slave like jade

Chapter 91 Bottomless Black Hole
"Today the palace was on fire, and an assassin took advantage of the chaos to assassinate my father. During the fight, the assassin dropped this jade pendant. Just look, this jade pendant is the one I gave you that day?"

Mu Lingzhi's words caused Yu Ruyan's whole body to fall into hell in an instant, and she froze on the spot with a pale face!
And Mu Lingzhi himself felt chills when he recalled what happened tonight——

When the banquet was in full swing, suddenly a big fire broke out in the palace. The fire was so fierce that it burned to the main hall of the banquet in less than a moment. Aimed at the sluggish King Liang...

A good palace banquet was turned upside down by a sudden fire and terrifying assassins. If Mu Lingzhi hadn't blocked the sword for King Liang, King Liang might have become the soul of the sword!
A sword was struck on the shoulder, but Mu Lingzhi ignored it, and drew out the soft sword at his waist to fight the assassin.

He is very familiar with the silver mask on the assassin's face. He has fought against him many times. He is also familiar with the assassin's skills. For some reason, this familiarity is very familiar with the familiarity that has been hidden in his heart for a long time. affim.

More and more guards came towards the main hall. Seeing the failure of the operation, the assassins made more and more fierce moves, trying to get rid of Mu Lingzhi's entanglement and escape from the palace...
During the fight, something fell from the assassin. Mu Ling glanced at it, his expression froze, his expression changed instantly, and his movements slowed down. The assassin took the opportunity to drop the smoke bomb and escape.

The white smoke dissipated, looking at the things on the ground, Mu Ling was shocked and couldn't believe it——

This thing is exactly the dragon pattern auspicious cloud unicorn white fat jade pendant he gave to Yu Ruyan when he was in the military camp!
He was not the only one who saw the jade pendant on the ground. King Liang and others also saw what the assassin left behind, but this thing was too eye-catching and shocking——

Everyone recognized that the jade pendant lying on the ground belonged to Mu Lingzhi!
Mu Lingzhi was still in shock and hadn't recovered from the shock. An servant had carefully picked up the jade pendant and presented it to King Liang.After careful inspection, King Liang was very sure that this jade pendant was the one he personally rewarded Mu Lingzhi back then!
Liang Wang's face darkened instantly, looking at the jade pendant in his hand, he asked Mu Lingzhi coldly, "How do you explain this? Why did your jade pendant appear on the assassin—who is the assassin?"

King Liang is suspicious by nature, and he obtained his throne by extraordinary means, so whenever there is a slight suspicion that his life and the throne may be threatened, he will be extremely sensitive and acute.

Just seeing the jade pendant for the first time, he already regarded Mu Lingzhi as an assassin in his heart!

Mu Lingzhi was in a daze, and he wanted to know why the assassin had his jade pendant on him, which he had obviously given to her...

Seeing that he couldn't answer for a long time, Liang Wang slammed his palm on the table in front of him, angrily said: "I didn't expect the assassin to be yours!"

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked, and everyone knew how serious the crime of killing the king was!
Concubine Xie Guifei's face was ashen. She hurriedly threw herself in front of the stunned Mu Lingzhi, and said anxiously, "What's going on? Explain it to your royal father!"

However, no matter how much Concubine Xie urged him, Mu Lingzhi calmed down after being shocked. He knew in his heart that he must not tell his father at this time that he had given the jade pendant to Yu Ruyan!
Seeing this, the crown prince felt complacent, and hurried forward to pretend to be distressed: "Imperial brother, how could you be so foolish that you would send someone to assassinate your father?"

"No!" Hearing the crown prince fanning the flames, Concubine Xie quickly knelt down in front of King Liang, pointed to Mu Lingzhi's bleeding shoulder and begged, "Your Majesty, Lingzhi is not such a person. He just gave up his life for you!" Blocking the sword, how could it be the assassin's party? There must be a misunderstanding in this."

Hearing Concubine Xie's words, King Liang remembered the sword that Mu Lingzhi blocked for him without hesitation in the crisis just now, the anger on his face eased, he couldn't help but frowned and thought about Concubine Xie's words, maybe there is indeed something hidden in it .

However, the crown prince spoke again in a nonchalant manner: "Perhaps the target of the emperor and the assassin is not the father, but the son. Today is a good day for the son, and the emperor must be in his heart for the father to marry me." Feel dissatisfied and want to send assassins to assassinate me!"

