The Cloud Feather of the Red Chamber: A Marriage Arranged with Gong Yuanzheng at the Start

Shangguan Qian was taken away, and Gong Yuanzheng immediately looked at Gong Shangjiao, eagerly asking, "Brother, is there something wrong with the nanny in that female guest courtyard?"

Gong Shangjiao's lips curled up. Instead of answering Gong Yuanzheng directly, he looked at Lin Qingyue and said, "I remember in your dream, when Yun Weishan was staying in the women's courtyard, she once sneaked into the palace gate at night?"

Lin Qingyue nodded, confirming that this was indeed the case.

Gong Shangjiao continued, "How skilled was she in martial arts in your dream?"

Lin Qingyue hesitated for a moment, then looked at Gong Yuanzheng and said, "I feel that she is probably no match for Yuanzheng..."

Gong Yuanzheng smiled smugly, his face full of pride. His already straight back stood even straighter at this moment.

Seeing his smug look, Lin Qingyue couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Gong Shangjiao's smile deepened even further.

“My younger brother Yuanzheng also likes to fly around the palace gates on weekdays. Although the guards can’t see him every time, they have seen him a few times.”

"Ten years ago, the palace gates had already been re-defended. When Yun Weishan first arrived at the palace gates, she had no chance to come into contact with Mingwu Ji."

"The fact that the first night raid on the palace gates did not alert any guards suggests only two possibilities."

"Or perhaps her martial arts skills far surpass those of these guards."

"Or perhaps someone inside the palace helped her."

The place where Yun Weishan stayed the longest was the women's quarters, and the only people who could help her were the people in the women's quarters.

There is a curfew at the palace gates, and ordinary maids and servants are not allowed to linger outside at night.

However, there were not so many restrictions on the head maids.

Gong Shangjiao's gaze fell on the medicine on the ground.

"Summon Granny Fu to search her body, just to test her. If she finds the medicine on Shangguan Qian, I will reduce the surveillance on her."

Shangguan Qian is a bladeless assassin, so besides the Hundred Herbs Extract, she must have other medicines on her.

Granny Fu found the medicine, but she didn't say anything.

“Brother Yuanzheng, go to the dungeon this afternoon and submit the results of the interrogation to the Blade Master tonight.”

Gong Yuanzheng looked hesitant and did not immediately agree to Gong Shangjiao's request for the first time.

Even the maids in the women's quarters are Wu Feng's people, so how many people in the palace can be trusted now?

He had underestimated the situation, thinking that only the Feather Palace was a sieve. Now it seems that the Confucian Palace, the Horn Palace, and the Merchant Palace could all have been infiltrated.

He was really worried about leaving Lin Qingyue alone in the Zheng Palace.

Taking her to the dungeon was out of the question; the interrogation process was too bloody, and he dared not let Lin Qingyue see it.

He looked up at Gong Shangjiao, "Brother, how's the interrogation of those servants from Yu Palace going?"

Gong Shangjiao nodded: "So far, no one has admitted to being Wufeng."

"Their identities have all been verified, and there are no problems."

Gong Yuanzheng felt a little relieved. He looked at Gong Shangjiao with a solemn expression and said, "Brother, I'm going to the dungeon this afternoon and interrogate all the people from Yu Palace as well."

Then she looked at Lin Qingyue and gently instructed her, "Yue'er, Jin Huai and Jin Cheng will be with you this afternoon. You should stay in the Corner Palace and not go to the palace gate."

Lin Qingyue nodded, and to be honest, she really didn't dare to walk around the palace gates alone now.

The videos she watched contained absolutely no information indicating that the old woman in the courtyard was Wu Feng.

Reality has taught her that she can't trust videos too much; too many truths are hidden deep within.

The waters around the palace gates were far deeper than she had imagined.

While pondering, she suddenly thought of a question and asked Gong Yuanzheng with some curiosity:

"There's a phrase called 'wind, flowers, snow, and moon.' There's a Flower Palace, a Snow Palace, and a Moon Palace on the back mountain, but there's no Wind Palace. Haven't you ever thought about building a Wind Palace?"

