The emperor just doesn't treat everyone equally, and it's none of my business!

It was not uncommon for someone to die in the palace, and it was usually not worth the nobles' time to investigate. If someone was dead, they were dead. Unless there was a secret or conspiracy behind it, the person would be dragged to a mass grave and buried.

But today is different. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival dinner is about to begin. The sudden appearance of a dead person will inevitably make people feel unlucky, so Shangguan Yan's face looked very bad.

"Who discovered it?" Shangguan Yan asked in a deep voice.

The young eunuch lowered his head and crawled to the front, saying, "Reply... Reply to Her Majesty, it's... it's your servant."

"How did you find out?"

"Your Highness, I am a gardener. Today..."

The young eunuch repeated what he had said to Gu Shijin. Gu Shijin listened carefully and found that it was basically the same with no difference.

This eunuch might have really happened to encounter it.

The queen arrived, and soon the palace servants fished the little maid out of the pond.

When Concubine Zhou saw the maid's face, she called out, then hesitantly asked, "Isn't this Song Xiuyi's maid?"

The person had been soaking in the water for too long and her true appearance was a little hard to see clearly. The reason why Concubine Zhou was able to recognize her was because this palace maid had a very special butterfly birthmark on her neck.

Once, there was a friction between Concubine Zhou and Song Xiuyi, and she even used this matter to ridicule Song Xiuyi.

"Since she is Song Xiuyi's maid, has Song Xiuyi reported the disappearance of a maid in her palace recently?"

Shangguan Yan looked at Yunzhi and asked.

Yunzhi thought about it, then shook her head and said, "Your Majesty, Song Xiuyi has not sent anyone to report that any maids in the palace are missing."

Shangguan Yan nodded and looked at the sky. "It's getting late. Let's go to the dinner first."

"We'll talk about this tomorrow. Have someone drag this maid away."

"Yes, Queen."

A group of people left in a mighty manner, and few of them cared about the dead palace maid.

When passing by the young eunuch, Gu Shijin glanced at Xingzhu. Xingzhu slowed down his pace until he left the team.

There was only Concubine Ning behind Gu Shijin, and she saw it but did not ask any questions.

There were many banquets in the palace, and there was nothing special about a Dragon Boat Festival banquet. It was just a group of people eating together.

However, the Queen Mother did not come today, but the Concubine Dowager and the King of Virtue came.

The Dragon Boat Festival banquet is a family banquet, and the virtuous prince is the emperor’s elder brother, so naturally he can come.

"Your Majesty, I toast to you." The wise king said, holding up the wine glass.

"Second brother, please."

Perhaps everyone at the banquet had something on their mind, and only the Emperor and the Wise King drank for a while, and the banquet ended not long after.

Gu Shijin met Eunuch Su on his way back to Ningyu Pavilion.

"Jin Jieyu, the emperor asked me to take you to Chengqian Palace." Eunuch Su said.

"Thank you, Eunuch Su."

Lu Junze drank a few more glasses today. Although he was not drunk, his face was still a little red.

When Gu Shijin arrived, Lu Junze was drinking sobering soup.

"Your Majesty." Gu Shijin bowed and greeted.

"Jin'er is here." Lu Junze smiled.

Gu Shijin walked over and prepared to take the bowl from Lu Junze, but Lu Junze took a step back.

"Jin'er, I smell like alcohol, I don't want to offend you."

"You take a rest first, I'll go wash up."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Gu Shijin looked at Lu Junze's departing back and felt warm in her heart. Although this was just a trivial matter, it made Gu Shijin feel that Lu Junze really cared about her.

When Lu Junze came out after washing up, he saw Gu Shijin sitting on the couch, supporting his head with one hand, and was about to fall asleep.

"Jin'er is sleepy?" Lu Junze held Gu Shijin in his arms.

"Yeah." Gu Shijin nodded dazedly.

She was very sleepy during this period and often fell asleep while sitting.

"I'll carry Jin'er to rest."

Lu Junze really liked the way Gu Shijin was in front of him. He was not restrained and trusted him wholeheartedly.

If Gu Shijin knew what Lu Junze was thinking, he would say, Your Majesty, you are overthinking it again.

No other concubines knew that Gu Shijin had come to Chengqian Palace, and everyone thought that she had returned to Ningyu Pavilion.

Therefore, some people with evil intentions began to take action.

Under the cover of night, two young eunuchs walked around the perimeter of Ningyu Pavilion with wine in their hands. They looked at each other, and after making sure that no one else noticed, they threw the tinder on the ground and left.

But after the two of them took a few steps, they were stopped by the secret guards.

Fear flashed in the two men's eyes, and they were knocked unconscious before they could even scream.

The secret guard looked at the Ningyu Pavilion which was already on fire, and carried the two young eunuchs away.

It wasn't until half of the Ningyu Pavilion was burned that people started shouting.

"Someone, someone, someone... there's a fire."

"Someone, there's a fire..."

"Someone come and put out the fire."

Soon, many guards came with buckets to put out the fire.

The fire was so huge that when it was finally extinguished, more than half of the Ningyu Pavilion was burned down.

With such a big fire, it was natural for the Queen to come. Not only the Queen, but almost all the concubines with status in the harem came.

But most of them are here to watch the fun, so don’t show your gloating too obviously.

Concubine Lan looked around, then looked at the burnt Ningyu Pavilion, and asked, "Where is Concubine Jin?"

Lan Fei's words seemed to remind everyone, and everyone then remembered Gu Shijin.

Shangguan Yan looked at the guards who were putting out the fire and asked, "Where is Concubine Jin?"

"Your Majesty, I have not seen Concubine Jin." The commander of the imperial guards replied.

There was silence for a moment. Could it be that Concubine Jin was really burned to death?

"Go and find him quickly, why are you all just standing there!" Shangguan Yan scolded the group of guards.

"Yes, Queen."

Defei looked at the queen's pretentious appearance and a hint of sarcasm flashed in her eyes.

The Queen has been here for such a long time. If she really cared about Gu Shijin, she would not say it now.

She didn't believe that the Queen would not have thought of Gu Shijin. When Ningyu Pavilion was burned down, the first person she thought of must be Concubine Jin.

"Jin Jieyu, where are you?"

The guards, eunuchs, and palace maids all began to look for him.

Only Concubine Rong had a look of deep thought in her eyes as she looked at the Ningyu Pavilion which had become a ruin.

Not only did she not see Concubine Jin, she didn't even see the palace maids and eunuchs around her.

The fire in Ningyu Pavilion was discovered not too late, so it was impossible that no one could escape. Now there is no one from Ningyu Pavilion. There is only one possibility: Gu Shijin is not in Ningyu Pavilion.

Thinking of this, Concubine Rong stopped talking.

Rong Fei was not the only smart person in the palace, and soon others also reacted.

The queen looked at the eunuch who first discovered the fire and asked, "After discovering the fire, did you see Concubine Jin?"

This eunuch is from the Talented Palace next door.

Come to think of it, when Ningyu Pavilion caught fire, how could it be possible that the first people to call for help would be people from other palaces.

"Your Majesty, no, I didn't see anyone come out."

The eunuch was not smart and obviously didn't think that much.

"The Emperor has arrived."