Chapter 79

When the three of them started walking again, Lin Jiaojiao deliberately kept a distance of two steps from Qin Yuan, terrified of falling onto him again!

This is the Sovereign! Who would dare provoke him!

But because of this, Lin Jiaojiao could only walk by the dim candlelight on the palace walls, and without realizing it, she had actually put several meters of distance between herself and Qin Yuan!

Yet Qin Yuan wanted to speak with Lin Jiaojiao; he turned his head and asked, "Lin Guniang, are you betrothed to Dali Temple Junior Minister Song Shijie because of the miscarriage of justice case?"

As a result, when he turned his head, he discovered that Lin Jiaojiao was getting further and further away from him, almost four or five meters behind!

Seeing Qin Yuan ask about the miscarriage of justice case, the liveliness in Lin Jiaojiao's eyes vanished, and she let out a slight sigh.

After walking forward a few steps, she answered truthfully, "Your Majesty, we are not betrothed because of the miscarriage of justice case; the marriage had already been agreed upon before the case."

"Are you worried, Your Majesty, that my betrothal to him will affect the progress of the case?"

After thinking of this, Lin Jiaojiao added, "Your Majesty, we already clarified at the Xu Fu last time that this marriage is cancelled; he should go and explain it to his uncle and aunt."

"Besides, regardless of whether I have a marriage contract with him or not, with his personality, he will certainly be able to handle the case impartially, so please rest assured, Your Majesty~"

When Lin Jiaojiao said this, she didn't notice the faint, imperceptible smile that appeared at the corner of Qin Yuan's mouth.

Only Eunuch Gao, who was standing in front holding the lamp, looked at Lin Jiaojiao with a slightly disdainful gaze and clicked his tongue in his heart: This Lin Guniang is truly dull-witted!

Qin Yuan's face held a smile; he asked Lin Jiaojiao with his hands behind his back: "Then, after the case is cleared and your innocence is restored, have you considered your future plans?"

"As for that—" Lin Jiaojiao was just about to speak when she suddenly heard a resentful sound of weeping coming from the other side of the palace wall!

The crying was like a sob, echoing in the silent, deep palace, instantly making Lin Jiaojiao's hair stand on end; she shrank back slightly and walked quickly away from that palace wall, "Who is crying?"

Qin Yuan looked up at the palace wall and listened carefully; he quickly identified that the sound was coming from Leng Gong!

He gave Eunuch Gao a look, and Eunuch Gao immediately understood, urging, "Your Majesty, Lin Guniang, let us hurry to the Yangxin Hall; General Lu must have been waiting for a long time."

"Alright, alright." Lin Jiaojiao replied, although she clearly saw signs of concealment in the eyes of Eunuch Gao and Qin Yuan, but after all, the other party was the Son of Heaven, so she could not expose it or start questioning them!

As Eunuch Gao led the way, he couldn't help but quicken his pace, and soon the sorrowful weeping could no longer be heard.

Until the lights became brighter and the chirping of crickets grew fainter, they had already reached the front courtyard of the Yangxin Hall!

At this time, Lu Zhenting was pacing outside the door of the Yangxin Hall waiting. Seeing Qin Yuan arrive from afar, he performed a military bow, "Greetings to the Emperor, long live the Emperor, long live, long live."

Qin Yuan stepped forward to support Lu Zhenting's shoulders as he bowed and said kindly: "General Lu, please rise."

After Lu Zhenting rose, he quickly took a letter from his pocket and respectfully handed it to Qin Yuan, "Your Majesty, this is a personal letter from Dali Temple Junior Minister Song Shijie. Because of official business, he set off for Qingzhou this afternoon. Before leaving, he instructed me to personally deliver this letter to the Emperor."

"Oh? He set off for Qingzhou this afternoon?" Qin Yuan took the letter and saw that it was sealed with a layer of red wax stamped with the Dali Temple Junior Minister's seal. He opened the letter and stood there, reading it intently by the bright candlelight.

