Chapter 48: The consequences of one's actions are unbearable. Even Madam Hongmei can see that Qin Yanheng and...
"Where is the actor who was possessed by a ghost?"
The troupe leader was still pondering what the future princess would look like when Prince Rong An, standing in front of him, suddenly stopped, turned around, and said this. The troupe leader was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied after remembering something.
"Your Highness, the actor is currently lying unconscious on the bed. Please follow me, gentlemen." The troupe leader quickened his pace and led the two towards the side room where the actor was.
"Unconscious in bed? Could the actor still be alive?" Luo Qingling leaned in close to Qin Yanheng and asked in a low voice. They had clearly seen the actor's ghost last night. How could a living soul leave the body? Could the troupe owner be trying to scare them?
As if seeing through Luo Qingling's doubts, Qin Yanheng imitated her and lowered his head to whisper in her ear, "Under special circumstances, the soul of a living person can also leave the body."
Up ahead, the troupe leader pretended not to notice the two people whispering behind him. He quickly walked around the corridor to the actors' rooms, then stood by the door and raised his hand to signal, "Gentlemen, this is the actors' room."
The wooden door was half open, and a strong smell of medicine wafted out and hit my nose.
Luo Qingling couldn't help but cough lightly. She turned to look at Qin Yanheng, her eyes wide open as if asking him if he wanted to go in. The latter looked back at her with a calm expression, his face unquestionable.
The next moment, Qin Yanheng stepped over the threshold and entered the room. Luo Qingling steeled his resolve and followed him. There was only one bed in the room, its bedding bulging. Someone was sleeping inside, breathing faintly, looking like someone near death.
"After that day, he has been in a coma ever since. The doctors came to see him several times, but couldn't find anything wrong with him. They just prescribed a few prescriptions and left." The troupe owner stood behind them. "Prince Rong An, do you think these are symptoms of a critical condition?"
Qin Yanheng didn't answer. He didn't know what the actor was doing. He just stepped forward and lifted the bed curtain to see the actor's face, but he heard Luo Qingling exclaim beside him. He turned around in surprise.
"Your Highness, this... isn't this the actor who came to see me last night?" Luo Qingling stared at the actor lying on the bed with his eyes narrowed, her pupils trembling. She clearly remembered that actor last night, with thin cheeks and the appearance of a woman, but the actor before her was clearly a man...
The two are not the same person at all!
*
At the same time, Caiyifang.
Madam Hongmei sat on a chair, a furry head buried between her legs. She lowered her eyes and watched Wei Fuxian's movements with a gentle expression. Even so, Wei Fuxian seemed dissatisfied. He frowned and sat up, lowering his head in grievance and saying nothing.
Last night, Wei Fuxian felt chest tightness and shortness of breath again, and he felt as if he had fallen into water and could hardly breathe. He knew that his old illness must have recurred, so he hurriedly called for Madam Hongmei, fearing that he would leave the world accidentally and not have time to say the last few words to his beloved woman.
But who knew that Madam Hongmei was not in the neighborhood so late at night, and he was so sad that he couldn't sleep all night.
He had been guarding the gate of Caiyifang since early this morning. After seeing Madam Hongmei, Wei Fuxian hurriedly pulled her to sit in the hall, knelt down and buried his head in Madam Hongmei, sobbing and expressing his displeasure.
"Fuxian, I was just doing some serious work last night. I didn't abandon you. Why are you still throwing a tantrum like you did when you were a child?" Madam Hongmei gently stroked the young man kneeling in front of her with a smile on her lips.
"Madam, you left Fuxian all alone in this huge Caiyifang without a word. Are you so cruel as to watch Fuxian endure the pain of illness and wait for you all night?"
Wei Fuxian's voice was aggrieved, and he shrugged his head and put his chin on Madam Hongmei's knees, looking up at her eagerly. Seeing this, Madam Hongmei felt particularly distressed. She hurriedly pulled Wei Fuxian up and hugged him towards the upstairs wing room.
She hadn't slept all night and was extremely tired. Fuxian happened to be right beside her, so she decided to have someone accompany her to have a good sleep.
Before the two of them could enter the room, they were stopped by Wang Xiaoer, a servant from the workshop. Madam Hongmei turned and looked at him with a sullen expression, which frightened Wang Xiaoer so much that he hurriedly said, "We've found a few pieces of fabric that were lost in the warehouse outside the capital. It was Wei Er, the warehouse keeper, who stole the fabric when no one was around and started selling it."
"There's no need to repeat what I personally found out at the warehouse last night." Madam Hongmei replied in a cold voice.
Ever since the young lady of the Luo family hinted that there was something wrong with the ten pieces of cloth she had received last year, Madam Hongmei immediately ordered someone to carefully investigate the batch of cloth. Last night, she heard that Wei Er, who was in charge of the warehouse outside the capital, was often reselling the cloth from Caiyifang. Someone must have been interfering, which led to the problem with her cloth. So Madam Hongmei rushed to the warehouse overnight to look for that person.
But who knew that Wei Er had disappeared, leaving behind an empty low house and a warehouse filled with various fabrics. No one knew where Wei Er had gone.
"Is there any other news?" Madam Hongmei looked at Wang Xiaoer.
"Yes, yes," Wang Xiaoer nodded his head pounding garlic. "There's still some of the cloth that Madam Luo mentioned that day. That unskilled Wei Er sold it to the theater at a low price and then ran away with the money. When we found out later, he had disappeared. That's how... that's how we ended up with the warehouse full of cloth that Madam mentioned at the beginning, with no one guarding it."
