When Chu Qing was leaving the Hall of Eternal Joy, she suddenly bumped into someone head - on.
Thanks to her quick reaction, Chu Qing didn't get knocked to the ground.
She frowned and said in a rather stern tone, "Which palace are you from? How can you walk so recklessly!"
The other person trembled all over as she raised her head, stammering but saying nothing.
Just as Chu Qing was about to ask further, several cold - faced maids suddenly came over. They held the woman who had almost bumped into Chu Qing firmly, then bowed to Chu Qing indifferently and said, "Greetings to the Princess of Ning. This woman is a madwoman from our Hall of Eternal Joy. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is kind - hearted and has always kept her. Today she accidentally slipped out and offended the Princess of Ning. Please don't take offense, Princess."
After hearing this, Chu Qing looked thoughtfully at the struggling woman. The woman seemed to feel Chu Qing's scrutinizing gaze and immediately raised her head and opened her mouth.
However...
There was no sound at all.
Only then did Chu Qing notice that her mouth was pitch - black, as if...
Her tongue had been cut off.
What bothered Chu Qing even more was...
This woman...
Looked very familiar.
But she just couldn't remember who she was.
The cold - faced maid holding the woman continued bluntly, "If the Princess of Ning has nothing else to do, we'll take her back first."
After saying that, they didn't even wait for Chu Qing's response and walked past her and left.
Lü Luo said angrily, "My lady! They don't take you seriously at all!"
Chu Qing, who was deep in thought, waved her hand. She had no intention of caring about the attitude of these little maids.
Because...
This madwoman always made her feel as if there was a thorn in her heart. It didn't hurt or itch, but it was extremely uncomfortable.
Supported by Lü Luo, Chu Qing was absent - minded all the way.
It wasn't until she returned to the Prince of Ning's Mansion and sat on the carved chair in the main hall.
Suddenly, Chu Qing's eyes lit up, and she slapped her thigh.
"Ah... Well... I remember!"
Lü Luo and Liu Xin looked at her in surprise, then said in unison in a soft voice, "What does my lady remember?"
Chu Qing coughed lightly and replied perfunctorily, "It's nothing."
She had been so absorbed in her thoughts just now that she almost blurted out the title "Your Imperial Majesty", which she had almost forgotten.
It was because... she remembered why the so - called madwoman looked familiar.
She was someone Chu Qing knew in her previous life.
Her son had a very favored concubine at that time. That woman was as gentle as water.
When she was staying in the Buddhist hall, that woman had come to accompany her in copying Buddhist scriptures several times.
She didn't know when exactly, but that woman never appeared again.
Chu Qing had a general idea of the reason.
Although she felt sorry in her heart, she really had no strength to care about so many things.
After all, the palace was a place full of filth.
The madwoman just now should be the personal maid of that concubine.
Chu Qing vaguely remembered that her voice was as melodious as a warbler's song.
But since the concubine had disappeared... why was this maid still... alive? And... she was actually in the Empress Dowager's palace?
Most importantly... her tongue had been cut off...
Was it because they were afraid that she would say something that shouldn't be known?
"Lü Luo! Go and call the steward here!" Chu Qing suddenly ordered.
Although Lü Luo was curious about her mistress's ever - changing expressions just now, she quickly went to find Wei Ju.
After a while, the two of them came back out of breath.
"Does the Princess have any orders?" Wei Ju adjusted his breathing and immediately asked respectfully.
This little girl Lü Luo had found him in a hurry just now, saying that the Princess had something urgent to order.
Wei Ju immediately put down his work and rushed over.
Chu Qing said with a somewhat complicated expression, "Who is still around from the Po Huang?"
Wei Ju was stunned for a moment, then answered honestly, "As far as this old servant knows, all the members of the Po Huang have gone out to carry out the tasks assigned by the Prince. However... coincidentally... Wei Sheng came back last night."
"Go and call him here. Tell him that this Princess has something urgent to talk to him about."
Wei Ju nodded in agreement.
When Wei Sheng walked in, he first bowed and said, "This subordinate just came back and hasn't had the chance to pay respects to the Princess. Please forgive me, Princess."
Wei Sheng used to be always full of energy, but now there was a sense of... helplessness between his eyebrows.
Chu Qing frowned and asked, "What... has happened to you these days?"
Wei Sheng obviously hesitated for a moment, seemingly not expecting the Princess to ask about him.
After thinking for a while, Wei Sheng picked out some important things that had happened in the past few months and told them.
Only then did Chu Qing learn from him that Wei Zhi...
Had an accident.
Wei Sheng originally wanted to go back to Chuanzhou, but Wei Ying had given him an order to return to Yongzhou.
At that time, Wei Ying's expression was very serious, which made Wei Sheng not dare to disobey.
And at this moment, Chu Qing was in a daze.
Wei Zhi... not only lost her internal strength to save her, but now she had also contracted a strange disease...
Chu Qing tightly grasped the front of her robe, and her body trembled slightly.
If this little girl Wei Zhi... unfortunately died...
She was afraid that she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.
Seeing that Chu Qing's expression was not good, Wei Sheng sighed and asked, "Did the Princess call this subordinate here for any orders?"
Chu Qing then raised her head. After a long while, she regained her initial expression and said, "This Princess wants you to go into the palace to investigate someone. I wonder... is it difficult for your Water Department people to investigate things in the palace?"
"May I ask who the Princess wants to investigate?" Wei Sheng frowned and asked.
"A madwoman with her tongue cut off in the Hall of Eternal Joy." Chu Qing's expression was solemn.
Hearing this, Wei Sheng didn't ask any more questions.
After all, the Princess's order was the master's order.
They just had to follow the master's orders.
Seeing that Wei Sheng immediately went to investigate after receiving the order, Chu Qing still couldn't feel at ease.
According to her intuition, the Empress Dowager might be hiding a huge secret...
It seemed that the wind was about to rise again in this palace.
...
After Yuan Rui returned to his own bedroom and was about to take a nap, Eunuch Li suddenly led someone in.
"Your Majesty... this girl said she has something important to report to you."
Yuan Rui lazily raised his eyes and looked at the other person. When he saw that it was the personal maid beside the Empress Dowager, he immediately sat up straight with a serious expression.
"What is my mother up to this time?" Yuan Rui subconsciously frowned.
The person he had placed beside the Empress Dowager hadn't come to report news to him for a long time.
He wasn't worried about her betrayal.
He was just annoyed.
Because when this maid came to him, it meant that the Empress Dowager had done something again.
The maid took a deep breath and then said carefully:
"Your Majesty, after you and the Princess of Ning left today, the Empress Dowager... muttered a few words and then told this servant to go out. She said she wanted to be alone. Who would have thought... " There was suddenly a look of fear on the maid's face:
"When this servant turned around to close the door, through the crack, this servant saw the Empress Dowager... she suddenly went into a cabinet! It seemed... to be a secret room!"