Meng Qi told Song Chengze how she had let the rumors spread. Song Chengze was a little surprised. He really didn't expect that when she made the arrangements, she had only been in the mansion for more than two months and yet she actually suspected so many people.
"Then Bai and Xiaolin are together almost every day, why do you suspect her?" Song Chengze was puzzled.
Meng Qi wouldn't say that Song Chengze's treatment of them in her previous life had prompted her to make arrangements in advance. "Although I haven't had much contact with Xiao Lin, I don't think she's scheming. If she had a plan in mind, the eldest young master wouldn't have moved to the outer courtyard so early today. She's put more energy into pleasing you."
Song Chengze felt his face flush when he heard Meng Qi say this, and said unnaturally, "She was just holding on to the reluctance after her hopes were dashed."
Meng Qi hummed, "Your Highness, there's no need to blame yourself. Just like what happened with Ms. Zhang, it's not your fault for not noticing her abnormality. These were originally the concerns of the Inner House's Mistress. Fortunately, it's not too late to discover it now."
Song Chengze nodded and said, "I didn't observe carefully enough. I will ask someone to check Ms. Zhang's daily life later."
"The key is what connection does her family have with Prince Jing's Mansion? Ms. Zhang often travels between the mansion and the back streets, so it would be convenient for her to pass on any news, but she wouldn't go to Prince Jing's Mansion to tell us about our situation. There must be someone to contact her or some other way to contact her."
Song Chengze understood, "I understand. Are you still planning to test the Xiaolin and Bai families?"
"Yes, your external affairs are increasing, and becoming increasingly difficult. I can't let the inner house tie you down. And although you have protected the outer courtyard well, there are always some who are wrong. If a mistake really affects your important affairs because of some oversight, wouldn't it be too worthless? I will slowly test them. Although I dare not say that I can find out every hidden person in the mansion, at least I will prevent them from doing anything bad to us."
Song Chengze felt much better after hearing what Meng Qi said. "What are you going to do with Ms. Zhang? Or is there anything I've collected that needs to be dealt with?"
Meng Qi shook her head. "It's too easy for her to be dealt with like this before the time comes. It would also benefit King Jing. Now that we know about it, we should definitely take advantage of it."
Song Chengze watched Meng Qi lower her head and take out the paper from the slit of her clothes and handed it to him. Song Chengze took it and asked, "What is this?"
"I found it among those things. I think this one might be more important. I'm worried that if I can't get those things out, I can bring it out like this so that you can examine it."
Song Chengze opened it and found a yellowed piece of paper. It was obvious that it was the paper used by the emperor in the palace, and the ink was obviously mixed with gold powder.
Meng Qi frowned at Song Chengze and asked, "Have you heard of these two names?"
Song Chengze shook his head. Jun Qing? Zhen Er? These were clearly the names of a boy and a girl, and the boy's name clearly wasn't given by a eunuch or servant. But if it was someone from the palace, who could it be?
Song Chengze thought carefully and found that none of his brothers had this name. To be precise, this should be a man's courtesy name, and as far as he knew, there seemed to be no such name among the ministers.
"I thought the owner of those clothes should be the child of these two people, but why would she be in the palace where Zhuang Cairen lived? Why did Zhuang Cairen put those items in the cracks of Duobao Pavilion? It's obvious that she didn't want others to know."
Song Chengze held up the letter again and looked at it against the candle. "She hid it so well for two reasons: one, she was entrusted with keeping it, and the other, she stole it."
Meng Qi was stunned. She hadn't thought of this. Yes, that's the truth.
"I took this?"
Meng Qi nodded, "I was originally planning to give it to you."
Song Chengze folded the letter and put it in his arms. "This matter is too strange. I don't think my second brother knows the specific truth, but he must know more than I do. Zhong Da can't move for the time being. I am arranging other people, so the investigation should take some time."
"Your Highness, why don't you start with Prince Duan? As you said, even if he doesn't know the whole story, he knows more than you do. If you can find a loophole by exploring a little bit, everything will be much easier."
Song Chengze nodded. "Well, you don't have to worry about this. I will arrange for someone to take care of it. You've been really hard-working over the past month. When I heard that you had something bad to eat, I wanted to go check on you. But when I saw that the Queen specifically sent Eunuch Wang to tell me about it, I was afraid they would have something to hold against me. I also didn't know how you had arranged it, and I didn't want to disrupt your plans again, so I didn't go."
Meng Qi looked at Song Chengze's apologetic face and smiled, "I know the prince cares about me, and if you had really gone, I'm afraid what I have to do next would have been even more difficult. It's precisely because you didn't come to see me that they didn't pay as much attention to me. If they had sent two more people that night, I'm afraid I would have been stuck in that old laundry house, unable to explain myself."
Song Chengze knew that what Meng Qi said was right. It was already his limit for Zhong Da to deal with three people that day and still bring Meng Qi back to Hanyuan safely.
"Have you found out who those people belong to?" Meng Qi refilled Song Chengze's tea.
"Not yet. We have to do it one by one." He then shook his head in self-mockery. "My ability is too limited. It's only been two years since I started setting up the palace that it's gradually showing results. I didn't expect it to be almost wiped out."
"Your Highness, there is no need to be anxious. We must take it one step at a time. And I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it now." Meng Qi said.
"you say."
"May I ask Your Highness about the situation of this Zhong Da? Does the Crown Prince know?"
Song Chengze paused for a moment, then said, "The Crown Prince knew I had someone in the palace, but he didn't know about Jongdae's situation. And it was the Crown Prince who initially found the opportunity for me. He said the East Palace was attracting too much attention, and he wanted me to set up the situation."
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