When Shui Ling woke up, it was already dawn. She scratched her head and looked around, but there was no sound of anyone coming back last night.
Why hasn't the concubine returned? Even Gesang hasn't returned! Shui Ling suddenly stood up, preparing to go to the prefectural office to find Lan Qin and the others again.
But after taking only a few steps, she sensed something was wrong. She thought to herself, "Why didn't my master return last night? Even Gesang didn't come back. Could something have happened at the prefectural office?"
Thinking about this, Shui Ling realized that if she went there rashly, she might not even be able to see Lan Qin and the others, and she might even get herself killed. But Fourth Master hadn't returned yet, what should she do!
Shui Ling was so anxious that she just kept pacing around in circles. She didn't know whether to go find Lan Qin, or where to find the Fourth Master. In the end, she could only decide to wait for him to return right there. Her master had told the concubine that he would return in three days, and one day had already passed. She only needed to wait two more days for him to return.
Meanwhile, Shui Ling waited anxiously for Lan Qin and the others at the inn for the past few days, hoping it was all just her imagination. But Lan Qin and the others never returned. Fortunately, the room fees for all the rooms had already been paid. Although the waiter noticed that Shui Ling was alone and the others weren't staying there, he asked her several times out of curiosity, but Shui Ling always made excuses to avoid answering.
On the fourth day, Shui Ling stood at the entrance of the inn, looking around, hoping to see Fourth Master and Du Zhiqian return soon. Unbeknownst to her, in another room within the inn, four eyes were watching her every move.
"This woman seems to be waiting for someone!" The short man and a slightly fatter man were sitting in the inn's lobby. They were the two men Wang Huiling had sent to monitor Shui Ling. They were currently staying diagonally opposite Shui Ling's room, keeping a close watch on her every move.
"Looks like someone's coming today. The master ordered us to see who's behind her, so we need to keep a close eye on them," the fat man said.
"Hmm," the shorter man said.
Shui Ling was completely unaware that her every move was being watched. She looked ahead, hoping to see the figures of Fourth Master and the others.
“Brother Lingfeng!” Shui Ling saw the horse that had taken Fourth Master and Du Zhiqian away, as well as the coachman, and it was none other than Lingfeng.
Ling Feng spotted Shui Ling stamping her feet and rubbing her hands as she stood at the inn's entrance, her face and nose turning red from the cold wind. He quickly tightened his grip on the reins and drove the carriage over.
"Brother Lingfeng, you're finally back! Where's the master?" Shui Ling disregarded etiquette and rushed to the carriage, peering through the curtain.
"Shui Ling, what is it?" Fourth Master's voice came from the carriage as expected.
Shui Ling's face lit up with joy. She had been worried that the Fourth Prince might not return, as the Consort had not returned for several days.
"My lord, Consort, Consort hasn't returned yet. I'm worried she might have been murdered?" Shui Ling hurriedly knelt down under the carriage. She knew that Lan Qin had been in trouble, while she, a mere maid, was unharmed; that in itself was her fault.
The carriage curtain was suddenly ripped open, and the Fourth Master stepped out of the carriage and said to Shui Ling, "Let's go inside and talk!"
Then, he brushed past Shui Ling. Du Zhiqian, who had just heard Shui Ling's words, got off the carriage.
After everyone returned to their room, Shui Ling recounted the entire story to Fourth Master. Little did they know, two furtive figures were already lurking outside the door, eavesdropping on the sounds inside.
"You mean, your master went to the prefectural office and never came out again? Gesang went too, and didn't come back either?" Fourth Master asked in surprise after hearing Shui Ling's words.
“Yes, Master took that bottle he bought from the antique shop. I was originally there too, but Master told me to come back and wait for Master. She was afraid that Master might do something reckless and get anxious if he couldn’t find Master. I deserve to die. I should have gone to find the concubine, but I was afraid that Master would come back and find no one there, and that would make him even more anxious, so I had no choice but to wait here,” Shui Ling said, bowing her head.
“You did the right thing. If you had gone to the prefectural office, I might not even know where she is now,” the Fourth Prince said.
Shui Ling felt a weight lifted from her heart and immediately said, "Master, we must hurry to the Prefect's Office to find the Consort. These past two days have felt like an eternity here. I don't know how the Consort is doing now."
"You mean, the concubine bought the tribute items at an antique shop on Copper Coin Street?" the Fourth Prince pondered calmly.
“Yes, Master said those things were tribute items, so he went to the magistrate. But unexpectedly, I don’t know what happened, none of Master and the others have returned. In the meantime, I secretly went to the antique shop on Copper Coin Street again, to see if anyone had searched it, but strangely, the shop was gone, even the signboard had been changed, and the people inside were nowhere to be found. I asked the newly opened shopkeeper, but they knew nothing about it,” Shui Ling said.
Fourth Master's brows furrowed even deeper. It must be said that Shui Ling was quite clever. First, she didn't go to the Prefectural Governor's Office again, and then she went to see the shop, thus confirming her inner suspicions. That is, certain people in the Prefectural Governor's Office clearly had some connection with that shop, otherwise why would the shop disappear so quickly, and even the signboard be changed?
“Master Ai, it seems that Madam has encountered some trouble. How could Magistrate Wang of Xudu act in such a way? At this moment, I am afraid he will deny it based solely on Miss Shuiling’s words.” Upon hearing this, Du Zhiqian clasped his hands and said to Fourth Master.
“Brother Du is absolutely right. I must go to the prefect’s office,” said the Fourth Master. He had not yet revealed his identity to Du Zhiqian.
“Brother Ai, even if you go to the prefect’s office, there’s no guarantee he won’t protect his own rank. How could he possibly listen to you?” Du Zhiqian said.
"Then, according to Brother Du's opinion, how should this matter be handled?" Fourth Master asked.
“I think Madam got into trouble because of those antiques, so why don’t we start with those antiques? Let’s go to the prefect’s office and report that a batch of antiques and Madam have gone missing. If this prefect is really protecting certain people, he’ll understand when you say this, sir. You don’t mean to cause trouble, but rather to reconcile with him. That way, they might consider releasing Madam to avoid making things worse. If these items are indeed tribute, then a prefect of a prefecture colluding with unscrupulous merchants is a serious crime,” Du Zhiqian said.
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