Chapter 385

Chapter 385 – Three Maids Went Out

Chapter 385 Three Maids Went Out

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong said, “Fourth Lady Qu, please go on!”

Qu Moying retracted her gaze and asked with a serious face, “Prefectural Princess, can you tell me what you have found out?”

“I questioned the servants and knew that an old maid was behind this accident, but I can’t find this old maid now.” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong was extremely angry. The old maid was the key to this matter, but the problem was that she was missing, so Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion had to take full responsibility. Thinking that her mother would ask her about this matter again later, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong felt pretty bad.

She lowered her head slightly and looked terrible.

Seeing Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s expression, Qu Moying already had an idea in her heart. She continued to ask, “Prefectural Princess, have you sent someone to ask the guards? Did anyone see this old maid?”

“I have asked, but no one saw such an old maid go out.” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong shook her head. She had already sent people to ask the guards at the gates, but they didn’t see such an old maid enter the mansion. “The guards at the front and back gates have all been asked!”

Qu Moying looked around and said, “There are many ladies here today, and they each brought several maids and old maids with them. There should be some ladies who left in advance, right?”

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong thought for a moment and said, “No!”

A maid behind Prefectural Princess Xiangrong slightly opened her mouth. She seemed to want to say something, but after thinking for a while, she did not say anything.

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong could not see her reaction, but Qu Moying saw it and had a faint idea in her heart.

Qu Moying assumed, “No ladies left, but did any maid leave? Or have any maids temporarily left to fetch something for their ladies?”

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong couldn’t answer this question. She was sure that no lady had left, but she didn’t know if any maid had left. After all, many young ladies came today. Almost all the invited ladies were here. If some ladies forgot to take something, it was normal for them to ask their maids to get it for them.

She turned around and looked at the maid standing behind her. She had sent this maid to ask if anyone had left the mansion.

The maid stepped forward, bowed, and said, “Prefectural Princess, there were maids who left. They were the maids of three different ladies, but they all came back later.”

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong asked, “Which three ladies?”

“One of them is Fourth Lady He’s maid. The maid said that Fourth Lady He forgot to bring the chessboard, and Fourth Lady He wanted to play chess with County Lady Jingyu later. One of them is the maid of Earl Fengyang’s Mansion’s Miss Yan. Miss Yan forgot a set of paintbrushes and asked her maid to bring them over. The last one is County Lady Jingyu’s maid. County Lady Jingyu forgot to bring her round silk fan, so she asked her maid to fetch it for her.”

The maid thought for a while and reported.

Qu Moying asked with a smile, “Were they all maids?”

“They were maids…” The maid thought for a moment and tried to make it more specific. “They left in the maids’ clothes of each mansion, and they came back in each mansion’s maids’ clothes, too. The guards couldn’t remember their faces because they were not familiar with them. However, they were certain that three maids went out and then came back.”

There were a lot of young ladies coming today, and they all brought several maids with them. Some of the maids stayed by their ladies’ side, while some were waiting for orders in the carriages. That was to say, each young lady brought at least two maids.

So many people had entered the mansion, and some of them had come for the first time, so it was understandable that the lad servants at the gate of Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion couldn’t remember their faces.

“Could it be that the old maid changed into a maid’s clothes…” Qu Moying said meaningfully, leading Prefectural Princess Xiangrong to think in this way.

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong looked at her maid.

The maid thought for a moment and nodded with a bitter smile. “If the old maid is not that old, she could dress up as a maid.”

Maids and old maids from each mansion wore different clothes. One could distinguish a maid from an old maid at a glance.

Generally speaking, an old maid had to be around forty years old to be called an old maid, while a maid was usually only in her teens.

Qu Moying asked, “Prefectural Princess Xiangrong, can you ask the two maids in your mansion if this so-called old maid looks young?”

This question made Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s face darken. If the old maid looked young, it was really possible for her to leave the mansion in maid’s clothes. This old maid could just send a maid back when it was about time. Anyway, the guards at the gate could not accurately recognize who was from which mansion, and they couldn’t tell whether the person who left was the person who came back.

Qu Moying continued, “Prefectural Princess, please ask the guards whose maid left with her head down so that her face couldn’t be seen clearly.”

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong nodded. Since she had begun to think this way, she naturally knew that if someone really left in the disguise of a maid, she would definitely not want to let people see her face, or at least not the entire face. After all, if her face was not seen clearly, she would not be easily exposed.

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong instructed something to a maid, and the maid nodded and hurriedly left.

Liu Jingyu had been waiting not far away. When she saw that Prefectural Princess Xiangrong sent a maid away, she was shocked and paid more attention to the situation over there.

She clenched the round silk fan in her hand. “I couldn’t let Qu Moying and Prefectural Princess Xiangrong continue to talk like this. I have to think of a way…”

“Prefectural Princess, this is one clue, and there is another clue. Do you have a good relationship with such a person who was familiar with the pavilion that was set up for the gathering just now and the guarding rules of your mansion? She should know how to let people come and leave without attracting others’ attention. Otherwise, any mistake may affect the final result.”

Qu Moying reminded Prefectural Princess Xiangrong again with a smile.

