The steward of the East Palace was stunned. He originally thought that the disaster would be diverted to the east, and finally a big thing would be small, and a small thing would be nothing. He didn't expect that Steward Zhuang would still hold him and he was a little annoyed for a moment: "Standard Zhuang, what do you mean? Do you think that we will harm two ordinary maids here?"
"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that these two maids are of great importance." Manager Zhuang said unmoved.
The steward of the East Palace said contemptuously: "They are just two maids. Steward Zhuang, there is no need to scare me with such big words. I am not someone who can be scared."
"It would be fine if they were just two ordinary maids." Manager Zhuang said with a wry smile.
"No? Isn't she just a maid?" The steward of the Eastern Palace was stunned.
"Maidens are just maids, but the origins of these two maids are not ordinary. Even if they are really dead, there must be an explanation." The manager pressed his brow with his hand and said helplessly.
"Whose are these two maids?" The steward of the Eastern Palace had a bad feeling. He had thought so before, and now a strong feeling of uneasiness came over him.
"He was given by the Queen." Manager Zhuang said.
"The people bestowed by the Empress, these...how could they be two ordinary maids?" The East Palace's steward's face suddenly changed. Even though he had seen a lot of storms, he couldn't help but stutter at this moment.
Which palace would not treat well the people bestowed by the Empress
"Do we really have to let our queen serve them?" Manager Zhuang retorted unhappily.
"No... That's not what I meant." The steward of the East Palace shook his head and took a deep breath before he remembered that the person in front of him was the steward of the Prince of England's Palace. The Prince of England did things differently from other princes. If it was his order, even the Queen would not say anything.
Others may not be clear about it, but the people in charge of the Eastern Palace are very clear about it.
"But they were bestowed by the Empress..." Even though he knew it clearly, the steward of the Eastern Palace still couldn't help but say another sentence, feeling anxious and flustered.
"The Empress gave them to serve our Majesty. Now that they are gone, we have to have an explanation. It doesn't matter if they are dead or alive, we have to find them. Since you can't find them, we will look for them ourselves. Otherwise, if the Empress asks about it, it will be your responsibility as the Eastern Palace."
Manager Zhuang said.
Looking at Manager Zhuang's self-assured expression, the manager of the Eastern Palace felt angry and anxious, but he couldn't say anything to object.
"Just tell me whether it's okay now or not. Otherwise, I will say that the two of them disappeared from your place. If the Queen finds out later that they are missing, our Prince will definitely push you out." Steward Zhuang looked at the steward of the East Palace and continued to increase the pressure.
The steward of the Eastern Palace could not bear the pressure. He thought for a moment and stamped his feet vigorously. "Okay, I'll ask you to take someone to check it out, but you must also remember that this is the prince's manor. If something is messed up or missing, you are equally responsible!"
Since Manager Zhuang wanted to investigate, he couldn't just sit there and do nothing about it, so he had to involve more people.
"I understand. Thank you very much. It would be best if nothing happens. If something happens, neither of us can escape the responsibility." Manager Zhuang was silent for a moment, but finally agreed.
After the two parties reached an agreement, the guards from the Eastern Palace brought the guards from the Prince of Ying's Palace together to search. Yuxiu followed beside them without saying a word, and no one took her seriously. They just thought that she came here just to recognize the two maids. She was the only maid who came here before, and it was for this reason.
Now it is the guards who are looking for someone. What does she mean by a little maid? Even if she is the personal maid of the Princess of England, she is not good enough in front of the guards.
There are actually not many courtyards in the manor, but there are quite a few other houses. After checking each one, nothing was found.
"What's that over there?" Yuxiu suddenly asked, pointing to a dilapidated yard.
After checking along the way, the guards had already turned on the lights. They could see clearly under the light that the courtyard as a whole did not look like a proper courtyard and did not seem to be a place where people lived.
Yuxiu didn't care at first, but when she saw the steward of the East Palace passing by that place, she glanced at it and then passed by with the guards without even checking.
On the way here just now, although there were some places that were not checked, they were all dilapidated single houses, which were obviously not places to hide people. However, a yard like this could still be used to hide people if one wanted to.
"This is where the sundries are kept. Would you like to take a look, Steward Zhuang?" The steward of the East Palace stopped and pointed in the direction of the courtyard to Steward Zhuang. "No one lives here, and few people come here on weekdays. It's just a place to keep sundries."
"Let's go in and take a look!" Manager Zhuang said after taking a look.
The steward of the East Palace nodded, and together with the guards from the two mansions, they pushed open the half-closed door. An air of desolation immediately rushed out from inside, and it looked a bit desolate when they raised their eyes.
The grass in the yard was removed, but that was all. The rest of the yard didn't look like a place where people lived.
