Chapter 168: What’s happened to you, Empress? (1/2)

Chapter 168: What’s happened to you, Empress?

What was wrong with the empress?

Han Yunxi stopped her questioning and looked towards the empress, who immediately averted her eyes. Long Tianmo helped her sit down on one side, filled with concern. “Muhou, are you all right? Is it too tiring?”

“Someone, call for an imperial physician!” the empress dowager said.

Yet the empress stopped them both, her voice steady. “I’m all right, there’s no need…”

Feeling unconvinced, Han Yunxi resumed her questioning of Shuang Hong. “Shuang Hong, think it over carefully. You can’t leave anything out.”

Shuang Hong had no idea why Han Yunxi was asking these questions. She didn’t even need to think about the answer. That night, Princess Changping sent her to fetch something at the same time she told her to take something away. It was just one object, and a very particular one at that, so she remember it very clearly.

The empress sat on one side with her eyes fixated on Shuang Hong. Perhaps her gaze was too fierce, but Shuang Hong sensed the stare. She timidly looked over and had a big fright, before quickly averting her eyes. Now she felt uneasy. Why was the empress looking at her this way? Could it be that that object…

She hesitated until Han Yunxi said coldly, “Shuang Hong, this is of monumental importance. Think it over carefully! If you lie, once the investigation’s through…”

This was a reminder as well as a warning. Han Yunxi didn’t finish her sentence. Shuang Hong hung her head, her heart pounding. She stole another peek at the empress, still hesitant. It was at this time that the silent Long Feiye spoke up in an icy voice.

“You need to think this long for something that happened only a few days ago?”

Shuang Hong raised her head and met Long Feiye’s cold eyes. In that instant, her soul fled from her body! Heavens, the Duke of Qin was looking at her and even personally interrogating her! Too terrifying!

How could Shuang Hong dare to hesitate any further? She hastily replied, “Your servant remembers, remembers now! That day Princess Changping had your servant take away a wooden Buddha statue that belonged to the empress. Your servant left it in a room up ahead and hasn’t had time to put it back yet!”

Her words seemed to suck the very souls out of the empress, who completely collapsed.

It belonged to the empress?

Han Yunxi was surprised. When she saw the empress’s reaction, she seemed to realize something. A complicated look flitted past her eyes as she spoke. “Where did you put it? Take me to it right now.”

“It’s in a little room on the right. Your servant didn’t touch it again after I left it there,” Shuang Hong said truthfully.

Without another word, Han Yunxi walked over with Long Feiye close behind. The empress dowager and Long Tianmo were filled with even more doubts. What was going on now? What did Han Yunxi find out without telling them a thing? And yet, while grandmother and grandson were still puzzled, the empress suddenly jumped to her feet and chased after them.

“Muhou!” Long Tianmo shouted, finally realizing that his mother was acting strange. Although her feelings had been unstable for the past five to six days, today she was really…

“What’s wrong with her?” the empress dowager fretted.

Long Tianmo didn’t know what to say, but hurried after her with the empress dowager. By now, Han Yunxi was in the room that Shuang Hong pointed out, but she hadn’t found a thing.

“I clearly put it here. I didn’t move it afterwards.”

“When that happened that night, I even fell sick. I didn’t have a chance to come back!”

“Nobody would dare to move esteemed empress’s things! That was a new Buddha statue that the empress recently obtained!”

… …

Shuang Hong was very anxious, afraid that the blame would fall onto her. Han Yunxi and Long Feiye looked around the room, only to see the empress standing by the doorway, staring at them both.

“Esteemed empress, do you know where that Buddha statue went?” Han Yunxi asked.

“I don’t,” the empress replied.

“In other words, it’s been lost?” Han Yunxi asked again.

“There’s no way such a thing can be lost, especially when it belongs to the empress! Shuang Hong, you better think it over clearly!” Long Tianmo said as he walked over.

Shuang Hong immediately knelt on the ground. “Your Highness Crown Prince, your servant didn’t remember wrongly. I placed it in this very room. Princess Changping wanted to personally carve a stone Buddha for the empress dowager as a New Year’s gift, but she didn’t have enough time. She hadn’t even finished engraving the lotus throne[1], so she told your servant that morning to borrow a wooden Buddha statue from esteemed empress as a model. Later on, the princess told me to fetch some gold powder and put the wooden Buddha away, so I put that here!”

So speaking, Shuang Hong suddenly added, “That’s right! Your servant remembers, that night your servant told the western wing’s Xiao Yue[2], she should know this was here, too!”

“Someone, summon Xiao Yue here!” Long Feiye ordered immediately.

Xiao Yue?

The empress’s face turned green as she remained silent. Instead of Xiao Yue, it was Qian mama who came instead. “To report to these masters, court lady Xiao Yue caught a foul disease two days ago. She’s already no more…”

Before she finished, Han Yunxi had narrowed her eyes. Something so convenient had come from fishy circumstances. If she didn’t understand this much, then she would’ve lived this long for nothing!