The two stood on the corridor outside the door. Not far behind Qiu Shen stood the four guards, who were also panting and looked unwell.
Ye Qingxue lowered her voice and asked, "What happened? Did you see Dongbai? Is she not doing well?"
After thinking it over, Ye Qingxue felt that this was the only possibility.
Qiu Shen is the most intelligent of her four maids, and having followed her for over a year, she has witnessed all sorts of life-and-death and bloody scenes.
If Dongbai hadn't been in bad shape, how could Qiushen have returned looking like this?
"No!" Qiu Shen shook his head, grabbing Ye Qingxue's wrist. The expression on his face was hard to describe; there was fear, and it seemed like he was also disgusted.
"I didn't find Dongbai, but... but I saw Liu Qinghe. He's really still alive, right here in Wanliu Town!"
"..." Although Ye Qingxue had guessed that Liu Qinghe was still alive, and had seen him at the back gate of the emperor's palace before, it was only a fleeting glimpse, and she could not be completely certain that the person was Liu Qinghe.
Hearing Qiu Shen's very certain words now, she felt a sense of loss, as if her life, her very being, her happiness, her joys and sorrows were completely out of her control.
Perhaps it was a fear of the unknown?
Perhaps it's not just that.
"What did you see Liu Qinghe doing in Wanliu Town? What does the crying we heard earlier have to do with Liu Qinghe?"
Qiu Shen said, "I not only saw Liu Qinghe, but I also saw Prime Minister Ning Hongxi."
Previously, Ning Xun died, and Ning Hongxi was temporarily dismissed from his post, but that was only temporary.
A month ago, Ning Hongxi presented the emperor with a longevity elixir, which made the emperor look radiant after taking it.
Even when good news of a concubine's pregnancy spread in the harem, the emperor was overjoyed and announced to the public that Ning Hongxi had devoted himself to the Great Zhou for many years, was loyal and hardworking, and had made great contributions. Ning Xun had already paid with his life for his mistakes, and the crown prince was safe. Ning Hongxi's punishment was almost over, so he was reinstated as prime minister.
Ning Hongxi is now an official of the imperial court and is still serving the emperor and the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Logically speaking, it wouldn't be strange for him to appear anywhere; what's strange is that he and Liu Qinghe appeared here at the same time.
Moreover, Liu Qinghe should have been a dead man, but Ye Qingxue had seen him at the back gate of the emperor's bedroom before.
Both of them were the emperor's men!
"What are Liu Qinghe and the Prime Minister doing?" Ye Qingxue asked.
Besides fear, Qiu Shen's face also showed an expression of nausea, as if she was about to vomit. Ye Qingxue turned around and went into the house to pour her a cup of tea, but Qiu Shen couldn't drink it.
Taking a deep breath, and then another deep breath, Qiu Shen said, "The faint crying sounds at night were the cries of children under eight years old, boys and girls, about five or six of them, being locked in a carriage and sent far away. We followed the carriage quietly, and then we saw the Prime Minister and Liu Qinghe."
Ye Qingxue also gasped. She had a feeling that if the person the Prime Minister was secretly meeting was Liu Qinghe, then the child's disappearance was related to them.
In retrospect, her intuition was remarkably accurate.
“But something’s not right. Why can the child cry? Doing something like this should be done very discreetly. It makes sense that the crying could be heard here.” Ye Qingxue asked.
"...I don't know why the children could cry. Maybe something went wrong during the transport? The children who were drugged suddenly woke up and cried? But after we followed them, the crying stopped, and the children's mouths were gagged."
Indeed, Ye Qingxue thought, "If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet." With so many children being secretly arrested, it wasn't surprising that they occasionally made a mistake.
"And then, what did you see?" Ye Qingxue continued to ask, perhaps what Qiu Shen saw next was the most disgusting and terrifying thing.
Qiu Shen's face turned deathly pale again: "...They used children to make medicine!"
Ye Qingxue: "!!!"
My scalp is tingling! Even my stomach feels a little tight!
Qiu Shen said, "That alchemy room is very remote. It's not only far from Wanliu Town, but you also have to go around a mountain and go deep inside to see it. Inside, it's simply hell on earth!"
As she spoke, Qiu Shen's lips trembled, and her entire body trembled slightly as well.
"That place was very secluded, and there were patrols and guards around it, so it was quite strict. We... we were seen by Ning Hongxi when we were evacuating..."
"We were already being careful enough, but Ning Hongxi and I still actually met face to face!"
"Their men are after us. What should we do now? Should we rush back to the capital and tell the Emperor about their evil deeds? If we don't tell the Emperor, they might kill us!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Qingxue's heart sank heavily.
The best solution, of course, is to inform the Emperor of Ning Hongxi and Liu Qinghe's misdeeds so that the Emperor can eliminate the two of them.
But then she suddenly remembered that Ning Hongxi had been reinstated as prime minister because he had presented the emperor with a pill that had made him incredibly virile, and even some of the concubines in the long-suffering harem had become pregnant...
Furthermore, cases of missing boys and girls have already occurred elsewhere, but they have been suppressed by officials.
Who suppressed it?
What if, what if the emperor knew about the alchemy all along? What if the emperor permitted Ning Hongxi and Liu Qinghe's actions and secretly protected them...?
Even if she reports this to the emperor, what good will it do? She'll probably be beheaded the moment she arrives at the palace!
The emperor told the outside world that she had died suddenly!
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