The Ministry of Justice originally wanted to start the investigation from the Prince's Mansion, but this was the Prince's Eastern Palace and no one dared to visit casually. While they were hesitating, they suddenly heard a rumor.
It was said that this maid was beaten into this state by Concubine Ji from the Crown Prince's Mansion, and the colorful pearl earrings also belonged to Concubine Ji, but they were thrown by the young lady from the General's Mansion.
Compared with the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace, even though Miss Liu is the future Princess of Jing, her status is lower after all, not to mention that she has not yet married into the family.
The Ministry of Justice sent people to Liu's house to investigate the case and found out that the man was indeed thrown away by Liu's house.
They said it was obtained from the British Palace, and also said it was sent to the British Palace by the Crown Princess. It was in this condition when it was sent there, and the person was really beaten by people from the Crown Prince's Palace.
People from the Ministry of Justice did not dare to go to the Prince of Ying's Palace. That place looked difficult to deal with, and no one dared to step forward. In the end, it was the Minister of Justice who asked Pei Yuanjun a few questions with a smile. Only when he knew that this matter really had nothing to do with the Princess of Ying did he feel relieved. It was best that it had nothing to do with her.
The matter of a maid involved the Prince's Mansion and two royal palaces. No matter how you look at it, the Ministry of Justice is under a lot of pressure, and the fewer families the better.
Afterwards, the Ministry of Justice sent people to the Eastern Palace to meet Concubine Ji to ask about the maid.
Compared to the Crown Princess, Concubine Ji is always easier to deal with.
Unexpectedly, this incident attracted great praise from the Crown Princess, who even sent someone to explain the matter.
This person was found by the Crown Princess, but she was dying when she was found. The Crown Princess even ordered people to rescue this maid, otherwise she would have died at that time.
Because this maid was involved in a plot against the princess, she was sent to the Prince of England's palace, and then to Miss Liu's hands. However, the maid died on the way, and Miss Liu thought it was unlucky, so she had her thrown into a mass grave.
As for the colorful bead earrings, no one knows when they were torn off.
A maid dared to plot against the Princess of England. Needless to say, there was someone behind this. After the plot failed, she was assassinated to silence her.
The most suspicious person in this matter is probably Concubine Ji of the Eastern Palace.
Pei Luoan walked towards Ji Youran's yard with a gloomy face.
As soon as they saw him coming, a maid came in to report. When he got closer, Ji Youran came out to greet him. She looked very slim and wore loose clothes. If people didn't know, they wouldn't be able to tell that she was pregnant. However, Ji Youran could clearly feel that her belly was a little bigger.
She was walking very slowly now, and even though her belly was not noticeable, she looked quite pregnant. When she saw Pei Luoan coming towards her with a gloomy face, her heart skipped a beat.
In order to prevent herself from attracting the attention of the new Crown Princess, Ji Youran no longer cared about anything and handed over her power early. Later, she was not the one who took over the power with the Crown Princess. She would not go in front of the new Crown Princess until the Crown Prince told her that she was pregnant.
"Greetings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Ji Youran squatted and saluted.
Pei Luoan looked at Ji Youran who was squatting in front of him with an obscure expression, his face very unsightly. He snorted coldly, raised his leg and walked inside, ignoring Ji Youran who was still half-squatting to salute.
Ji Youran hurriedly stood up and followed him into the house. She took the teacup from the maid and handed it to Pei Luoan. She said in a tender voice, "Your Highness..."
"Kneel down!" Pei Luoan said sternly.
Ji Youran's feet softened, and she fell to the ground with a plop. She raised her beautiful face with a look of grievance,
Your Highness, I…I have done something to make you angry. Please tell me, and I will definitely change for the better.”
"Didn't you do what happened to Princess Jing during the wedding?" Pei Luoan said coldly, his eyes grim.
Although the incident with the maid broke out not long ago, the Minister of Justice had already visited him twice and talked about the matter half openly and half secretly, and also told him about the rumors about him outside. Pei Luoan was so angry that he wanted to slap the Minister of Justice twice in the face. What kind of things were he talking about? He said that he stayed in the maid's room on his wedding night, and even the master of the inner courtyard of his own East Palace got angry and killed the maid and threw her away at will.
Later, he said that Ji Youran secretly harmed Miss Liu and Princess Ying and put the blame on the Crown Princess, asking him not to favor his concubine over his wife.
But he didn't dare to do anything, and he couldn't do anything. The Minister of Justice was a man trusted by his father and an old minister with many achievements. He was a prince with no power and he really couldn't do anything to him, otherwise he would anger his father, and in the end he would have to bear the consequences.
"Your Highness, I dare not. How could I dare to do such a thing? Didn't I listen to Your Highness and hand over my rights as housekeeper at that time?" Ji Youran knelt down holding her invisible belly, tears in her eyes, feeling aggrieved. It had only been a short time, but she was already pregnant.
"Since the Crown Princess entered the palace, I have obeyed His Highness and dared not show myself in front of the Crown Princess, let alone make the slightest movement, for fear that the Crown Princess would find out. I will not leave until His Highness makes the decision for me. Even if it is not for me, for the Crown Princess's kindness, I dare not move rashly. During this period, doesn't His Highness know what I have done?"
