"Well, has the investigation been completed?" Hongzhou asked the butler, who was standing in front of him, as he sat behind his desk.
"Yes, as Your Highness instructed, I investigated Qiu Yun's background. I inquired with the neighbors in her former neighborhood, but they didn't know much. They just moved there; they didn't live there before. Qiu Yun's father did indeed pass away not long ago," the steward said.
"He passed away right after moving to a new house; that sounds rather strange," Hongzhou said. "Did they check the population register at the prefectural government office?"
"Your Highness, we have investigated, but we still haven't found out where Qiu Yun's family moved to the capital from," the steward said.
“Understood. Have the maid you sent to live with her slowly find out more about her. Living together, they'll inevitably talk about their hometowns and relatives sometime,” Hongzhou said.
"Yes, I have already given her the instructions," the steward replied.
Hongzhou waved his hand, and the steward stepped back and left.
Ever since that last letter arrived mysteriously, Hongzhou had begun to suspect that someone in the household was the messenger. After investigating, he found Qiuyun to be the most suspicious. Moreover, since her arrival, the relationship between his mother and Wukuzha had become increasingly tense, which made Hongzhou even more suspicious.
Meanwhile, sharing a room with Qiu Yun was Su Zhi, who served Geng Shi's clothes. After hearing the steward's instructions, she deliberately tried to find out more about Qiu Yun.
"Qiuyun, have you eaten? I'll go get your meal later, do you want me to tell you?" Suzhi asked, seeing Qiuyun sitting blankly by her bedside.
"Oh. Thank you very much, Sister Suzhi," Qiuyun said. She had just finished tending to the flowers and plants and was indeed a little tired, so she accepted Suzhi's offer of kindness.
Normally, she rarely spoke much with the other maids around Madam Geng. Apart from being obedient and charming in front of Madam Geng, she was indifferent to everyone else, so Madam Geng's other maids didn't like her much.
After Suzhi brought back the maid's meal, she found that Qiuyun was asleep, so she placed her lunchbox on the round stool by Qiuyun's bedside.
"Qiuyun, get up and have your meal," Suzhi called out again.
These maids only had a few spare moments to rest: when their mistress was taking a midday nap, or when their mistress had something to do. Otherwise, they had to be by their side at all times.
Qiu Yun was probably tired, so she lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
Suzhi called out a few times, but seeing that Qiuyun didn't respond, she thought she was fast asleep. She wondered if this girl was really that tired just from tending to a few pots of flowers.
Since she still had to serve Madam Geng, she didn't pay any more attention to her and went to have her meal by herself.
Halfway through, Qiu Yun on the bed suddenly screamed, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
Then she sat up abruptly, looking as if she had just experienced something terrifying, her face covered in cold sweat.
"What's wrong with you?" Suzhi was startled by her shout, and the food on her chopsticks trembled.
Qiu Yun gasped for breath before finally saying, "It was a nightmare."
"Get up quickly, Her Majesty will be resting for a while, and then we'll all have to go and serve her. Get up and wash your face and have your meal," Suzhi said.
Qiu Yun nodded, then jumped up to fetch water to wash her face. Her steps seemed somewhat hurried, and Su Zhi wondered what she had dreamt about that made her so frightened.
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