" Here you are your majesty," Qui Ai brought back a black robe that was quite similar to the one that the General outside was wearing, Liu Hui Ying took it from Qui Ai's hands and took a look at the robe that she was holding on to very carefully, she looked left and right before taking in a breath and asked, " Why is this robe exactly the same as the one that man is wearing?" If Qui Ai said that she borrowed this from the laundry or something, Liu Hui Ying was sure that she was going to lose her mind and vomit all over the place until the food she ate in her world came hurling out her stomach.
" This…" Two red spots appeared on Qui Ai's cheeks and she shyly answered, " The general asked me to embroider a crane on it, he said that because he has recently received a promotion, he needs to upgrade his wardrobe but since he doesn't have a family member there was no one at the house who will do it for him, that's the reason, he handed it to me, asking me to do it for him." All the while she was talking about the bastard General, Qui Ai kept twisting and turning making Liu Hui Ying's right eye twitch.
This was not going to work, if this girl wanted to work as her informant that she needed to be smarter than this…can't she see that the general had no feelings for her but was just using her teenagers' pheromones to his advantage to spy on the newly enthroned and soon to be dead Empress?
She placed a hand on Qui Ai's shoulder and pulled her further inside the room, as she said, " Qui Ai, look I am your mistress, I will never harm you all right?" She whispered in the ear of the maid as she began her brainwashing. It was a good thing that Qui Ai was still young and nodded seriously upon listening to Liu Hui Ying's words.
" Oh here she goes again," muttered Li Gang as he rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air, Liu Hui Ying shot him a glare before turning to look at Qui Ai with a gentle and considerate expression before saying, " Look, just now when you came rushing inside the room what did you say to that bas—- General?"
Qui Ai blinked and then a sort of childish voice said, " I told him that I am going to go and follow my mistress, even if she was to die …I will die with her."
" That's right," snapping her fingers, Liu Hui Ying patted Qui Ai on the shoulder and unhurriedly said, " The man didn't even stop you from dying with me do you know what it means?"
" That he understood my loyalty to you?"
" Tsk, NO!" clicking her tongue, Liu Hui Ying immediately rejected the super 'romantic idea' in Qui Ai's head and said, " That's not the truth, the truth is that he doesn't care about you at all… if he did, he would have stopped you or at least said things like I care about you Qui Ai, don't do this…did he say something like that to you?"
Qui Ai shook her head looking dumbfounded.
" That's what I am telling you," straightening up, Liu Hui Ying waved her hands left and right as she continued, " What kind of guy would he be to understand your loyalty towards me when he cannot even understand his loyalty towards you." Pointing at Qui Ai, Liu Hui Ying wrapped her arm around the latter's shoulders and said, " A man should keep his woman over everything else, I am not saying that he should sacrifice his everything for her but if he can, he should try his best to save the woman he is interested in, can that General save you?"
It didn't take long for Qui Ai to nod her head. " He can save me."
" But he didn't even try," with a disappointed sigh, Liu Hui Ying placed both her hands on Qui Ai's shoulders. " This shows that he approached you with a hidden agenda, if he doesn't care about you, why will he try to get closer to you?"
" That's because…"
" That's because?" Liu Hui Ying prodded her.
Though Qui Ai was young, she grew up all the while resisting the schemes of the inner courtyard after Liu Hui Ying helped her do a quick run, she immediately cottoned on and her whole expression turned livid. "He was trying to get close to me so that I will help him spy on you, your majesty!"
" Aren't you a smart little girl," patting Qui Ai on the back, Liu Hui Ying swiftly added, " That is why from now on if you see that man ever coming inside our courtyard ever again, send him back. In fact, there is no need to be nice, send him packing while chasing him with a broom." She cupped Qui Ai's chin and said softly, " That man hurt our dear little Ai, so he doesn't deserve to be here, at all. You got that?"
" I got it," Qui Ai looked like she was going to cry making the three ghosts all feel bad for her.
" Why did you have to be so blunt?" Jia Li never got a chance to have her first love, she was always in a hurry to earn more money and that was why she studied harder than ever to become a forensic expert, but who would have thought that she wouldn't be able to live past twenty and die so soon. Seeing Qui Ai's pitiful expression, she felt her heart tug and harshly reprimanded Liu Hui Ying, " Why did you break her heart so cruelly? Can't you see, she is still young."
Liu Hui Ying heaved a heavy sigh before turning her head behind her and whispered, " Be grateful, because of me this naive and pure girl's heart was saved from being broken even more severely. Imagine if she developed true feelings for that jerk? He would have just used her and then dumped her."
" Your majesty, why are you hissing behind your back?" noticing that Liu Hui Ying was whispering something in the air, Qui Ai couldn't help but ask.
