The carriage stopped in the alley next to Yueyi Pavilion. Qu Moying took Yu Dong and Miao Ma into Yueyi Pavilion together.
A waiter had already seen Qu Moying coming and hurried to report to Aunt Yang, who came out to greet him.
Qu Moying waved her hand to stop Aunt Yang from speaking, pointed to the second floor, and went to the private room on the second floor.
Seeing this, Aunt Yang knew that her master did not want to attract other people's attention, so she was not in a hurry to greet him and followed Qu Moying upstairs.
Qu Moying sat down in an empty private room on the second floor. Aunt Yang asked the waiter to bring tea and then stepped forward to greet him.
Qu Moying shook her head and smiled, "Aunt Yang, there's no need to be polite. Tell me about Yuejin Pavilion!"
Aunt Yang straightened up and nodded, "I didn't know about this matter at first, but that day a few young ladies came from Yuejin Pavilion to Yueyi Pavilion to pick out some materials. They said that Yuejin Pavilion's jewelry is getting worse and worse, and is even very different from before. In the past, there were still a few top-notch jewelry, especially those beautiful and exquisite ones, which could be picked out, but now they are gone."
"They said that when they came here last time, Yuejing Pavilion said that the master was working on it, but up to now, there are no good new products, only the old ones, and there is no improvement in the variety. They also said that if they hadn't heard that Yuejing Pavilion had a good jewelry master, they wouldn't have come here on purpose."
Aunt Yang told her everything. She was surprised after hearing these words, so she went to take a look before reporting to the young lady.
Both Yuejin Pavilion and Yueyi Pavilion now belong to the Fourth Young Miss. The two shopkeepers have a good relationship and know a lot about each other's background. So Aunt Yang doesn't understand why there are no new products from Shopkeeper Zhang.
When the two of them reported to the young lady together before, Shopkeeper Zhang made it very clear that the top master in the store was already making new products and they would be in place soon. But now, after such a long time, there is not a single one, which is really strange.
It's not that Aunt Yang didn't want to remind Shopkeeper Zhang herself, but when Shopkeeper Zhang heard her mention this matter, he immediately changed the subject as if it were a flood or a beast. After trying several times, Aunt Yang had no other ideas and could only tell Qu Moying about this matter.
"After you brought up this matter, he kept pushing it aside, and sometimes he deliberately found other topics to cover it up?" Qu Moying frowned after listening to this. She was sure that Manager Zhang must be hiding something from her.
She used to admire Shopkeeper Zhang very much. Ever since Ji Hanyue took over Yuejinge, everything in Yuejinge was carefully prepared by her. Even the top gold jewelry master was specially invited by Ji Hanyue to work in the store. This master was a prolific master and had many fine and new products on hand. He would have new fine products every once in a while.
Although there are other craftsmen in the shop, they cannot compare with this master.
Now, there has been no update or refinement for such a long time. Has something gone wrong
But if something really happened, why didn’t Manager Zhang tell me
Shopkeeper Zhang has always been a nice and loyal person. Except for the period of time when Ji Youran was in charge of the shop, Qu Moying knew everything about it. Could this matter be related to the Prince's Mansion
If you think about it this way, you will have a clear idea in your mind.
Since she had already received confirmation from Aunt Yang, Qu Moying did not hesitate and asked Nanny Miao to go to Yuejin Pavilion and ask Manager Zhang to come over.
Nanny Miao nodded and went downstairs. After a while, the shopkeeper Zhang came in with sweat all over his forehead.
"My subordinate greets the young lady." Shopkeeper Zhang seemed to be in a hurry, with sweat on his forehead.
Qu Moying looked at him deeply and said, "Manager Zhang, is everything going well in the shop recently? I happened to be out for a rare visit today, so I came to see your business and Aunt Yang's business."
"It's... it's okay, business is okay... no big problems." Shopkeeper Zhang said hurriedly.
"It's not a big problem, there are some minor problems, tell me about them!" Qu Moying said lightly.
“It’s… it’s not a big problem, it’s just… it’s…” said Shopkeeper Zhang.
"There's something wrong with the master gold jewelry maker, right?" Qu Moying interrupted Shopkeeper Zhang without changing his expression.
Manager Zhang's explanation was stuck in his throat but he couldn't utter it out. He raised his head to look at Qu Moying. Even though the Fourth Young Lady opposite him was wearing a veil, he could tell that her face was as gloomy as water. His heart couldn't help but beat fast and the sweat on his forehead broke out again.
"Miss..."
"Tell me, what happened? Is it necessary for you to hide it from me? Is it related to the Prince's Eastern Palace?" Qu Moying did not intend to give Manager Zhang any reason to explain, so he broke the illusion directly and leaned back with a bit of laziness.
Shopkeeper Zhang didn't expect Qu Moying to explain it so thoroughly. He was speechless and didn't know where to start.
"Shopkeeper Zhang, the young lady already knows that the fine gold jewelry is missing from your shop." Seeing that he was unable to utter a word, Aunt Yang was afraid that he was hiding something again, so she hurriedly reminded him.
