Когда мы вернёмся - Глава 169
"What's wrong?" Qingyun looked at the other palace maids, who were all silent.
Suddenly, Qingyun had a bad feeling and asked, "Where is Qingyi?"
"Waaah—" Qianghui burst into tears, sobbing as she told the story, "Sister Qingyi has disappeared. Qianghui and the other sisters searched the entire palace, but we couldn't find Sister Qingyi. Waaah..."
Qingyun frowned. "How could a perfectly healthy person just disappear? Qingyi can't leave the palace, so where else could she go besides the palace?"
"But...but Qianghui really, really searched the entire palace." Qianghui stopped crying and began to sob.
When did Qingyi disappear?
Qianghui shook her head. "Princess, not long after you left the palace, Sister Qingyi also disappeared. At the time, Qianghui thought you had taken Sister Qingyi with you when you left the palace. But Sister Xiaoman told Qianghui that she saw Sister Qingyi taking a pair of scissors out, and then she never saw Sister Qingyi again."
"Scissors?"
Qianghui replied, "A few days ago, Sister Qingyi told Qianghui that she wanted to go to the Imperial Garden to cut a few peonies to wear as her hair ornaments."
"When you went to the Imperial Garden, did you see Qingyi?"
Qianghui shook her head vigorously. "Qianghui searched the Imperial Garden twice but couldn't find Sister Qingyi, but..." Qianghui's eyes turned somewhat frightened, "Qianghui saw the scissors from the Snow Palace lying next to a peony in full bloom. Waaah, Princess, those scissors must have been dropped by Sister Qingyi! Something must have happened to Sister Qingyi!"
Qingyun frowned deeply, a hint of worry appearing in her eyes. After a moment of contemplation, she asked, "When did Qingyi go to the Imperial Garden?"
"After noon," Xiaoman replied softly, head bowed.
Qingyun's gaze fell on Xiaoman, and she suddenly noticed that her body was trembling slightly.
"Xiaoman," Qingyun called softly.
This call made Xiaoman's body tremble even more.
"Lift your head up."
Xiaoman raised her head tremblingly. Under Qingyun's clear, mirror-like gaze, she panicked and knelt down with a thud, "Xiaoman... Xiaoman..."
Her mouth was trembling, so much so that she couldn't speak.
At this moment, Qingyun's voice softened, "Xiaoman, I haven't scolded you or hit you, have I?"
Xiaoman shook her head.
"Qingyi is not a maid to me, but a confidante who has been with me for more than ten years. If I never see her again, I will be very, very sad."
Xiaoman trembled, and tears streamed down her face.
“Princess, Xiaoman knows she was wrong. Xiaoman shouldn’t have hidden Qingyi’s whereabouts. This afternoon, Xiaoman saw Qingyi cut down the Imperial Concubine’s favorite peony in the Imperial Garden. The Imperial Concubine happened to be there admiring the flowers. Then, the Imperial Concubine took Qingyi away. Before she left, the Imperial Concubine told Xiaoman that she couldn’t tell anyone, or the Imperial Concubine would not forgive her. Waaah… Princess, Xiaoman is so sorry.”
Qingyun's heart sank, and a ruthless glint flashed in her eyes.
With a swift stride, Qingyun walked out of the Snow Palace and headed towards the Butterfly Palace. All of this happened so fast that no one could react in time.
After the palace maids in the Snow Palace reacted, Qianghui paced anxiously, saying, "Oh no! Oh no! The princess must have gone to settle scores with the Imperial Concubine! What should we do now? The princess will definitely be bullied by the Imperial Concubine! Ah! Yes! Go find the Emperor!"
Qianghui's eyes lit up, and she took a step to go find Situ Xingyun.
At this moment, Xiaoman stood up from the ground and grabbed her, "No. The Emperor is discussing matters with his ministers in the Imperial Study right now, and the guards outside definitely won't let you in!"
"Ah?!" Qianghui's face immediately fell, and she started to get anxious again. "Then... then who should we look for?"
Xiaoman pursed her lips. "Go to the Prince of Ande's residence to find the prince!"
Butterfly Palace.
The woman in green knelt on the ground, trembling all over. Yet, her face, though red from the beating, still held a stubborn expression.
Shuangdie sat on a sandalwood chair, drinking tea.
She took a small sip, then glanced sideways at Qingyi with her silver eyes. After a long while, she asked languidly, "Qingyi, do you know where you went wrong?"
The woman in green stubbornly pursed her lips and haughtily turned her head away.
"Oh dear! Still so stubborn!" The cup lid slid across the rim of the cup, making a crisp clinking sound. Shuangdie lowered her eyes, a cold glint flashing in her reflection in the teacup. "Zixing, slap her again."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Zi Xing stepped forward and sneered, "Stubborn people are destined to suffer." With that, she swung her hand forcefully, and a bright red handprint immediately appeared on Qingyi's face. "I did nothing wrong!"
Shuangdie narrowed her eyes slightly. "How dare you address me as 'I' in front of me? You don't understand palace etiquette. Zixing, slap her again."
"Smack—"
"Only a princess is qualified to be an empress!"
The ruthlessness in Shuangdie's silver eyes grew stronger. "I am the true princess of Fengxi. The Empress seat can only be held by me. I will take control again!"
"Smack—"
"Young Master Li Ge will always love only the princess!"
"Clang—"
The cup in Shuangdie's hand flew out and hit Qingyi directly. When it hit the floor tiles, the shards immediately scattered all over the ground, and the pale yellow tea seeped into the cracks between the tiles.
In the dim candlelight, the pale yellow tea seemed to have an evil smile on its face.
Even Zixing was unfortunately hit by the shards, and she was immediately filled with great dissatisfaction, but she dared not show it, so she could only slap Qingyi hard again.
Qingyi, who had already been slapped several times by Shuangdie, now had her face swollen, and blood was even seeping from her lips in a shocking manner.