"It's nothing," smiling Liu Hui Ying turned to look at the girl in front of her and said, " I was just cursing that guy for hurting you like that."
" All right, now you stay here," pointing to the small couch that was sitting outside the room, Liu Hui Ying ordered Qui Ai. " I have something really important such as preparing myself to think about how to get out of this situation all right? Let me think in peace, okay?"
" Will you be all right, your majesty?" said Qui Ai with a concerned expression. "The Emperor's cruel decision shocked you a lot tonight, I don't want to leave you alone, why not we think something in the morning?"
" Ah no, we can't leave the matter till tomorrow, what if someone tries to harm us tonight?" said Liu Hui Ying with a smile. " That's why you stay here and protect the room, in case someone tries to barge in the room, you need to protect me, all right?"
Qui Ai immediately puffed out her tiny chest and patted it. " Don't worry, your majesty, I will certainly do that, you can leave your safety in my hands and I will surely protect you till the last breath."
Liu Hui Ying simply smiled and nodded. " You do that, we will talk in the morning then." After that, she ignored what the little girl had to say and closed the door shut before turning to face the three employees of her. " Now you three listen to me very carefully, that concubine Shen, I don't know who the fuck she is but she got me in this mess and if I don't retaliate now, then I will be writing my name backwards from tomorrow morning."
After thinking it through carefully, Liu Hui Ying came to the conclusion that the only person responsible for her current predicament was Concubine Shen, she was the one who schemed against this sensitive woman, forced her into a corner and pushed her into committing suicide. So, the person that needs to be dealt with was none other than that Concubine!
" What are you planning?" asked Li Gang with a raise of his brow. " I don't like that expression on your face."
" My plan is very simple," she walked to the bed that sitting at the end of the room and picked up the robe that she has thrown on the table and burned it, letting Li Gang wear it. " From what I heard from Qui Ai, the matter only happened an hour ago —— if we minus all the sympathy and pity party that might have happened at her courtyard, upon losing her child… I am pretty sure that Concubine Shen must have started cleaning the evidence right now, and from the basic structure of the servants' hierarchy here, I can be sure that she must have at least three to four loyal servants, who will help her clean the scene. Since she just had a miscarriage, then that woman will be bedridden for a few days" raising her head she looked at the three of them and added, " Go and catch the one who is hiding the evidence and have them confess make sure that it happens within an hour, I am not patient enough."
Tipping her chin at the door where the crowd of guards was standing, she scrunched up her nose and said, " I really hate breathing the same air as those men, get them away from me."
" Got it, boss," Jia Li took the lead as she saluted Liu Hui Ying and walked through the wall, Li Gang and Grandma Lan Fen followed suit as they came out of the room through the wall.
With his hands behind his head, Li Gang snorted. " She always makes us work so hard, and yet we can't even get a decent meal."
" We will try to talk about that later with her," getting up in the air, Jia Li opened the map that was drawn by Qui Ai and later on burned by Liu Hui Ying for her to study. " Right now, our main focus is to stop her from dying, if we lose this host then I am afraid we will be taken by the Grim reaper since we will lose our jobs."
Grandma Lan Fen shivered. " I heard the grim reaper of this era were a lot stiffer and the rules of the underworld were even more strict, I don't fancy going to the underworld of this time."
" Then let's make sure that host of ours doesn't die," cracking his neck, he rose to the air and said, " Let's split up, the one who gets hold of the person we are looking for, will make a loud screech for others."
" God I hate screeching," said Jia Li clearing her throat. " It's such an unladylike thing."
" Then go and get another option," said Li Gang before shooting out towards the north where Concubine Shen's courtyard was.
" I will see you later dear," said Grandma Lan Fen as she too flew away while muttering, " All I wanted was a nice retirement and here I am working even after death."
Jia Li flew to the south where the cold palace was —— after staying at the forensic department she understood a few things, since they wanted to make it look like the Empress was the one who killed Concubine Shen's child then they will surely hide the evidence where the Empress would be taken away in case she made out of the ordeal alive.
A cunning person always had a second option prepared.
And sure enough, as she flew towards the cold palace, Jia Li saw a maid trying to sneak inside the cold palace and immediately sucked in a breath before screeching as loudly as she could, " The mouse is here at the cold palace! Hurry!"
She didn't need to add the last word as Li Gang and Grandma Lan Fen teleported at once beside her causing her to choke. " Oh, I forgot that we can do it."
Grandma Lan Fen smiled. " Isn't it nice of Hui Ying to share so much of her spiritual energy with us?"
" What nice? She only shares it with us because she wants us to get her work done as quickly as she wants," muttered Li Gang rubbing his head.
" Then let's end this matter as soon as we can," said Jia Li before flying down in the direction of the maid who was sneaking inside the cold palace. " We have a mouse to catch."