THE FLOWER PALACE'S SECRET

Chapter 29: Mysterious Bonds

Prince Qin's private library became warmed by the fireplace. The room was lit up brightly like a palace hall until there was no darkness left in any crack. A round table of willow wood used for reading and writing is surrounded by four human beings in green, blue, white, and gray robes. In the center of the table was a hot pot of tea and beautiful glasses, complete with green bean cake mixed with real honey.

“Xiaolan, how is the person doing?” asked Lin Zian to the gray-robed girl in front of him.

“It has improved thanks to the bidder Miss Shen,” Ru Xiaolan replied briefly.

“Good.”

“You called me just to ask this?” ru Xiaolan asked as he sipped a cup of tea.

“No, Physician Ru. We would like to invite you to cooperate,” Tang Yin replied.

The young detective looked at Ru Xiaolan intently as if he was staring at the enemy.

“I don't want to get involved.”

Ru Xiaolan refused. He did not want to be further involved in this dangerous investigation. His job is only to keep and treat the person until he recovers and is healthy again, not dragged into the vortex of investigation like this. He would be extremely grateful if Lin Zian and Shen Yanzhia let go after the person they needed was aware of the brink of his death.

Ru Xiaolan looked at the unacceptable look from Tang Yin and Lin Zian. These two men before him were unlikely to take it off so easily. He then looked at Shen Yanzhia, hoping that the girl he had already considered his sister a few months ago could help him. But, the girl beside him was instead staring blankly towards the front, at the pile of snow gathered on top of the decorative stones.

Shen Yanzhia was in a daydream. His heart still felt a pain that came out of nowhere. Then, he recalled back to the Suri Mother's question when he was inside Ruo Shui Palace a few days ago.

Back then, Lin Zian had already left first for the training ground, asking for the help of his secret soldiers to help him move the gold and silver crates that would be used to evacuate the residents around the frozen river.

“Zhi’er, how is your relationship with Lin Zian?” ask the Queen Mother at that time.

Shen Yanzhia, who did not think of anything replied casually without any burden that her relationship with Lin Zian was quite good. The man was suitable to be a storytelling friend for him. He also told me that he fought quite often because the man was always acting annoyingly. What a completely honest answer from a plain girl like her.

The Queen Mother let out a tired breath. This girl did not know the meaning of the question. It had been almost six months of marriage, and already two seasons had passed, no good news had reached him from the two men yet. Shen Yanzhia seemed to really consider this marriage relationship as a formality and playfulness. The girl had absolutely no idea of the meaning of a marriage, let alone the marriage of a prince and a princess.

“You ever slept together?” ask the Queen Mother again.

“Why does His Majesty ask that?”

“I just want to know.”

“We have our own residence. There is no reason that requires us to be in the same room and bed.”

“You really don't understand?”

Shen Yanzhia shook her head. Why did the Queen Mother keep questioning such a ridiculous thing? Really, he did not understand at all the meaning of all the questions of the Queen Mother. The old woman asked the state of her relationship with Lin Zian, so Shen Yanzhia answered him honestly according to the reality. But, the answer seemed to be very unsatisfactory to the Queen Mother.

“Looks like, I won't be able to embroider a pair of small shoes anytime soon,” the Queen Mother said after a while. He rubbed his own forehead. Then, he called his servant, Mi Shaoshi, to take him back to Guanling Palace.

“Wangfei, how about you?”

Lin Zian's voice broke his daydream. She looked at her husband with a question. Really, he was completely unable to hear the conversation and something they were discussing in this room because his mind was drifting away.

“What?”

“What do you remember when you were inside Ruo Shui Palace?”

He had yet to get a closer look as his eyes suddenly shed tears as his gaze returned to the painting of the late Crown Prince. Shen Yanzhia was only able to see clearly when she was stealing the time when the Queen Mother was asleep in Ruo Shui Palace.

“Detective Tang, did you bring the blood letter?”

Tang Yin then took out a paper containing red writing that Shen Yanzhia had seen several times. The detective then placed it on the table and spread it until the entire writing was clearly displayed. Shen Yanzhia directed her gaze at the writing on the letter, trying to recall it and likening it to the writing she saw in Ruo Shui Palace. The shape, pattern, streaks, even thickness were almost exactly the same as the writing in Ruo Shui Palace. Without any doubt once again, he already knew that the owner of the poem writing in Ruo Shui Palace with the owner of this blood letter was the same person.

