Chapter 750: Chapter 750: Seeds of Hatred, Doubt!

"Fetch some sensible palace maids and eunuchs over here!"

Li Qingmu calmed the Little Emperor and instructed Chen Liu beside him.

Chen Liu hesitated a little, and Li Qingmu sneered, "What, are you even going to forgo the last fig leaf of decency?"

Chen Liu quickly bowed his head, "This old servant understands, I will arrange for some sharp individuals for him right away!"

These sharp individuals should certainly be astute, able to observe and understand the situation, at least maintaining good appearances.

Li Qingmu’s gaze darkened slightly, hoping that the arranged palace maids and eunuchs would treat Rong Zhuo kindly, so that when the big purge comes in the future, they might also escape with their lives.

Leaving Qianyang Palace, Li Qingmu glanced at the sky, it was already evening.

Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, there will be a grand assembly, and in the evening he will dine with the harem concubines, commonly known as the family banquet.

There shouldn’t be major issues with the grand assembly, the main concern is the family banquet, where he has to guard against anyone harming Long Yue and her son.

Suddenly, a black shadow flashed by, and Li Qingmu’s gaze sharpened, turning to ask Chen Liu beside him, "Did you just see someone pass by?"

Chen Liu looked around and shook his head, "Your Majesty, this servant saw nothing."

Li Qingmu frowned slightly, was it just a hallucination on his part?

No, that’s impossible!

His martial arts are advanced, nothing in his surroundings should escape his perception, someone must have passed by just now.

Moreover, that person must be a martial arts master, otherwise how could they move so fast? Truly like lightning and speed of light.

"Your Majesty, you’ve been busy with state affairs these days, perhaps you’re tired, why not return to the palace to rest?"

Li Qingmu glanced at Chen Liu and said, "Alright!"

After Li Qingmu left, a black shadow suddenly appeared where he lingered before.

The figure watched him disappear, letting out a sinister chuckle.

"This kid’s martial arts have progressed rapidly; he could actually perceive my movement trail. Interesting, interesting, that makes it more fun! Kekekeke..."

Then, the black shadow faded away like the wind.

...

Zhaoming Palace, back garden. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

A black shadow appeared abruptly, startling Zhi Jin, now called Yu Zhu, who was watering flowers, "Who?"

"It’s me!"

She carefully looked at the black shadow and confirmed it was someone she knew before she sighed in relief, "Aren’t you afraid of being seen coming here?"

The black shadow replied, "No, people here can’t see me."

Li Qingmu had only glimpsed him briefly before, so the black shadow was very confident.

"Did you risk coming here specifically to give me some instructions?"

Zhi Jin chuckled leisurely; having left that dark, sunless Cold Palace, the feeling was truly wonderful, and naturally, she felt grateful to the black shadow.

Moreover, they were currently in a cooperative relationship; whatever instructions he had, she should do her utmost to carry out.

"At tonight’s family banquet, try to put this on the tables of Princess Consort Jing and Ming Fei," the black shadow said, taking out a box.

Zhi Jin opened it to see a few intricately crafted mooncakes inside.

"Just this? Did you put poison in them?"

She looked at the black shadow with suspicion, wasn’t the plan to slowly torment that woman? Simply poisoning her seemed too straightforward.

"Poison her? Hehe..." The black shadow let out a disdainful chuckle, "Ming Fei is not easy to deal with; she can discern poison. Regular poisons are useless to her!"

"If it’s useless, then why have me place these mooncakes?"

Zhi Jin found it inexplicable; she brought the mooncakes closer to smell them, they seemed no different.

"There are some poisonous insects inside, not lethal, but enough to disgust someone."

"Isn’t that a waste of effort?"

Zhi Jin thought the black-clad person was a bit nonsensical.

The black shadow revealed an eerie smile, "No, it’s not a waste. Once you see this insect, you’ll understand the reason. Why not open and see?"

Zhi Jin was quite puzzled; even though she knew she shouldn’t question him, curiosity got the better of her, so she cracked one open to look.

Instantly, Zhi Jin let out a cry of surprise.

She recognized the insect, it was one that Rong Si usually kept in the palace to specifically eat mosquitoes.

Everywhere, during summer, there would be many mosquitoes, their buzzing was a nuisance, and normally people would look for ways to repel them.

Rong Si’s method was simple, she bred insects that could feed on mosquitoes. These insects had wings on their backs, could fly, and fly faster than mosquitoes, allowing them to catch the mosquitoes.

"Are you trying to sow discord between the mother and son?"

Zhi Jin was very shocked and puzzled as to who this black shadow truly was?

Why was he doing this?

The black shadow swayed slightly, chuckled lowly, "You’ve figured it out. Yes, I intend to sow discord between the mother and son. Why? Are you still clinging to that slight sense of master-servant sentiment?"

Zhi Jin was taken aback for a moment before a vengeful glow flashed in her eyes.

Yes, after how Rong Si treated her, why should she cling to even a tiny bit of master-servant sentiment?

Zhi Jin clenched her fist tighter, gazing at the black-clad figure, "The Princess and the Emperor are both extremely clever; this small trick is unlikely to truly sow discord, right?"

"Take it slow, all you need is to plant a seed of hatred in their hearts, time is on our side..."

Zhi Jin’s eyes shimmered slightly, he was right, time was long; as long as they don’t trust each other, today’s small act, tomorrow’s small act, gradually they will amass into an ocean.

Someday, the mother and son will turn against each other!

As for why the black shadow wanted to pit them against each other, Zhi Jin didn’t know, but she couldn’t care less about that.

Inhaling deeply, Zhi Jin put away the box and turned to leave.

The black shadow watched her go, his figure gradually fading away.

Zhi Jin, disguised as Yu Zhu, returned to Long Yue’s side, serving her tea and water, attending to her diligently.

With the gradual arrival of autumn, the weather would become dry. The Imperial Kitchen especially made delicious silver ear lotus seed soup, with some peach gum added; it appeared very appealing, tempting and appetizing.

"My lady, please enjoy."

The sky had darkened, and Long Yue was preparing to eat a bowl of soup before resting.

Yu Zhu brought up the soup.

Just as Long Yue was about to eat, she looked up and saw Yu Zhu meekly lowering her head, behaving unusually well.

Oh, this girl, why hasn’t she been indulging her sweet tooth these days?

It was known that previously, Yu Zhu loved these sweets; whenever Long Yue couldn’t finish them, Yu Zhu would help her out, although when they were just brought in, she wouldn’t dare take a bite.

"Yu Zhu."

"Yes, my lady!"

Long Yue slightly frowned, placing the silver ear lotus seed soup to the side, "I’m a bit tired, the soup is too sweet and greasy, I don’t really feel like eating it."

Yu Zhu loved sweet foods, the sweeter the better. Long Yue thought that she had been behaving rather well these days, so she might as well treat it as a reward for her.

"This is Your Ladyship’s meal, this servant dares not overstep."

Yu Zhu still said this with her head lowered.

"Hmm?"

Long Yue was slightly surprised, how had this girl changed? She wasn’t greedy for food anymore?

It was known that a leopard can’t change its spots; how could someone greedy for food change that habit?

"Yu Zhu..." Long Yue thought to ask where she had been just now, but on second thought, decided not to ask, instead pointing to the soup on the table, "Go and pour it out!"

"Yes!"

Yu Zhu took the silver ear lotus seed soup out.

Long Yue watched her back, narrowing her eyes slightly, a hint of color flashing in her eyes.