Chapter 306: Initial clues

The next day, Yun Qin made some snacks and asked Rong Xin to deliver them to the eldest prince.

And this time Rong Xin made a surprising discovery.

Yun Qin was studying a rough game with Dan Xue when they saw Rong Xin rushing in from outside, breathing heavily, as if he had run all the way back, which was very different from his usual calm appearance.

Seeing her like this, everyone in the hall was shocked.

Tingchun quickly took the lunch box from her hand and asked, "Sister Rongxin, what happened? Did you see a ghost in broad daylight?"

Dan Xue raised her hand and tapped her head, "What nonsense!"

Yun Qin had already handed her her teacup, "Drink some water slowly, and tell me what you want to say."

Rong Xin took it and drank the tea in the cup. Then he took the handkerchief that Dan Xue had tied and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He took a breath and said to Yun Qin, "I, I seem to have seen the old lady that the master mentioned."

"Really?" Yun Qin stood up from the couch and pulled her to sit beside him. "Tell me slowly."

Rong Xin nodded and talked about what happened today.

It turned out that after she took some snacks to the eldest prince's bedroom today, she was told that the eldest prince was not there, so she followed the tutor to the hill behind the palace to look into the distance.

Rong Xin thought it was ridiculous at the time. In such a hot day, what was the point of climbing so high and looking so far?

This scholar's sourness is really unbearable, and he is not afraid of hurting the eldest prince.

Rong Xin is a famous person now, so the palace maid immediately suggested to take Rong Xin to have a look, saying: "The eldest prince should have come down the mountain by now, and he is probably resting in the pavilion at the foot of the mountain."

Judging from the tone of his voice, this isn't the first time he's felt this way.

Knowing that Yun Qin cared about the eldest prince, she nodded and said that she would go with him to take a look. She was a little worried that the eldest prince had really been turned into a nerd who shook his head and talked about knowledge all the time.

So, Rong Xin followed the palace maid to the pavilion at the foot of the hill, and the eldest prince was indeed drinking tea with the Grand Tutor.

Rong Xin saw that although the eldest prince looked a little darker, he was much more lively. She felt relieved for Yun Qin, put down the snacks and left.

"The eldest prince is still very apologetic. He is afraid of tiring the queen, and asked her not to do it herself in the future." Rong Xin took another sip of tea and said to Yun Qin.

Hearing this, Yun Qin smiled, but then asked: "When did you see the old lady?"

"Don't be impatient, just listen to me and continue..."

She came to her senses and changed the way she addressed him.

"The pavilion is hidden in a bamboo forest, surrounded by rockeries and paths leading in all directions. The first time I went back, I unknowingly took a detour and ended up behind the pavilion. As a result, I met an old woman behind a rockery."

Rong Xin described her as follows: "Her hair was grey, her body was a little hunched, and she was wearing half-worn clothes that seemed to be stained with mud."

After hearing this, Tingchun immediately said, "It's her, that old lady."

Yun Qin also nodded, motioning Rong Xin to continue.

"At first, I thought it was the maid who was in charge of taking care of the flowers and plants in the garden, and I wanted to go up and ask for directions." Rong Xin continued, "Unexpectedly, before I could say anything, she turned around and saw me, then turned around and ran away."

"At this time, I immediately realized that this must be the old maid that the master mentioned. I immediately chased after her, but she was very quick and familiar with the terrain. She led me around twice and suddenly disappeared."

"I searched again but to no avail. I found myself out of the bamboo forest, so I ran back and told my master the news."

After hearing her story, Yun Qin suddenly understood many things.

No wonder Xiao Dezi had been staring at the eldest prince but had never seen this old nanny. Firstly, she was familiar with the terrain, and secondly, she should have seldom gone to the eldest prince's bedroom because the terrain there was open and there was no place to hide except for some roadside rockery.

"Who is she? Why is she so familiar with the palace, but I don't know her?" Tingchun racked his brains but couldn't figure it out.

Yun Qin had already come up with some ideas, "Maybe it's because this nanny is older than we thought."

In the palace, a maid at the age of fifty was considered very old, and the benevolent masters would send them to a nursing home to spend the rest of their lives at this age.

Even if there is a maid like Madam Ruan who is over sixty years old, it is because the master cannot leave her and keeps her to this age.

Personnel changes in the palace were even more frequent. Sometimes when someone made a mistake, they would be punished as a whole, and often a whole group of people would be replaced.

If the old lady was in her sixties and could witness people coming and going in the palace, it is not certain that anyone in the palace would know her.

Before she finished her words, everyone already understood what she meant.

"Looks like we need to go to the nursing home and ask around." Rong Xin looked at Yun Qin and said.

What a coincidence, Nanny Ruan was outside the palace. Although she had moved out of the nursing home, she was still registered in the nursing home and received a salary, so it was easy for her to find out something if she wanted to.

Yun Qin understood what she meant and said, "I will write a letter to Nanny Ruan myself."

Danxue immediately moved the chessboard away and placed pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the table for her.

Watching her writing with her eyes downcast, Tingchun said, "She seems to have been spying on the eldest prince from the side. Is she trying to get in touch with the eldest prince when no one is around, just like last time? What on earth does she want to do? It's impossible to guard against it. It's too scary!"

Dan Xue suddenly had an idea and said to Yun Qin and Rong Xin, "Nanny Lin who was with the eldest prince was also sent to a hospice. Maybe she knows something."

"Yes, yes, let Nanny Ruan interrogate her." Rong Xin quickly said to Yun Qin.

Yun Qin nodded and quickly added two more strokes on the paper.

When she finished writing, she blew away the ink on the paper, looked up and saw three people looking at her eagerly, and she couldn't help laughing.

"What are you laughing at, Master?"

The three of them were nervous and puzzled as to why she suddenly laughed like that.

Yun Qin handed the letter to Rong Xin, motioning her to find an envelope to put it in, and then smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just suddenly felt that we are like the detectives investigating a case in the storybook."

Death Elementary School Team, Division?

Tingchun was the first to agree: "That's right. They say three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. I am the best of two cobblers."

"You are so beautiful." Dan Xue also smiled.

Then he sighed, "I just hope we can catch that old lady soon!"

Yun Qin also nodded, her eyes flashed, and she glanced at the two people opposite her, "Do you want to come with me to explore the eldest prince's bedroom at night?"

She blinked her eyes. "During the day, the nanny doesn't dare to approach, but at night, that's not necessarily the case. How about tonight, we go and catch the person directly?"

Danxue hesitated, thinking that she shouldn't accompany her master in such nonsense.

Tingchun didn't have such concerns, and immediately raised her hand to respond, "Master, I will go and I will definitely catch that old woman!"

Yun Qin was about to nod when Rong Xin came back with the letter and said, "No one is allowed to go!"

"Sister Rong Xin..." Tingchun immediately hugged her arm and acted coquettishly.

Rong Xin refused to give in, "It's pitch dark, what if something goes wrong? No!" She looked at Yun Qin again, her eyes warning, "Absolutely not!"

Yun Qin quickly said, "No, no." She also said to Tingchun, "Listen to your sister Rong Xin."

But after saying this, he winked at her secretly.

Tingchun immediately realized it, blinked at her, and said with regret: "Okay then."