"First, quietly detain the person. Don't alert the others. Maybe he has already arranged many forces in the palace that we don't know about. It'll be quite troublesome if we have to deal with them,"
"You think the same as I do, Mother."
Just like this, the two quietly sent people to He Hui's place. However, the result shocked them greatly.
"Your Highness, Your Majesty. According to the maids, she hasn't returned for a long time. She left the palace a few days ago and hasn't come back yet."
Shi Muyuan looked at the trembling maid kneeling outside. She stepped forward and slapped her.
"How dare you! Your mistress hasn't been back for so long, and you don't even know to report it. I suppose you should know where she is, right?"
"Your servant really doesn't know anything. Please forgive me, Empress Dowager. I'm just a lowly maid. I can't do anything."
"It seems your mouth is so hard that you're not going to say anything. In that case, I'll have to use other means."
Without her saying more, Zi Yi understood. She took out a set of needles from her body.
These were the needles that Shi Muyuan gave her on her birthday. Since she loved medicine, it was really a waste to use them on this little maid today.
But for Shi Muyuan's sake, she endured the nausea.
"Are you going to talk or not? If you don't say anything, don't blame the needles in my hand for being merciless."
"Your servant, your servant really doesn't know where the Lady has gone. Empress Dowager, you're magnanimous. Please spare your servant."
As the needle pricked into the fingertip, the excruciating pain made the maid let out a shrill scream.
"Empress Dowager, your servant will talk. Your servant is willing to say everything."
"You should have done this earlier and spared yourself so much pain. Alright, you'd better tell everything you know. Otherwise, my needles can pierce any part of your body at any time."
The maid's face was covered with tears and snot. She trembled and told everything she knew.
Shi Muyuan and the Emperor looked at each other in surprise.
It turned out that as soon as He Hui heard the news that Ji Huang was coming back, she had been thinking about how to escape. She knew that the two of them would never let her go.
"Have you told anyone else about this?"
"No, never. The Lady sneaked out secretly. Even if you gave your servant ten guts, I wouldn't dare to spread this around."
Hearing this, Shi Muyuan only felt a headache. Why were there so many things happening every day?
She had finally had a quiet period.
Forget it. Since things had come to this point, they could only take it one step at a time.
However, it was still a good thing for them.
"Later, when I call the Prince here, you tell him exactly what you just told us."
Hearing this, Ji Heng didn't quite agree.
"Isn't Mother giving them a chance to be together?"
If Ji Huang knew that He Hui had escaped, he would probably search the ends of the earth to find his so - called sweetheart.
Shi Muyuan saw it differently.
"Doesn't Your Majesty think this is an opportunity for us? He Hui has become a heartless woman. By then, how could the Prince still have any feelings for her? He'd probably wish to cut her into a thousand pieces."
Thinking about it this way, it seemed to make sense. The two hit it off and quickly called Ji Huang over.
When they saw him come in, the maid who had been crying on the ground just now suddenly ran over like a madwoman.
"Prince, save your servant! The Empress Dowager wants to kill your servant to keep you from knowing the Lady's whereabouts."
This scene really caught everyone off guard. Even the shrewd Shi Muyuan didn't react in time. She just saw Ji Huang protect the maid behind him.
"Don't be afraid. Are you one of Hui'er's servants?"
"Yes, your servant is the personal maid beside Lady Hui. I've been staying in the harem all this time just to wait for you to come back. The Lady left the palace a few days ago. She also took the little prince with her."
"How dare you! Who gave you the guts to spout such nonsense?"
Almost instantly, Zi Yi used her lightness skills and reached the maid's side. The needle in her hand was about to pierce into the maid's back of the neck.
At the same time, Ji Huang made a move and saved the maid.
"What are you? I'm asking questions. How dare you interrupt? It seems that after following the Empress Dowager for so long, you still haven't learned your manners."
Zi Yi flew out in the end, hitting a pillar not far away. She fell down, spitting out fresh blood from her mouth.
Seeing this, Shi Muyuan's face fell.
Zi Yi had been with her for so long and almost lost her life for her. She almost regarded this girl as family. But Ji Huang had attacked Zi Yi for a maid who was obviously a pawn.
"Huang'er! You've gone too far this time! The people around me are not someone you can just attack as you like."
"If Mother can't discipline the people around her well, then I have to do it myself."
Turning around, his eyes were blood - red. He tightly grabbed the maid and interrogated her.
"What's going on here? Why have I never heard that she has our child?"
The maid pitifully told everything. Ji Heng wasn't a fool. Listening on the side, he stepped forward and almost strangled the maid to death.
In fact, he really did it.
"You simply don't put me in your eyes. Plotting in secret, Ji Huang, is this how you treat me? It really makes me sick."
Soon, the maid lost her breath.
Ji Huang was still immersed in what the maid had said. It turned out that after being in the Cold Palace, she had been pregnant with his child. After communicating for so long, he had known nothing.
He felt a bit of regret and also a bit of joy.
If he had known earlier, he should have come back earlier.
He took a deep breath.
"Since the person has already left the deep palace, she is no longer a person in this harem. Mother and Brother Emperor can't control us no matter what. Thank you for your blessings."
He turned around and was about to leave.
Just then, Shi Muyuan waved her hand. Dense shadows suddenly appeared in Shoukang Palace.
"Over the years, I've treated you as my own son. The late Emperor left me alone in the empty boudoir, but I never complained. I've treated all of you equally. I never thought you would do such a rebellious thing today."
Looking at those shadow guards, Ji Huang knew that she was really angry.
"Mother, I'm at least your child. No matter what, that maid can't compare to the relationship between you and me. Are you really going to fall out with me for a little maid?"
Now, for the sake of his sweetheart and his own flesh and blood, he was a bit crazy.
Today, even if he had to give up his identity as a prince, he must leave the palace to look for He Hui. The maid had told him He Hui's whereabouts before she died.
"Humph, Zi Yi has saved me many times. She's like my family. How can I let you trample on her like this?"