As soon as the prince said this, he ignited the anger that King Liang had just extinguished!
Ten years ago, Liang Wang killed his brother and seized the throne. He had done such a thing himself, so he thought that Mu Lingzhi might be doing something wrong as the prince said, and the suppressed anger in his heart suddenly ignited. The veins on his forehead popped up one by one.

Seeing King Liang's furious appearance, Concubine Xie Guifei's face was covered with cold sweat. She never expected that her son would be involved with the assassin for no reason. ..."

"Your Majesty's words are inappropriate!" Looking at Mu Lingzhi on the ground with a gray face, the prince felt that the wind was finally blowing in his direction, and he felt really relieved. He said coldly: "The palace ban For today's banquet, the gates of the palace are even more guarded. Everyone who enters the forbidden palace is strictly interrogated. Without his jade pendant, how would the assassins enter the palace and how could they sneak into the banquet to assassinate the emperor? Now the evidence It's true, does the empress still want to argue for him?"

Thinking of the danger tonight, and hearing the prince's provocation again, Liang Wang was furious, raised his hand, threw the jade cup on the table at Mu Lingzhi, and said harshly, "Come on, arrest this disobedient son!" Get up and go to jail!"

Mu Lingzhi, who came back to his senses, was about to open his mouth to defend himself. Seeing that the guard Wei Linjun came up to escort Mu Lingzhi, the copper coin that was eager to protect the lord rolled in front of King Liang in a panic. Mingjian, His Highness gave this jade pendant to Xiao Qing, a servant girl in the mansion half a year ago, so the assassin has nothing to do with His Highness!"

When Mu Lingzhi heard the words, panic flashed in his eyes, and he secretly cried out that he was not good, and shouted at the copper coin: "Shut up, don't talk nonsense!"

However, Concubine Xie has already reacted. With a flash of her eyes, she already knows who Xiaoqing is in the mouth of the copper coin. Now, no matter whether the jade pendant was really given to that lowly maid by him or not, right now, she can only save herself by biting at this matter. son.

She said to Mu Lingzhi's hatred: "You, you still want to protect her?"

At this time, the light in Mu Lingzhi's eyes was already dark. Countless officers and soldiers in the barracks had seen him give the jade pendant to Yu Ruyan that day. Now that the copper coins tell him, he can no longer hide it!
He said with a hoarse voice: "Father, there must be some misunderstanding in this, please give me some time to let my son thoroughly investigate this matter!"

"Xiaoqing? Are you talking about the military prostitute that the emperor brought back from the military camp?" The prince asked the copper coin deliberately, pretending not to know.As soon as he finished the question, he made a look of sudden realization and said in surprise: "Ah, I see, I didn't expect the emperor to take that military prostitute seriously - not only helped her suck the snake venom at the risk of her life, but I also heard about it a few days ago The emperor disregarded the ancestral rules and insisted on appointing the military prostitute as his side concubine, but in the end, the military prostitute refused—!"

As soon as this remark came out, there was a burst of sighing in the hall!
Originally, a dignified prince would lose his dignity if he mixed with military prostitutes, but he could not take it seriously for fun, but then Mu Lingzhi not only took it seriously but also moved his heart, wouldn't this make everyone in the world laugh.

King Liang couldn't believe it when he heard this, his expression was full of disappointment, his eyes wandered over Mu Lingzhi and Concubine Xie Guifei, and he said disappointedly: "My dear concubine, is what the crown prince said true?"

At this time, Concubine Xie Gui would dare to bully the monarch, even though she hated the prince for being poisoned, she could only grit her silver teeth and swallow it in her stomach, saying in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, Ling Zhihe is just a moment of confusion, and he will never fall in love with a Military whore..."

"That's right, Your Majesty has learned that His Majesty the Third Highness has always been in love with the minister's daughter, and the person he likes in his heart has always been the minister's daughter. How could he be attracted to a lowly military prostitute!"

An abrupt voice slowly resounded in the hall. Mu Ziyue was wearing a pleated phoenix-tailed skirt of jade-colored swirls, with water-sleeves that stretched to the floor. On her head, a piece of black silk was twisted into a snail bun, and a begonia, emerald beads, and jade hairpin were inserted obliquely. The makeup on her face was delicate and elegant. , the crisp lark-like voice was shy, and instantly attracted the eyes of the whole hall to her.

