall. A woman in her thirties, wearing a flying bun and dressed in a very elegant and luxurious dress, supported the arm of the servant and got out of the sedan chair.

She had a pair of extremely majestic phoenix eyes, and when she swept towards people lightly, she naturally had a three-point domineering momentum.

It was exactly the same as when Shen Lingxi met in Fu'an Hall that day.

It was Chu Ying, the eldest princess of Pingyang.

"Meow..."

Xuetuan followed Chu Ying's soft sedan to the front hall, and when she saw Shen Lingxi, she rushed forward and rubbed against the corner of her skirt.

It came with King An, whom he hadn't seen for a few days.

When Wang An saw Shen Lingxi, he smiled happily.

Just as he was about to step forward, he suddenly found that Chu Yan was there, so he quickly stopped and hid.

"I'll wait for you outside. A few days ago, Brother Six was visiting the Princess Mansion at night. The evil spirit on my body bounced me far, far, and made me unconscious for two days before waking up." The boy said with lingering fear.

Shen Lingxi: ...

She withdrew her gaze, followed Mu Huai'an and Chu Yan to salute the eldest princess.

After taking her seat, the eldest princess glanced over the faces of the three of them, but when she saw Shen Lingxi, her eyes were a little surprised.

However, this surprise was quickly covered up.

She looked at Chu Yan, and asked straight to the point, "Liu Lang came today, but for the maid who was caught in the East Palace yesterday?"

"Exactly." Chu Yan raised a pair of black eyes and looked at the eldest princess with deep and sharp eyes, "The maidservant made a confession last night, saying that she was ordered by her aunt to investigate, so today my nephew came to ask, but I don't know if my aunt Where did you hear that the ice cellar is different?"

"I went to Yutan Palace a few days ago. I heard from the female officer in front of my concubine that someone had seen Yuzhu go to the East Palace alone before she disappeared." The eldest princess looked at him calmly. On the other side, I was not very efficient in handling things, so I thought about sending someone to take a look. If I went to visit explicitly, I was afraid that people would misunderstand that I, as an aunt, deliberately made things difficult for you, so I took the opportunity of the palace banquet to let the people around me Martial maid, go in and take a look quietly."

Speaking of this, she paused for a moment, her gaze turned sharp: "I also want to ask Liulang, how did you know that there was something wrong with the ice cellar, and you bumped into her when the maidservant was leaving? If Wu The servant girl didn't go, so no one will find the ice cellar last night?"

Between the words, he insinuated that Chu Yan was the "master" of the ice cellar, and he had no choice but to disclose the matter of the ice cellar because the maidservant broke the secret of the ice cellar.

Shen Lingxi sat across from each other, looking at the pair of aunts and nephews, you come and go, tit for tat.

Obviously, they were suspicious of each other.

It's just that I don't know whether the eldest princess is a thief calling for a thief, or she is really innocent.

After all, all the clues now point to her.

Shen Lingxi turned her head to look at Wang An who was leaning against the gate.

The young man saw her thoughts and said to her from a distance: "You asked me to look for Yuzhu these few days, but I couldn't find him, so I had to follow my aunt. The little eunuch Sansao told her three days ago that she had seen Yuzhu go to the East Palace, that's why she sent her maid to the East Palace last night."

On the other hand, Chu Yan didn't feel annoyed at the princess's questioning, and said calmly, "I always have the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in the East Palace, so my aunt should know."

The eldest princess's red lips curled up slightly, "So, do you think that if I am the person behind the scenes, I would be so stupid as to send someone to throw myself into a trap knowing that you are in the East Palace?"

"Of course my aunt wouldn't do that." Chu Yan narrowed her eyes, slightly bent her bony fingers, and tapped on the table, "Because of this, my nephew came to the door in person and asked my aunt why."

"It seems that someone is deliberately instigating, trying to create a rift between you and me, and take advantage of the chaos." The corner of the eldest princess's lips showed a three-point mockery, "Originally, I am not interested in asking about your affairs. But now that If the other party plots against me, then I have to get involved. Why don't you and I play a play according to their wishes, how about it?"

"My aunt has an order, and my nephew dare not disobey." Chu Yan nodded in response, "I just don't know, how does my aunt plan to play this play?"

The eldest princess stretched out her fingertips painted with Koudan, pointed at Shen Lingxi, and said meaningfully: "Go and leave her behind."