Empress Ji returned to Yan Fu Palace after the midday.

    When Empress Ji was about to get out of her sedan after passing through the palace gate, the leading maid, left in the palace before, stepped forward to support her. The maid reported, “Your Highness, Mei Ren Yun has been here before midday, saying that Xin Qing, a maid, disappeared suddenly when they were on the way back from Mian Fu Palace. She said that she has searched Xin Qing nearby but found nobody. She dared not to go back Hu Zhu Palace, so, she came here for your decision.”

    Empress Ji frowned, “Disappeared suddenly? What’s the matter?”

    “Mei Ren Yun said that Xin Qing walked behind her and everything was okay on the way. When approaching Hu Zhu Palace, she wanted to order something to Xin Qing, so, she turned back but found nobody was there!” The leading maid continued, “I have sent someone to investigate, and it turns out that Rong Hua Wei and several maids indeed had seen Xin Qing follow Mei Ren Yun and return to Hu Zhu Palace. The maids on the duty at the door of Hu Zhu Palace also said that Mei Ren Yun and Xin Qing went out this morning but never went back.”

    She added, “Where Xin Qing disappeared was a bit deserted. The near palaces were in disrepair for years and no one lived there.”

    Therefore, the so-called disappearance of the maid was one-sided words of Yun Fenghuang?

    Empress Ji raised her eyebrows and said, “I am going to change clothes first, and you ask her to wait in the side hall.”

    The leading maid lowered her head, “Yes.”

    After a while, at the side hall, Empress Ji looked down at Yun Fenghuang who was tearful and snotty. Empress Ji said calmly, “This is really a novelty. How could a living person disappear in the large palace? Could she fly? How could she disappear in a second?”

    “I didn’t know.” Yun Fenghuang whimpered, “I was ordering things to Xin Qing seriously, but she didn’t answer. I was confused, so, I looked back, but found she was not there. I wondered maybe she lagged behind to deal with other things. So, I returned to search her, but I didn’t find her even I walked back to the door of Tong Xia Palace. I almost scared to death!”

    “After all, Xin Qing and I were women, easily being hurt. Xin Qing, as a maid, needs to do things, so, she must be stronger than me. Now she disappeared inexplicably… I… I would be killed if I am someone’s target. Your Highness, I am really afraid to go back to the Hu Zhu Palace now!”

    “We haven’t found her yet, but how do you know something bad has happened?” Empress Ji didn’t want to remind Yun Fenghuang who thought she was weaker than Xin Qing, of the fact that she was actually agile because in the morning she dragged Mei Ren Gui for avoiding the spurting tea and pushed Rong Hua Wei to fall. Empress Ji forced a smile, “Maybe the maid was too tired to rest somewhere. There were too many servants in palace, and some of them are lazy, which is common.”

    Yun Fenghuang instantly said, “Your Highness, it’s true that some servants are lazy, but they are not stupid. They must know they would be punished if they were not on duty. Besides, I am always friendly to my maids. I was just taking Xin Qing to my palace, which is not maltreatment. If Xin Qing wanted to avoid being on duty, she could find an opportunity after going back to Xi Xing Building. Therefore, it is unreasonable for her to leave on the half way, unless she wanted to make things worse. What benefits could she get by doing so?”

    Make things worse?

    Hearing it, Empress Ji frowned slightly. She thought for a while and said, “You always said that you dared not to go back to Hu Zhu Palace. Have you suspected that Hu Zhu Palace was involved in this matter?”

    “I don’t know.” Yun Fenghuang lowered her head, “Xin Qing disappeared on the way to Hu Zhu Palace. So, the road makes me scared now.”

    “She is just a maid.” The Empress thought for a while and said, “She is not qualified to be compared with you, because you are a concubine. All right, it’s not a big deal. I will send someone to investigate. As for you… It is not appropriate that you have no maid. I will send someone to serve you.”

