However, when taking care of him, she was meticulous in every way and showed no sign of disliking him.
Yu Nanqing took a deep breath. "Do you like it?"
He didn't know, but he didn't dislike it.
While feeling a pang of sadness, he thought of the scene when Su Wanyan successfully left the city. She had so hoped to leave the capital, and she must be overjoyed now.
I just hope that when she leaves the city, she won't get so excited that she forgets everything and messes up her original plans...
Thinking of this, Yu Nanqing seemed to picture her dancing and gesturing wildly in her mind, and a faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared on her lips...
Just as Yu Nanqing had expected, the maid entered the palace but failed to see Emperor Yuanhe. She could only anxiously wait at the door of the Imperial Study.
It was more than half an hour later when Emperor Yuanhe finished his court session.
When Emperor Yuanhe saw the maidservant assigned to Su Wanyan waiting at the entrance of the Imperial Study, his brows immediately furrowed.
The Imperial Study was where ministers discussed matters. Normally, only eunuchs would come and go, and a maid would never come here unless it was something urgent.
Could it be that something bad has happened to Prince Gong's mansion again?
Emperor Yuanhe was followed by ministers who were discussing matters. He turned around and instructed, "My dear ministers, please wait here for a moment."
The ministers looked at each other, but before they could respond, Emperor Yuanhe had already entered the imperial study.
Liu, the eunuch who was standing next to Emperor Yuanhe, was very perceptive. He waved his whisk at the maid and said in a soft voice, "Come in."
Inside the Imperial Study, Emperor Yuanhe had just sat down when a maidservant who had entered hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "This servant... greets Your Majesty."
"What is it?" Emperor Yuanhe asked patiently.
The moment the maid saw Emperor Yuanhe, her body began to tremble. At this moment, she was so terrified that she kept her head down on the ground and did not dare to look up at Emperor Yuanhe.
He stammered, "Your Majesty... Princess Gong... has disappeared..."
Emperor Yuanhe's majestic eyes darkened: "What did you say?"
The maid trembled, her face turning deathly pale. Facing the Emperor's raging fury, she closed her eyes, her heart broken, and repeated, "The Princess... the Princess... she's gone..."
Emperor Yuanhe gritted his teeth, stood up, grabbed the teacup on the table, and smashed it to the ground with a loud "bang." The teacup shattered into pieces instantly, and he angrily shouted, "Outrageous!"
The maid trembled violently, and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
The eunuch Liu, who was standing to the side, also knelt down with a "plop": "Your Majesty, please calm down!"
He hurriedly turned to the maid and asked, "Where did she disappear? How did she disappear? She was perfectly fine, how could she just vanish? Didn't I tell you to keep a close eye on her?"
"Reporting to Eunuch Liu... The Princess Consort went out to the street today, and everything was fine at first, but when she reached Xuanmen Street, the people on the street suddenly rushed to one place, saying... saying that someone was scattering money in the street... This servant... this servant and the Princess Consort were separated by the crowd..."
As she spoke, the maid was almost in tears. She felt that this incident was not a coincidence, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.
"Time and time again! Time and time again! You can't even keep an eye on a woman! Are your heads made of paper? What use are you to me! You can't even do this little thing right! What use are you to me!" Emperor Yuanhe couldn't stand it anymore, his face turning red with anger.
They ordered people to guard the palace, but Su Wanyan still slipped away. They ordered people to follow her closely, but she still escaped. With so many people, they couldn't even keep an eye on Su Wanyan. Are they all incompetent?
"Your Majesty, I have already sent people to look for them..." the maid said hurriedly.
"Have you found it?"
"Not...not yet..."
"Then how dare you appear before me!" Emperor Yuanhe roared, and the maid dared not utter another word.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. The Princess Consort is just a woman, and the Marquis doesn't value her. Where could she have gone? She must have gotten lost in the capital and returned home a little late," Eunuch Liu hurriedly advised.
He was the one who arranged this mission, and he was the one who picked out the palace maids sent there. Now, Eunuch Liu was afraid that Emperor Yuanhe's anger would fall on him.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Yuanhe calmed down somewhat, took a breath of anger, and asked, "How long has Su Wanyan been missing?"
"One...one hour."
"You still haven't found it after an hour!" Emperor Yuanhe's anger surged again.
“Your Majesty!” Eunuch Liu hurriedly interjected, “Your Majesty, there is a market in the capital today, and there are more people on the streets than usual, so it is understandable that the Empress is playing for a little longer.”
Emperor Yuanhe glared fiercely at Eunuch Liu, who shrank back and immediately fell silent, daring not to utter another word.
The Imperial Study fell silent for a moment. Emperor Yuanhe suppressed his anger, thought for a while, and suddenly had an idea. His narrowed eyes regained their original calm, and he said coldly, "Continue searching. There's no need to hide anything. Search openly and honestly."
The maid was somewhat taken aback upon hearing this, but she dared not be negligent at this moment and hurriedly replied, "Yes, this servant obeys."
"Get down."
The maidservant dared not raise her head, bowed her body, and with a pale face, she withdrew from the imperial study.
"Liu Rencai," Emperor Yuanhe called out.
Eunuch Liu hurriedly replied, "This servant is here."
"Go and summon Marquis Yuanning. I have something to discuss with him."
"Yes, this old servant will go now."
After giving his instructions, Emperor Yuanhe sat down in the grand chair with a yellow cushion. The ministers outside the imperial study waited for a long time, but Emperor Yuanhe did not call them in.
Instead, it was Marquis Yuanning, who had already arrived at the palace gate after court, who was summoned by him.
Upon entering the imperial study, Marquis Yuanning knelt before Emperor Yuanhe and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I have come to pay my respects. May I ask what Your Majesty commands me?"
Emperor Yuanhe cut to the chase: "Your daughter, Su Wanyan, has gone missing. Are you aware of that?"
Marquis Yuanning was taken aback, then lowered his head: "Does Your Majesty suspect that Su Wanyan's disappearance is related to this humble subject?"
"I did not say that."
"Your Majesty, please tell me what you wish me to do."
Marquis Yuanning was intelligent and a military man by profession. He spoke frankly and directly. Apart from his desire to secretly arrange a marriage between his family and the Empress's family, Emperor Yuanhe was quite satisfied with him.
He said, “I have already sent people to look for Su Wanyan, but after all, she is your daughter. Even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected. You should also take it to heart. Prince Gong is seriously ill in bed and it is not easy for him to have a caring person to take care of him. If Su Wanyan disappears now, I am afraid that he will not even have such a caring person to take care of him.”
Upon hearing this, Marquis Yuanning immediately understood.
Emperor Yuanhe is using Su Wanyan's disappearance as a pretext.
His underlying meaning was to blame Yu Nanqing for Su Wanyan's disappearance.
Emperor Yuanhe's request for him to keep an eye on the matter was simply to have him secretly send people to search for Su Wanyan. If Su Wanyan had truly disappeared, that would be fine; if not, he would have to play along, make the charade real, and get rid of Su Wanyan.
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