C74 (1/2)
The sudden disappearance of the prince was a mystery to everyone.
Rong'er's life was in constant pain and suffering. He only hoped that this child would be safe and sound.
In the blink of an eye, it was the last days of the year. The winter was too cold, and everyone was in a heavy mood, and the news that came from the south was only bad, not good. It was obvious that Wu Sanguan had better preparations than the imperial government, and this morning, Rong'er had woken up, and Xiaoqing was waiting for her to wash up.
Following the call, Wang Jingzhi entered the room. When Xiaoqing saw him leave, she hurriedly smiled and said, ”Jing`er, why are you here at this time?”
Wang Jingzhi looked at Rong'er and whispered, ”Master Rong, something terrible has happened. Big Brother is missing.”
”You said that Cha Yin has disappeared?” Rong'er couldn't react in time. ”What do you mean?”
”As you know, when A'ge is resting at night, it is always taken care of by the wet nurse in the side room. Usually, when the empress comes in the morning, she will bring him to the East Warm Pavilion. However, when the empress woke up today, she did not see the wet nurse carrying A'ge over, so she sent someone to look for him.” And then Ah Ge and the nurse are gone. ” Zhizhi said in a trembling voice.
”This... How could it be gone? I'll go right now. ” Rong-er said hurriedly to Jingzhi, and then he went out to the Queen's East Warm Pavilion.
Rong'er entered the room, only to see the empress sitting on the warm brick bed with a face full of anxiety. She said absentmindedly, ”Rong'er, I was the one who watched Sai Chin, but he's gone now. I don't know what's going on.”
Rong'er was especially anxious as well. She mumbled, ”How could Cha Yin disappear from the palace? And how could the wet nurse also disappear? How is that possible?”
”I've already sent someone to inform the empress dowager and the emperor. I've also sent someone to inquire about the eunuch guarding the gates this morning. He'll reply shortly.” The Queen said in a low voice.
Not long later, someone shouted from outside, ”The empress dowager has descended!” Rong'er and the empress hurriedly stood up and waited. Rong'er felt her heart violently tremble. She couldn't believe that such a heavily guarded child from the imperial palace would be gone.
”Old Ancestor, the sound transmitting talisman has disappeared.” When Rong'er saw that the empress dowager had arrived, he forgot to pay his respects and spoke hastily.
The empress dowager walked in and looked at Rong'er and the empress's anxious faces before sighing. ”Mm, tell me what happened. Why do I hear such things when I open my eyes in the morning?”
The empress's face had long since lost all its anger, and she softly recounted the details of how she had not seen the wet nurse or Brother A'ge in the morning and had sent people to search everywhere for them.
”Bring the gatekeeping eunuch to interrogate us!” The empress dowager instructed Cao Zhong before turning to look at Aunt Su and said, ”Su Mo'er, send someone to inform the people in the palace that I am not well today, so you don't need to come to my place to say hello. ”Mhmm …” The empress dowager paused for a moment. ”Also tell the internal department that no one is allowed to go out of the palace right now. No one is allowed to mention the disappearance of the prince. This is an extraordinary time, so as to not cause panic among the palace maids.” As the empress dowager was speaking, she heard the sound of ”His Majesty is driving!” from outside.
As soon as Xuan Ye entered, he hurriedly looked towards the empress dowager and asked, ”Imperial Grandmother, how come your grandson heard that Cha Yin had disappeared the moment I woke up this morning?”
”Nonsense!” Now that the war in the south is at a disadvantage, the subjects are all flustered. If the emperor were to go to the capital at night, it would definitely cause the subjects of the court to panic. I'll handle this matter, go to the court quickly! ” The empress dowager was truly angry now. She had been in the palace for so long, but Rong'er had never seen the empress dowager lose her temper like this.
”Yes, grandson understands, I'll be counting on Grandmother.” Xuan Ye glanced at Rong'er and the empress, sighed softly, and then left for the morning assembly.
When the Empress Dowager saw that the Emperor had left, she sighed and said, ”Empress, Noble Lady Rong, it's not that this one doesn't want the Emperor to know about my affairs, but that the nation is in trouble. I hope you can understand that the emperor is concerned about matters related to the empire.”
As the empress dowager was speaking, the eunuchs guarding the gates in the morning had already been brought in. The eunuchs guarding the gates knelt down and trembled in fear upon realizing their mistake.
The empress dowager then instructed Cao Zhong, ”Go ask around at the city gates if anyone came in and out of the Forbidden City this morning. Do not divulge any news of the prince's disappearance. Just ask around.” Cao Zhong received the order and left.
The empress dowager then looked at the eunuchs guarding the palace gates and asked in a stern voice, ”This Dowager would like to ask all of you if there's a wet nurse bringing elder brother out of the palace in the morning?”