Chapter 1257

Chapter 1257 Shocked, Enlightened

“The Emperor’s secret guard was also there?” Shao Wanru didn’t leave the Palace. She was sitting in a pavilion behind a rockery. This place was peaceful and secluded, with a graceful bamboo forest opposite it. A breeze rustled the bamboo woods, which sounded very pleasant.

“Yes, when I went over, I noticed the secret guard. That was why I didn’t dare to get too close to them. As a result, I couldn’t hear them clearly. Later, the secret guard left, and the people inside said a few more words,” Qing’er reported.

After saying goodbye to Chu Liuxin, Shao Wanru turned in another direction. Suddenly, she saw Chu Liuyue coming out. On the alert, she found a place to hide and watch them.

In her previous life, Chu Liuxin seemed to have died because of Chu Liuyue, but Shao Wanru didn’t know the details. Thus, when seeing them together today, she began keeping an eye on them. Unexpectedly, she saw Chu Liuyue give a pouch to Chu Liuxin. It was similar to the one brought by Qin Yiyan. Such small bags should be provided to the Buddha hall.

Shao Wanru didn’t know why Zhaoyi Di left a pouch behind. But somehow, she thought of Pushan Nun living in the Buddha hall of the Palace. Pushan Nun was definitely not a simple woman.

Since this matter was about her, Shao Wanru sent Qing’er out and asked her to go to the Buddha hall first.

They didn’t expect a secret guard in the Palace would stay outside the Buddha hall. More surprisingly, Chu Liuxin went there.

“A bloody disaster? To Consort Ming?” Shao Wanru frowned and said. She always felt that there was something wrong with it. Suddenly, she asked, “Qing’er, these people inside might have discovered the secret guard in the Palace. Do you think so?”

Hearing that, Qing’er pondered over her words and nodded, saying, “Your highness, I also think so. After Prince Xin left, the people inside the Buddha hall stopped talking. They remained silent for a long time till the secret guard in the Palace ran out of patience and left. Only then did the people inside say something. Someone was blamed for accidentally exposing a Buddha statue to Prince Xin.”

Shao Wanru nodded. In this case, it could explain Pushan Nun’s ambiguous words. It sounded like she was persuading Prince Xin not to do anything treacherous.

When she came up with this idea, her face fell. She pressed her hand on the stone table and wanted to get up. “Has Chu Liuyue started attacking Chu Liuxin?

“The Emperor vomited blood, and the Palace is in chaos. What does Chu Liuyue want to do?

“Is Pushan Nun with Chu Liuyue or another group?” She had a hunch. In addition to the few people working for the Prince on the surface, there also seemed to be Pushan Nun and others. An inkling of the matter appeared three years ago when she was in the Yuhui Nunnery. Some people appeared out of nowhere in the tunnel under Shao Yanru’s painting studio. Also, she remembered the scene of Chu Qing escaping from the Yuhui Nunnery and the thing related to Mo Qiuyi, the future wife of Commandery Prince Qing.

And Wei Dahai, who was connected with Mo Qiuyi, was anxious to get money…

When Shao Wanru linked many things, she was more confident that something was wrong with Pushan Nun. She was not like a nun with no desires but more like a representative of a force in the dark.

This force had once colluded with Shao Yanru. In the past, except for those consorts in the Palace, Pushan Nun could also help Shao Yanru, right? After all, she was Shao Yanru’s nominal master.

Thinking of this, she was suddenly enlightened. Shao Yanru had been living in the Palace as a lowest-ranking Secondary Consort for some time. Besides, both the Emperor and the Empress disliked her. Despite this, she hadn’t had much trouble during this period. This demonstrated the strategies of her and Pushan Nun were both highly effective!

No matter how vicious this imperial consort was in the Palace, she did not dare to offend the Buddha. It proved that Pushan Nun was influential.

“Qing’er, did you see where Prince Xin went?” Shao Wanru asked.

“I saw Prince Xin go out in a hurry, seemingly heading for Consort Ming’s place,” Qing’er thought for a while and said. At that time, she just watched him from a distance and didn’t dare to move. The secret guard of the Palace was waiting there. Once she moved, she would be easily discovered.

When she walked past in the very beginning, she didn’t find the secret guard. Later, when she pretended to go through the place again, she discovered the guard. Then she sneaked back and acted very cautiously.

“Your highness, look. Isn’t that Prince Xin?” Yujie suddenly reached out, pointed at a path nearby, and whispered.

Shao Wanru looked up. Meanwhile, Chu Liuxin happened to look over and see her. They met each other by chance.

Stunned, Chu Liuxin subconsciously wanted to turn around and leave. However, he stopped, turned around, and strode to the pavilion.

Qing’er and Yujie hastened to greet him and bowed respectfully.

“Third Sister-in-law!” Chu Liuxin said to Shao Wanru and managed to make himself look natural.

“Hi, I have something to ask you. It happens that you are here!” In a daze for a second, Shao Wanru immediately came to her senses. There were some things that she really wanted to ask Chu Liuxin face-to-face.

“What’s the matter?” Chu Liuxin was slightly taken aback. There was no avoiding it. Initially, he intended to walk away after saying hello. To his surprise, Shao Wanru came up to him.

“Did you go to the Buddha hall and meet Pushan Nun?” Shao Wanru came straight to the point.

“Yes, I did. What’s wrong?” Chu Liuxin’s heart leaped. Eyes on Shao Wanru, he asked in surprise.