During this period, Ji Youran was particularly well-behaved. He even stayed at the courtyard door and kept to Pei Luoan's words.
She would wait until Pei Luoan found an opportunity to tell Liu Jingyu about her pregnancy before she went out to serve tea to Liu Jingyu. Now she did nothing.
Of course, even so, she still needs to know some information. Although she has let it go on the surface, there are people secretly tipping her off.
Especially after the Crown Prince did not enter the Crown Princess's bridal chamber, more servants felt that the new Crown Princess might not be favored, and that the one who would gain power in the future might be Concubine Ji.
After all, Concubine Ji is the cousin of the former Crown Princess! She was the one who took care of the former Crown Princess when she entered the Eastern Palace.
"Colored bead earrings, do you remember I gave them to you?" Pei Luoan was still furious.
He remembered this incident so clearly because he originally only brought a pair of colored bead earrings, which he intended to give to Ji Hanyue. Unexpectedly, Ji Youran saw it. She felt so wronged. She just looked at him with tears in her eyes. She clearly wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.
She just followed behind him and Ji Hanyue, and occasionally reached out to help Ji Hanyue. She only touched her earrings when Ji Hanyue wasn't looking. Then she looked aggrievedly at Pei Luoan who turned his head to look at her, and finally lowered her head and twisted her hands.
Afterwards, Pei Luoan found a pair of colorful bead earrings, but told her not to wear them when Ji Hanyue saw them.
Ji Youran also kept his promise, and later he brought her along when the two of them met privately. When Ji Hanyue got into trouble and Ji Youran entered the East Palace, Pei Luoan had also seen Ji Youran bringing her along.
"Your Highness, this... this earring is not only for me. There were many people in the palace who received it. Let's not talk about others. Could it be that the Crown Princess... Could it be that she doesn't have it
"Ji Youran shed tears pitifully.
"What a great thing that the Crown Princess has too. Can you take out your colorful pearl earrings for me to see?" The Crown Prince slammed the table five times, angrily saying.
"Your Highness, when I was cleaning up the place, several pieces of jewelry were missing, and this colorful earring was one of them." Ji Youran became more and more sad when she saw Pei Luoan's attitude, and she held her chest with her hand, "Your Highness punished me before and asked me to move to the courtyard. I was very sad and didn't care about anything else. I made a mess at that time, and I didn't expect to lose so many things."
"Why didn't you say it then?" Pei Luoan stared at Ji Youran coldly.
"I had angered His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at that time, so I didn't dare to say anything else. I secretly searched for a long time, but they were all gone. Not only this pair of colored pearl earrings, but also another pair of hairpins, which were all given to me by His Royal Highness. I was panicked and anxious, but His Royal Highness was busy at that time. I thought they were just trivial matters, so it was lost, and it would be good if it didn't affect the Crown Prince's important matters."
Ji Youran fell to the ground crying timidly, her voice choked with sobs, as if she couldn't breathe.
Pei Luoan didn't get angry this time, he just stared at her.
Sensing that her words had taken effect, Ji Youran cried even harder: "Your Highness, the Crown Prince should be very clear about what I have done recently. How could he possibly do such a thing? To intentionally harm the future Princess Jing, or to harm the Crown Princess? Am I afraid that I will die unhappily?"
Because of the baby in Ji Youran's belly, Pei Luoan secretly protected Ji Youran very well and indeed did not find anything abnormal about her. But if it wasn't her, could it be someone else
Pei Luoan was a suspicious person. Even if Ji Youran cried sincerely or said something aggrieved, he would not believe it completely. But now he looked at Ji Youran's belly, his expression eased a little, and he reached out to help her up from the ground, "It really has nothing to do with you?"
"It really has nothing to do with me!" Ji Youran said while wiping her tears.
"Then find the colored bead earrings and ask the people who helped move them one by one." Pei Luoan said coldly.
“Yes... I’ll have someone prepare a list for you shortly, but..." Ji Youran hesitated here, looking a little unconfident.
"Anything else?" Pei Luoan had already stood up and asked impatiently.
"There are some people in the mansion that I don't know even though I've been the head of the household for a while. I can only give a general idea of who they are." Ji Youran said hurriedly, fearing that the matter would not be fully investigated and would end up falling on her head.
Now that the new Crown Princess has entered the East Palace, she has to keep a low profile for the time being. One day, she will have the chance to hold her head high.
If she can kill Ji Hanyue, she can certainly kill Liu Jingyu as well.
What Ji Youran said made sense. How could a concubine like her manage all the staff in the Eastern Palace? There were many people coming and going around Pei Luoan. Ji Youran didn't dare to manage it or ask.
"Sort out the list immediately. No matter how many people there are, don't leave anyone behind." Pei Luoan had already walked out, saying impatiently as he walked.
Whether Ji Youran lost the jewelry or not is not a big deal. The big thing is whether there is a spy in his East Palace. That is a big deal.
If he could lose some jewelry today, then someone might rush in and assassinate him next time. Thinking of this, Pei Luoan could no longer sit still.
Check, must check, check immediately...