When the Empress Dowager led a group of beauties to the Longze Palace where Xie Jingrun lived, they found it empty.
Xie Jingrun was not in the sleeping quarters.
"Where has the Emperor gone?" The Empress Dowager asked in a deep voice, looking at the palace servants kneeling on the ground.
"He should have gone to the Imperial Study," the palace servant replied tremblingly.
The Empress Dowager had no choice but to go to the Imperial Study instead.
However, the Imperial Study was pitch black, and there was no sign of Xie Jingrun.
The Empress Dowager made several trips, but all came up empty-handed. Her patience wore thin, and she flew into a rage, shouting, "Summon Zhao Cheng to me!"
Zhao Cheng arrived quickly. Upon seeing the furious Empress Dowager, his heart sank. He stepped forward and asked, "I didn't know the Empress Dowager had arrived. What are your orders?"
"Where has the Emperor gone?" The Empress Dowager looked at him with a sullen face and a somber expression.
Zhao Cheng hesitated for a moment, and then Lin Mama stepped forward and slapped him. "The Empress Dowager is asking you a question. Are you deaf?"
Zhao Cheng knelt on the ground, ignoring the pain on his face, and said with his head bowed, "Replying to the Empress Dowager, this servant has no knowledge of the Emperor's whereabouts."
"As the chief eunuch, you serve the Emperor closely every day, yet you say you don't know the Emperor's whereabouts? What use are you then? Guards, drag Zhao Cheng away!" The Empress Dowager was furious and threatened to punish Zhao Cheng.
At this moment, a palace maid hurried over and whispered something to Lin Mama.
Lin Mama's expression changed, and she quickly whispered a few words to the Empress Dowager.
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager frowned. "What? In Yuxian Palace?" With that, she abandoned any thought of punishing Zhao Cheng and led a large group of people to Yuxian Palace.
Yu Xian Palace.
After waking up from a nap, Rong Qingqing leaned against the headboard and drank the chicken soup that Xie Jingrun fed her.
However, after drinking only half of it, a commotion arose outside.
"Where is the Emperor?" The Empress Dowager's booming voice rang out in the courtyard.
Upon hearing this, Rong Qingqing immediately looked at Xie Jingrun and said with a complicated expression, "The Empress Dowager has arrived." Judging from the Empress Dowager's voice, she knew that the visitor was not well-intentioned.
Xie Jingrun glanced at her but ignored her, saying indifferently, "Ignore the others and finish your soup."
"I'll drink it myself." Rong Qingqing reached out to take the bowl. After waking up from her nap, she had regained some strength, but Xie Jingrun wouldn't let her do anything. He even had to feed her soup himself. Having learned from the previous experience, she could only obediently open her mouth.
Xie Jingrun avoided her movements, his voice slightly deep, "Be good."
Rong Qingqing: "..."
Did he treat her like a child?
She gave him a look that was hard to describe, but obediently opened her mouth.
Xie Jingrun smiled slightly, scooped up some soup, and fed it to her.
While the two were feeding the chicken soup inside the house, the palace servants were already kneeling all over the courtyard.
The Empress Dowager's gaze fell on the tightly closed bedroom door. Lights were clearly visible inside, indicating that someone was inside, but despite hearing her voice, there was still no movement from within.
Her expression grew increasingly grim.
Princess Huaiyin leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Could the Emperor be hiding some kind of vixen inside?"
The Empress Dowager had the same idea. Upon hearing this, she addressed the palace servants of Yuxian Palace in a stern voice, "What is the Emperor doing in there?"
The head palace maid, Cai Ling, was the one who usually took care of Rong Qingqing. She bowed her head and reported, "His Majesty is resting inside."
"Besides the Emperor, who else?" The Empress Dowager stared at her sharply.
Cai Ling stiffened and said, avoiding the main point, "It is the mistress of Yu Xian Palace."
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