The next day, Yuan Dong took the sewing box to the room at the back of the house and frowned, saying that the princess was arranged by the prince to copy scriptures every day. The princess did not want to be disturbed by others, so she had to keep them company.
The two maids were already quite old, and besides their maidenly attire, they wore nothing else. It was obvious they had been sent here unwelcome. On the first day, Yuan Dong gave each of them a twisted wire bracelet. Though small, it was made of new silver, and its sheen was pleasing to the eye.
Wang Chenghai pushed open the window of the west room. There were a few blue bricks placed under the window. They were placed there by Wang Chenghai yesterday.
After Wang Chenghai came back from his own trip yesterday, the palace maid who was guarding the gate chatted with him, saying what was so interesting about the Han Garden. Not only did the princess go there every day for the past two days, but he also went there to see it now. She thought there might be some treasures there.
Wang Chenghai was stunned at first, then he smiled and said that he had never been here before and wanted to go and take a look.
The palace maid said that the room where the princess lived now was the cleaner one in the yard. People had died in the rooms behind them, so who knew if there were any unlucky things there.
These words also reminded Wang Chenghai. He told Meng Qi that it would be unacceptable if the two palace maids saw them going to the backyard every day. It would be better to let Yuan Dong watch them in front, and the two of them would go out through the window, so that the two palace maids would always think that Meng Qi was in the room. Wouldn't this be better?
Meng Qi also thought this was a good idea and praised Wang Chenghai for being so thoughtful.
Wang Chenghai jumped out first, turned around and reached out to catch Meng Qi, but Meng Qi waved her hand, lifted her skirt and jumped out.
She didn't know why, but she suddenly remembered what Meng Wan had told her before she got married. She'd climbed out the window to chase Hong Zhe when they went to the Hong family's house. Although this hadn't happened in her past life, it felt as if she were actually in that moment, as if she had opened the window and jumped out.
The two men first entered the east room of the main house in the backyard. The furniture was pushed over, the items on the shelves of the treasure cabinet fell to the ground, and the clothes pulled out of the cabinet were trampled so that the color could not be seen.
It was obvious that these rooms had been vandalized, and more than once. Almost all the cabinets and drawers were open, and in some rooms, the blue bricks under the beds were even opened.
Although Meng Qi was wearing a skirt, the hem was very small, and she was wearing a short padded jacket, which made it convenient for her to rummage through the clothes.
Wang Chenghai first took out a small paper bag from his pouch and sprinkled the light pink powder inside into the room. Then he said to Meng Qi, "I will go to the inner room to take a look."
Meng Qi nodded and started from Duobao Pavilion.
In this way, Meng Qi would go out of the west room after breakfast every day, come back at noon to have lunch, take a nap, read a book, chat with Yuan Dong, and then go for a walk, until it was dark before coming back.
Time passed quickly, and ten days passed in the blink of an eye. During these ten days, Meng Qi lived a very regular life. None of the three of them went out at all, and everything was passed on by the two palace maids. The two palace maids had originally tried to serve in the house, but after being scolded by Meng Qi for a reason, they stayed in the back room obediently.
Yuan Dong lit the candle and asked, "Still haven't found anything today?"
Meng Qi hummed and put her feet in the hot water. "Wang Chenghai and I were so eager to have Ah Hua dig up that rat hole. Could it be that there really is nothing here? Did the reward we received from the prince mean that the prince had searched for something here?"
"I'm afraid that's true. After all, there are more than one abandoned palace nearby. I'm afraid I might be mistaken."
Meng Qi nodded and asked, "What's this place next to it?" She was really unfamiliar with these things in the palace. Whether in her past life or this life, she only knew the names of the palaces where the favored concubines lived.
Yuan Dong picked up a handkerchief and sat on a small stool, gently dipping it in water to wash Meng Qi's feet. She detailed the information she had gathered from the two palace maids. "The one on the left was called Lanxin Palace. Originally, it was where orchids were cultivated. Later, some of the late emperor's lower-ranking officials lived there. Several of the current emperor's concubines also lived there, but none of them were favored and held very low positions. The one on the right was originally where the Shangyi Palace worked daily. Later, after it was moved to the southeast corner, it was abandoned. Further to the side is Rongyang Palace."
Yuan Dong continued as she wiped Meng Qi's feet, "The last lady to live in Lanxin Palace was the one the late Empress Dowager had appointed as a concubine after she became pregnant by the Emperor. The late Empress Dowager had originally intended for her to live in her own palace, but the Emperor disagreed and chose Lanxin Palace for her. However, that concubine had been experiencing health problems since she moved in, and her fetus was unstable. She inexplicably died when the child was just over seven months old, resulting in two deaths."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
