The snow was falling gently, and although it was not heavy at this time, the world was still blurred, and it was difficult to see clearly beyond ten steps.
The outside world has become a pristine, crystal-clear world.
As soon as Qiaohui came out of the warehouse, she was filled with indescribable surprise and excitement upon seeing the snow. She couldn't resist the urge to go for a walk in the snow.
So they casually started walking, sometimes rubbing their two little hands, which were red from the cold, together, and sometimes breathing hot air on them to warm them up. Enjoying the snow like this seemed to be very pleasant.
"Get out of the way! We are here by order of Her Majesty the Empress to search for spies hiding in the palaces who harbor treacherous intentions. Who dares to stop us?"
Sure enough, as soon as the Empress Dowager issued her order, the entire palace began to act swiftly and decisively under this pretext.
At this moment, a dozen or so palace maids, eunuchs, and guards from one of the search teams gathered menacingly at the gate of the Third Prince Mei Zhixuan's palace.
Upon hearing this, Qiaohui frowned and quickly stepped forward, crossing the threshold to block the group of fierce-looking men outside. She explained to them, "His Highness the Third Prince is currently away on official business and is not in the palace. We hope that you can consider His Highness's presence and wait until he returns to the palace before conducting the search. Otherwise, with our master absent, we servants will have no way to explain ourselves to His Highness!"
The short, fat eunuch who was leading the group, upon hearing this, snorted dismissively, "Hmph..."
Then, in a sarcastic tone, he said, "If you can't answer to your master, then how can we answer to Her Majesty the Empress? What an arrogant and audacious servant! In this palace, tell me, who is more powerful, your Third Prince or Her Majesty the Empress?"
Upon hearing this, Qiaohui immediately explained with trepidation, "Please calm down, sir. That's not what I meant. Please don't misunderstand me. I was just thinking..."
Before he could finish speaking, the eunuch interrupted him, saying sternly, "If that's not what you mean, then what do you mean? I think you're just tired of living, daring to disobey imperial orders and commit insubordination!"
Suddenly, there was a thud, and Qiaohui immediately knelt down in front of him, prostrating herself on the thick snow and pleading, "This servant dares not, please calm your anger, sir..."
Instantly, the other guards also knelt down, pleading, "Please calm your anger, sir, spare our lives..."
Unexpectedly, the burly eunuch remained relentless and became even more ruthless, ordering behind him, "Hmph, men, teach these unruly, ignorant brats a lesson today! Slap them!"
Immediately, several palace maids stepped forward from behind her, each raising one hand high, ready to strike Qiaohui and the others' pale, cold, and frightened faces.
Just then, a very loud voice came from inside the palace gate: "Stop!"
The palace maids who were about to strike froze on the spot, their movements halting abruptly, and they all looked in the direction from which the sound came.
"Who dares to be so bold as to make such a loud noise outside the door and disturb the little prince's afternoon nap!" It turned out that Xuan Yuan Yue was slowly walking over, supported by her maids Jin Lan and Qiao Lan.
Upon hearing the voice and seeing that it was their master, the arrogant servants quickly restrained themselves, knelt down, and bowed to her, saying, "Your servants pay their respects to the Third Prince's Consort!"
Clearly, everyone in the palace knows that Xuan Yuan Yue is now a mother of a poor but noble son, as the little prince she gave birth to is deeply loved by the King of Dongning.
In contrast, although the empress's favor is only superficial, it is still good for the mother and son at present.
All of this has become her greatest protection while she lives deep within the palace, far exceeding the title and status of the Third Prince Mei Zhixuan and herself as the Third Prince's wife by a thousand or even ten thousand times.
In this vast palace, servants are always servants. Xuan Yuan Yue completely disregards these people who wield power like chicken feathers, not even glancing at them, let alone easily making them get up.
So she turned to Qiaohui, who was kneeling timidly below, and said, "Qiaohui, it's freezing cold outside. Didn't I just ask you to add some charcoal to the little prince's room? Why are you kneeling here? What happened here? You lot, why don't you get up and tell me everything?"
Qiaohui suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and the others finally got up. Qiaohui hurriedly went to Xuanyuan Yue and reported, "Your Majesty, just now this servant was about to go to the storeroom to get some charcoal, and saw that the servant guarding the storeroom had wet shoes and socks. I was afraid that she would get frostbite, so I asked her to go back and change into a clean set of clothes. This servant then guarded the storeroom for a while."
