Meanwhile, Manager Lu led his men to Changyin Pavilion, telling them they were ordered to search. Besides the Mu family troupe, all the other actors residing at Changyin Pavilion were to be searched. Old Liu, the manager of the Mu family troupe, saw five or six men dressed like eunuchs enter and hurriedly went to greet them, bowing and nodding, saying, "Oh, sir, what brings you here? Is there something you need?"
“We are here on Steward Lu’s orders to search. One of our masters has lost some things. The concubine has ordered a search of everyone’s rooms. Master Liu, please tell your men to cooperate with the search!” A taller man said to Old Man Liu.
“This! We couldn’t possibly have taken our masters’ things. We’re all in Changyin Pavilion every day, we’ve never gone out, how could we have taken them?” Master Liu said with a tearful face.
“Yes, we practice singing and training here every day, we haven’t gone out at all, how could we possibly steal anything!” The performers standing behind Master Liu started shouting. They had heard those words clearly; it was blatant accusation that they had stolen from their master, an insult to their very face!
"What's all the commotion about? I'm just following orders. If you have a point, go talk to Steward Lu. I'm just searching the house. Besides, if you didn't steal anything, what are you afraid of? Let us search, and it'll clear your names. If you won't let us search, doesn't that mean one of you has something to hide?" the head eunuch said.
"Stop arguing, stop arguing! I'm telling you all, let them search. We haven't done anything like that." Old Liu turned around, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the actors, and said, "This is Prince Yong's villa; we can't afford to offend him!"
“That’s right, Master Liu is a sensible man. The master here is none other than Prince Yong. You mustn’t be oblivious to his authority. Just do whatever the master tells you to do,” the eunuch said.
The actors all sighed on the ground, but as the eunuch said, they were nothing more than a group of entertainers to Prince Yong, insignificant and merely objects for him to enjoy.
Mu Qingyang, who was standing at the back of the crowd, had already retreated to his room. He was worried that if the things Liu had given him were found, then his affair with Liu would probably be discovered.
Meanwhile, Liu was already sitting on the bed, drinking bird's nest porridge. She guessed that Mu Qingyang's side had probably found most of the clues, and a sudden sense of tension welled up inside her.
“Little Jinzi, do you think that if they search his house and find those things, the first thing they’ll do is take him to see Steward Lu?” Liu asked.
"They'll definitely tie him up first and send him to Steward Lu, then Steward Lu will send someone to report to the concubine," Xiao Jinzi said.
"What if she gets suspicious?" Liu said anxiously.
“This servant thinks the Consort isn’t the type to meddle, otherwise she wouldn’t have delayed coming even after the Princess had already called a doctor. In the end, she said something had been stolen from the Princess’s side, and then she brought Princess Wu along. Who cares if an actor is innocent or not? Just beat him up and throw him out,” Xiao Jinzi said.
Liu pondered, "What if Mu Qingyang talks nonsense? What if he falsely accuses me in front of Steward Lu? At that point, Niohuru would probably be quite interested."
"Master, Mu Qingyang probably doesn't even know what happened before he was beaten unconscious and chased away. Master, don't worry, I've already made arrangements. They're to tell them to start beating him as soon as they catch him, without even asking his talent!" Xiao Jinzi said with a sinister smile.
Hearing this, Liu seemed a little relieved and silently said to herself, "Qingyang, don't blame me. Perhaps you owe me this life. Let's be together in the next life."
Meanwhile, the leading eunuch and his men had already searched the area, but naturally found nothing. They arrived at Mu Qingyang's room, about to enter, when they were stopped by Master Liu. Master Liu took a large ingot of silver from his sleeve and stuffed it into the leading eunuch's hand, saying, "Gentlemen, you've already searched, haven't you? We, the Mu family troupe, are honest business people; we would never do such petty theft. Our star performer lives in this room; he's a man of exceptional character, and he would never do such a thing. Gentlemen, this is just a small token of our appreciation; please take it and buy some wine."
The head eunuch weighed the silver in his hand, chuckled, and said, "Thank you, Master Liu, but we still have to do what needs to be done. Search!"
"You, you..." Old Liu felt a pang of regret for the money he had given away. Seeing them barge into Mu Qingyang's room, he had no choice but to follow them. Mu Qingyang was the pillar of the Mu family troupe. If he was unhappy, the entire troupe would be out of the loop. So Old Liu usually spoiled him a lot.
"Mr. Mu, please forgive us, we are ordered to search the house." The head eunuch greeted the seemingly scholarly man standing at the door with a respectful bow. Because Mu Qingyang was favored by those high-ranking officials and nobles, the head eunuch did not want to offend him too much, so he remained polite.
"Sir, I've already given you the money, you..." Old Liu caught up and said breathlessly.
"Master, there's no need to say more. Just let them search. I, Mu Qingyang, would never do such a thing. There's nothing to be afraid of," Mu Qingyang said, forcing himself to remain calm.
"Thank you, search!" the head eunuch shouted.
Old Liu glanced at Mu Qingyang a few times with a troubled expression, shook his head, feeling sorry for the ten taels of silver, and had no choice but to let these people in.
They began to search every corner of the house, bit by bit. Mu Qingyang and Old Man Liu stood at the door, watching them roughly rummage through their belongings.
Old Man Liu naturally had no idea about the connection between Mu Qingyang and Liu Shi, so he wasn't afraid of them finding anything. Mu Qingyang, however, was worried. He didn't know why, after he had just made an agreement with Liu Shi to elope, his master's belongings had been stolen.
The eunuchs searched meticulously, even checking the place where the chamber pot was kept. They seemed to have received some kind of hint, and they examined Mu Qingyang's room more carefully than anywhere else.
Old Liu noticed this as well, and grew even angrier. He said unhappily, "Gentlemen, our Master Mu is a confidant of many. Although he is just an actor, he still has some influence outside. Your search like this..."
"Master, stop talking, let them search!" Mu Qingyang interjected.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com