"Thank you, Princess. Just now, the prince asked me to tell you that everything in the palace has been arranged. The prince said that it would be best if you don't need it. If there is anything, you must go and find it. Don't be afraid of being exposed and keep it to yourself."
Meng Qi was stunned at first, then understood. Song Chengze had said someone would protect her in the palace, and if she encountered any special circumstances, she could just seek help as agreed. She had also said that she wouldn't be leaving Hanyuan and wouldn't need it, and that the clue must have been hidden by the prince and Concubine Lian for a long time, and it would be a shame if it were exposed now.
Hu Changsheng continued, "The prince said that nothing is more important than the princess's safety."
Meng Qi felt a warm feeling in her heart. She thought of Song Chengze's raised hand just now. She briefly wondered if he would do something, but then he let it go. She couldn't help but laugh. Was she expecting something? How could that be? Even if she was expecting something, it was probably because she was hoping that the two years would pass quickly, that the mountains standing in Song Chengze's way would be removed, so that she could realize her wish.
She slept very restlessly that night. Changing the place was one reason, but the most important thing was that Meng Qi was thinking about where to start tomorrow.
After Yuandong came in today, the two of them walked around Hanyuan. It felt eerie and scary even in broad daylight, especially the backyard, which was overgrown with weeds and had a strong smell of mold and dust. She could even smell the smell of rotting animal carcasses.
Hanyuan has two entrances. The front yard, the back yard, the wing rooms and the back rooms together have a total of 8 independent rooms, two side rooms and a washroom, as well as a tea room, and two small rooms at the back of the courtyard gate.
Fortunately, she had enough time to stay here, even if it was just two days of leaving the house. Regardless of whether she could find anything, Meng Qi decided to conduct a thorough search and take back anything suspicious.
It would be nice to have a dog, Meng Qi thought before falling asleep.
The next day, a palace maid brought in breakfast. Yuan Dong set the table and sent the maid away. She took out a silver needle from her purse and opened a porcelain bottle on the table.
He first inserted the silver needle into the porcelain bottle and then put it into the food. When he saw anything unusual, he nodded to Meng Qi.
While serving porridge to Meng Qi, Yuan Dong was thinking about the day when the princess asked her to go back to the Huainan Marquis' Mansion to find the second young lady, and ask the second young lady to find Prince Zhou and ask his friend who was a good doctor to prepare the medicine that could test whether there was poison in the food.
At the time, she was puzzled, wondering why she needed to mix the light blue medicine powder when she could just use silver needles. It was only when she went to get it that a young man named Qingning, with white hair, told her that some poisons couldn't be detected with silver needles alone.
Yuandong thought about the palace secrets that the old ladies gossiped about, and it was really far-sighted of the princess to think of these things in advance.
After the three of them had finished their meal, the eunuchs from the Shanggong Bureau brought over two charcoal stoves and several baskets of charcoal.
Yuan Dong frowned and said unhappily, seeing only a basket of silver frost charcoal, "What does this mean? Could it be that the palace is also short of this?"
The leading eunuch wasn't overly enthusiastic, but he didn't dare to be too cold either. He said expressionlessly, "We'll do whatever the higher-ups have arranged. If you have any questions, just go and find the higher-ups."
Meng Qi grabbed Yuan Dong and said coldly, "Superior? No matter how powerful your superior is, can he surpass me? Go back and tell your superior that if all the charcoal is not replaced with silver frost charcoal by noon at the latest, have her feel the stool to see if it is sturdy."
The eunuch saw Meng Qi's unfriendly expression and was about to say something, but an older woman beside him, who looked like a maid, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Princess, calm down. Perhaps we carried the wrong charcoal. The palace distributes charcoal every five days, and each palace has to go and get it. Only your princess needs us to deliver it. I'm afraid that with so many people, the charcoal from other palaces might have been mixed up."
Meng Qi looked the maid up and down and said disdainfully, "In that case, let's go and see which palace this mix-up has occurred in. We should especially investigate the palaces of the concubines." After saying this, she walked past the crowd and said, "Yuan Dong, close the door and follow me to the backyard for a walk."
The old woman stood there with a gloomy face, watching Meng Qi and Yuan Dong go towards the small door. Hu Changsheng stood at the door and looked at them motionlessly. The old woman quickly put on an honest expression and directed everyone to lift the charcoal again.
Meng Qi breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the door close. Concubine Xiang couldn't wait any longer.
Several major palace bureaus in the palace are controlled by high-ranking officials.
For example, the Shanggong Bureau is in the hands of Concubine Xiang, the Shangshi Bureau is controlled by Concubine Xian, the Shangfu and Shangqin are in the hands of the Queen, and as for the Shangyi Bureau, Meng Qi doesn't know.
Thinking about the Aunt Guan who had come to the Marquis of Huainan's mansion to teach her about the Shangyi Bureau a few years ago, she seemed like a person who didn't rely on anyone. But Meng Qi knew that few people could survive on their own in the palace without relying on anyone. She could only ask Concubine Lian when she had the chance to find out who Aunt Guan was and who was behind her.
Yuandong followed Meng Qi, walking with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Meng Qi walked very slowly, completely ignoring the muddy ground. The sun rose, melting the remaining snow, leaving her feet covered in wet mud.
Meng Qi held a branch in his hand and dug as he walked. Yuan Dong also picked up a branch and followed him.
"Princess, do they leave anything valuable out there?"
"Who knows? We had a quick look yesterday, and you noticed that every room looked like it had been searched more than once or twice. I think their search back then must have been more open and honest than ours. If they didn't find anything, it's probably not inside the house. We need to be more careful out here."
"Shall we continue searching the house?"
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