585 Cute Little Black Eggs, The Emperor’s Doting (1)
On the other hand, after Nangong Li received the news that the Queen would enter the palace to visit the Prince Consort, he had been loitering at the palace gate. However, even when the sun set, the Queen was nowhere to be seen.
Could it be that something had delayed them in the manor? Nangong Li summoned a guard and asked him to return to the Queen Manor.
The guard returned extremely quickly. “Your Highness, the Queen set off two hours ago.”
“Two hours? Are you sure?” Nangong Li frowned.
The guard nodded. “I’ve double-checked with the butler. The Queen left the manor in a servant’s carriage with only Captain Mo.”
The Queen was grounded by the Emperor and she was not allowed to leave the manor openly. Naturally, the more low-key she was, the better. But since they had already set off for two hours, why was there still no sign of her after so long?
Could it be that… something had gone wrong on the way?
Nangong Li thought for a while and instructed, “Bring a few people to look along the way. Don’t leak the news. Just secretly ask around.”
“Yes!”
The guard brought his three companions and headed in the direction of the Queen Manor. The few of them were all born and raised in the Capital. They all understood the few roads from the Queen Manor to the palace.
However, they had searched all the places the Queen might have passed by, but there was still no sign of her.
This was strange. If she wasn’t in the manor or on the way, then where did she go?
Nangong Li felt uneasy. His mother valued her father the most. His father had vomited blood in prison, so his mother would definitely rush over as quickly as possible. Nangong Li could not figure out what had delayed his mother.
“Your Highness! Your Highness!” A guard hurriedly walked over and whispered something into his ear.
Nangong Li frowned suspiciously at first, then his eyes turned cold. “Is the news accurate?”
“My fellow countryman is a prison guard at the Dali Temple. His words can’t be fake. I wonder if she’s a lunatic… or if she’s really the Queen…” The guard’s voice gradually lowered towards the end.
He was secretly angry that he had said something wrong. How could he compare the Queen to a lunatic? The Queen was the Queen, and a lunatic was a lunatic. How could they be compared to her?
Fortunately, Nangong Li was only focused on finding the Queen and did not catch the ambiguity in his words.
To be honest, Nangong Li did not think that the crazy woman who was captured and brought to the Dali Temple was his mother. The minister of the Dali Temple was a close subject of his mother, so how could he not recognize his mother?
However, someone had pretended to be his mother in prison and slandered her reputation. No matter what, he had to investigate. He left two guards at the palace gate to wait for the Queen. “…If my mother comes later, you have to stop her even if you have to take the risk of offending your superior.”
“…Yes.” The two guards braced themselves and agreed.
Nangong Li took a carriage to the Dali Temple.
When the minister of the Dali Temple found out that the commandery prince of the Queen Manor had come, he hurriedly put down his official business and respectfully welcomed him into the hall.
“Greetings, Your Highness.” The minister bowed.
Nangong Li frowned and said, “There’s no need to be so polite. I heard that the Dali Temple captured a criminal and claimed to be the Queen.”
The minister said, “Ah, there’s such a person. She came in and said that she was the Queen. She even said that if we dare to touch a hair on her, she’ll take all our heads. She’s really a lunatic!”
Nangong Li thought for a while and said, “Where is she? Take me to see her.”
The minister cupped his hands. “I don’t dare to dirty your eyes, Your Highness. I’ll get someone to interrogate her and ask her who instructed her. First, she assassinated His Majesty, then she pretended to be the Queen.”
“Assassinate the Emperor?” Nangong Li frowned.
The minister said angrily, “That’s right. Eunuch Wang reported it. Not only did she assassinate the Emperor, but she also beat up the Madam and the little masters of the Helian family. The Madam and the little masters were seriously injured by her. Of course, she’s not any better.”
Eunuch Wang reported that she had fallen until her head was like a pig’s head, but she vented her anger on the Helian family who was passing by. The Emperor went forward to mediate, and she even gave him a beating. If it weren’t for Eunuch Wang’s heroic escort, she would have beaten the Emperor up.
The minister straightened his back and said, “I won’t let such a bold person off easily!”
“Ah—” A woman’s scream came from the torture chamber. Her voice was hoarse and no longer sounded like her own. However, for some reason, Nangong Li felt his heart skip a beat.