Chu Yixuan narrowed his eyes, leaning comfortably against the large chair, lost in thought. His body emitted a cold aura, and even the temperature in the room seemed to drop significantly.

  Luo Zhong still held the palace lantern in his hand, standing motionless beside him, not even daring to breathe. Having served his master for so many years, he had long since figured out his habits. The slight narrowing of his eyes meant that he was thinking about something, which was a very dangerous habit.

  "Lu Zhong, what did you say Yan Chongyuan wants to do in the imperial study tonight?"

  Luo Zhongs sharp old eyes examined his master, seeing that he still had his eyes slightly closed. He composed himself and spoke the truth: "I dont know!"

  "When did you ever know that, you slave?" Chu Yixuan suddenly opened his eyes and glared at Luo Zhong with a sharp gaze, scolding him.

  "Never mind, even I dont understand this matter." Chu Yixuan suddenly thought of another thing, "Did you finish that task I ordered you to do last time?"

  "Is it the swallow flower?" Luo Zhong saw that his master did not make a sound, taking it as tacit consent. He respectfully said: "According to your orders, Your Majesty, I had them pulled out by the roots, but those flowers were picked first."

  "Whats going on? When did this happen, and why didnt you mention it?" Chu Yixuan asked in surprise. The flowers of the swallowtail orchid had all been picked, but who could have done such a thing?

  Something is wrong, Luo Zhongs heart was in a panic and he knelt down on the ground, knocking his head repeatedly: "I beg Your Majesty to forgive me, that day I was busy with other things, so I forgot to tell you."

  "The flower has been picked by someone, and when I looked at the mark, it seemed to have been picked in the past two or three days."

  "Oh, who could have taken it?" Chu Yixuan pondered for a moment, then suddenly shouted: "One sword!"

  A young man dressed in black with a sword on his shoulder walked out of the dark, half-kneeling on the ground and said respectfully: "What does Your Majesty command?"

  "Go and bring Snow Lian over!"

  "One sword listens to orders, Your Majesty, please wait for a moment!"

  Before long, a sword brought a young palace maid to the imperial study.

  Xue Lian felt a chill as soon as she entered the study, this feeling made her feel very oppressed. The master had ordered An Wei to bring her here with one sword, so she didnt dare to be careless.

  Xue Lian knelt on the ground and performed a ceremonial greeting, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

  "Hmm," Chu Yixuan glanced indifferently at Xue Lian, who was kneeling on the ground. He had arranged for Xue Lian to be a hidden agent by Yan Hous side, but instead, Yan Hou had driven him away.

  "Do you still remember what I entrusted you with?"

  Xue Lian saw the emperor ask her, and she hastily nodded and said: "I remember, how dare I forget."

  Chu Yixuans thin lips lightly spat out a cool voice with a questioning tone: "Really remember? Then what are you doing tonight?"

  "Slave... slave... is sleeping."

  "Hum, you still have the nerve to sleep, did you forget that I told you to pay attention to their every move?"

  "Im doomed! Please, Your Majesty, have mercy!" Xue Lian begged anxiously for forgiveness. Before coming, one sword had already told her about tonights events, and she had also made preparations. Tonight was indeed a case of dereliction of duty on her part, as she had fallen into Yan Chongyuans trap.

  "The slave has always remembered the emperors words, tonight was a mistake on my part, if it wasnt for Yan Chongyuan putting me to sleep with the anesthetic, I wouldnt have fallen asleep."

  "Oh, she even put you under a spell? Doesnt that mean she saw through your disguise?"

  "She took the slave as one of the queens ladies-in-waiting, and did not see through the slaves true identity."

  "Can people on Yans side recognize your true identity?"

  "I dont know."

  "From now on, be more careful with what you do, dont let them discover your true identity. And keep a closer eye on things, especially Yan Chongyu. As for Empress Yan, theres no need to report everything to her, its not necessary for her to know too much."

  "Yes, Your Majesty, I understand."

  "Hmm," Chu Yixuan suddenly remembered Luo Zhongs words earlier, he pondered for a moment, then said: "Xue Lian, since you were sent to Yan Chongyus side by Yan Hou, have you noticed anything suspicious about Yan Chongyu?"

  "Anything suspicious?" Xue Lian thought back to the past few months of interactions with Yan Xi Jun, and after thinking for a long time, still couldnt think of anything suspicious, so she shook her head.

  Chu Yixuan saw her shaking her head and was slightly disappointed, secretly thinking to herself: Could it be that the Wandering Son flower wasnt picked by Yan Chongyuan, but rather by Jia? This is impossible! Jia clearly doesnt have any knowledge or insight, shes just a woman with no education, how could she possibly know about the Wandering Son flower?!

  Chu Yixuan thought his analysis was very reasonable. If we talk about the two peoples understanding and cleverness, he felt that Jias possibility of recognizing the swallows nest flower was very small, but Yan had a good chance of recognizing it. "Has Yan Chongyu ever gone out alone?"

  "Going out?" Xue Lengs eyes flashed, and she said: "Yan Chongyuan has gone out alone a few times, but she was in a bad mood and just went for a walk."

  "Oh, has she gone out recently? Especially in the few days before the selection, and has she been to the vicinity of Changqiu Palace?"

  "There was that midnight when she went alone to Changqiu Palace."

  "Is it those few days before the draft?"

  "Yes, Your Majesty. It was that night when I followed Concubine Yan out. She didnt notice me trailing behind her," Xue Lian recalled slowly: "Concubine Yan looked very downhearted that night. She walked all the way to the lake and stopped at the spot where she fell into the water. Then, I saw her staring blankly at the lake for a long, long time. In the end, I thought she just came out to clear her mind, so I left first."

  "Its really her!" Chu Yixuan listened to Xue Lians words and secretly thought: This is going to be troublesome, does Yan Xijun know the medicinal use of the swallows nest flower?

  "Your Majesty," Xue Lian said, puzzled as to why her master was asking these things.

  "Hmm, you can go back!" Give me a closer look at her, and if theres any movement in the future, be sure to report it to me in time. Chu Yixuan waved his hand to let her retreat, he now needs to calm down and think about how to digest this information, and then deal with these things.