Ever since her scalp was scalded into a scarlet head on the Han Rui Festival, Mu Ziyue has been ridiculed by the ladies of the Eastern Capital all the time. How beautiful she was before, she will be so miserable after that!

However, how could such a high-minded person like her endure such a life, so she has been secretly hiring talented people and strangers everywhere, hoping that there are other ways to restore her scalp and regrow her beautiful hair.

After the unremitting efforts of the Xiangfu, the disciples of the Xiangfu introduced a capable person for her, who actually used someone else's hair to make a wig for Mu Ziyue. After wearing this wig, no one can see the hair on her head anymore. Leprosy, but the Xiangfu claimed to the outside world, only that Miss Mu's hair has grown back after being treated by a miracle doctor!
Regarding Xiangfu's remarks, many people did not believe it, thinking that Xiangfu was just lying to save Miss Mu's face.However, during today's feast in the palace, Mu Ziyue appeared with blue hair, and deliberately only wore a simple and elegant headdress on her head, which made the hair even more eye-catching.

Everyone was surprised, and while feeling aggrieved, they had to admire Mu Ziyue's good luck!

Since just now, Mu Ziyue has been watching the development of the situation with cold eyes from the sidelines. Seeing this opportunity, an inspiration flashed in her heart. In the eyes of everyone, the purpose looks like the shyness of the youngest daughter, but there is a look of pride in the closed eyes——

Right now, because of the assassin and the jade pendant, and because the prince fanned the flames and exposed the military prostitute Xiaoqing, Mu Lingzhi has completely angered King Liang.At this time, he must not dare to admit that he likes Yu Ruyan, and she just stepped forward at this time, seemingly to save Mu Lingzhi and forced to admit their relationship, but in reality, it was a disguise Force Mu Lingzhi to admit her words.If it was as expected, regardless of whether King Liang believed her or not, in order to cut off Mu Lingzhi's thoughts on that military prostitute, King Liang would definitely marry him to Mu Lingzhi on the spot!
Therefore, how could she miss such a golden opportunity!

It has to be said that Mu Ziyue is really smart, her brain turns quickly, and her timing is just right!

Her actions not only saved Mu Ling from the predicament, but also made him unable to get rid of himself.In front of Concubine Xie Guifei, king of Liang, he disclosed his relationship in public, leaving Mu Lingzhi with no choice but to admit his love affair with her and marry him!
Sure enough, her move was exactly what Concubine Xie wanted. She was already satisfied with Mu Ziyue's identity, appearance and character. When she got lame, she put this matter to rest from her heart, but now seeing her white hair still, beautiful and generous, she couldn't help but feel happy, and more importantly, she relieved her son's crisis in a timely manner!
Therefore, without waiting for Mu Lingzhi to recover from Mu Ziyue's words, Concubine Xie Guifei solemnly bowed down to King Liang, and said excitedly: "My lord is wise, Miss Mu and Ling Zhi's childhood sweetheart since childhood, the two have a relationship. How could Lingzhi abandon her and fall in love with a lowly military prostitute? Therefore, such rumors are not credible, and I ask the Holy One to marry Lingzhi and Xiaoyue to fulfill this good marriage!"

Mu Lingzhi's whole body shook, and was about to refute, when Concubine Xie, who was kneeling beside him, clasped his clenched hands firmly under her robe, and said in a low voice, "If you dare to refute again, I will let that There is no place for a lowly maidservant to die!"

With a shake of his hand, Mu Lingzhi couldn't speak anymore, his face was pale, and his deep eyes were full of despair!
Liang Wang looked at Mu Lingzhi's expression and said coldly, "You seem reluctant. Then tell me, what is your plan?"

After finishing speaking, he threw the jade pendant in front of Mu Lingzhi, and looked at him coldly, "Who do you choose between the wood minister's daughter and the military prostitute?"

The eyes of the audience all focused on Mu Lingzhi. Mu Ziyue was so nervous that she couldn't breathe. Although she had a chance to win, she couldn't understand Mu Lingzhi's thoughts more and more. She was afraid that he would veto it in court. her words.

Concubine Xie looked at Mu Lingzhi eagerly, the pointed armor in her hand had been dug deeply into his flesh, her lips trembled and said: "Heaven and hell are all within your thoughts, Chen Zhi is dead , if you disappoint mother and concubine again, I will definitely jump off the Beiding Gate and die in front of you!"

