After returning from rebirth, the eldest sister of Hou family destroyed her household registration b

Tao Yao immediately knelt down and said, "Mother, I really don't know what happened."

She remembered clearly that the ink she used at that time was ordinary ink, and it could not be the velvet ink used in the queen's bedroom.

"Your Majesty, I have never done anything secretly. I have been by your side for many years. Even if I am broken to pieces, I will never betray you!"

Taoyao's expression was tense, but she didn't show any signs of guilt.

Queen Wei looked at Taoyao who was kneeling on the ground in silence. After a while, she gradually looked away.

"Okay, get up. I didn't say that I don't believe you. I checked the note before it was sent quietly, and there was indeed nothing wrong with it."

Tao Yao stood up slowly and said, "Mother, I still feel that Chu Huanyan must have framed me."

Although the longevity lock did belong to Youlan's nephew, and the poison was passed on by the empress so that she could find a way to hide it on Youlan's only path, that note was the key evidence.

Maybe Chu Huanyan couldn't find anyone else, and she was worried that she would be held accountable if she couldn't find the murderer, so she tried to frame the blame.

The more Taoyao thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Queen Wei frowned and thought for a while before slowly speaking: "Maybe, but I always feel that this matter is not that simple."

……

Outside the Meilin, after Emperor Xiao left, the guards had already withdrawn.

Chu Huanyan and Xiao Jinzhi originally followed the guards and left, but after a stick of incense, they turned back and arrived at a tall building not far away again.

"At this time, if you enter the Merlin, you will attract the least attention." Chu Huanyan stood beside Xiao Jinzhi. After all, there had just been such a fuss. I am afraid that neither Emperor Xiao nor the patrolling guards would have thought of it. Someone will break into the forbidden area tonight.

"Want to take a look?" Xiao Jinzhi asked with a smile.

Chu Huanyan also raised her lips and smiled: "If I didn't want to go, I wouldn't have come with His Highness."

Empress Wei used the forbidden area to plot against herself, and after Emperor Xiao got the news, he immediately rushed over. These reactions are enough to show that the forbidden area is really Xiao Emperor's counter scale. She was really curious about what was hidden in it.

Also, if Empress Wei did not lie, and Grandma Qinfang had really been to this forbidden area, why?

The two didn't speak anymore. After confirming that the patrolling guards had left, Xiao Jinzhi flew into the Merlin with Chu Huanyan.

Falling down in the clearing in the forest, the first thing that catches the eye are countless plum trees. The branches that have not been trimmed for many years are stacked on top of each other, but they are all bare. It is impossible to tell whether they are dead under the night.

Walking on the path in the plum forest, Chu Huanyan looked around.

There are at least hundreds of plum trees planted in this forest, which is hard to count at one time. Some paths with ragged branches cast dark shadows, revealing a sense of loneliness that no one has set foot on for a long time.

After picking up about half a cup of tea along the trail, Chu Huanyan and Xiao Jinzhi saw a small house.

To be precise, it was a hut that had been burned down. The roof had collapsed and it looked dilapidated. There were only some rotten pillars with traces of the fire.

"This should be where the concubine named Mei was imprisoned."

"Yes, this is the only residence in the forest." Xiao Jinzhi stopped next to Chu Huanyan.

Under the moonlight, Chu Huanyan looked carefully at the house in front of her.

It's just a pity that it took too long. After being burned by fire and neglected for many years, it was left in a state of dilapidation with no trace of the past.

"If the rumors are true and the late emperor really died in this plum forest, then could he have come to see the concubine surnamed Mei who is confined here for the last time?" Chu Huanyan suddenly had such an idea.

But after she finished speaking, she couldn't help but shake her head.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it."

If you really wanted to see her, why didn't you just order the lifting of the ban? Instead, you dragged her sick body and insisted on coming to this plum forest.

"It's not necessarily just overthinking. It's hard to explain the feelings in this world, and there are many people who are intertwined with love and hate. When we look back, we may think that we will see each other in private one last time, but..."

Xiao Jinzhi stopped and did not continue.

Chu Huanyan glanced at him, took over his words and said, "What was announced to the outside world was that the late emperor passed away and died in his palace. If that was false, why did the emperor conceal the news, and what happened later? This place has become a forbidden area.”

"Do you also doubt the cause of the late emperor's death?" Xiao Jinzhi frowned slightly.

Chu Huanyan thought for a while, shook her head and said: "I heard that when the late emperor was seriously ill, he had already appointed the emperor as his younger brother because he had no children. Later, when the late emperor passed away, the emperor wrote in his own handwriting He passed the imperial edict and ascended the throne legitimately. If it was for the throne, he had no reason to attack the late emperor at that time."

After all, I heard that the imperial doctors at that time said that the late emperor had no cure. The difference was just that he ascended the throne one day earlier or one day later. No matter how you look at it, there is no need to bear the crime of regicide because of this.

Unless...there are other reasons to take action.

Chu Huanyan suppressed this thought and did not say it in front of Xiao Jinzhi.

At this time, Xiao Jinzhi, who was looking ahead, suddenly said, "Weird."

Chu Huanyan followed his line of sight and found that Xiao Jinzhi was looking at a plum tree stump.

The tree was closest to the burned hut, only about half a foot away. Perhaps it was involved in the fire, and all its branches had been burned, leaving only a bare stump with obvious charcoal marks from the fire.

"While walking along the road just now, the layout of the trees was very regular. But this one is not only too close to the hut, but the stump is also very thick, which is a little different from other trees." Xiao Jinzhi said.

"Could it be that they were planted on the edge of the house specifically so that they can enjoy the plum blossoms from the window?" Chu Huanyan guessed.

Xiao Jinzhi shook his head and looked at the dilapidated house on the side. "Based on the thickness of the tree stump, the plum tree planted here should not be short. And based on the height of the house, after opening the window, I am afraid that what comes into view is too big." It's just a tree trunk, not a plum blossom. And although plum trees grow slowly, they can be planted here. Over time, the branches will grow and it will definitely affect the house."

It is impossible that the gardeners in the palace did not take this into consideration, unless the late emperor specially instructed it when making the layout. However, why did the late emperor allow the tree to be planted here? It should at least be moved farther away.

Xiao Jinzhi was puzzled, so he walked around the tree stump and examined it carefully.

Chu Huanyan followed, and the two of them checked together and found nothing special.

A gust of wind passed by, the clouds in the sky covered the moonlight, and the surrounding light became dim.

Chu Huanyan accidentally stepped on a tree root exposed on the ground and almost fell down. Fortunately, she held on to the tree stump next to her.

"Be careful." Xiao Jinzhi grabbed Chu Huanyan, "Are you injured?"

"No." Chu Huanyan shook her head.

She stood firm and patted the dust on her hands, but remembering how she had held the tree stump just now, she suddenly paused again, stretched out her hand and patted the tree stump, and a "bang bang" sound was heard.

"Xiao Jinzhi, there seems to be something wrong with this tree."