Wang Xiaoer finished speaking in one breath, but he concealed a fact - he had known about Wei Er's reselling of cloth for a long time, and the reason he concealed it was because Wei Er would pay him a "management fee" from time to time, so Wang Xiaoer turned a blind eye.
Unexpectedly, the reselling of cloth was discovered by Madam Hongmei herself. Wang Xiaoer was anxious to distance himself from the matter and continued, "I don't know anything else."
Upon hearing this, Madam Hongmei pondered for a moment before saying, "Send someone to invite the young lady from the Luo Mansion over. I want to have a good chat with her about what exactly happened."
This concerns the reputation of Caiyifang. Madam Hongmei must find out if any trouble occurred after the batch of fabrics arrived at the theater. Otherwise, why would even the person in the palace...
As expected, another servant from Caiyifang walked in with a nervous look on his face. "Madam Hongmei, Prince Rong'an and Madam Luo are currently investigating the matter of the cloth at the theater."
It’s really bad!
Madam Hongmei suddenly loosened her grip on Wei Fuxian's waist. She stood there, her face trembling, staring at Wang Xiaoer for a long moment. Just as Wang Xiaoer was about to kneel down and admit that he knew about Wei Er's cloth reselling, Madam Hongmei coldly ordered, "Why are you still standing there? Take me to find the two nobles!"
Rather than waiting for Prince Rong'an to find out, it would be better to take the initiative and inform Caiyifang of what happened - this would greatly preserve Caiyifang's reputation.
Since the young prince is a prince, Hongmei naturally needs to go and invite people in person.
*
theater.
Luo Qingling stood behind Qin Yanheng, stretched out her head and looked at the actor lying on the bed. She blinked and said, "Your Highness, I didn't recognize the wrong person. The actor last night didn't look like this, did he?"
Because the troupe owner was present, Luo Qingling couldn't say directly that they had spent most of the night together. She patted Qin Yanheng's arm, suggesting that he should answer quickly. However, Qin Yanheng didn't respond. He squinted his eyes and looked at the actor for a long time without saying anything.
"Your Highness, are you forgetting?" Luo Qingling pressed. Hadn't he just seen the haunted actor last night? How could he not remember it today?
It wasn't that he couldn't remember, but... Qin Yanheng rubbed his forehead, not wanting to admit in front of her that he was face-blind. That's right, the dignified Prince Rong An was actually face-blind.
Fortunately, Luo Qingling didn't dwell on it for too long. She turned to ask the troupe owner, "Owner, do you still have the costumes the actors wore that day?"
"Yes, yes, it's right here." The troupe leader walked to the side, reached out to take down the bright red costume hanging on the wooden rack, turned around and handed it to Luo Qingling.
It's this piece of cloth! Luo Qingling's heart sank. She gently stroked the brocade in her hand. She looked up at Qin Yanheng with a nervous expression: "Your Highness, the cloth I received is exactly the same as the material for this costume..."
"Prince Rong'an, Madam Hongmei from Caiyifang requests to see you." The prince's entourage appeared at the door at some point and was bowing to Qin Yanheng.
Madam Hongmei is here? Luo Qingling was a little surprised.
Qin Yanheng raised his hand to signal his followers to invite Madam Hongmei in. A moment later, a woman in a red gauze dress appeared in front of everyone. She had a graceful figure and a mature air. The troupe leader stared at her with his eyes wide open.
"Greetings to Prince Rong'an. Prince Rong'an and Madam Luo are doing well."
Madam Hongmei bowed deeply as soon as she came up. She was a shrewd person and could see at a glance that the young prince had an unusual relationship with Madam Luo, so she simply bowed to both of them at the same time. This way, she would not offend Madam Luo and would not annoy Prince Rong'an.
After all, who knows whether this young lady from the Luo family will be the future Princess Rong'an?
"Madam," Luo Qingling stepped forward and warmly shook Madam Hongmei's hand. "Why are you here? Do you have any clues about that batch of materials?"
"That's true." Madam Hongmei looked around at Qin Luo and the other person, and then told them what she had found out so far.
After listening, Qin Yanheng raised his eyelids and looked at Madam Hongmei. He nodded and said calmly, "I understand what Madam said. As for the follow-up matters, I will make my own arrangements. Madam, don't worry."
Qin Yanheng knew the Lady Hongmei in front of him. Every year on his birthday, his mother would order Lady Hongmei to make his brocade robe by hand. However, this thin relationship alone was not enough to prove Lady Hongmei's innocence.
As a prince, it was impossible for him to easily believe Madam Red Rose just because of a few words from her. Now the cause of the actor's incident had not been found out yet, and no one could clear himself of suspicion.
After saying that, Qin Yanheng was about to turn around and leave, but he heard Luo Qingling suddenly speak.
"The fabric I have is the same color as the costume. Are the remaining fabrics also the same color?" Luo Qingling wondered. She had felt from the beginning that the colors of this batch of fabrics were too bright, and she had a suspicion in her heart.
Upon hearing this, Madam Hongmei nodded and said, "If Your Highness and Madam Luo suspect that the dye is the problem, why not I personally take you two nobles to the garden of Caiyifang tomorrow morning? That's where the dyeing is done."
After everyone decided on the formation for tomorrow, Qin Yanheng took Luo Qingling away from the theater.
Madam Hongmei stood at the door and watched the carriage marked "Qin" come by, and she made a judgment in her heart.
It seemed that the young lady from the Luo family would become a prince's consort sooner or later. After all, Hongmei was an experienced person, so how could she not see the emotions that were about to burst out in the young prince's eyes.
Perhaps only these two young boys and girls in front of me don't understand.
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