Gong Yuanzheng replied with a smile, "Yes, I'm quite curious, why isn't there a Feng Gong among them...?"

The moment the words left his mouth, he seemed to understand something. The smile on his face gradually disappeared, and he slowly turned his head to look at Gong Shangjiao.

Gong Shangjiao calmly raised his eyes to meet his gaze, his expression unchanged, except for his pupils, which were exceptionally deep and gloomy.

Having spent ten years together, Gong Yuanzheng knew perfectly well what kind of raging fury was hidden beneath his brother's calm exterior.

There is no Wind Palace, no wind, no edge.

They had never thought of that before, but now Lin Qingyue brought it up unintentionally.

I suddenly understood a lot of things.

Why has the Palace Gate been at odds with Wu Feng for so many years without ever gaining the upper hand? Because Wu Feng knows everything about the Palace Gate.

Now, upon closer reflection, it seems that Wu Feng's martial arts were the very same martial arts that could counter the Gongmen.

However, they knew very little about Wufeng.

No, perhaps the palace gates did know a lot about Wufeng, but someone had simply kept it all a secret.

Only the Elder Council and the Palace Gate Guard could completely erase all traces of a palace.

Lin Qingyue also sensed the strange atmosphere, and an unbelievable thought appeared in her mind.

No way, no way, no way? Could it be that Wufeng is actually Kazamiya?

She was instantly terrified, and the teacup in her hand fell onto the table.

Gong Yuanzheng was startled and immediately checked her hand. "Yue'er, are you alright?"

Lin Qingyue forced a smile, revealing an awkward one. "I should be alright, right?"

Gong Yuanzheng understood what she meant, and his expression was also unpleasant. He held Lin Qingyue's hand and pursed his lips tightly.

His anger was burning fiercely, and he wished he could rush to the council of elders immediately.

Drug those old men until they're all passed out!

We will force them to reveal everything about the Wind Palace!

Gong Shangjiao stepped down from his desk, walked up to Lin Qingyue, and bowed respectfully to her, "Miss Lin, thank you."

Lin Qingyue forced a smile, wanting to speak, but didn't know what to say.

She was in a state of confusion and panic. She knew the palace was fraught with danger, but she never imagined it was almost as deep as the Mariana Trench.

No wonder the palace gates won a Pyrrhic victory in the finale, because Wu Feng knew you all too well!

She originally hoped to survive until Wufeng was wiped out, but given the current situation, how could a young lady who is too weak to lift a finger live until Wufeng wiped her out?

Seemingly sensing Lin Qingyue's inner thoughts, Gong Yuanzheng's breathing became somewhat rapid.

His expression turned panicked, and he awkwardly pulled Lin Qingyue into his arms, holding her tightly with both hands, and lowered his head to rub his cheek against her hair.

"Yue'er, don't worry, I will protect you, I will definitely protect you."

This was a promise he made to Lin Qingyue, and also a promise he made to himself.

Lin Qingyue leaned against his chest and sighed softly. This time, she was truly exhausted.

The lunch was prepared according to the "Dream of the Red Chamber Culinary Manual". The chef had obviously put his heart into it. Although the taste was not as good as that of the chef in the Lin family, it was still about 70-80% as good.

Delicious food is indeed the most comforting thing. After taking a bite of the braised duck with winter melon and bamboo shoots, Lin Qingyue's anxious heart calmed down a bit.

Gong Yuanzheng had been keeping a close eye on Lin Qingyue's condition. Seeing that her expression had eased, he finally felt relieved.

Gong Shangjiao had already composed himself during lunch.

With more exposure, my ability to accept new information has also improved considerably.

After lunch, Gong Yuanzheng watched Lin Qingyue drink the medicinal food before hurriedly heading to the dungeon.

He had barely left when Jin Fu came to report that Zhi Ren invited Young Master Jiao to the Zhi Ren Hall to discuss matters.