"Greetings, General Lu. How is the burn on your shoulder?" At this moment, Lin Jiaojiao's voice diverted Lu Zhenting's attention. She was wearing a cyan palace dress embroidered with magpie patterns, her eyes filled with a gentle smile as she waved to greet Lu Zhenting.

Under the night sky, Lu Zhenting saw that the burn on her left cheek had healed quite a bit, but noticing that her figure looked even thinner, a touch of heartache appeared beneath his dark eyes.

Although they had only been apart for a few days, Lu Zhenting felt as if they had been separated for three autumns.

The first thing she said upon meeting was to ask about his burn, which made Lu Zhenting feel as warm as if a spring breeze had brushed his heart.

Yet her thinness made him feel pity: "Greetings, Lin Guniang. The burn on my shoulder is almost healed, but you have become thinner."

It seems that having her wait in the palace for the progress of the case is not appropriate.

In this deep palace, Lin Jiaojiao must have suffered many grievances, right? After Song Mu returned to the Song Mansion from the Imperial Palace that day, she told Song Shijie about what happened in the palace the next day.

He happened to be visiting Song Shijie at the Song Mansion that day, and upon hearing these words from Song Mu, he felt very worried.

Song Shijie saw through what he was thinking at once, "Don't worry, my mother's visit will be effective; I reckon the Empress Dowager will be able to protect her for a while."

"Taking a step back, now whoever goes to find fault with Lin Jiaojiao will easily get involved in the investigation of this miscarriage of justice. Those palace mistresses are not necessarily all as stupid as Hui Guiren."

Upon hearing this, Song Mu immediately poked Song Shijie's head to show her disapproval, "How dare you call the palace mistresses stupid?"

"The facts are just so; those with backing are mostly stupid, and those without backing are slightly smarter," Song Shijie said in a calm tone. He took a sip of the bitter medicine without even frowning, "That Lin Jiaojiao is not considered a member of the Imperial Palace; with her ability, self-preservation is not a problem."

Song Mu was not happy and scolded him, "The prescription she wrote reduced your fever, yet you, how can you not care about your future wife at all?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Lu Zhenting's face turned as black as ink. After Song Shijie finished the bitter medicine in one gulp, he said unhurriedly, "Mother, I forgot to tell you, I am going to break off the engagement with her, and she has agreed."

"What! You want to break off the engagement with Lin Guniang!?" This made Song Mu so angry that she wanted to hit him, "You couldn't find such a good girl even if you searched with a lantern! You rascal! Are you really trying to be the death of your mother!?"

Lu Zhenting completely agreed that Lin Jiaojiao was a good girl.

Seeing that Song Shijie had clearly told his family about the cancellation of the engagement, his own mood improved a lot, and he followed suit, smiling and helping Song Shijie persuade Song Mu.

At this moment, Lin Jiaojiao blinked her beautiful apricot eyes and asked, "General Lu, is Zhu Geer doing well?"

Just as Lu Zhenting was about to reply, Qin Yuan had already finished reading the letter.

He raised his eyes and said to Lin Jiaojiao: "Lin Guniang, the Dali Temple Junior Minister says in the letter that he found out there might be evidence of your father's wrongful conviction in Qingzhou, so he went there to investigate."

"There is evidence of my father's wrongful conviction in Qingzhou?" Although Lin Jiaojiao did not understand what the predecessor had experienced before crossing over, since Song Shijie had gone to Qingzhou to help her investigate the case, there must be relevant clues.

And it is certainly inconvenient to reveal the fact that she is a transmigrator now.

She nodded thoughtfully, and for some reason, she suddenly thought of Mo Siniang from the neighboring cell in the Dali Temple!

After finishing the matter of the letter, Qin Yuan turned to look at Lu Zhenting and led him into the Yangxin Hall: "General Lu, what important matter brings you to the palace to seek an audience at night?"