The emperor naturally anticipated that his aunt had suddenly entered the palace at such an inappropriate time, and that something very urgent might have happened. But even though he had made sufficient mental preparations in advance, when the lady asked everyone to leave and explained the reason for the incident, he was still dumbfounded, feeling as if he were in a dream.
After staring at the lady for a long time and making sure that this aunt who had watched him grow up was definitely not a joking person, he spoke with difficulty: "Aunt, this is too ridiculous, isn't it? Where are the things you are talking about?"
Seeing the lady holding out the small cloth bag and presenting it to him with a solemn expression, the emperor subconsciously reached out to grab it, but his hand suddenly froze halfway, and when he tried to take the thing, he couldn't help but tremble slightly. It was just such a small negligence that the cloth bag fell to the ground with a dull sound.
The emperor wanted to reach out to pick it up, but he found it difficult to bend down. It was the lady who picked up the thing herself, then opened the blue cloth bag in front of him and placed the things inside in front of him one by one.
"This is the ebony plaque of Shen Twelve. According to the numbering convention and the pattern on the back, it should belong to the emperor's attendant. We can find out if we check whether this person is on the ship escorting the second prince."
"This embroidered ribbon and tassels should not belong to ordinary people. You can check it out."
"But the most important thing is to send a ship downwind to various major ports to take a look and ask questions. As long as we reach Ningbo and still have no news about the ship, the matter is probably 70% to 80% true. Of course, we still have to rush to Qiongzhou Prefecture to take a look first."
"Yes." The emperor agreed somewhat stiffly, and then buried his face in his hands. Although the second prince was not close to him, he was also disheartened by the queen's indulgence of the second prince. In the past year or so, he had completely given up on such a son because of the farce, but, no matter what, he was still his son.
Although the love between husband and wife, and father and son, had long since faded away in the conflicts and disputes over the years, he couldn't help feeling as if a heavy rock was pressing down on his heart, and he felt a little breathless when he suddenly learned that the second prince might have died at the bottom of the sea, or in the belly of a fish, and that all this was caused by him sending people to Qiongzhou Prefecture to plant trees.
"My aunt just said that the leader of the Song Club of the Guangdong Guild Hall is in the Duke of Zhao's mansion? Did he also bring the captain and the people he rescued to the capital?"
After receiving his aunt's affirmative answer, the emperor said without hesitation: "Summon him to the palace, not just him, but everyone else as well. I don't have the mood to meet them one by one, so it will be easier if we meet them all at once!"
The Madam could naturally understand the Emperor's request, but she still explained, "Before I entered the palace, I told Jiu Niang to look after Song Hui Shou. I asked her to send someone to the Guangdong Guild Hall. However, the Zhaoguo Mansion is close to the palace, but the outer city is far from the palace, and the city gates are closed at this moment. Your Majesty, please don't be too anxious. I'm afraid you have to see Song Hui Shou first."
Seeing that the emperor remained silent, the lady left him behind and went outside to personally call Chen Yongshou: "Eunuch Chen, please go to the Zhaoguogong Mansion. The emperor has ordered my daughter-in-law to bring the family guests into the palace for an audience. In addition, don't forget the guests in the outer city. If the city gates are closed at this time, let Zhu Hong from the mansion accompany you, Eunuch Chen."