Lin Qingyue was quite sensible; she knew that such important palace affairs would not allow her to participate, so she wanted to return to the side hall where she had been resting. Unexpectedly, Gong Shangjiao called her back.

"Miss Lin, come with me to the Blade Master Hall."

Lin Qingyue looked surprised. "Me."

Gong Shangjiao smiled gently, his eyes full of warmth. "With your help, we might be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort regarding Wufeng's matter."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingyue agreed without hesitation.

I used to think that as long as the palace and the court joined forces, annihilating Wu Feng would be a piece of cake.

It now seems that completely eliminating Wufeng is a long and arduous journey.

The two quickly arrived at the Blade-Holding Hall, where the others from the back mountain were already there, each holding a plate of snacks and enjoying themselves immensely.

Gong Zishang was overjoyed to see Lin Qingyue, as she hadn't seen her younger sister Qingyue for three days!

She quickly stepped forward, grabbed her hand, and smiled brightly, "That brat Gong San finally let you out! Come, come!"

As he spoke, he picked up a plate of pastries and handed it to Lin Qingyue.

"Try it! This is a pastry from your book 'The Culinary Classic of the Dream of the Red Chamber,' I think it's called Pine Nut Goose Oil Roll. Try it and see if it tastes the same as the ones you eat at home!"

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Lin Qingyue smiled and accepted the pastries, but noticed that Young Master Xue's gaze towards Gong Shangjiao was rather resentful.

Lin Qingyue: "?...?"

Xue Chongzi coughed awkwardly, "Young Master Jiao, could you also give Xue Gong a copy of 'The Culinary Classic of the Red Chamber'?"

Young Master Hua didn't speak, but looked at him expectantly.

Miyazaki: "..."

"I will have Jin Fu deliver the 'Dream of the Red Chamber Culinary Classic' to the Snow Palace and Flower Palace shortly."

Young Master Hua wanted to ask if he could send a copy to the Elders' Council as well, but remembering the despicable things his father had done, he silently swallowed the question back.

Forget it, from now on, whatever Huagong does, send a copy to the Elders' Council.

Now that we've covered the recipes, we can finally get down to business.

Xue Zhongzi's expression was somewhat solemn. "Yesterday I sent two Hongyu guards to Wanhua Tower to monitor Ziyi."

"The surveillance was discovered after only a short time. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, the two Hongyu guards pretended to monitor the other people."

Gong Zishang's expression was very unpleasant, and the pastries in her hand suddenly lost their appeal.

This Situ Hong is said to be the weakest of the four demons in terms of martial arts. If she can easily find the whereabouts of the guard Hongyu, then how strong must the other three be?

The young master Hua looked completely bewildered. "Wait, what is the Myriad Flower Pavilion? And who is Ziyi? Why are you spying on her?"

Young Master Xue leaned close to him and whispered the whole story to him.

When Da Xue was arranging the candidates, she didn't hide anything from him, so he knew all about it.

Gong Shangjiao's expression was calm. After guessing that Wufeng was Fenggong, he had already sensed that this surveillance would not succeed.

Xue Zhongzi looked at Gong Shangjiao, "I plan to personally monitor Ziyi. Xuegong will be temporarily managed by you."

Gong Shangjiao shook his head. "There's no rush. She hasn't made a move in so many years, so I don't think she'll do it anytime soon."

Yukishige frowned. He was the one who needed to be monitored, and he was also the one who didn't need to be monitored.

Yukishigeko was somewhat confused about what Miyazaki meant.

Gong Shangjiao looked at Xue Shigeko, his calm and unwavering eyes seemingly brewing some profound meaning.

"Wind, flowers, snow, and moon—tell me, why isn't there a Wind Palace?"

Yukishigeko was taken aback. "Wind Palace? There has never been a Wind Palace."

Gong Shangjiao smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes.

"If there's no Wind Palace, then tell me, where did Wu Feng come from?"