"Your Majesty, the two little highnesses were looking for you all night."
Xue Zi Ning looked at Xue Xing Yue and Xue Xing Chen. Xue Xing Yue, displeased, said, "Mother, I'm so young. Of course, I'll miss you if I can't see you."
Xue Zi Ning smiled and picked her up. "Mother didn't say anything else; you're complaining about Mother now."
"Mother, I didn't," Xue Xing Yue quickly defended herself.
Xue Zi Ning chuckled, "Mother was just teasing you?"
"Mother, you're so mean." Xue Xing Yue, caught between tears and laughter, buried her head in her mother's embrace.
Suddenly, Xue Xing Yue asked, "Mother, why does your embrace smell like Father's?"
Xue Zi Ning froze and instinctively covered Xue Xing Yue's mouth. Xue Xing Yue blinked her eyes, looking at her mother with a beaming smile.
"Little one, there are some things you shouldn't say," Xue Zi Ning whispered in her ear, knowing how clever Xue Xing Yue was.
"Mother, I know," Xue Xing Yue replied.
Xue Zi Ning put Xue Xing Yue down and walked up to Wen Yu Xi, saying, "You've worked hard last night. Go rest in the inner chambers quickly. I'll watch them."
Wen Yu Xi nodded and didn't stand on ceremony, returning to the inner chambers to rest.
Xue Zi Ning breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Xue Xing Yue. Xue Xing Yue leaned forward and asked, "Were Mother and Father together yesterday?"
Xue Zi Ning wondered what was going on in Xue Xing Yue's head, how she knew everything.
"How did you know?" Xue Zi Ning asked.
Xue Xing Yue smiled and said, "Because Mother smells like Father."
"Xing Yue, you mustn't say these things to others."
Xue Xing Yue tilted her head and asked, "What about Uncle Wen? Can I not say it to him either?"
"Yes," Xue Zi Ning replied.
"Mother, I understand." Xue Xing Yue nodded, indicating she wouldn't speak of it.
In the evening, Xue Zi Ning asked Xue Yan to take the two little ones to sleep while she slept in the outer chambers.
Wen Yu Xi was sleeping soundly, likely exhausted by the two little ones last night.
He hadn't even had dinner.
Xue Zi Ning thought about how to discuss Yan Zhao's matter with Wen Yu Xi, and as she pondered, she drifted off to sleep.
In the middle of the night, she felt someone beside her and her eyes snapped open. Just as she moved, a familiar deep voice whispered in her ear, "A Ning, it's me..."
Xue Zi Ning was so startled that her sleepiness vanished. She sat up and looked at the man behind her, quietly questioning, "Yan Zhao, what are you doing here? Leave quickly."
He made a move as if to embrace her, his arms wrapping around her waist. "A Ning, I can't sleep. I miss you."
Xue Zi Ning gave a wry smile. "Wen Yu Xi is sleeping inside. Yan Zhao, leave!"
"I know he's inside."
"If you know, why are you still lingering here and not leaving?" Xue Zi Ning clenched her teeth in annoyance.
"But what should I do if I miss you? A Ning..."
"Leave..." Xue Zi Ning hissed.
"A Ning, don't be angry. I'll leave now, okay?"
Feeling that he was no longer behind her, Xue Zi Ning breathed a sigh of relief. Remembering something, she threw on her clothes and went into the inner chambers. Seeing that Wen Yu Xi was still asleep, she returned to her bed in the outer chambers.
She didn't sleep a wink all night. The next day, Xue Zi Ning was yawning continuously and didn't even attend the morning court, continuing to sleep in her chambers.
When she woke up, she heard that two scholars had died at Qiushan Academy last night.
She was shocked awake. Although she knew Yan Zhao was highly skilled in martial arts, she was still worried.
Using the excuse of the academy head inviting her to Qiushan Academy, she rushed to Qiushan Academy.
When the academy head saw the Empress, he quickly led the academy's staff to pay their respects.
Xue Zi Ning waved her hand, signaling the academy head not to be so formal, and walked over to ask, "Have the officials from Jingzhao Prefecture been here? Is there any clue about the killer?"
The academy head replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture rushed over as soon as he received the news. He has already apprehended suspicious individuals and is likely interrogating them now."
Xue Zi Ning nodded. "Have the victims' families been consoled?"
The academy head said, "We've already sent teachers."
"Good, I understand. Please, continue with your duties, Academy Head. I'll walk around here for a bit."
The academy head nodded and withdrew.
Xue Zi Ning noticed Xue Yan looking as if she had something to say, and asked, "Is something wrong?"
Xue Yan whispered, "Your Majesty, the Jingzhao Prefecture has arrested Young Master Yan and Xue Song."
Xue Zi Ning was stunned. "Why would they arrest them? How could it be them?"
Xue Yan was torn between laughter and tears. "You forgot, didn't you? Young Master Yan came out of your chambers last night, and as soon as he returned to the academy, a death occurred. Doesn't Your Majesty find it a bit too coincidental?"
"Take me to Jingzhao Prefecture," Xue Zi Ning said coldly.
Upon arriving at Jingzhao Prefecture, the Magistrate was not in. Xue Yan revealed her identity and was led to the prison.
Seeing Yan Zhao lounging in a prison cell, she felt she might have been worrying too much.
"Your Majesty, you've arrived." Someone stood up from the ground. His moon-white robe was like a lotus emerging from mud, unstained, seemingly free from even a speck of dust.
"Are you truly not worried?"
"With A Ning here, I have nothing to fear."
Xue Zi Ning bit her lower lip. "What if I hadn't come?"
"I didn't kill anyone. Surely Jingzhao Prefecture won't try to force a conviction on me?"
Xue Zi Ning snorted and left the prison.
Seeing that he was safe, she felt reassured.
However, the next day, Xue Zi Ning received news that the Magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture had sentenced Yan Zhao and Xue Song, to be executed after the autumn harvest.
Xue Zi Ning became agitated. At this moment, Wen Yu Xi looked at her, feeling an indescribable sense of something within his heart.
"Your Majesty, is something the matter?"
"Nothing," Xue Zi Ning replied.
Wen Yu Xi was an intelligent person. He sensed that the Empress was hiding something from him.
But being intelligent, he didn't ask the Empress directly. Instead, he discreetly investigated himself. The results of his investigation showed no anomalies, yet he still felt a bit uneasy.
Xue Zi Ning went to Jingzhao Prefecture and summoned the Magistrate. She immediately confronted him, "Magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture, instead of apprehending the killer, you've wantonly accused an innocent person. Do you know your crime?"
The Magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture cried out his innocence, claiming he had irrefutable evidence, with both witnesses and physical evidence present.
"Present the evidence," Xue Zi Ning commanded.
The evidence was presented, which turned out to be the jade pendant Yan Zhao always wore. The witness was a student from the adjacent room who testified that Yan Zhao had gone out that night.
Indeed, there was both witness and physical evidence.
"Magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture, the killer is someone else."
The Magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture had no choice but to revoke Yan Zhao's charges and continue searching for the real killer.
Xue Zi Ning finished dealing with the matter, and it was already dark.
Upon returning to her chambers, she saw Wen Yu Xi playing happily with Xue Xing Yue, and a sense of guilt surged within her.
"Your Majesty, you're back." Wen Yu Xi saw her, put down Xue Xing Yue, and walked forward to bow to her.
"Come with me." She grabbed Wen Yu Xi and led him into the inner chambers.
At this moment, Wen Yu Xi felt that the distance between him and the Empress had never been so close.
He could feel the Empress's breath.
"Wen Yu Xi..."