Beiding Gate is the highest gate of the Daliang Palace, and it is also the only way for Mu Lingzhi to return to the palace. Concubine Xie Guifei's face is full of determination. He knows that she will do what she says!

A heart plunged into a black hole of despair, from which he could not break free—

He felt guilty towards Mu Ziyue, and he was filial to his concubine mother, but towards Yu Ruyan, he could only abandon her now!

He knew in his heart that only by abandoning her can he save her!

After a long time, so long that he himself was numb, he finally bowed his head to King Liang in surrender, his heart was dead silent, and his voice fell into the dust: "Everything is up to the emperor!"

Hearing this, the hostility in Liang Wang's eyes withdrew, and he said slowly: "In this case, I will marry you and Mu Ziyue. After the prince's wedding, the Ministry of Rites will choose an auspicious day for you."

Mu Ziyue knelt down to thank her with great joy, and Mu Xiang was also overjoyed. He had always been worried about his daughter's marriage before, but now being able to be married to the third prince as his concubine by the Holy One is the best ending.

Mu Lingzhi also expressed gratitude to King Liang at the gesture of Concubine Xie, and King Liang said coldly, "Although the marriage has been decided, the matter of the assassin has to be found out. Since your jade pendant was given to someone else, the matter of the assassin has nothing to do with you." , but this matter is still left to you to investigate, I hope you will not disappoint me and give a satisfactory answer!"

When Mu Lingzhi heard this, his heart was relieved for a moment——

With this matter in his hands, at least Yu Ruyan's life was saved!

After the banquet was over, all the ministers and officials came forward to congratulate Mu Xiang and Mu Lingzhi. Compared with Mu Xiang's proud face, Mu Lingzhi's face was full of frost, and he didn't exchange a word with those who came to congratulate him. , rushed to the palace without saying a word!

The carriage drove quickly to the palace. In the silent carriage, Mu Lingzhi's heart was in a mess, and his brows were wrinkled——

How did the jade pendant given to her end up in the hands of the assassin?

What is her relationship with the assassin?

She—who is she?

······
At this moment, he threw the jade pendant at her feet, Yu Ruyan picked it up with trembling fingers, just one glance, her heart trembled——

The texture of white fat, the jade pendant is engraved with patterns of dragon and auspicious clouds on both sides, and the lifelike unicorn beast in the middle of the pattern seems to jump out of the jade surface.The jade pendant in her hand was exactly the one that she asked Uncle Chen to pawn to the pawnshop that day, and it was also the one he gave her when he was in the military camp.

Yu Ruyan looked at the jade pendant in her hand stupidly, the tentacles were warm, but her heart was cold, and she said in a daze, "Your Highness, when I was short of money, I sold it... to a pawnshop , I don’t know how it would appear in the assassin’s hands?”

Hearing this, Mu Lingzhi's gloomy face softened slightly, and he said coldly, "Which pawn shop?"

When the jade pendant was pawned back then, Uncle Chen helped her deal with it. Fortunately, Uncle Chen was afraid that she would regret it halfway and wanted to redeem the jade pendant, so he told her the address of the pawnshop in detail and gave her a pawn slip.

Yu Ruyan understood the seriousness of the matter, and quickly told him the name of the pawn shop, she worried: "It's been so long, the pawn shop probably doesn't remember..."

"No." Mu Lingzhi stopped her, and said coldly: "This jade pendant is extraordinary. It is a beautiful jade specially found by the emperor when his father ascended the throne. Skilled craftsmen made it for the prince, me and my eighth brother. , The jade material is precious, and the carving is also top-notch, such a treasure, the pawnshop will definitely leave an impression, so as long as you go to the pawnshop and ask the person who handled it, he will definitely think of who the jade pendant was sold to?"

After finishing speaking, he immediately ordered the copper money guarding the door to take someone to the pawn shop that Yu Ruyan mentioned to inquire about the jade pendant.

After the copper coins left, Yu Ruyan stood in front of him in a daze, at a loss, she knew that he must have a lot of doubts about her in his heart, but he didn't say a word, his face was full of sorrow, his brows were tightly furrowed, and his eyes were hard to hide. Tired, it made her heart stagnate!
All along, Mu Lingzhi was an exceptionally calm and intelligent person. He never frowned when facing thousands of enemy troops on the battlefield. When did he become so distressed like this?

