Chapter 94: Suspicion

Guan Canghai finally set Yan'er down, and rose alone to put on his clothes. Yan'er turned her head to watch this man, her heart a tangled mess of emotions.

Yan'er got up, dressed, and sat dazed on the bed. She had not yet had time to digest what she had accidentally overheard the night before. One thing she could now be certain of was that Pan Yueyang was still alive. And where Pan Yueyang was, only Guan Canghai knew.

She had to find a way to rescue Yueyang. She had to find a way to notify Mubai.

Yan'er's head began to ache. What could a woman like her accomplish? She had no idea where Yueyang was, no idea of his specific condition. What she had vaguely heard last night seemed to suggest he was imprisoned. With martial arts as formidable as his, how could he be held captive? Could he have suffered a serious injury? She also seemed to have heard something about waking and not waking—could Yueyang truly be wounded?

Yan'er pondered for a while, then suddenly let out a melancholy laugh. And that Oruolan—the heavily pregnant Oruolan—had not died either. Guan Canghai, you truly are a master of foresight.

"Your Highness." Bi'er softly called to the distracted Yan'er.

"Hm?" Yan'er looked at Bi'er with a blank expression, then slowly rose to let Bi'er help her wash and dress.

Xiaolan began to tidy the bed, and could not help blushing again and again.

"Xiaolan, be quicker with your hands. What are you daydreaming about now?" Bi'er looked anxiously at Xiaolan's dawdling manner.

"Oh, I know." Xiaolan shyly rolled up the bedding bearing the traces of last night's passion.

Yan'er smiled awkwardly. "From now on, let one of the older maids handle such matters. She's still a child."

"Your Highness, serving you is our duty. Xiaolan is young and thoughtless—please don't make excuses for her." Bi'er knew what Yan'er was referring to: was it not just that bedding? Affairs between His Majesty and Her Highness were perfectly normal—and indeed a wonderful thing, a truly wonderful thing.

"Very well. Are they all here? Stop dawdling and finish up quickly." Yan'er dropped the subject of the previous night.

"Letting them wait a while longer is better." Xiaolan suddenly chimed in again.

"Xiaolan, I've already corrected that habit of mine—why have you picked it up now? Has Her Highness not said that we must no longer act arrogant because of favor?" Bi'er scolded Xiaolan.

"I didn't mean to. It's just that Xia Jieyu is truly unbearable to watch. Yesterday she even came to the imperial garden to admire the flowers, looking perfectly hale and hearty. And today she sends word that she's feeling unwell and cannot pay her respects to Her Highness. Sister Bi'er, tell me—is that not infuriating?" Xiaolan poured out all the grievance in her heart at once.

"Grievance or not, His Majesty does not pursue the matter. Why should I?" Yan'er cast a glance at Xiaolan, calculating in her heart what He Meiru might do next, though she was certain of one thing: Xia Man'er was in for trouble.

"Your Highness is right. This servant knows she was wrong." Xiaolan pouted, hugging the bedding as she walked out.

"Let's go." Yan'er looked at her reflection in the mirror, fully prepared now.

"Elder sister has risen late today." He Meiru was deeply displeased the moment Yan'er appeared—spending night after night in passionate enjoyment with His Majesty, while the rest of them were left lonely and neglected. How could that sit well with them?

"Heh, I was delayed by some matters this morning." Yan'er's mind was on the news that Pan Yueyang was still alive.

"Heh, of course. Elder sister Guifei cannot rest easy at night, and we sisters have had no fortune to share your burden." Wu Ling'er put in sharply again.

Indeed, this pack of she-wolves was once more scheming against her over the emperor's favor. But Yan'er was in no mood to dwell on such things. Her thoughts were occupied with Pan Yueyang's affairs. She merely smiled, unwilling to argue with them.

After a few perfunctory words of morning greeting, the visitors dispersed, each returning to her own palace. Tianxiang Palace returned to tranquility. Yan'er's daily duty was to accompany Guan Canghai in his study after the morning court.

She walked slowly to the study. Perhaps something thorny had come up at court today, for Guan Canghai had not yet returned.

Bi'er kept watch outside the study. Since Yan'er's arrival, this study had become a private chamber for the empress and the emperor; no one could enter without being summoned.

Yan'er pushed open the door and idly surveyed the study's furnishings. Guan Canghai had not returned today, and she was bored on her own, so she leisurely browsed through the various books in the room.

She had not expected Guan Canghai to be so fond of reading. But most of the books he read would be regarded by the world as heretical—books on the Eight Trigrams and the Five Elements, on yin-yang and the almanac, treatises on the use of poison—such works were everywhere.

Yan'er walked a full circle around the study, then drifted listlessly to the writing desk. "Ah, Yueyang..." She leaned against the wall behind the desk, the news from last night lingering ceaselessly in her heart.

"Ah..."

Yan'er suddenly straightened up—she had just heard someone speaking!

Cold sweat broke out on her body. Could there be an assassin in the imperial palace? Yan'er clutched the handkerchief in her hand, pressing fearfully against the wall.

"Ah..."

"Who is there?" Yan'er looked wildly around, her voice trembling.

