Yuan Rui's face darkened. "Aren't you the Empress Dowager's personal maid? How come you just found out there's a secret chamber in the Empress Dowager's bedroom?"
The maid trembled and replied in a quivering voice, "Your Majesty... This servant... This servant didn't know either... The Empress Dowager never entered this secret chamber in front of this servant before..."
Hearing the maid's timid voice, Yuan Rui paced back and forth, feeling rather annoyed.
Seeing the Emperor looking so annoyed, the maid didn't dare to anger him and just lowered her head to make herself less noticeable.
"Forget it. You may leave first," Yuan Rui said, frowning when he caught a glimpse of the shivering maid out of the corner of his eye.
Upon hearing this, the little maid quickly bowed and left.
The Emperor just now seemed even more imposing than the Empress Dowager!
The Emperor who always used to smile seemed to be gone.
...
Chu Qing returned to the Chu Mansion.
She stayed there for a whole month.
Fortunately, when she left the Prince Ning's Mansion, she specifically told Wei Ju that if Wei Sheng or anyone else from Po Huang came back, they should come to the Chu Mansion to find her.
During these days, the Emperor, Yuan Rui, found out that she was staying in the Chu Mansion and sent her heaps of tonics every now and then.
Seeing this, Qin Zhao was afraid that some unpleasant rumors might spread, so she called Chu Qing over and wanted to give her a veiled reminder.
After all, one was the Emperor and the other was the Princess Consort. Frequent interactions... were ultimately inappropriate.
When Qin Zhao brought it up, Chu Qing was very sensitive and immediately sensed what her mother meant. Stunned for a moment in surprise, Chu Qing sighed helplessly and said, "Mother, Yuan Rui... Well, I mean the Emperor... I only regard him as a junior!"
When common people have enough to eat, they like to gossip.
And what they like most is to discuss the little secrets of the nobility.
The Emperor always sent things to the Chu Mansion, and the people in Yong City naturally knew who was staying in the Chu Mansion.
So...
There were bound to be some dirty-minded people speculating about other people's intentions.
After Chu Qing comforted Qin Zhao and saw her off, she was about to go back to take a nap.
As for those baseless rumors, she didn't take them to heart at all.
Humph...
Did people think she would have improper thoughts about her own grandson?
And her grandson...
Well... Naturally, he wouldn't have such thoughts about her either!
Otherwise!
She would surely teach him a lesson!
So...
In the following days, Chu Qing still calmly accepted the things sent from the palace.
And Yuan Rui still happily sent things to his aunt.
After all, the Prince Ning was still working hard for him in Chuanzhou. He had to take good care of the Prince's wife.
Because both of them were so aboveboard, those offensive rumors naturally died down.
After that, Chu Qing lived even more comfortably.
As the weather gradually turned cold, Chu Qing began to enjoy sunbathing.
Every day after lunch, she would sit on a wicker chair with cushions specially made for her by Chu Zhan, eating snacks and enjoying the scenery by the biggest lake in the Chu Mansion.
Seeing his sister so relaxed, Chu Zhan once joked that while her husband was working hard outside, she was living a "corrupt and luxurious" life at home.
It was just a joke, and both siblings understood.
But for some reason, Chu Qing suddenly got the idea to go to Chuanzhou to find Wei Ying.
If Qin Zhao and Chu Xing hadn't scolded Chu Zhan severely, Chu Qing might really have gone to Chuanzhou with her big belly to find Wei Ying.
After that, Chu Zhan never dared to joke with Chu Qing again.
And Chu Qing...
Continued to live her "corrupt and luxurious" life.
It wasn't that she was careless. She just thought that since she couldn't help Wei Ying at the moment, the most important thing was to take good care of herself.
So...
Enjoying life well was equivalent to taking good care of herself.
Chu Qing closed her eyes and forced the emerging worries back into the abyss of her heart.
For some troublesome things that she had no way to solve for the time being, avoiding them... was definitely the right choice.
She had to make herself feel more comfortable.
Just as Chu Qing was about to take a nap, Lvluo suddenly came over with someone and gently called her.
Chu Qing opened her eyes lazily and then saw Wei Sheng.
"Have you found out anything?" Chu Qing immediately sat up straight and was no longer as careless as before.
Wei Sheng nodded and then seriously told her all the information he had found out these days.
It turned out that the crazy woman had indeed escaped by accident.
Wei Sheng bribed several nearby palaces but found that no one knew there was such a crazy woman in the Hall of Everlasting Joy.
It seemed that the crazy woman had been well hidden.
But that day, very unfortunately, she escaped and then... ran into Chu Qing...
The Empress Dowager was furious when she found out that the woman had escaped and immediately broke the crazy woman's legs. But after that, she didn't seem to take any further action.
It was as if she wasn't afraid that Chu Qing would find out anything.
After all, a person one had never seen before shouldn't arouse much suspicion.
But unfortunately, Chu Qing had seen the crazy woman before. And she had started to investigate this crazy woman based on her intuition.
Wei Sheng then told her that he had found out that the crazy woman had once been a maid of one of the former Emperor's concubines.
However, Chu Qing already knew this.
Finally, a cold look flashed in Wei Sheng's eyes. "Princess Consort, this subordinate also found out that there is a secret chamber in the Hall of Everlasting Joy... that is, the Empress Dowager's bedroom."
"A secret chamber?" Chu Qing finally looked serious.
Wei Sheng continued, "Because the Empress Dowager is extremely cautious about this secret chamber, it took this subordinate almost a month to find out about it. Moreover, this secret chamber seems to be equipped with some kind of trap. When this subordinate tried to sneak in while the Empress Dowager was sleeping, this subordinate found that this trap... could not be opened. And... there is a master beside the Empress Dowager. Before this subordinate could study the trap carefully, that master showed up. This subordinate was afraid of arousing suspicion, so this subordinate left without engaging him."
"You did the right thing. Since we haven't figured out anything yet, it's really not suitable to arouse suspicion. Just now... you said the switch of the secret chamber is set with a trap?" Chu Qing frowned.
But thinking about it, it wasn't too surprising. After all, secret chambers and traps were a match made in heaven.
"Yes, although this subordinate is mainly responsible for killing and belongs to the Water Division, this subordinate is really not good at dealing with traps." Wei Sheng said honestly.
"Then... is there anyone in Po Huang who is good at traps?"
"Replying to the Princess Consort, there is no branch in Po Huang that specializes in traps. However, Hong Ling from the Fire Division is extremely good at formations and traps."
Hong Ling from the Fire Division?
Chu Qing thought for a long time before she remembered that cold and gorgeous red - dressed woman.
Well...
That woman seemed... not very friendly to her.
Seeing Chu Qing frowning, Wei Sheng seemed to remember their first meeting. After a pause, he said, "Princess Consort, Hong Ling... should not be very hostile to you now. Coincidentally, she just came back a few days ago. May this subordinate go and bring her to see you?"
After hearing this, Chu Qing dispelled the inexplicable uneasiness in her heart and nodded in agreement.
It wasn't until evening that she found out how little hostility Hong Ling had...