The incident in Hengxian County directly involved the capital, which caught everyone off guard.
"Third Prince, should we continue investigating this matter?"
The fact that a woman who disappeared in Hengxian County would appear in a brothel in the capital makes it hard not to suspect that there is a larger chain of interests behind her disappearance.
"Of course we will investigate further."
Gu Qingyan sneered, "Let's start investigating from the group of people in the county government. The person behind it will eventually slip up."
The person who went to such lengths to abduct women from the border region of Daqing and send them to the capital must be no ordinary person.
He should also write a letter to his mother and uncle, and it would be best if the investigation in the capital also began at the same time.
At the same time, in the capital city.
Gu Qingling brought Xu Dong to the Wei residence.
"This humble official pays respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince." Wei Shenggui was the Minister of Personnel, in charge of the evaluation and promotion of officials in Daqing. However, because he did not fully support Gu Heng in the struggle for the throne that year, he was suspected by Gu Heng and was almost caught out by Gu Heng several times.
"Lord Wei, please rise quickly." Gu Qingling was even more satisfied to see that Wei Sheng's attitude towards her was not affected by the recent series of events. "I have nothing to do in the palace, so I thought I'd like to go out and take a look."
"These are turbulent times, and it is a good thing that Your Highness has taken the initiative to draw boundaries."
Wei Sheng took Gu Qingling on a tour of the Wei residence, and then the two talked for a long time in the study.
Gu Qingling left the Wei residence with a smile as the sun set.
"Your Highness seems to be in a good mood today," Xu Dong said softly, a hidden smile in his eyes.
"I hit it off with Lord Wei at first sight." Gu Qingling looked down at the token that Wei Sheng had given him with amusement. "I have arranged with Lord Wei to meet with several other important officials of the court tomorrow."
Gu Qingling meant that she would have to rely on Wei Sheng in the future.
After Gu Qingling left, Wei Sheng's smile faded, and a wizard-like figure emerged from the shadows. "Is my lord seeking to claim credit for his service to the emperor?"
“The Crown Prince is the heir apparent, and it is only natural that he will succeed to the throne in the future.” Wei Sheng glanced at the setting sun. “Wizard, the Second Prince has become a useless pawn, while the Third Prince is investigating the matter in Heng County.”
Thinking of Heng County, Wei Sheng's face grew even colder.
The wizard chuckled, "The capital and Hengxian are thousands of miles apart. What evidence does the Third Prince have to suspect the capital? It seems you don't trust our ability to handle this."
Wei Sheng snorted coldly, waved his sleeves, and left the courtyard.
......
Zhaoning Palace.
"Your Majesty, the Third Prince has sent a letter."
Wanji's words made Jiang Yu stand up excitedly, but after reading the letter, Jiang Yu was not as excited as Wanji had expected.
The events in Hengxian County are surprisingly connected to the capital; the woman who disappeared in Hengxian has appeared at Yichun Garden.
Jiang Yu placed the letter on the candle and watched the flame burn it out completely before locking herself in her study.
The women at Yichun Garden were all exceptionally beautiful and had outstanding figures; it's impossible that all the missing women from Heng County were sent to Yichun Garden.
Regardless, Mei'er is the key to breaking the current deadlock.
In the courtyard, Gu Qingyao was quietly listening to Jiang Yu's thoughts. During her time at Zhaoning Palace, she had learned a lot in this way.
The more she listened, the sadder she became that she wasn't her mother's child.
"uncle."
A tall figure loomed over Gu Qingyao's head. Gu Qingyao looked up and saw Jiang He's figure. "The Empress Dowager is in the study."
Jiang He nodded, then strode towards the study.
We still need to determine Mei'er's current attitude: has she completely submitted to the mastermind, or is she biding her time and lying low?
"Your Majesty." Jiang He's voice interrupted Jiang Yu's thoughts. Jiang Yu quickly told Jiang He about Mei'er's matter. Upon hearing this, Jiang He frowned. This matter was somewhat troublesome.
"There are several brothels in the capital, not to mention brothels in other parts of Daqing. If those people kidnapped women from Hengxian to sell them into brothels, it will not be easy to find out the truth."
Jiang He rubbed his temples; the situation in Heng County was far more complicated than he had imagined.
“Brother, I’ll need to trouble you to find someone to test Mei’er first.” Jiang Yu paused. “Just tie a peace crane to your waist, and if Mei’er is interested, she will come looking for you.”
"Okay, I'll go right away."
......
With only seven days left until Gu Qingyan's birthday, several things happened at once, and Jiang Yu was so busy that she visibly lost weight.
"Your Majesty, the dosage of moxa burned in Lingxi Palace has been increased several times over."
Just as Jiang Yu had predicted, the spies planted in Lingxi Palace brought news that Consort Rong would definitely make a move at the flower viewing banquet seven days later, so she was determined to keep the child in her womb until the banquet.
[I'm afraid even this child was left behind by Consort Rong to frame me.]
"Ignore it." Jiang Yu rubbed her temples wearily. "Cen Hai didn't send anything else today, did he?"
These past few days, Gu Heng has been sending Cen Hai a bunch of things to Zhaoning Palace every time, which has been bothering Jiang Yu a lot.
"They sent some flowers, saying that since Her Majesty is about to hold a flower appreciation banquet, they brought over all the precious flowers from the palace." Granny Ling cautiously glanced at Jiang Yu's expression, afraid of displeasing her.
"Keep it."
Jiang Yu's reaction surprised Ling Mama. "Remember to tell Consort Rong about the origin of these flowers later."
We must obtain clues about the whereabouts of that child from back then through Consort Rong.
The weather had started to get a bit hot, but then suddenly there was thunder and lightning in the evening.
"Mother!"
Gu Qingyao woke up with a start, and hearing the thunder outside, she curled up under the covers.
Startled awake, Gu Qingyao was wide awake, repeatedly thinking about Jiang Yu's inner thoughts that she had overheard during the day.
Did the Empress Dowager intend to use the flower-viewing banquet to force Consort Rong to cut off her own path, and then further search for the child the Empress Dowager gave birth to years ago?
Gu Qingyao couldn't help but bite her lip. Could she and her second brother take this opportunity to find out about Gu Qingling's background? If they were to confirm that Gu Qingling was not the eldest son of the legitimate wife, then his position as crown prince would be in jeopardy.
"Is the princess afraid of thunder?"
When Granny Qian's voice rang out, Gu Qingyao felt a little more at ease.
"Granny, I saw that Mother Empress has been too tired lately and wanted to share her burdens." Gu Qingyao opened the bed curtains. "Also, we still haven't found a doctor for Second Brother."
"Even the Emperor and Empress find these matters difficult to handle, so Princess, please don't overthink it."
Granny Qian tucked the blanket around Gu Qingyao. Having been in the palace for some time, she could tell that the relationship between the Empress and the Princess was unusual.
Gu Qingyao nodded.
No matter what, she would do her best to help her mother accomplish what she set out to do, even if it cost her her life.
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