Lady Wei quickly stepped forward to support the Princess and asked, "Mother, how did the thieves break in?"
The Princess shook her head and said, "I'm not entirely sure. But since your father is away, the study has always been locked. Even the cleaning servants are not allowed to enter. Not long after dawn today, a servant reported that the lock had been tampered with."
Lady Wei took the tampered lock and frowned, asking, "Was the lock open?"
Lu Hongxi's study was always cleaned by his personal old servant. Every day, the old servant carefully swept away the fallen leaves and wiped the dust off the window sills and corridors. When Lu Hongxi was away, there was a lock on the study door, and the key was in the old servant's hands. But the old servant never opened it.
Hearing Lady Wei's question, the old servant quickly explained, "Princess Consort, the lock was not open. But this lock is mine. I've been taking care of it for decades, and I even oiled it myself. When I was wiping the door today, I found sawdust in the lock core."
The lock core was such a hidden place that it should not have come into contact with dirty things. How could there be sawdust in it for no reason?
Lady Wei and the Princess glanced at each other, and Lady Wei asked again, "So, when you saw it, the door was still locked?"
The old servant nodded. "Yes, the door was locked. There are only two keys to the study door, and they are both in my hands. I'm sure no one could have touched them. After I found it, I immediately reported it to the Princess. I didn't open the door until the Princess came."
Lady Wei quickly asked, "Mother, was anything missing from the study?"
The Princess shook her head blankly. "That's the strangest part. I checked carefully, and it seems that nothing is missing. Several precious calligraphy and paintings are still there. Moreover, your father doesn't really like those things. Apart from those calligraphy and paintings, the only valuable thing in the study is this military book. But none of these were missing."
Lady Wei took a look. The Princess was meticulous and had already taken out the calligraphy, paintings, and the military book.
The Princess explained further, "Your father doesn't care much. These things are all placed outside and not hidden deeply. However, I noticed that the drawer seemed to have been tampered with, but there was nothing in it."
All of them were puzzled.
Lu Wanning tentatively asked, "Could it be that the person was not a thief but someone looking for something?"
Lady Wei looked at her approvingly and asked, "What could they be looking for?"
The Princess was also confused. "What could it be? Apart from books and writing brushes, the most in here are the battle reports. Han Chi is meticulous and would send a copy of the battle reports back home. But those battle reports are not any secrets. And look, they are all here."
Lu Wanning squinted her eyes and looked around. She looked at the table and then at the bookcase. Relying on her memory, she pulled out two books from the bookcase and saw a box behind them.
The Princess was very surprised. "How could there be a box here?"
Lu Wanning said, "Once when I came to accompany Father, I saw him putting letters into this box, so I remembered it."
The Princess was about to reach out to take the box, but Lu Wanning raised her hand to stop her. She said to the maid, "Bring a candle."
The candle was quickly brought. The three of them leaned in to take a look. Since the study hadn't been cleaned for more than ten days, there was a layer of dust. However, the dust on the two books that Lu Wanning had taken away was significantly less. Not only those two books, but the dust on all the books on the entire bookcase was patchy, clearly showing that they had been tampered with.
Moreover, there was no dust on the box, indicating that someone had touched it.
The Princess then took the box and opened it. It was empty, and there were no letters as Lu Wanning had said.
Lady Wei quickly asked, "Ning'er, do you remember what kind of letters were originally in the box?"
Lu Wanning pursed her lips and remained silent. Of course, she knew that the box contained the letters that Lu Hongxi had exchanged with his friends in the Northern Desert.
Lady Wei's eyes narrowed. She told the others to leave, and only the three of them were left in the room. "Ning'er, tell the truth. Whose letters were they?"
Lu Wanning's lips were dry. She had already guessed that the downfall of the Lu family in the book might be related to these letters. Why hadn't she prepared in advance? Was she too stupid to think that as long as the Emperor believed in them, these things couldn't pose a threat?
Lady Wei was anxious. She reached out and grabbed Lu Wanning's shoulders. "Ning'er, you know something, don't you?"
Lu Wanning gritted her teeth and nodded. "The letters were from Father and a friend. That friend of Father's is from the Northern Desert."
Both the Princess and Lady Wei were greatly shocked. Lu Hongxi had been at war with the Northern Desert for many years. It was normal for him to know someone from the Northern Desert and to exchange letters. But now that the letters had been stolen, it was a different story.
Lady Wei pondered, "Who took the letters?"
"Whoever doesn't want our family to have a good life is the one who took them," Lu Wanning said in a low voice.
The faces of the Queen and Prince Chen immediately flashed through the minds of the Princess and Lady Wei. The Princess remembered what her husband had said to her on the day Prince Yu left the capital. If Prince Yu returned, he would strongly support him.
She gritted her teeth tightly. Her once - intimate younger sister from childhood, was she now not only a stranger but also a mortal enemy?
The Princess took a deep breath. "What should we do?"
She didn't know, and neither did Lady Wei and Lu Wanning.
Lady Wei thought for a while and said, "The most urgent thing is to tell Father - in - law about this. Mother, did Father - in - law really not say where he was going?"
The Princess nodded. "Yes. That day, the personal guard only said that the Emperor had ordered him to go out on a mission, and the return date was uncertain."
Lady Wei frowned. "Are we just going to sit back and wait for death?"
Lu Wanning stood up. "I'll go into the palace now."
The Princess asked, "What are you going to do in the palace?"
Lu Wanning said, "The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the open. This is not a good situation. We don't know what they are going to do, and we can only guess who the enemy is. But think about it. What's the worst - case scenario? It's that the Emperor thinks Father is colluding with the enemy, and those letters are the only evidence. Those bad people need to be fully prepared to make the Emperor believe that Father is colluding with the enemy. I can only take this opportunity to go into the palace early and explain the situation to the Emperor."
Lady Wei nodded. "Yes, Ning'er is right. They stole these letters so carefully. They must not have expected that we would know so soon that the letters were stolen. Ning'er should go and explain the situation to the Emperor first. Even if the Emperor has doubts, he won't blindly believe others."
Lu Wanning immediately prepared to drive into the palace. But when she reached the palace gate, she was stopped.
Ji Yue scolded, "How dare you! You dare to stop the carriage of Princess Zhaoyang?"
The palace guards quickly bowed. "Greetings to the Princess. Today, the Emperor and the Queen are in the Buddhist hall, praying for the Great Zhou Empire to ensure good weather and a prosperous year. The Queen ordered to close the palace gate early this morning, and no one is allowed to enter or leave."
It wasn't a court session day, so ordinary people wouldn't enter the palace. If someone really wanted to enter, they should send a post in advance. Lu Wanning was stopped, but she didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately turned back home.
Those people had clearly come prepared. They were guarding against them knowing that the letters were stolen and just didn't want her to have a chance to approach the Emperor.