Meng Qi nodded. She seemed to have heard of this incident before, but she didn't know that the talented woman lived in Lanxin Palace.
After wiping one foot, Yuan Dong moved on to the other. "Since then, no one has come, especially since Lanxin Palace is right next to Hanyuan. Everyone says it's the evil spirits and ghosts in Hanyuan that have haunted me."
Meng Qi climbed onto the kang, covered her feet with the quilt, and said, "Do you know the surname of that talented person?"
Yuan Dong poured the water into another wooden basin, took off his socks and put his feet in. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I actually mentioned it when I was chatting with them. I think her last name was something like that. Oh, right, her last name is Zhuang, and she's a talented person."
Zhuang? This surname was rare, especially in the palace. She simply didn't know about the late Empress Dowager, who had passed away when she was born. In her previous life, she had never paid attention to the people and affairs of the palace. She couldn't even remember the names of the high-ranking concubines, let alone inquire about such an unknown talent.
But why does this surname make me feel so familiar?
Meng Qi lay down, listening to Yuan Dong's gentle splashing of water, and suddenly thought of Madam Zhuang. Yes, this Lady Zhuang must be Madam Zhuang's sister.
She had a hunch that Madam Zhuang was not a simple person, but after she had mentioned it to Song Chengze last time, she didn't know if he took it to heart or whether he had done a thorough investigation. However, she did hear that Concubine Lian had never taken the medicine that Madam Zhuang had prescribed her since she had taken it.
Perhaps for this reason, coupled with the fact that Song Chengze was too busy, he had put the matter of Madam Zhuang aside. No, I had to continue investigating this Madam Zhuang when I got back.
Thinking of this, she remembered the girl with a mole on her forehead that Concubine Lian found in her previous life. Next month is Wang's birthday, and she must go back to the Huainan Marquis Mansion no matter what. Then she can only ask Meng Wan to help her find her. It is really inconvenient to inquire about these things by herself, and there are not many people available.
After another seven or eight days, they finally searched every house in the backyard of Hanyuan without finding anything special. She even pulled out all the clothes one by one, feeling the corners and hems, but still found nothing.
Moreover, it has been almost twenty days. She thought that whether it was Concubine Xiang or others, they would probably do some small tricks, but there was no movement at all, as if Meng Qi was really just under house arrest.
Meng Qi decided to take a day off, but he had to copy at least two pages of the scriptures just to make it look good.
When it was time for lunch, Wang Chenghai still hadn't come back. Wang Chenghai still didn't give up. He told Meng Qi to rest and he would go for a walk and take a look. He went there early in the morning with the cat in his arms.
Yuan Dong cleaned up the meal that Meng Qi had eaten, but still didn't see Wang Chenghai come back. Meng Qi was also puzzled because Wang Chenghai had never been like this before.
"Why don't you go and take a look?"
Meng Qi waved her hand. Although she knew that nothing would happen in broad daylight, and even if someone wanted to target her, they wouldn't wait until this time, she hoped that Wang Chenghai had discovered something and was tripped up.
As the two were talking, Ah Hua came in from under the cotton curtain with her back bent.
"Oh, where has it been?" Yuandong took out a handkerchief, picked up Ahua and wiped its paws.
Meng Qi looked over and saw that Ah Hua's four paws were covered with thick mud. Ah Hua came into the house and tried to shake it off but it didn't work. Perhaps she was uncomfortable, so she let Yuan Dong wipe it off. She looked at Meng Qi with a pair of amber eyes and made a soft meowing sound.
When the maid first spotted Ah Hua, she thought she was a stray cat in the palace and wanted to find a eunuch to capture it. Meng Qi stopped her, saying that since no one was in the courtyard, especially at night when it was just the three of them, the cat liked staying there, so they should just leave it alone. The two maids, realizing there were many stray cats like this in the harem, especially in such a deserted palace, gave up.
Just after I finished wiping Ah Hua, I heard a sound from the west room. After a while, Wang Chenghai lifted the curtain and came in, looking excited.
"What's going on? It seems the cat takes after its owner." Yuandong put the cat on the ground. Ahua walked to Wang Chenghai and rubbed it up and down vigorously.
"Get out of the way, you're covered in hair." Wang Chenghai said.
Meng Qi looked at Wang Chenghai's muddy shoes and said with a smile, "It's been sunny these past few days, and the backyard is dry. Where did you take it?"
Wang Chenghai stepped forward with a smile, "I had an important discovery to share with the princess, so I didn't rush to change my shoes. Don't worry, Sister Yuandong, I'll clean the floor later."
Wang Chenghai is much older than Yuandong, but he always calls Yuandong "sister", saying it is so affectionate that Yuandong is too lazy to correct him.
Meng Qi sat up straight, "What did you find?"
Wang Chenghai took the tea Yuandong poured and took a sip. "Today, I took Ah Hua to the northwest corner. There's some hay piled there. Last time, I felt I didn't turn it carefully enough, so I decided to go check it out again. I was just turning it over when this guy, who was originally following me, suddenly crawled under the hay and didn't make any noise for a long time. At first, I didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it had discovered a mouse or something, but then the noise it made was different. I pulled away the hay, but I didn't see it."
"Where did Ah Hua go?" Yuan Dong asked.
Wang Chenghai looked at Meng Qi and said, "The area beneath the hay is very ordinary, no different from other walls, except for a few more stone slabs, which seem to be leftovers from the original yard, piled there in pieces.
"Because it's covered with hay, even in the sunshine these past few days, it's still damp underneath. I saw plum blossom footprints next to the bluestone slab, so I pulled it open. Guess what happened?"
Meng Qi looked at Wang Chenghai, who looked very excited, and stood up. "Is it working?"
Wang Chenghai nodded. "It's a hole, not big, only big enough for one person. Just big enough for a servant to squeeze through. Over there is another courtyard, which we have never been to. It's not as messy as this one, but it has also been neglected for a long time and is not very big. There is a large water tank at the entrance of the hole over there. It's cracked and the pieces are scattered all over the ground, so you can't see the hole from that side."
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