    It was a good chance for her to send a person to keep watching Yun Fenghuang.

    Hearing this, Yun Fenghuang said instantly, “Your Highness, I did lose two maids. Nian Xuan, who was my companion when I joined the Imperial Harem, has been taken away by His Majesty, but now she has not returned.”

    “How mean you are!” Empress Ji said calmly, “Since she has entered the palace, she belongs to His Majesty. If His Majesty wanted her to be a concubine, she should be grateful. You are always clever, but why are you muddled now?”

    Yun Fenghuang suddenly felt that something went wrong, and a maid beside the Empress lowered her head and smiled, “Your Highness, how could Mei Ren Yun be that kind of person? Maybe she just worried about Nian Xuan and asked for your help, because Nian Xuan has not returned yet since she was taken away by His Majesty.”

    Given that, could they want Nian Xuan to be a concubine?

    “Your Highness, if His Majesty wants Nian Xuan to be his concubine, how could I feel sorry about her? As you say, it is a great honor for Nian Xuan to be a concubine.” Regardless of why the Empress wanted to do this, Yun Fenghuang hurriedly said, “But… it was Jiang Lan who took away Nian Xuan that day, so, I am worried.”

    Empress Ji frowned, “Is it Jiang Lan? I get it, and I will ask His Majesty about it.”

    Seeing the Empress sipping her tea, Yun Fenghuang knew that it was time for her to leave, so, she bit her lips, and left unwillingly.

    The Empress noticed her expression, but didn’t care. When Yun Fenghuang left, she asked her maids, “What on earth is the matter with Xin Qing?”

    “It’s unlikely for Consort Yue to do it.” The maid who said something before continued, “She would directly aim at Mei Ren Yun instead of Xin Qing.”

    “But as a concubine, Mei Ren Yun is more worshipful than a maid.” Another maid retorted, “It will not be a big deal, if a maid disappears. After investigation, even Consort Yue is involved, Queen Mother Yuan can cover up the fact easily. Besides, Consort Yue has an anger issue, so, she probably has killed Nian Xuan, otherwise Nian Xuan would return to Xi Xing Building after being taken away. If so, it is not surprising that Mei Ren Yun was angry at Xin Qing.”

    Empress Ji felt confused, “If Consort Yue didn’t do it, who it is? Did Yun Fenghuang play the trick that one thief calls for another thief?”

    “The people we sent have searched nearby, but found nobody.” Someone whispered, “Although Mei Ren Yun is agile, she is weak as a Miss. She cannot do it, right?”

    If someone else helped her…

    Empress Ji became serious, “Just at the time when Prince Regent invited Mr. Lingshan to enlighten his second son, a maid disappeared inexplicably. Did it happen by chance or intentionally?”

    If it was the former, apart from Consort Yue, there were really no other suspects.

    After all, Yun Fenghuang had joined the Imperial Harem for a short time, though she had attracted many concubines’ envy. Among those concubines, except Consort Yue, who hated Yun Fenghuang and even hoped her die, no one else wanted to kill her trusted maid even if they disliked Yun Fenghuang. Was it possible that Xin Qing was killed by her personal enemy? People in Yan Fu Palace had investigated before the Empress came back and found there was no such thing.

    From the current situation, Xin Qing was probably implicated by Yun Fenghuang.

    The key point was that Consort Yue recently had been grounded, and Queen Mother Yuan even sent someone to watch her at Ning Bi Hall to avoid her niece doing stupid things again. Considering Consort Yue’s character, Empress Ji didn’t think she could kill Xin Qing under the surveillance of the people sent by Queen Mother Yuan.

    Therefore, the Empress felt that someone had done it on purpose to distract the court at this critical moment.

    The Empress was silent for a while, and asked, “How is everything at Yan Lan Palace, Qiong Fang Palace, and Bao Hui Palace?”