Yu Ruyan knew that all the troubles and anguish he was facing now were all because of her——

Just finding out the real culprit who murdered Gu Qing'er has caused him a lot of headaches, and now there are more assassination incidents, and the assassination of King Liang is even more frightening. I am afraid that not only Concubine Xie Guifei wants her life, but King Liang will also want her life.

Therefore, the only hope now is that the copper coins can bring back good news from the pawnshop. Only by finding evidence that the assassin bought the jade pendant can she at least clear her suspicions and save her life.

The sun was rising and the room was brightly lit. Mu Lingzhi leaned against the head of the bed and closed his eyes tightly. His face turned pale. Yu Ruyan saw that his lips were dry and bleeding, so she went to the table and poured tea for him: "Your Highness, drink Drool!"

Hearing this, Mu Lingzhi's eyes suddenly opened, and he stared fixedly at her for a long time without moving away. There were worries, doubts, fears, nostalgia and guilt in his eyes!

He was worried that he could not find the real assassin and could not clear her of the suspicion. He also wondered why the jade pendant she had pawned in the pawnshop appeared on the assassin. He was even more afraid that the truth would be unbearable for him. She was going to marry Mu Ziyue, but she didn't know if she could stay by her side again? !

He reached out to pick up the tea she handed over, but he didn't expect to be involved in the wound on his shoulder, so he couldn't help but hum softly.

It wasn't until this moment that Yu Ruyan realized that he was hiding under the quilt and had a big cut in his shoulder, bleeding out. She let out a cry of surprise, and hurriedly put down the cup to help him bandage the wound.

Having not slept for several days and nights, coupled with the bleeding from the injury, and what happened in the hall just now, Mu Lingzhi was indeed tired. When Yu Ruyan bandaged his wound, he couldn't help but lean his head against her weakly. In his arms, he murmured: "Suddenly I really miss the days in the military camp. It's just me and you. There are no other disturbances, and there are no worldly disturbances. I train soldiers and you pick flowers. The days are peaceful and carefree. How pleasant it is!"

Thinking of what happened in the past few days, Yu Ruyan was also sore and unspeakable, her eyes were red but she couldn't shed a tear in the end, she gently stroked Mu Lingzhi's frowning brows with both hands, and said sadly: "In the future, if Your Highness When you march again, remember to take me with you, when the time comes, I will loosen the bones and massage your highness, and pick a mountain full of delicate flowers for your highness!"

Mu Lingzhi's expression froze, and he felt extremely uncomfortable. He swallowed hard and let out a dull 'hmm'.

An hour later, the copper coins came back, standing in front of the two of them sweating profusely, and said blankly with a pale face: "Master, that pawnshop closed four months ago, and now people go to the empty building, and there is no way to check it." I didn’t find any clues, and the shopkeeper didn’t know where he was…”

Yu Ruyan's whole body was shaken, and her arms around Mu Lingzhi dropped powerlessly——

four months ago?Isn't it the time when I became a jade pendant?

Could it be that the pawnshop closed immediately after Yu Pei arrived at the pawnshop?
Why?Why is this happening?

Yu Ruyan felt that she had fallen into a terrible black hole. She suddenly realized that she didn't know when she had stepped into a trap set by someone else, but she didn't feel it at all until now. Only then did I realize that something was wrong!
Growing up in the palace, she certainly knew the seriousness of assassinating the emperor. No emperor is willing to let go of the person who threatened his life. If the assassination does not find a real assassin, then the owner of the king's pendant will bear all the responsibility of the emperor. anger!

The jade pendant belonged to Mu Lingzhi, but he gave it to himself, so she can only bear all the blame!

Mu Lingzhi didn't expect such a result. He sat up on the bed with a 'huh', completely ignoring the injury to his shoulder, and said coldly, "What did you say? The pawnshop is no longer there?"

The bandaged wound was torn open under his big movements, and the gauze was soaked in blood, but he didn't even groan.His heart sank, and cold sweat flooded his back. It wasn't the pain from the wound, but the fear welling up in his heart made him sweat coldly.

Thinking of his father's fury last night, his heart sank. If, if no real culprit can be found to prove her innocence, then she...

However, at this moment, there was a commotion outside the door, and An Lirong led the women from the back house to Yunsong Courtyard.When Yu Ruyan saw the blood-stained cloth in An Lan's hand, her whole body trembled, she couldn't stand still anymore, and her body went limp and fell to the ground...
(End of this chapter)