Chapter 270
Chapter 270
Xu Qingshi frowned. Thinking of the previous incident where The Old Princess had been poisoned, he felt anxious. Recalling that his mother had also been poisoned last time, he was afraid that the same situation would happen again.
Xu Heming didn't even have time to enter the palace to report to the Emperor about the matters he had investigated in Pinghe.
He hurried back to the Prince An's Manor.
Liu Ming hurriedly went to the Grand Princess's Manor with gifts, but found that the main doors of the Grand Princess's Manor were tightly closed, completely lacking the wide-open appearance expected when hosting a banquet.
He felt a bit puzzled.
"Go knock on the door!" Liu Ming told the servant who had come along.
The servant knocked on the door for a long time, but there was no movement from the doors of the Grand Princess's Manor.
"Steward Liu, it's as if there's no one in the manor. They won't open the door." The servant scratched his head, not knowing what the situation was inside the manor now.
"Let's return to the manor first." Liu Ming glanced at the abnormal Grand Princess's Manor with somewhat gloomy eyes.
For some reason, he just felt that this was abnormal, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong.
Liu Ming knew that Xu Heming had not been in the capital for the past few days.
At this moment, he could only pray that the Prince would return as soon as possible.
After all, the number of people invited by the Grand Princess's Manor was not small.
Inside the Grand Princess's Manor.
After everyone had lunch, they all wanted to bid farewell and leave. Unexpectedly, their path was blocked.
"The Grand Princess has sent word, asking all the noble guests to stay in the manor for a few more days. The Grand Princess has lost a very precious item. Until the item is found, none of you are allowed to leave!"
The servant's words were like a sudden clap of thunder, frightening everyone present.
They were originally rejoicing that they could attend the banquet at the Grand Princess's Manor, but now they were to be detained in the manor.
This could not help but make everyone feel very afraid.
"The Grand Princess losing something has nothing to do with us! My child is still waiting for me to go back!"
"Exactly, you can't just keep us all here because the Grand Princess lost something, right? When will that item be found?"
"That's right, whoever took the Grand Princess's item, hurry up and return it to her. Don't cause all of us to be unable to leave!"
"Which shallow-eyed person dared to even take the Grand Princess's things!"
For a moment, discussions broke out all around.
Everyone was very dissatisfied with the Grand Princess's handling of this.
However, without the Grand Princess's word, none of them could leave.
This made everyone feel very distressed.
"What's going on?" Madam Qu looked at Lin Ziyi, who was very calm beside her, and asked in a low voice.
After all, this was not Lin Ziyi's usual style. But right now, she wasn't making a fuss at all, which was abnormal.
Madam Qu guessed that Lin Ziyi definitely knew something.
"It's nothing, we just need to stay quiet." Lin Ziyi gently shook her head, ultimately deciding not to tell Madam Qu about this matter.
After all, the fewer people who knew about such a thing, the better.
"Madam Wei, just now you were searching for something with Miss Li and Young Madam Xie. Could it be that one of you took that item?" Thinking that she was going to be detained in this Grand Princess's Manor, the Ninth Princess Consort felt both uneasy and angry. Thinking of Li Zhiwei, who had just been invited away, Chang Wenyin wished she could pin all the blame on her.
"I do not know what the Ninth Princess Consort means by this. If the Ninth Princess Consort has anything she doesn't understand, she should go ask the Grand Princess." Lin Ziyi was not afraid of this Ninth Princess Consort.
"Young Madam Wei, right now everyone is being detained here because of you all. Hurry up and tell the Grand Princess that you took the item, and it has nothing to do with us!" Chang Wenyin looked at Lin Ziyi with an arrogant face and commanded.
"I'm sorry, Ninth Princess Consort, but I even suspect that this item was taken by you. Otherwise, why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Lin Ziyi was never one to be easily bullied. Even if the person in front of her was the Ninth Princess Consort, so what? Her father-in-law was Grand Tutor Wei.
He was much more formidable than this powerless princess consort.
Moreover, why should she admit to something she hadn't done?
"I am not like you people, so shallow-eyed. It's just a bracelet; seeing it looks nice, you wanted it." Hearing this, Chang Wenyin's voice became a bit sharper.
Chang Wenyin thought that among the things the Grand Princess wore today, the most beautiful one she saw was the jade green bracelet on the Grand Princess's wrist.
She had even secretly thought about how beautiful it would be if it were worn on her own wrist.
"Ninth Princess Consort, how do you know that what the Grand Princess lost was a bracelet? The Grand Princess is a person, not an object. How could a bracelet worn on her wrist be stolen by someone?" Lin Ziyi looked at the Ninth Princess Consort mockingly and asked.
"It shouldn't be a bracelet, right? Every item the Grand Princess wore today is a boutique piece. A bracelet is worn on the wrist, how could the Grand Princess let someone steal it right in front of her?"
"I actually think it might be the gold hairpin on the Grand Princess's head."
"No, no, it should be the jade pendant at the Grand Princess's waist."
Everyone was guessing what exactly the Grand Princess had lost, so they could go look for it. Otherwise, if the item wasn't found, wouldn't they be locked up here forever?
Thinking of this, everyone mobilized to help the Grand Princess find the lost jewelry.
Only Lin Ziyi and a few ladies in the know remained unmoved on the side.
Madam Qu originally wanted to follow along and search, but Lin Ziyi reached out and pulled her back.
"With so many people searching, they won't miss the two of us. Let's sit and rest for a while." Lin Ziyi felt that with a matter as serious as a lost child, they probably wouldn't be able to find the child anytime soon.
"Is it okay for us to just sit here?" Madam Qu frowned. Looking at her friend's expression, she guessed in her heart that the lost item probably couldn't be jewelry.
After all, given who the Grand Princess was, one would have to get close to her to steal her things.
Among the madams and young ladies in this manor, probably no one was qualified to get close to the Grand Princess, right?
However, the Grand Princess had said she lost an item that was extremely precious to her.
What could this item be?
When Xu Heming returned to the Prince An's Manor, he walked briskly to the Ci'an Hall. When Xu Heming saw that there was actually a baby lying on The Old Princess's bed, he was also startled!
Where did this child come from?
"Mother, you were looking for me?" Xu Heming's eyes never left the child on the bed.
He had a bad premonition in his heart.
Just as Xu Heming was about to ask something else, a servant came to report, saying that the Marquis of Yongning and Master Xie had arrived.
Xu Heming was puzzled. Why did his mother invite these two people?
At this moment, Xu Heming finally noticed that there were three little brats off to the side.
"Xu Qingshi, what trouble have you caused again?" Xu Heming glared at his own troublesome son and asked.
"Father, I didn't cause any trouble. It's you who should think carefully about what you have done!" Xu Qingshi retorted with a face full of dissatisfaction.
What did I do?
Xu Heming looked completely bewildered.