    The most suspicious ones were, of course, Noble Consort Gui who was pregnant, Fu Ren Yaoning who was closely related to Prince Regent’s Mansion, and Jie Yu Lu.

    The maids shook their heads slightly and said that the three concubines mentioned above didn’t do anything privately. Seeing this, the Empress lowered her head for a while and suddenly said, “Just now, Minghui said that Shizi, the heir of Prince Regent, entered the palace today, right?”

    “Your Highness, do you suspect that Shizi did it?” The maids looked at each other, and one of them doubted, “Shizi and the little Prince are half-brothers, though he felt sad about the fact that the little Prince could have a famous tutor, could he do such a thing?”

    They didn’t doubt Shizi could do such a thing at all.

    That’s because Prince Regent controlled the Palace Guard, who was in charge of Garrison Troops and Watchdogs, the two key offices… The power was gradually handed to Prince Regent before the former Emperor Xiaozong died. This was also the reason why he could be titled as Prince Regent after he failed to succeed his elder brother’s throne.

    “If Shizi enters the palace, someone from the Palace Guard must follow him.” Empress Ji said, “It does not matter whether Shizi has this will or not. He doesn’t need to do such things… as long as Prince Regent has this intention…”

    She muttered, “But why did he choose the one around Yun Fenghuang?”

    She then ordered, “Find out what did Shizi and the Palace Guard do that night when Mei Ren Yun roamed around to Small Peng Lai!”

    … Yun Fenghuang didn’t know that the Empress started to suspect Gongxiang Xiao and her. After she left Yan Fu Palace, she went directly to… Tong Xia Palace.

    Then at the gate of Tong Xia Palace, she met Emperor Chunjia.

    Although the two disliked each other, while in public, Yun Fenghuang had to salute, “Wish Your Majesty happy and healthy.”

    “… Rise.” Emperor Chunjia was gentle and polite, but Yun Fenghuang felt what he really wanted to say was “go to hell”.

    “Your Majesty, is Yan Yin here today?” Yun Fenghuang looked at the people behind him and smiled, “Did Nian Xuan disturb you? If so, why didn’t Your Majesty give her back to me? In this way, she could not idle at Tai Chu Palace all the time.”

    Emperor Chunjia glanced at her and said, “Yesterday, I went to greet Queen Mother Yuan. She liked the maid very much and left her at Chun Yong Palace. If you feel distressed, you can ask Queen Mother Yuan for the maid. How about it?”

    Yun Fenghuang said with a smile, “Your Majesty are kidding. Since Queen Mother Yuan likes Nian Xuan, it is her great honor. I am very happy.”

    In fact, she had guessed the result after she got Nian Xuan’s eardrops. Initially, Emperor Chunjia took Nian Xuan away and Consort Yue must request to maltreat Nian Xuan to vent her anger. After that, Jiang Lan was in trouble and people of Ning Bi Hall thought something terrible had happened. Consort Yue had no ability to deal with it, so, she must have asked Emperor Chunjia or Queen Mother Yuan for help.

    If it was Emperor Chunjia who dealt with the thing, the result was probably as what Empress Ji guessed. Namely, Emperor Chunjia had to title Nian Xuan as a concubine. Consort Yue didn’t want that disgusting thing happen, so, it was Queen Mother Yuan who handled the bad thing.

    Considering the way Queen Mother Yuan dealt with things, Yun Fenghuang thought she was not malicious, at least she pretended not to be so. Even Queen Mother Yuan looked friendly but actually malicious, she had to be alert to Nian Xuan’s former master Yun Fenghuang who was always a trouble maker… But Yun Fenghuang thought it was better to keep Nian Xuan around her. After all, as a maid, Nian Xuan grew up together with her.

    Not only for Nian Xuan’s sake, but also for Nian Xuan knowing well about her…

    Wondering this, Yun Fenghuang smiled, “Are you going to visit Noble Consort Shu? Or Qingman? Do I need to go away?”