Chapter 123 Passing the Message
Yue Ke had spent a month in sheer trepidation within the inner courtyard of the Crown Prince’s Mansion since the incident where Gu Meng fell into the water and went mad. Those in charge of the inner courtyard both sympathized with and regretted Gu Meng’s condition, even continually summoning physicians to treat her. Despite physician after physician being called in, there was no sign of improvement in Gu Meng’s madness.
The Steward Nanny even comforted Yue Ke, telling her to relax, that as long as there was a sliver of hope, the Crown Prince’s Mansion would continue treating Miss Gu Meng. She even thoughtfully suggested assigning a female servant to help take care of Gu Meng.
All of these offers Yue Ke tactfully declined. From then on, she did nothing else but care for Gu Meng with all her might every day—she dared not utter a word more than necessary or take a step out of line. She even began feeding the food served to her to a stray cat she had found before she dared to eat it herself.
Yet, until now, nothing had occurred to arouse her suspicion.
It was as if she had made all her preparations, ready to charge into battle, ready to fight the enemy at any moment—but then found there was no enemy at all, nor even a battlefield.
Everyone seemed to have virtually forgotten about her.
This realization left Yue Ke somewhat panicky and at a loss but she soon calmed down and, after much contemplation, finally pinpointed where the crux of all problems lay.
That was, neither the entire inner courtyard nor the whole Crown Prince’s Mansion housed the woman that Nanny Zheng had spoken of, who was said to be so favored by the Crown Prince.
Yue Ke subtly fished for information and gradually moved from suspicion to certainty that this woman was not within the Crown Prince’s Mansion.
However, for a month, no matter how carefully she probed, she found not a single trace of that woman, as if the Crown Prince’s Mansion had never housed such a person.
Yue Ke carefully went to collect her midday meal. Due to the small number of people in the inner courtyard and because Yue Ke had behaved so properly and respectfully lately, the Steward Nanny had become quite confident in letting her fetch her own meals and perform some tasks within her abilities.