“I’ll go right away,” Hong Xiu immediately responded.
She knew in her heart that the Crown Princess was probably overthinking it.
During this period, the Crown Prince stayed in the Crown Princess’s room every night. How could other beauties possibly get close to him?
The Crown Prince had probably gotten bored, and since the Crown Princess said that she was feeling unwell, he took the opportunity and stopped coming.
However, she would never dare to say this in front of the Crown Princess, or else she would be the one to suffer.
…
Dusklight Court.
After returning from outside, Chu Jiu went straight to see Lu Liangwei.
Lu Liangwei was in the small medicine room. Seeing that Chu Jiu had come back, she hurriedly put her work aside, got up, and walked out, asking, “So? Did you find out anything?”
Chu Jiu frowned. “No. I couldn’t find any clues at all.”
Lu Liangwei furrowed her brow. How could there be no clues at all?
However, Lin Qingyuan swore that the two people she followed had indeed taken Chen Qiyu and her maidservant to Xiawu Town.
She thought that the kind of private business Lu Yunshuang was running should be in Xiawu Town. After all, the town was very close to the imperial capital, and it would be more convenient for Lu Yunshuang to contact the court officials with whom she conspired.
So how could there be no clues at all? Or had she thought wrong? Could it be that Lu Yunshuang’s business was not located there?
However, if it was not in Xiawu Town, why did those two people take Chen Qiyu there?
“Have you checked all the brothels in Xiawu Town?” Lu Liangwei asked, not willing to give up hope.
Chu Jiu nodded. “Yes. Xiawu Town is livelier than other towns, but it only has a few shops and only two brothels.”
Lu Liangwei tapped her chin with a finger and thought for a moment, then suddenly said, “Have you checked other places besides brothels? Like private villas.”
Chu Jiu was stunned. “No.” She thought that women traffickers would only sell them to that kind of place.
Lu Liangwei’s eyes lit up. “Maybe we were wrong, maybe they didn’t bring them to that kind of place.” Since Lu Yunshuang was so good at keeping secrets, the kind of business she was managing could not possibly be an aboveboard brothel.
Chu Jiu pursed her lips. “Then I’ll go and check again.”
Lu Liangwei shook her head. “No need to hurry. If it’s really like what we guessed, they would surely still be in Xiawu Town. They won’t be going anywhere, so it’s alright if we go a little later. You must be tired from running around. Get some rest first.”
Chu Jiu was startled for a while, then nodded. “Alright.”
Lu Liangwei went into her quarters and poured her a cup of water.
Chu Jiu accepted it and drank it.
Right then, Zhu Yu ran in from outside, puffing and panting. “Miss, guess what I heard outside?”
Lu Liangwei said in amusement, “Probably the same old trivial gossip.”
Zhu Yu’s head drooped. “Why aren’t you curious at all?”
“I can’t be curious about all that gossip outside. But you can tell me, and I’ll listen to the pass some time.”
Seeing that she was interested, Zhu Yu immediately cheered up and said with a grin, “There’s drama in the Eastern Palace again. Here’s what happened. Apparently, Aunt Liu missed her daughter, so she sent an invitation to the Eastern Palace and asked to see Beauty Chen, but they stopped her outside the palace gates and wouldn’t let her in. Later, the Crown Princess went straight to the Duke Chen Mansion and demanded to see Beauty Chen, but they had no idea where she was. Ever since Beauty Chen entered the Eastern Palace, the people from the Duke Chen Mansion had never seen her again, so they insisted that she didn’t go back.
“But the guards at the palace gates attested that, ten days ago, Beauty Chen did indeed leave the palace with the Crown Prince’s warrant and never returned afterward. Both sides stuck to their respective versions of the story, and neither would give in. Right now, people outside are saying that the newcomer Beauty Chen probably ran away with another man after leaving the palace with the Crown Prince’s warrant.”