“Did you see a Buddha statue? It made Huiqing nervous?” Shao Wanru didn’t know the specific situation. Thus, she could only speculate about this Buddha statue and Huiqing’s nervous status according to Qing’er’s words.

Because of this statue, Pushan Nun punished Huiqing. She was bound to appear panic-stricken.

“Nervous?” Chu Liuxin shook his head. He didn’t think there was anything to make Huiqing nervous. When they went out, Eunuch Liu told him the religious names of the two nuns inside. Therefore, he knew which one Shao Wanru was talking about.

When he was about to say no, he paused. It was because he suddenly remembered Huiqing’s unusual behavior: he was observing a strange Buddha statue when Huiqing came abnormally close to him.

Chu Liuxin hesitated for a moment and said, “I saw a strange one. The nun Huiqing was originally far from me, but she suddenly got very close.”

“What does the Buddha statue look like?” Shao Wanru asked.

“It’s a ferocious-looking statue holding something similar to both a writing brush and a fork. The statue is stepping on a mount half like a fish. There was nothing else worth mentioning. I just caught a glimpse of it. I had wanted to pick it up to take a good look, but Pushan Nun happened to finish chanting scriptures.”

Chu Liuxin thought for a while and carefully chose his words to describe the scene accurately.

Shao Wanru’s face changed drastically because she suddenly remembered the Buddha statue in a remote corner of the Buddha hall in the Yuhui Nunnery. Yujie had taken her to see it when in the Yuhui Nunnery.

“Are they the same one?”

“Your highness, did you go there to draw divination sticks?” Shao Wanru changed the topic.

Chu Liuxin nodded and said, “Yes. I went back to see my mother, but I happened to be delayed by something.”

“May I ask what Pushan Nun said at last?” Shao Wanru asked again.

Chu Liuxin thought for a while. But this time, he shook his head blankly. He really didn’t know what she said in the end. At that time, he was in a panic. How could he hear what Pushan Nun said?

“You’d better get to the bottom of it. If the Buddha statue looked abnormal in your eyes, Pushan Nun might not be simple,” Shao Wanru reminded him.

There were some things that she couldn’t figure out. Even so, she still chose to warn Chu Liuxin. No matter how she looked at this issue, she felt it was much more complex than it looked.

First of all, Chu Liuyue was not a good person. Secondly, there was something wrong with Pushan Nun. Why would the secret guard happen to monitor such a remote and cheerless Buddha hall?

Was it because Chu Liuxin wanted to go or because Pushan Nun was suspicious?

“What do you mean?” Chu Liuxin became severe.

“I don’t mean anything, but I just think Pushan Nun is very suspicious. I heard… Imperial Grandmother told me that… someone seemed to be watching her!” Shao Wanru said with her thin eyebrows raised thoughtfully.

Of course, Chu Liuxin would not go to ask the Empress Dowager for confirmation.

Chu Liuxin was visibly shocked. He didn’t care much about open strives and veiled struggles. Though he had no ambition to strive for a higher position, he was not stupid. “Is there something wrong with Pushan Nun?

“If Pushan Nun harbors evil intentions, she might have ulterior motives to say these words to me. There might be a secret behind the Buddha statue I saw. If Pushan Nun is not trustworthy, what about my Eldest Brother? He chased after me and gave me the pouch. Was it really my mother’s idea?”

For a moment, his mind was in turmoil. His face turned blue and was drained of color.

Subconsciously, he firmly believed in Shao Wanru and never doubted her word. He was now suspicious of Chu Liuyue — he had always known his Eldest Brother’s ambition.

Something had happened recently, so he was not so close to his Eldest Brother. But in the past, he was vaguely conscious that his Eldest Brother wanted to ascend the throne.

Originally, he thought it was good. His Second Brother didn’t get along well with him, and his Third Brother looked so sick and weak. He was not that ambitious. Then, he felt it best for his Eldest Brother to take the throne.

But what about now?

“If you don’t believe me… forget it.” Shao Wanru said helplessly. Looking at his gloomy face, she thought he didn’t believe her. So, she stood up and was about to leave with her two servant girls.

The two of them had been standing here and talking for a while. If she stayed here too long, there might be some unpleasant rumors. After all, they were in an isolated spot. At present, the people in the Palace were anxious and nervous. Everyone was oversensitive and easily suspected others.

“I believe in you!” Chu Liuxin didn’t hesitate and said with certainty. He trusted Shao Wanru for no reason but was very sure of it. She was still a little girl climbing over the wall when he first met her. She was a soft spot out of reach of others at the bottom of his heart.

“Thank you, Your highness. You’d better find out the truth in case you get into big trouble.” Shao Wanru reminded him.

They brushed past each other and walked away.

Watching Shao Wanru leave, Chu Liuxin thought for a moment and also strode out. This matter was too confusing. He had to check it out. At this time, any doubt could lead to a catastrophe. His father, the Emperor, was poisoned, and the heir to the throne had not yet been determined. This matter meant that troubles were coming.

Eunuch Liu followed him closely with an anxious look. He was smart enough to understand the hint in Princess Chen’s words. He felt Princess Chen was obviously more trustworthy than Prince Yue, who had too many intrigues and maneuvers. But his simple-minded master had always regarded Prince Yue as a good person.

Finally, Princess Chen successfully reminded his master. In this respect, Eunuch Liu was full of gratitude to Shao Wanru…