On the way, Yun Xi several times wanted to tell Nightingale to return to the Prince Xian's Mansion. But seeing her following the carriage closely, she just couldn't bring herself to say it.
It wasn't until Yun Xi's carriage reached the courtyard that Nightingale, sensing Yun Xi's awkwardness, took the initiative to ask, "Excuse me, where is the wood - shed?"
This question immediately left Yu Zhu stunned. She couldn't help but turn back to look at her young lady and then asked Nightingale blankly, "What do you want to go to the wood - shed for? Are you hungry?"
In the whole courtyard, almost only their young lady cared about the location of the kitchen. She never expected that this woman would inquire about the wood - shed as soon as she arrived. If it weren't for the fact that the woman didn't seem like a bad person and had just saved her young lady, she might have suspected that the woman wanted to sneak into the kitchen to poison the food! After all, the kitchen was next to the wood - shed, which always made people have such associations.
Realizing that Yu Zhu had misunderstood, Nightingale no longer concealed her intention. "I'll rest there. It'll save the princess the trouble of arranging a room for me."
People like them could rest wherever there was a roof over their heads. It didn't matter how bad the environment was. Sometimes, when carrying out a mission, it was quite common for them to soak in a cold lake for a whole night.
"Ah?" Yu Zhu gasped in surprise. Yun Xi couldn't help but sigh and said, "Yu Zhu, go and arrange a guest room for her. Make sure to prepare all the necessary things."
After saying that, she walked straight towards her own courtyard.
Yun Xi had originally been thinking about how to get Nightingale to leave on her own. But Nightingale was neither talkative nor demanding, which caught her off guard.
Although Nightingale was Qi Rong's woman, since she hadn't offended Yun Xi, Yun Xi had no reason to take out her dissatisfaction with Qi Rong on Nightingale, even though she didn't like seeing Nightingale.
Forget it. Anyway, it wouldn't be for long. She'd let Nightingale stay in the courtyard for the time being. After the matter of transporting grain was over, she could return to her peaceful life.
"Miss, you're back!" Seeing Yun Xi return, Hong Luo quickly stepped forward to greet her. But seeing there was an extra person in the group from afar, she couldn't help but look over.
"Miss, who is that girl?"
Yun Xi handed the cape on her shoulder to Hong Luo and said listlessly, "Nightingale."
However, when Hong Luo heard this name, she frowned slightly. Nightingale? Why did this name sound so familiar?
"What's wrong?" Seeing Hong Luo standing there in a daze, with a strange look on her face and her eyes fixed on Nightingale, Yun Xi couldn't help but ask.
Being asked like this, Hong Luo immediately came to her senses and shook her head. "It's nothing. Maybe I misrecognized someone."
After all, she had only heard this name once by chance when she was a child in the palace. It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?
Early this morning, just as dawn was breaking, someone banged on the gate of Yun Xi's courtyard so loudly that it shook the sky. The old woman who guarded the gate put on her clothes and cursed as she opened the door.
Unexpectedly, the people who came in were from the Prime Minister's Mansion!
Yu Zhu woke Yun Xi up from her sleep and said anxiously, "Miss, wake up quickly. The Prime Minister's Mansion was broken into by thieves last night. The old lady wants you to go over and take a look right away!"
Yun Xi rubbed her sleepy eyes and complained, "If there are thieves, just report it to the authorities! What can I do there? I'm not going!"
Saying so, she quickly curled back under the covers and didn't want to care about the affairs of the Prime Minister's Mansion at all.
Since she had sent Madam Jiang to the villa, the old lady seemed to have become addicted to ordering her around. She would come to bother her with some trivial matters from time to time. Yun Xi had declined several times, but unexpectedly, the old lady became more persistent!
She always used the fact that her father was not in the capital as an excuse, saying that the Prime Minister's Mansion had old and young people but no one to take charge, and as the eldest grandchild, she should shoulder the responsibility.
Just listen to this. What kind of fallacious reasoning is this?
When the old lady had scolded her as a bad - luck star and had joined hands with Madam Jiang to frame her, she hadn't seen the old lady value their family blood so much!
Knowing that her young lady had been hurt by the old lady, but thinking of what the person had reported just now, Yu Zhu still advised, "I heard that the thief went to Master's study and ransacked it. He also spilled a lot of blood in it. The whole room was filled with the smell of blood, which really scared the old lady to death!"
"The old lady is worried that it's an enemy who has come looking for trouble, so she has invited you over to discuss it!"
Yun Xi had originally been uninterested in the affairs of the Prime Minister's Mansion, but hearing this, she couldn't help but frown.
She thought that her father had offended quite a few people on weekdays, but the Prime Minister's Mansion was quite well - guarded. This was the first time someone had openly come to cause trouble like this!
Since the thief had gone to her father's study, he must be looking for something. But the act of spilling blood made it hard to figure out the thief's purpose for a while.
"Let's go. Let's go and see what's going on." Yun Xi didn't hesitate any longer and then got out of bed.
Although she had no attachment to the Prime Minister's Mansion, since it concerned her father, she couldn't not care!
When Yun Xi arrived at the Prime Minister's Mansion, the people from the Jingzhao Prefecture had also arrived. Seeing the old lady sitting on the chair with a sallow complexion, she rarely saw a hint of joy on the old lady's face.
"I sent someone to your courtyard early this morning to call you. Why did you come so late?"
"Do you think that just because you've moved out of the Prime Minister's Mansion, you can ignore the lives of us old and young?!"
Sure enough, the old lady started to scold as soon as she saw her. Yun Ni stood beside her, glaring at her angrily. Yun Xi couldn't help but roll her eyes in her heart. What kind of old and young were they? One was scolding with full - force, and the other was glaring with hatred. Which one needed her to take care of?
"Grandmother, if you dislike seeing your granddaughter so much, maybe I should just leave."
Seeing Yun Xi about to leave, the old lady immediately slapped the table and roared, "Stop right there! Who said you could leave? You're not allowed to leave until this matter is resolved!"
"Mom Zhang, go and close the mansion gate immediately!"
The old lady's actions left Mom Zhang stunned. Had the old lady changed her nature? Before, she had been trying to drive the eldest young lady out, but now, she was afraid that the young lady would run away?
"Didn't you hear what I said?" Seeing Mom Zhang standing there in a daze without reacting, the old lady scolded again. Mom Zhang quickly nodded and left the room.
Yu Zhu twitched the corner of her mouth slightly and looked at Yun Xi with a strange expression. Yun Xi just shrugged. She was really flattered by today's treatment!
Not bothering to talk to the old lady, Yun Xi walked straight towards Constable Li, who was investigating the case. As soon as she entered her father's study, she smelled a strong smell of blood. Seeing the dried blood on her father's bookshelf and desk, she immediately frowned.
"Constable Li, have you found any clues?"
On the way here, she had already learned the general situation: the Prime Minister's Mansion had been broken into by thieves in the middle of the night, and her father's study had been the first target. But after the study had been ransacked and blood had been spilled, the thieves hadn't stolen any property.
Moreover, if the thieves hadn't run into the patrolling guards in the mansion, the people in the mansion wouldn't even have known that there were thieves.
One of the restricted areas in the Prime Minister's Mansion was the courtyard where her mother had lived before. Her father's study was in this courtyard. Usually, there were very few servants in the courtyard, and the guards only patrolled outside the courtyard.
As a result, this courtyard had become the area with the weakest security in the Prime Minister's Mansion.