“This writing is exactly the same as the poem I saw in Ruo Shui Palace.”

“You know who the owner is?” tang Yin asked impatiently.

Shen Yanzhia sighed for a moment.

“Mendiang previous Crown Prince.”

Tang Yin and Lin Zian were shocked. If Shen Yanzhia's words were true, then Lin Zian could confirm that something was amiss with the death of the previous Crown Prince and Emperor. Both of them were unlikely to simply fall on the battlefield because the previous Emperor and the late Crown Prince were superior and highly respected knights.

Moreover, the war was led directly by the Emperor and his Crown Son. Tens of thousands of soldiers who are with both of them will certainly put the safety of the king and their future king rather than themselves. After all these years, both deaths were still considered ordinary deaths. No one in this country would dare to speak or bring it up.

In the past, Lin Zian had always thought that such a terrible death was so painful for the entire population of the Ling mainland that they were all silent and did not want to discuss it.

Who likes to bring about the misfortune and pain of death? No human being can endure pain when he recalls the painful memory of someone who is deeply loved, respected and respected, even that someone had made the others willingly die with sincerity.

Lin Zian had not been able to draw conclusions just by relying on the evidence in the form of blood letters and strings of poetry in Ruo Shui Palace. He needs further guidance if he wants to get more convincing certainty, so that he can conclude whether the death of two important people was intentional or indeed because of an accident. The dying person who had already gradually recovered that Ru Xiaolan had cared for might be the next clue.

Shen Yanzhia again could not focus on the ongoing talks before her. His mind drifted far away to a place he had never known. The place was very far away, but it had gardens and palaces with incomparable beauty.

Shen Yanzhia saw a very unpretentious and noble-looking person waving at her from that place, as if calling her to come and come in to enjoy the beauty that was before her eyes. The man held a white fan patterned with peaches and plum blossoms decorated with beautiful calligraphy on the edge. The end of the fan had a long black tassel.

Shen Yanzhia's heart drizzled as soon as she saw the person waving his hand smiling lovingly at her. It was as if he saw an angel without wings ready to take him flying anywhere, through the entire universe and wading through the entire land of this vast and beautiful Ling empire. That person is like pulling him on a tangled knot that he must decide for himself. Shen Yanzhia's tears flowed just like when she was in Ruo Shui Palace. That person slowly disappeared behind the white mist that blocked his eye view.

“Wangfei, you crying?” Tang Yin's voice re-dropped her daydream.

“Where is the person holding the fan? Zian, where is that guy?”

Seeing her empress cry and say such a strange question, Lin Zian became very worried. He took Shen Yanzhia's trembling right hand and grasped it tightly, trying to provide calmness through a gentle and warm touch. Next to her hand stretched out to grab Shen Yanzhia's shoulder, pulling her head to lean against her shoulder. Shen Yanzhia was growing sobbing. The tremors of his body could even be clearly felt by Lin Zian.

“You want to rest?” asked Lin Zian later. Shen Yanzhia was still crying.

“You guys wait here. I'll take wangfei to his room.”

Lin Zian carried Shen Yanzhia's body slowly. The girl fell asleep after a while. His face was soaked with tears. Lin Zian knew that the empress was crying from imagining someone she had never seen in the real world. That person was the late Crown Prince. Lin Zian knew very well Shen Yanzhia who had always become more emotional every time she came into contact with the Crown Prince's name or the painting or everything related to that deceased person.

I don't know what mysterious bond has tied the knot in Shen Yanzhia's heart to the figure of the late Crown Prince. That Prince Yun's daughter was even born into the world after one year of the Crown Prince's death, so it was impossible for the two to come into direct contact.

Lin Zian laid down Shen Yanzhia's sleeping body in the Eastern Pavilion. He had deliberately not brought it to the Western Pavilion because the snow was still falling and Shen Yanzhia's body might shiver in the cold if it had been outside for too long.

After enveloping Shen Yanzhia's body, Lin Zian stared fixedly at the girl's face. His hands moved to tidy up the hair that covered part of his marble face. The peaceful face was so charming. After being satisfied looking at her empress's face, Lin Zian rushed back to her personal library.

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