I opened the rooms one by one, but there was no sign of anyone living there. I looked under the beds, but there was no one there.
Finally, all the doors were open and no one was seen.
The guards came out of the room one by one, shaking their heads, and couldn't see anyone...
Yuxiu came out the latest. After she looked at each room one by one, she finally paid attention to the main house in the middle and a room on the side. There was a faint fragrance in that room, very faint, almost non-existent, especially in the musty smell, which covered it up.
That was the incense that Qinghuan and Huaye were burning today. Before going out, they were repeatedly instructed by a maid in a room, and were also taught how to dig bamboo shoots and how to dig better bamboo shoots. Incense was burned in the room for about two hours, and the two people already had the smell on their bodies.
Yuxiu had smelled this smell before she came. Although the smell here is faint now, she can still smell some of it, which means that the two maids had stayed here for a while.
There is also the main house in the middle. This smell also exists in the main house, but it is lighter than here. The two maids waited longer in this room and shorter in the main house.
As for the main house, there was still a faint smell of medicine in it.
It is also difficult to detect in the musty smell, but because Qu Moying has been using medicinal food, Yuxiu is also very sensitive to the smell of medicine.
Therefore, there must be another injured person who is taking medicine here, and this person disappeared with his two maids.
This is suspicious...
It is impossible for a good person to disappear, and there is no trace of him anywhere else, so there may be some secret passage or secret room in this place...
He stood still in the yard and winked at Manager Zhuang.
"Is there someone living here? Why does there smell like a woman?" Manager Zhuang understood and said to the manager of the East Palace, and stopped.
He turned around and entered the main room suspiciously. Yuxiu followed closely behind him. The East Palace's steward's face changed slightly, but then he smiled and followed him: "How is it possible..."
"There is indeed a woman's scent, and it seems like the smell of a woman's fumigating clothes." Yuxiu raised her nose and sniffed, interrupting the East Palace manager.
After hearing what she said, the steward of the East Palace also smelled it and his face immediately turned ugly.
"Why? Can't you tell me?" Manager Zhuang glanced at him and asked.
"It's not that we can't tell you, it's just that the prince's demoted concubine used to live here, but she doesn't live here anymore." The steward of the East Palace explained very quickly.
I was glad that I was interrupted by a maid, otherwise it would be difficult for me to justify myself at this time.
"The prince's concubine?" Manager Zhuang asked doubtfully, "Doesn't she live here now?"
"He doesn't live here now. He was summoned back before. I don't know the reason. But no matter what, it's not something servants like us should ask." The steward of the East Palace smiled vaguely.
The prince's people, even if they have been demoted, are indeed not something a servant like him can control. But in fact, a fallen phoenix is no better than a chicken, and a county magistrate is no better than the current manager. A demoted concubine has fallen here, and it is all up to the manager to decide what to feed her and what to use. It is all in the hands of the manager.
Throughout history, many concubines in distress died at the hands of their slaves.
Hearing what he said, Manager Zhuang smiled and said, "I wonder what this lady's last name is?"
Since she is not described as a concubine, she should not be a high-ranking concubine such as a concubine or a concubine. The title of "Madam" is the highest she can get.
"Surname... Surname Qu." The steward couldn't remember who it was for a moment, but he was after all the prince's confidant, and he knew several famous concubines in the Eastern Palace.
Moreover, when Ji Youran came here that day, the eunuch told him that if anyone must ask about Ji Youran's identity, just say that her surname is Qu, and she is the eldest daughter of the Qu family. She also entered the Eastern Palace with a broken leg, and has never been favored since then, so she was thrown in a corner of the Eastern Palace to fend for herself.
Now that Manager Zhuang was questioning him, the words came out of his mouth.
This reply was originally prepared to prevent anyone from seeing Ji Youran enter here. If this was said to others, then the matter would indeed end here.
But these words were spoken to the British royal palace.
The steward of the Eastern Palace had just finished speaking when he heard Yuxiu scream. He was so frightened that he took two steps back and looked vigilantly at Yuxiu, who had been standing silently by the side.
"Butler... that... that lady's surname is Qu?" Yu Xiu's voice was excited, her eyes slightly red, and she took two steps forward as if she wanted to hold the butler to ask clearly.
You can see that her expression is nervous but also a bit happy and a bit painful.
"Yes." The East Palace steward nodded in confusion.
"That's... that's our eldest lady... Great, I'll go back and report to our queen and tell her... that the eldest lady is right here." Yu Xiu was so excited that she spoke incoherently. She picked up a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes, as if she didn't hear what the steward said just now, that the person had left.
The East Palace Manager was stiff, "No..."
Only then did he remember that the Princess of England's surname was also Qu, and the unpopular woman with the surname Qu in the Eastern Palace was indeed the Princess of England's cousin.
This is... what a coincidence...