As she spoke, Qiaohui shifted her gaze to the group of people who were kneeling timidly, heads bowed low, led by the fat eunuch, and continued, "Unexpectedly, just as we stepped out of the storeroom, we heard a commotion coming from the direction of the palace gate. Upon arrival, we saw several people who wanted to forcibly search the palace."
Upon hearing this, Qiaolan frowned and looked at those people, then exclaimed in surprise, "Search the palace?"
Faced with the questioning looks that Xuan Yuan Yue, Jin Lan, and Qiao Lan all cast at her at once, Qiao Hui nodded silently, not understanding why.
At this moment, the head eunuch, who was lying low on the snow and sweating profusely, spoke up to explain, "Your Highness, we are here on the orders of the Empress to search and apprehend hidden spies in the palaces. We beg Your Highness to investigate thoroughly!"
Upon hearing this, Jinlan and Qiaolan exchanged shocked glances and exclaimed, "A spy..."
For some reason, a very bad premonition suddenly rose in Xuan Yuan Yue's heart. After a moment's thought, she tentatively asked, "The palace is always heavily guarded, so how could a spy have infiltrated? What does the spy look like? What is his/her height, weight, etc.? Does he/she have any markings? Is there a portrait of him/her?"
Faced with Xuan Yuan Yue's barrage of questions, even now, the portly eunuch was clearly bewildered: "Well..."
After thinking for a moment, he replied, "To be honest, this servant has not received any portrait of this spy, and only knows that she is a woman."
Upon hearing this, everyone present was even more astonished: "A female spy?!"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Yue's heart skipped a beat, and her mind went blank for a moment. She tried her best to calm herself down and said in a seemingly composed manner, "I'm sure you know better than I do that there are countless women in this vast palace. I don't know how you could possibly find this spy based solely on a woman's identity. It sounds utterly absurd!"
"This..." The fat eunuch was speechless.
Considering that it was an order issued by the Empress Dowager and such a significant event, a search of the palace was inevitable sooner or later.
If they insisted on stopping the visitors at this point, it wouldn't be impossible. However, doing so would only make it seem like they were trying to hide something, making the Empress even more suspicious of the courtyard.
With this thought in mind, Xuan Yuan Yue seemed to have made up her mind, and instructed, "Alright, Jin Lan, although our Third Prince is not in the palace at the moment, we must still fully cooperate with the Empress Dowager's orders and not make things difficult for this eunuch. You take this eunuch and his entourage to search every corner of the courtyards carefully, making sure not to miss a single place. This will also clear us of suspicion. But there is only one condition: do not disturb the little prince's afternoon nap!"
Upon hearing this, the eunuch was overjoyed and kowtowed to her, saying, "I have long heard that the Third Prince's Consort is virtuous and kind, and extremely considerate of her servants. Seeing her today, I can confirm it! This servant thanks the Third Prince's Consort for her kindness!"
Everyone bowed to her in gratitude: "We, your humble servants, thank Your Highness the Third Prince's Consort for your kindness!"
At this moment, Xuan Yuan Yue said gently, "Alright, it's freezing cold, get up and stop kneeling! But from now on, you must all remember this: even as lowly servants, to have the chance to serve in the same palace is a rare blessing earned through countless years of arduous cultivation in your past lives. No matter how deep or shallow the feelings are, there will be no such chance in the next life. Therefore, you should love each other like a family, instead of abusing your power and treating those who are just as humble and struggling as you are as inhuman."
Upon hearing this, everyone was completely convinced and shouted in unison, "We servants know our mistakes! We servants will remember the teachings of the Third Prince's Consort! We servants will definitely love and cherish each other from now on!"
As soon as Xuan Yuan Yue finished speaking, she turned around and walked back into the house. She then gave Qiao Lan a wink, and Qiao Lan quietly retreated into the backyard.
Because Mei Zhixuan's palace only had a few rooms and wasn't very large, the servants quickly finished searching it.
Finally, Xuanyuan Yue stood under the eaves in front of her beloved son's house, her face bare, and asked the group of servants standing in the courtyard, "How is it? Has the eunuch thoroughly searched the palace inside and out?"
The head eunuch said with a grin, "Reporting to the Third Prince's Consort, apart from the little prince's room, we have searched all the other places and have not seen any unfamiliar or suspicious faces."
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Yue's voice immediately became stern as she said, "What? Does Your Excellency mean that you also want to search the little prince's room?"
The head eunuch, smiling throughout, said, "For the safety of the young prince, this servant thinks it would be best to let the guards go in and check for themselves. If it is that thief..."
Before Qi Liao could finish speaking, a stern, authoritative voice suddenly came from behind him, shouting, "How dare you!"
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