New Return of the Pearl: The Group's Pet Swallow Flies

As soon as Huo Chengyue went out, she heard a baby's voice calling her "beautiful aunt". She lowered her head and looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a little guy in a bright yellow robe, looking at her with his head tilted. His hair was a little messy, and there was some dust on his clothes, but his little face was delicate and he was still very pretty.

It was that dress. It inexplicably looked a bit like the clothes that royal family members wore during grand royal ceremonies. She was stunned for a moment, then smiled and cursed herself for overthinking. She traveled through time to the Qing Dynasty, but that didn't mean she really traveled through time to Princess Return of the Condor Heroes.

"Hey, hello little friend, what's your name? You are so cute."

Huo Chengyue was thinking about all sorts of things in his mind, but he put on a smile, squatted down, and praised the little guy in front of him in a gentle voice.

Xiaoyanzi was very happy to be praised. She looked up at her and said, "Auntie, you are really pretty. My name is Xiaoyanzi."

Huo Chengyue, who was wearing a powder blue dress, had just finished a bath and her face was still a little flushed. When she heard the little girl's words, her face was curved with smiles. However, the next moment, she was stunned and asked in disbelief, "Tell me, what's your name? Xiaoyanzi? Do you have a good sister named Ziwei?"

Oh, that's not right. Xiaoyanzi hadn't met Zi yet...

"Yes, how did Auntie know?"

-------

No one knows Xiaoyanzi's adventures at present, and she also doesn't know that her father hesitated between life and death.

In the afternoon, Xiao Zhihang was invited by the emperor to the palace for interrogation. As soon as he entered the imperial study, he saw some civil and military ministers standing on both sides of the imperial study. When they saw him coming, they looked at him with different eyes for a moment, and then lowered their heads without saying a word.

Xiao Zhihang stayed in a corner somewhat awkwardly. Ever since he was conferred the title of Earl, he had never entered the palace to attend court as he had no real power and only an honorary status.

As a result, among the civil and military ministers, he only knew three people: Fulun, Fucha Fuheng and Ji Xiaolan.

Now the first two have been sent out by the emperor to investigate something and have never returned, so only Ji Xiaolan is in the hall.

Ji Xiaolan knew that the emperor must have done a thorough investigation before conferring the title of earl on Xiao Zhihang, otherwise how could he confer the title of earl and Princess Huanzhu based on someone else's words alone.

He walked leisurely to Xiao Zhihang and gave him a few words of advice, telling him to just tell the truth and not to think too much about it.

Xiao Zhihang nodded to show that he understood.

At this time, the eunuch's voice came from outside the door, "The emperor has arrived..."

All the civil and military officials stopped whispering and stood in line.

Hongli, wearing a dragon robe, walked steadily to the dragon throne. After he sat down, all the civil and military officials knelt down and saluted, shouting in unison, "Your Highness, long live the emperor."

"My dear ministers, please stand up. I think you all should know why I summoned you here."

After Hongli asked everyone to calm down, he glanced at Xiao Zhihang and then said to everyone, "Today we are offering sacrifices to the gods, and something big happened.

Princess Huanzhu Xiaoyanzi was kidnapped and her whereabouts are unknown. The kidnapper claimed to be the leader of the Qinglong Gang. They also said that Earl Xiao Zhihang was the second leader of the Qinglong Gang and Princess Huanzhu Xiaoyanzi was the adopted daughter of the Qinglong Gang.

I guess you all must have heard about this, right?"

When the civil and military officials heard this, they whispered to each other and talked a lot. From time to time, they glanced at Xiao Zhihang who was standing aside, and their hearts were full of speculations.

After everyone discussed it for a while, someone finally stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the remnants of the Qinglong Gang cannot be underestimated. Earl Xiao's identity must have aroused doubts from many people. Can you ask Earl Xiao to prove his innocence?"

Hongli nodded and said in a cold voice, "Xiao Zhihang, please explain it."

Xiao Zhihang knew that if he was allowed to stand and explain, it would prove that the emperor still trusted him. Otherwise, he would be thrown directly into jail.

Thinking of this, he stood up, clasped his fists and saluted, "My family background is clean, and I have never known anyone from the Qinglong Gang.

However, speaking of it, I was almost involved with the Qinglong Gang."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar. The civil and military officials all looked at him in shock and talked endlessly.

Hongli knew what he was talking about, his expression did not change, he just listened to his explanation quietly.

“Speaking of which, three years ago, I was almost considered a remnant of the Qinglong Gang, and the entire Xiao family was almost wiped out.

At that time, I saved a woman who was persecuted by the son of the then Hangzhou prefect, and in a fit of rage, I cut off that man's offspring. From then on, the prefect hated me for being too cruel and even went so far as to forge an imperial edict to slander me.

They said that I was colluding with the Qinglong Gang and even falsely passed on an imperial decree in front of the people, saying that I would be beheaded and the Xiao family would be wiped out.

If the prince had not happened to pass by and found out the truth, my Xiao family would not have had the opportunity to enter the capital, let alone be named an earl by the emperor, and my daughter would not have been named Princess Huanzhu by the emperor."

No one expected that Xiao Zhihang had such an experience. They talked about it and muttered to themselves.

"This time, Xiaoyanzi was kidnapped for no reason. As a father, I was very anxious. However, I was slandered by others as the second leader of the Qinglong Gang. This identity can be beheaded at the first sight. It can be seen at a glance that it is a conspiracy, or it is just a joke."

Xiao Zhihang calmly proved his innocence. He had no evidence, so he could only put his hope on the emperor.

At this time, the hall was silent. Everyone stopped talking and looked at the emperor, waiting for his judgment.

Hongli finally spoke at this time, "I have already sent people to investigate Xiao Zhihang. There is no problem with his identity. The entire Xiao family has never been involved with the Qinglong Gang."

This sentence directly proved Xiao Zhihang's innocence, but some people still didn't believe it.

But, after thinking about it, if Xiao Zhihang was colluding with the Qinglong Gang, which was against the Qing Dynasty and wanted to restore the Ming Dynasty, the one who hated him the most should be the emperor, right?

Therefore, other people stopped questioning, but no one knew what they were thinking.

"As far as I know, the Qinglong Gang seems to have a second leader whose surname is Xiao? Maybe, he is really related to the Xiao family."

Suddenly, a trembling voice was heard. When everyone looked, they saw a white-haired old man who said these thought-provoking words in a somewhat restrained manner.

Xiao Zhihang was speechless when he saw everyone looking at him with suspicion. He looked at the old man, whose expression was amiable but whose words could push him into the fire pit. He was thinking about how to refute when he suddenly heard a deafening sound coming from outside the hall.

"I can prove Xiao Zhihang's innocence. The Qinglong Gang has no second leader!"