"Whoever you are! This is the imperial palace. If you are an assassin, you had best leave at once, lest you lose your life in the end!" Yan'er warned in a low voice, uneasy and terrified as she pressed her back against the wall.

"Yan'er... Yan..."

"Yan'er?" Yan'er drew in a sharp breath!

"You... who are you? Who is Yan'er?" Yan'er feigned composure.

"Yan... Yan'er... Yan... Yan..."

"Yue... Yueyang?" Yan'er could hardly believe it. This mysterious voice was so familiar—it sounded like Pan Yueyang's voice. She ventured to ask.

"Yan'er, it is I."

"Yueyang! Where are you?" Yan'er could not believe Pan Yueyang was truly speaking to her. She hastily searched every corner of the study, yet found no place where anyone could be hiding.

Suddenly the voice fell silent. Yan'er did not dare call out loudly.

"The Emperor arrives!"

Guan Canghai was back! Yan'er immediately composed her flustered expression, hurried to her soft couch, and pretended to wait for him idly.

"So my Yan Guifei is already here?" Guan Canghai looked at Yan'er. "When did you arrive?"

"Just a moment ago. I woke feeling tired this morning too." Yan'er put on a look of having not slept enough.

"Do not worry, I will not touch you today." Guan Canghai's words were laden with extreme intimacy—and happened to fall upon someone else's ears as well.

"You... I'll rest a while. Attend to your own affairs." Yan'er lowered her head and said no more, a knot tightening in her heart. If the exchange between her and Guan Canghai had just reached Yueyang's ears... Yan'er hardly knew how she could face Pan Yueyang now. But she shook her head at once—the priority was to rescue Yueyang. She could not dwell on other things.

All day long, Yan'er mulled over the voice she had heard in the study. She could not tell where it had come from. How was she to save Yueyang?

"You have something on your mind?" Guan Canghai watched the perpetually distracted Yan'er, asking with an expressionless face.

"No, I'm just tired." Yan'er rubbed her forehead. "By the way, if you have time, you should visit the other palaces more often."

"Oh? Have they been troubling you again?" Guan Canghai disliked women making decisions on his behalf.

"It's fine. They just mutter a few words each day. Speaking of which, shouldn't you go see Xia Man'er more often? After all, she carries your dragon heir. This is a grave matter—you cannot slight the mother and child." Yan'er prattled on about subjects she did not truly care about, merely to conceal what was weighing on her heart.

"You think... never mind." Guan Canghai swallowed the words he had been about to say.

"What is it?" Yan'er sensed that Guan Canghai seemed to have something he wished to say, and waited for him to speak of his own accord.

"Nothing. You think I should go to Xia Man'er's, so I shall go." Guan Canghai casually patted Yan'er's head.

"What do you mean, 'you think'?" Yan'er looked at him, baffled.

"She likes that rice cake so much—let her eat plenty of it." Guan Canghai stared at Yan'er with meaning.

The hair on Yan'er's skin stood on end under his gaze, and she could not help but shiver.

"Cold?" Guan Canghai rubbed Yan'er's shoulders.

"I don't understand what you're talking about." Yan'er felt that where Xia Man'er was concerned, Guan Canghai seemed to have something to say. She racked her mind for what could be wrong, but could not figure it out. He had just mentioned rice cake—rice cake? Rice cake?

"What about the rice cake?" Yan'er looked at Guan Canghai in confusion.

"Who had the rice cake made?" Guan Canghai smiled darkly.

"You did." Yan'er forced the corners of her mouth upward. His expression made her deeply uneasy. She had a foreboding that something was amiss that she knew nothing about. Could He Meiru have tampered with the rice cake? Could Guan Canghai already know that the flower-viewing banquet she had requested was deliberately meant to draw Xia Man'er out?

"Oh." Guan Canghai watched Yan'er silently, trying to detect some different expression on her face. But perhaps Yan'er was too perfect at concealment—that peerlessly beautiful face showed only an innocent pair of limpid, seductive eyes, blinking ceaselessly at him.

"I think you had nothing to do with this." Guan Canghai could truly discern nothing from her eyes.

In fact, Yan'er genuinely knew nothing. She had merely provided an opportunity. As for what He Meiru would do, she had never interfered in the slightest. So how could she know anything? "Is the rice cake poisoned?" Yan'er asked cautiously.

"Ha ha ha. You really do have an imagination. But close enough." Guan Canghai found her expression amusing.

"You can still laugh! That child in her belly is yours." Yan'er was, after all, a mother herself. At this moment, she genuinely cared about Xia Man'er's life. Whatever one might say, Xia Man'er's disregard for her was infuriating, and she had even wanted Xia Man'er not to bear the child. Yet now that the moment was truly at hand, she found a faint reluctance stirring in her heart.

"No one will die. I ask you only this: did you have any part in it?" Guan Canghai's tone suddenly turned stern as he fixed his gaze on Yan'er.

"You suspect me? You suspect I poisoned Xia Man'er's food?" Yan'er could not deny that she had indeed participated—but her participation was only in providing the platform. Only a fool would admit that counted as involvement!

"I did not think you would." Guan Canghai's face was expressionless.

"I know nothing of these things..." Yan'er sighed deeply. Words were useless, whatever she said. A woman's best recourse was still to disguise herself.