A moment later, Liu Youde came back and reported, "It's the Emperor, the Empress, and Consort Shu. They're coming in."
When the Queen Mother heard this, she was suddenly startled and the grapes in her hand rolled to the ground. The three young servants also stopped their performance with a tactful look.
"Why are they here together? Could it be that they know what happened to me?!" The Queen Mother's face was filled with panic.
"They said that the fifth prince and the little princess were missing, and they wanted to come to Shoukang Palace to check."
"Jin'er told them that only the Fifth Prince came during dinner time, but he only stayed for a quarter of an hour before leaving."
"As for the little princess, no one in our Shoukang Palace has seen her today."
"The servants explained everything, but they still refused to leave and insisted on coming in to check."
When the Queen Mother heard this, her face darkened instantly and she murmured, "No, looking for the Fifth Prince and the Princess is just an excuse."
"The palace is heavily guarded, and there's never been a case of a prince or princess going missing. They must have discovered my hobby and wanted to catch me red-handed."
[Oh no, I've been out for too long. Daddy and Mommy must be worried.]
Xia Miaoyuan became worried after listening to Liu Youde's report.
The fifth prince looked at Xia Miaoyuan with a bitter face. Xia Miaoyuan raised his eyes and trembled with fear.
The fifth prince's face turned red and white, and beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.
Fifth Prince: I'm dead! They've all found Shoukang Palace, help!
"Fifth brother, what's wrong with you? Are you hot?"
Xia Miaoyuan stretched out her little hand to wipe the sweat off the Fifth Prince's face.
The two of them only heard the Queen Mother continue to say: "Stop them and don't let them in!"
Just as he finished speaking, Jin'er ran in: "Oh no, Queen Mother, we can't stop it!"
"A bunch of trash!" The Queen Mother gritted her teeth.
“Snap!”
A crisp voice came from the closet.
Everyone in the room froze.
The fifth prince looked at Xia Miaoyuan in horror, and Xia Miaoyuan stuck out her tongue at him in embarrassment.
[Sorry, Fifth Brother, it fell out accidentally.]
It turned out that when Xia Miaoyuan was exercising just now, the ceramic whistle in his pocket fell out.
This was the little bird whistle that the fifth prince had given her when he had shown his goodwill.
Originally, Xia Miaoyuan was not very interested in it and threw it aside without playing with it. But recently, she changed her opinion of the Fifth Prince and even found the whistle interesting.
So she put the whistle in her pocket and took it out occasionally to blow it.
The room was eerily quiet, and everyone looked at the carved wardrobe.
Liu Youde tiptoed to the wardrobe and flung the door open.
The Fifth Prince and Xia Miaoyuan, their two round little heads, were exposed to everyone.
"Ah!" the Queen Mother screamed.
"You...you...why are you in my closet?!" The Queen Mother pointed at the Fifth Prince and screamed in shock.
The fifth prince said with a stiff upper lip, "Grandmother, my grandson...my grandson...was so sleepy that he fell asleep in the closet."
"Grandson... I didn't hear or see anything just now. I was sleeping the whole time."
The Empress Dowager's face flushed red, and she pulled the handkerchief over her face: "Ah!"
As he was speaking, a deep voice came from outside the hall: "Any of you who dare to stop me, I will kill you!"
【Wow! Daddy and Mommy are here.】
"Hurry, the four of you hide under the bed! If the emperor finds you, he will skin you alive." Liu Youde was smart.
The four young boys were so frightened that they didn't care about their image at all. They scrambled to the ground and crawled under the bed.
Just as the four people climbed in, they heard a "bang" and the door of the hall was kicked open.
"Mother, the situation tonight is truly special. I am sorry for the inconvenience. Chengshun and Miao'er are both missing. I am so worried that I am going crazy."
Xia Zhengqi's voice came.
In an instant, the Empress Dowager's face turned horrible.
"Mother...son..." Xia Zhengqi's voice suddenly stopped.
At this moment, he walked into the bedroom, turned the screen, and his eyes fell on the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager was wearing a gorgeous nightgown embroidered with peonies and sitting on the beauty couch, her face showing uncontrollable panic and embarrassment.
"Mother, what are you doing..." Xia Zhengqi was so shocked that he was speechless when he saw the Empress Dowager wearing a nightgown that was inappropriate for her status.
In Daxia, older women usually wear plain pajamas. If they are widows, they will pay more attention to the style and color of their clothes.
The garish and extravagant nightgown worn by the Empress Dowager was a favorite of women in brothels. Occasionally, decent women would wear it, but they were often beautiful young women interested in brothels.
So Xia Zhengqi was really shocked when he saw the Empress Dowager wearing such gorgeous pajamas.
Xia Zhengqi stood there in a daze for a moment, not knowing what to say.
The Queen and Consort Shu, who followed him, were also stunned.
"Ah! Ah! Die...die..." Xia Miaoyuan sat in the closet, calling Xia Zhengqi hard, trying to make the sound of "Dad".
Xia Zhengqi, the Queen and Concubine Shu followed the sound and looked towards the wardrobe.
At that moment, all three of them felt numb all over.
Without caring about anything else, the three of them rushed towards the wardrobe at the same time.
"Ah! Miao'er, why are you here?" Xia Zhengqi picked up his daughter.
"Chengshun! What's going on!" Concubine Shu pulled the fifth prince out and asked, suppressing her angry emotions.
"Chengshun, don't be afraid. Tell me honestly, why are you and your sister here?" The queen asked in a gentle tone.
[Fifth brother, you are in big trouble.]
Xia Miaoyuan put her arms around Xia Zhengqi's neck and looked down at the fifth prince.
[I really want to help you, but unfortunately I can't speak yet, so I can't help you.]
[You took me to eat such a big melon, but I couldn't help you.]
Xia Miaoyuan showed a trace of guilt.
What? Eating melons? Chengshun brought Miaoer to Shoukang Palace to eat melons?
What kind of melon are you eating? Watermelon?
Xia Zhengqi and the Queen were completely confused.
Half of autumn has passed, and there are no delicious watermelons left.
"Your son...your son..." The fifth prince lowered his head and stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence.
"Mother, this..." Xia Zhengqi looked at the Empress Dowager helplessly.
[Daddy, asking the old woman is pointless.]
Xia Miaoyuan turned his head and glanced at the Empress Dowager with a sly smile.
"How do you expect me to explain this, old woman? I just ordered the palace servants to tell you desperately that the Fifth Prince and the Little Princess were not in Shoukang Palace, and yet these two children just appeared out of nowhere in the closet?"
"I... don't know what's going on." The Empress Dowager's face was uglier than a kitchen rag.
Liu Youde's eyes turned, and he bowed to Xia Zhengqi and said, "Your Majesty, just now the Queen Mother was playing the piano in her bedroom. Suddenly, she heard a strange noise."
"We opened the wardrobe and found that the fifth prince and the little princess were inside."
"I'm afraid you should ask the Fifth Prince about this matter. The Empress Dowager really doesn't know."
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