This kind of thing is what the host family hates most.
A shopkeeper must be loyal to his master and must not hide anything, otherwise it would be regarded as disloyalty.
Shopkeeper Zhang could no longer stand and knelt down with a plop: "Miss, I dare not report to you."
As he spoke, his eyes turned red with anxiety.
"What do you mean?" Qu Moying asked. There was indeed a hidden story behind this matter.
"It was the East Palace... who took him away!" Shopkeeper Zhang started to cry, "I can't do anything about it. Someone from the East Palace came and took Master Goldsmith away. They said they would only be away for a few days, but now it's been so long and he hasn't come back yet. I... thought it would be soon, so I didn't rush to reply, Miss. I wanted to wait until it was over before I told her."
Qu Moying remained silent. It was not that Manager Zhang wanted to conceal the truth on purpose. It was just that there was nothing he could do about this kind of thing even if he knew about it.
As a young lady from the Imperial Court, I cannot do anything about the people in the Eastern Palace. I might even get into trouble. If the master goldsmith could come back earlier, nothing would happen!
"How do you know it's someone from the Eastern Palace?" Qu Moying asked slowly.
"I have met someone from the Eastern Palace before. At that time, Concubine Ji was in charge of something. When she came here, one of the maids she brought with her was the one who came to summon the master goldsmith."
Now that we have started, there is nothing difficult to say next, said Shopkeeper Zhang, wiping away his tears.
"Do you know what it's called?" Qu Moying asked again.
"It seems his name is Feng. When Concubine Ji came here before, her status seemed to be unusual as well." Shopkeeper Zhang replied.
"Xianfeng?" Qu Moying asked with a hint of sadness in his eyes.
"Yes, yes, that's the name." Shopkeeper Zhang nodded repeatedly, "At that time, Concubine Ji mentioned it, but I can't remember it at the moment. I only remember that she was Concubine Ji's person."
"What did she say?" Qu Moying asked curiously. She really felt strange. Was Ji Youran related to this matter? Why did she find such a master goldsmith? She had never heard that Ji Youran had a gold jewelry shop. Besides, wasn't Ji Youran being punished recently? What happened that day was so obvious. With Pei Luoan's temperament, how could he really not react
Pei Luoan is a person who is most good at being loyal and righteous, and he will not let Ji Youran come out and slap him in the face at this time, so what does Ji Youran want to do, or what does he want to do
After all, the maid beside Ji Youran is also from the Eastern Palace.
"She said she wanted to borrow it for a while. She said there was something important going on. There was a problem with some of the concubine's gold ornaments. She also said it would be done soon and there was no need to trouble Miss Fourth. She also said it would be useless even if Miss Fourth was bothered." Shopkeeper Zhang thought for a while and said, "I thought it would be useless and it wouldn't take long, so I deliberately concealed this matter."
"So, it's really unclear whether this matter is specifically related to Concubine Ji?" Qu Moying asked in a deep voice.
"I... I don't know, and I don't dare to ask." Shopkeeper Zhang nodded repeatedly.
"Did you ask the gold jewelry master later?" Qu Moying thought for a moment and asked again.
"I've been there, but I couldn't find him. He said he went to the Prince's Mansion these days and never came out." Shopkeeper Zhang said hurriedly, "I specifically asked someone to keep an eye on the back door of the Prince's Mansion, but he still couldn't be seen."
"I haven't seen anyone since I entered the mansion? Why don't you go and ask?" Qu Moying asked slowly.
“Your subordinate… Your subordinate…” Shopkeeper Zhang couldn’t continue. He really didn’t dare to do so, but he didn’t want to tell his young lady about this. No matter how he looked at it, nothing good would happen if his young lady knew about it.
Manager Zhang had been working very hard during this period of time and had become extremely thin. After hearing Qu Moying's question, he was even more at a loss as to how to answer.
He really prayed that he would be back in a day or two, but now that he hasn't come back for such a long time, he has long lost hope.
"Since she has been out and has not come back, we have to go and ask. Manager Zhang, please go and look for the maid named Xie Feng. She has been taken away and she must be returned. Even if it is the Prince's Mansion, it is a reasonable place, isn't it?" Qu Moying said slowly.
Shopkeeper Zhang, however, was very nervous. He had never thought about going to the Prince's Mansion to look for someone, and he didn't quite dare to think about it.
But even if he didn't want to, he had to go because of his young lady's intention.
"Yes, I will go now!" said Zhang, the shopkeeper, with a trembling voice.
"Go ahead, let Nanny Miao accompany you for a while." Qu Moying nodded and said.
"Good... good, great!" Shopkeeper Zhang was as if he had been pardoned. The Miao nanny next to him looked very experienced. She remained calm even after hearing about the Prince's Mansion. This made Shopkeeper Zhang feel much more relieved. At least there was a capable person accompanying him, which was better than going there alone.
After all, that must be the prince's palace.
Nanny Miao stepped forward, bowed, nodded, then pulled up Shopkeeper Zhang, who was unable to get up due to weak legs, and the two of them walked out of the private room one after the other.