Zhao Shu sneered, "What clues do you have?"
Mo Qin's expression was somewhat unpleasant. He said, "I am incompetent. I followed them all the way and only found that they entered West Street."
West Street is a mixed and chaotic place, mostly occupied by merchants from other places who stay temporarily. The flow of people is very large, and if one or two people enter West Street, it is like a needle in a haystack, making them difficult to find.
"It's alright, just remember their faces. Since these people have designs on the Prince's Mansion, they will definitely come again. Strengthen the defenses of the mansion these days. No one is allowed to be alone, understand?" She spoke extremely sternly. Now we have entered a chaotic and critical period. Whether the Prince Yong's Mansion can resolve all the troubles in one fell swoop depends on this period.
"Yes!" Mo Qin straightened up and immediately replied in a firm and powerful voice.
He was recruited into the Prince's Mansion by Uncle Fu. Before entering the mansion, he struggled to make ends meet. He came to the mansion simply to have a place to stay temporarily. He would definitely leave if a good opportunity came. Unexpectedly, he became the commander of the guards in the Prince's Mansion by a twist of fate.
He had served in the military for twenty years and had made numerous merits. However, all the credits were recorded under other people's names, and he left the military in despair.
When he returned home, his family complained that he was too old to start a family or establish a career, and that he had no skills. They made things difficult for him in every way. After seeing through his so-called family, he left in anger.
When he first heard that the Prince Yong's mansion was going to select a new commander, he had no hope at all. Anyway, the mansion would give each person a severance payment of up to two hundred taels of silver, and he planned to use the two hundred taels to do some small business.
Unexpectedly, Lord Wei Tingsi truly lived up to his reputation for fairness and impartiality, accepting bribes as they came, yet still continuing to do as he pleased.
Moreover, the master of the Prince's mansion was different from the officials he had encountered before, especially the young princess, who had sharp eyes and was incredibly insightful, as well as being wise and ruthless.
Unbeknownst to him, this future general from humble beginnings gradually came to admire and respect Zhao Shu.
He recalled that when Zhao Shu came to him last night, she said, "Lord Mo, someone might sneak into the Prince's mansion tonight. Be careful. Also, deal with these concubines for me tonight. After you've dealt with them, find out all the evidence that they betrayed the Prince's mansion. If anyone sneaks into the Prince's mansion, kill them without mercy. Then find out who sent them."
At that time, upon hearing these words, he felt contempt. The Yong Prince's Mansion had no power or influence, not even a heir. All its honor and favor depended on the Empress Dowager. If the Empress Dowager were gone, the Yong Prince's Mansion would also be ruined. Who would be so foolish as to waste manpower and resources to deal with the Yong Prince's Mansion?
However, he believed that if you take someone's money, you have to take responsibility. This was his consistent principle.
However, to his surprise, someone actually broke into Prince Yong's mansion. After the person who broke into the mansion disposed of the body, he threw it into a mass grave, and the body disappeared.
This made him serious.
"Lord Mo, have you collected all the evidence?" Zhao Shu asked.
Mo Qin quickly gathered his thoughts, took out a few envelopes from his pocket, and handed them to Zhao Shu, "Princess, there's not much."
Xiao Guozi took the envelope and handed it to Zhao Shu. He opened the envelope and glanced at it. The letter was very cautious, not revealing which household it belonged to, and there wasn't even a code name. It seemed that these spies in the household really didn't have much status.
"The safety of the manor is entrusted to you, sir. There are few guards in the manor, but there are not many people in the manor who need protection. Please take good care of him, sir," Zhao Shu said again, which was a familiar refrain.
Mo Qin bowed deeply, saying, "It is my duty, Your Highness. Please do not say such things again."
Zhao Shu smiled. She trusted Mo Qin's character; otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to choose him as the commander of the garrison. "Go down."
After Mo Qin left, Zhao Shu returned to the chaise lounge and leaned back, wanting to think carefully about what would be best for the Prince's residence.
This summer was incredibly lively, but all of this had nothing to do with Xing'er, who was about to be sent to the palace. Ji Yun came to pick her up in person, and she kowtowed at the gate of the Prince's Mansion, moved by his gesture, before getting into the carriage with Ji Yun.
As I walked through the bustling city, I always heard children singing: "A family that accumulates good deeds will surely have abundant blessings; the Xie family's ancestral home is filled with boundless virtue..."
Then I heard children singing: "Little cabbage, yellow in the field, Prince Yong's mansion, no grain left..." The style of the song about Prince Yong's mansion changed immediately, and it was no longer so lofty.
Having listened to these two extreme songs all the way, Jiyun lifted the carriage curtain and looked out, only to find children each holding a piece of paper, jumping and skipping joyfully in the street.
Meanwhile, a man who looked like a servant took out copper coins and bought the paper from the children one by one, politely telling them to stop singing.
The children wouldn't listen, so the servants threatened them fiercely, which terrified the children, who then ran wildly through the streets.
The Xie family went to great lengths to silence the children in the bustling city, but the children refused to shut up no matter what. No matter how powerful the Xie family was, they dared not do anything to these children under the emperor's nose.
At first, they gave the children a copper coin, and they accepted the money but continued to sing. Later, the amount was increased to five copper coins, and the children still accepted the money and continued to sing.
After hearing the servants' report, Xie Qiuliang gritted his teeth and said, "One tael of silver per person!"
So the children, from one copper coin to fifty copper coins, and finally to one tael of silver, finally shut up, and the little cabbage stopped singing.
Xie Qiuliang was so angry that he smashed several teacups.
Like him, Chu Chun and others were also suffering in their hearts.
Chu Chun and six other newly recruited maids were ordered by Zhao Shu to handle the funeral arrangements for the concubines.
The concubines were better off; at least they had a title and could be properly buried. But the dead courtesans could only be put in a thin coffin and sent to the mortuary.
As for the concubines, Uncle Fu said that since these concubines have not yet been settled, they cannot have a mourning hall or memorial tablets set up in the mansion. Those with families should be notified to take them back, and those without families should be carried out directly, buried in a pit, and not even be allowed to have a tombstone.
After dealing with the matter, the group was pale-faced. "Sister Chuchun, I've heard that the Prince is fond of women, but now it seems that he doesn't care about those concubines at all," Xin Chou said with lingering fear. Although they were concubines, this behavior was far too heartless, and she felt very uneasy.
Chu Chun had been out alone with Zhao Shu before, so she was relatively calm. To put it bluntly, they weren't afraid of dead people, but they had never seen such a miserable death before. The misery referred to the indifference of her husband, Prince Yong.
"So, doing your job properly is the right thing to do. Whether you've taken the princess's words to heart or not, now you all need to put your minds at ease," Chu Chun said.
The group ultimately chose to remain silent, quietly composed themselves, and decided to serve the prefect well and strive for a better future for themselves.
They were all orphans, homeless, without parents. They had neither Su Qiu's longing for home nor Xin You's lofty ambitions. All they could do was to serve their parents well and hope that the princess would give them a good future.
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