"Search the garden?" Lanqin said in surprise. "Isn't this making a bit too much of a commotion? This garden is so big, if someone really steals it and hides it, it won't be easy to find them."
“There aren’t many people who can enter the Apricot Garden. Besides those who serve there, who else is there? Wouldn’t it be enough to just search for those few?” said Madam Wu.
“That’s right. Steward Lu, you want to go to Xinghua Spring Pavilion and ask who has been in and out?” Lanqin said. She didn’t know why so many things were happening at Liu’s place; it seemed like everything had come at once. It would be unreasonable for her not to go and check on things.
"I'll go shortly!" Lanqin added helplessly, glancing at Wu Shi. "Why don't you come with me?"
Lady Wu nodded and said, "Since the Consort has given the order, I will naturally follow."
After Steward Lu left, Lanqin instructed Sihua to take good care of Wu Ruyue and the children, and then she and Madam Wu went to Xinghua Chun Courtyard together. Each of them brought a maid with them, and the two of them walked ahead, talking about how Madam Liu had encountered so many problems.
At this moment, the doctor who was on standby in the courtyard had already taken Liu's pulse and said that she had been worrying too much recently, which had caused the fetus in her womb to be somewhat unstable. He advised Liu to stay in bed for a few days and to take herbal medicine to protect the pregnancy.
"Your Highness, Consort Liu and Consort Wu have come to see you," Cuizhu reported as she approached Liu's bedside.
Just then, Lanqin and Wu Shi entered. Liu Shi struggled to get up from the bed and, with Cuizhu's help, managed to sit up straight.
"I'm just feeling a little unwell, how could I trouble Consort and Sister Wu to come!" Liu said rather uneasily.
"Lie down! What's wrong? You're over four months pregnant, why isn't your belly stable yet?" Lanqin asked after hearing the maid's report from outside.
"It's all because of my bad luck. It's been more than four months and the child is still like this," Liu said, lowering her eyes.
"Just take good care of yourself. Don't worry, it's just a minor miscarriage scare, you'll be fine in a few days," Lanqin said.
"Thank you for remembering me, Consort Liu," said Lady Liu.
"Your Highness, it is actually because our Princess was frightened that she suffered a miscarriage," Cuizhu immediately said.
"Scared?" Wu asked.
"Cuizhu, don't talk nonsense!" Liu Shi seemed unwilling to say more and quickly scolded her.
"Liu, you need to tell us what's wrong, otherwise Steward Lu won't be able to find those lost jewelry for you," Lanqin said, frowning, while inwardly wondering how so many things had happened to Liu all of a sudden.
“It was last night. Our princess had already gone to sleep. We servants had all gone to rest. But in the middle of the night, the princess suddenly screamed. I was so frightened that I immediately put on my clothes and rushed in from the night watch room. I saw a dark figure fly out of the window of the master’s room. Yes, it flew out!” Cuizhu said, following the pre-arranged story.
"Fly out?" Lanqin asked the maid named Cuizhu in surprise.
“Yes, it’s true. The dark figure opened the window and jumped down!” Cuizhu even gestured as she spoke.
“Consort, I was half asleep when I vaguely felt someone moving around in the room, so I opened my eyes. Because I don’t like bright light when I sleep, I extinguished the candles in the room. But when that person’s figure walked to the window, I still saw him and was so frightened that I screamed,” Liu said.
"How did that person get into your house? Could he possibly be a lithe, scaling walls and rooftops? What did the gatekeeper say?" Lanqin asked.
“The old woman guarding the gate said the gate was intact and she didn’t hear any noise. When the thief jumped out of the window, I immediately chased after him, but when I looked outside, he had already disappeared into the darkness, and I couldn’t see where he had escaped from at all,” Cuizhu said.
"There are thieves in the Yuanmingyuan? Isn't this a slap in the face to our master?" said Madam Wu.
“Unless that thief was originally from the garden, how could he have passed through so many checkpoints to enter our princess’s room?” Cuizhu asked.
"Liu, what exactly did you lose?" Lanqin asked.
“It’s all gold and silver valuables. It seems the other party has their eyes on this wealth,” Liu said.
“How did he know you definitely had it here? And if it was a thief from outside, how could he have come to Xinghua Spring Pavilion so precisely to steal your jewelry?” Wu asked.
Wu's words made sense to Lanqin, so she said to Cuizhu, "Have any suspicious people come to Xinghua Spring Pavilion recently? I suspect that it may be someone I know who committed the crime."
Liu and Cuizhu exchanged a glance, unable to recall anyone suspicious having come by.
"So it was him?" Cuizhu suddenly asked in surprise, as if she had remembered something.
"Who?" Lanqin asked.
"It's that Master Mu from the Mu Family Troupe. Our princess loves listening to his operas, and she once had him perform at Xinghua Spring Pavilion. Princess, do you remember? Didn't we have that young master Mu come over a while ago?" Cuizhu said.
“That’s right. Speaking of people here, besides those who serve me, he’s the only one from outside,” Liu said.
“An actor! You said the thief jumped out of the window to escape.” Wu analyzed, “Actors all know martial arts; jumping, climbing, and fighting are their basic skills.”
Lanqin frowned and said, "So it was he who climbed over the wall under the cover of night, and based on his memory of visiting Xinghua Chun Pavilion during the day, he secretly sneaked into Liu Gege's bedroom and stole Liu Gege's jewelry?"
"Please, Consort, do justice for our Princess! This young master Mu is truly despicable. Our Princess loves his operas and has already given him many rewards, yet he secretly sneaked in to steal her jewelry. Consort, why don't you immediately send people to search his residence?" Cuizhu said.
Lanqin could only nod and instructed Steward Lu to immediately search the residence of the Mu family troupe at Changyin Pavilion.
"Wait, Consort, I have a request!" said Consort Liu.
“Go ahead and say it!” Lanqin said.
“Because that person has been to Xinghua Chun Pavilion before, and now he has sneaked into my room under the cover of night, it would be extremely bad for my reputation if this were to be told. I beg you, Consort, not to spread this around, but simply say that something was lost and we were ordered to search. If we find it with him, we can quietly arrest him. If we don’t find him, there’s no need to tell anyone and let people speculate,” said Lady Liu.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin thought Liu's request seemed reasonable. After exchanging a glance with Wu, she said to Liu, "Alright, this request is not excessive. We do need to consider your reputation."
"Thank you for your understanding, Consort Liu," Liu said delicately.
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