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s face darkened. There were a few ladies who had a close relationship with her and were familiar with her mansion. She had thought about which one of the ladies it was before. Now that she had locked on three ladies, the answer was about to come out.

The three ladies who sent their maids away were all suspects, and among the three ladies, the one who had the best relationship with Prefectural Princess Xiangrong was County Lady Jingyu. There was a slight difference in their identities. It seemed that Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s title was higher, and she was a descendant of the royal family. However, the power of the forces behind County Lady Jingyu was actually greater.

Grand Princess Changyu had a noble title, but she did not have strong power. In this regard, Liu Jingyu’s status was actually on par with that of Prefectural Princess Xiangrong.

Moreover, it seemed that Liu Jingyu’s status could even get higher, and she might become the Empress in the future.

The two of them had similar statuses, so they got along well with each other.

Seeing that Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s expression darkened, Qu Moying knew that she had hit the nail on the head. She was just the daughter of a vice minister, and she didn’t need to bother with what would happen next. She smiled and said, “Prefectural Princess, I don’t know if I’m thinking right or wrong. If I said anything wrong, please forgive me. I’m just afraid that what happened today will cause lead to trouble in the future. Just now, Eastern Palace’s Side Princess came.”

She was implicitly reminded Prefectural Princess Xiangrong that Pei Luo’an was also in the mansion just now.

If Prefectural Princess Xiangrong heard these words separately before, she wouldn’t feel anything strange. Actually, she had thought of some points that Qu Moying mentioned, but she didn’t dig deep into them.

Now that the matter was analyzed in such detail, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong could almost lock on Liu Jingyu.

It was highly likely that this matter had something to do with Liu Jingyu. She had thought that Liu Jingyu was innocent before. As for Liu Jingyu’s purpose, it might be because of Pei Luo’an.

Or the reason why Pei Luo’an came to his mansion today might have something to do with Liu Jingyu. Otherwise, why did Ji Youran suddenly come here?

As for the reason, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong couldn’t figure it out for a while, so she might have to ask her mother to think about it. However, she was displeased that Eastern Palace’s internal fight had reached her family, and she couldn’t vent her anger. She looked up at Liu Jingyu, who was diagonally opposite her. Seeing Liu Jingyu smile gently at her, she became angrier.

“If this matter was really planned by Liu Jingyu, I must have appeared to be foolish in her eyes just now.”

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong forced a smile at Liu Jingyu and then turned to continue talking to Qu Moying, “Fourth Lady Qu, do you have a close relationship with the ex-Crown Princess?”

“My cousin sister took good care of me. When I was in the village, she kept sending people to teach me. My eyes were cured by the doctor she sent over. Now I am still in the stage of recovery.” Qu Moying lowered her head. Her lips slightly lowered, and her pale face was a little sad.

What happened to Ji Hanyue was indeed pitiful. Thinking of how this ex-Crown Princess treated others before she died, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong had to admit that she deserved to be the Empress. Ji Hanyue was generous, fair, and straightforward. She was different from the ordinary noble ladies.

Ji Hanyue had a well-deserved reputation, but it seemed that Liu Jingyu’s reputation fell short of reality!

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong thought of Liu Jingyu again and felt more and more uncomfortable.

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong had something on her mind, so she comforted Qu Moying absent-mindedly, “Since the ex-Crown Princess and Princess Ji used to have such a good relationship, Princess Ji will take care of you although the ex-Crown Princess has passed away!”

She heard that Ji Youran stood up for Qu Moying. She had thought that it was a blessing for Qu Moying to have Ji Youran take care of her. Now, she suddenly suspected that Princess Ji was just using Qu Moying as an excuse to quarrel with Liu Jingyu and that Qu Moying was just a tool for their fight!

Thinking of this, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong felt that what happened in her own mansion today might also be a part of Liu Jingyu and Ji Youran’s fight. She even thought that she and Qu Moying were both victims of the fight, and she found Qu Moying more and more pleasing to the eye.

Since they were both victims, there was no reason for her to resent Qu Moying.

“Princess Ji is Princess Ji. She is not my cousin sister, and I have never interacted with her before!” Qu Moying shook her head with a bitter smile and gently pursed her lips. She said in a low voice, and it sounded more like she was moping. However, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong heard her clearly and knew that Ji Youran was probably just pretending.

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong thought to herself, “Ji Youran was acting, and Liu Jingyu was also acting. They took my mansion as their stage and put on a show in front of the Crown Prince. How boring! I see. The two of them competed for the Crown Prince’s favor, but they turned the Grand Princess Mansion into their battlefield.”

Prefectural Princess Xiangrong felt that she was too unlucky, but she couldn’t do anything. She felt aggrieved and angry. She was not familiar with Ji Youran, but she had a close relationship with Liu Jingyu. She thought Liu Jingyu had gone too far to plot against her like this. Thinking of how close she and Liu Jingyu were before, she felt disgusted and thought that Liu Jingyu was really hypocritical.

“Liu Jingyu is really a typical two-faced woman! In the future, I have to be more careful when I am with her. I can’t be close to her as before…”

At this moment, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong had become wary of Liu Jingyu…