Chapter 82
"It must be those mad concubines from the cold palace over there. Pay it no mind." Zhu Hanyu paused briefly before dismissing the matter with a wave of his hand.
"Really? Then I must have misheard." Xu Qingshi let out a relieved sigh. Of course, it couldn’t be Li Zhiwei—she should still be recovering at the Li family estate.
Wei Jing'an finally found Lin Ziyi and rushed to her side in alarm.
"My lady, are you alright?" Seeing how haggard Lin Ziyi looked, Wei Jing'an was taken aback.
It had only been two days since he last saw her. How had she ended up in such a state?
"Husband... wu wu..." The moment Lin Ziyi saw Wei Jing'an, she could no longer hold back her tears. She had no idea what had happened.
Why had she suddenly lost consciousness? Why had Li Zhiwei disappeared?
Lin Ziyi was terrified—both worried that Li Zhiwei had been kidnapped and fearful that she might be a dangerous figure plotting against the Emperor and others.
"It’s alright now, it’s alright." Wei Jing'an didn’t care that they were still in the palace. He pulled her into his arms, comforting her.
Though Lin Ziyi usually appeared bold and carefree, Wei Jing'an knew his wife was, at heart, a timid young girl.
She was simple, without a trace of cunning.
Xu Heming had just stepped into the room when he saw the two embracing.
He frowned at first, but considering what Lin Ziyi had just endured, he held his tongue.
Instead, he began inspecting the room.
There were no signs of a struggle.
On the dressing table, two trays of assorted jewelry still lay untouched.
Whoever had taken Li Zhiwei clearly wasn’t after wealth.
Ahem. "Pardon the interruption."
Xu Heming had no wish to disturb them, but he needed to question Lin Ziyi.
He had no choice but to speak up.
Hearing Xu Heming’s voice, Lin Ziyi quickly pushed Wei Jing'an away. When she saw it was Xu Heming, she suddenly recalled how irresistibly alluring he had looked earlier that day, and her face flushed.
"Your Highness, Prince An, is there something you require?" Wei Jing'an stepped protectively in front of Lin Ziyi, his tone displeased.
"Yes. Lady Lin, before you realized Lady Li was missing, what were the two of you doing?" Xu Heming ignored Wei Jing'an’s attitude, focusing solely on Lin Ziyi.
"After the banquet, Consort De and the other noble ladies gifted Lady Li and me many pieces of jewelry. Most of them were pinned directly into our hair. The Empress granted us permission to freshen up here. Two palace maids helped us with our makeup and left these trays here. I was sitting here, and Lady Li was there. Once we were done, the maids left, and we chatted for a while." Lin Ziyi took a deep breath, recounting everything in detail.
"I was woken by one of the maids. At the time, I didn’t know what had happened. When I came to, I was lying on the floor." She paused, then added.
"Check if any jewelry is missing from those trays." Xu Heming circled the room once more. When he reached the window, he noticed traces of powder and frowned.
---
Cold Palace, a secluded corner
"My lady, that woman has been screaming for a long time. Do you wish to see her?" Mo Yu, dressed in palace attire, stood to the side and whispered.
"Let her scream." Liu Ruyan sat calmly, sipping her tea, utterly indifferent to Li Zhiwei’s cries.
After all, this was the cold palace. No ordinary person would wander near here.
No matter how loudly Li Zhiwei screamed, no one would discover she was imprisoned here.
"My lady, what if... the Emperor comes searching?" Mo Yu couldn’t help but voice her concern.
This was still the imperial palace. If Li Zhiwei had been brought here, she couldn’t simply vanish without a trace.
"Send word to the Empress. Tell her Lady Li had urgent matters and left the palace early." Liu Ruyan replied leisurely.
"Yes, I’ll arrange it at once." Mo Yu thought to herself—Li Zhiwei was just a common merchant’s daughter.
Being favored by the Emperor and allowed into the palace was already an immense honor. But expecting to hold any real significance in the eyes of the Emperor or Empress? Impossible.
"Send someone clever." Liu Ruyan added.
---
"Qingshi is here too?" The Empress was surprised to see Xu Qingshi entering with the Third Prince.
She had heard about Xu Qingshi’s injury from two days prior and hadn’t noticed his presence in the palace today.
"Empress, the Third Prince invited me." Xu Qingshi quickly explained.
"Mother, I still have urgent matters to discuss with Qingshi." Zhu Hanyu grabbed Xu Qingshi’s arm and pulled him toward a side chamber.
The Empress shook her head, baffled by whatever mischief the two were up to.
"Your Majesty, Lady Li’s whereabouts remain unknown. Does Prince An even know the young master is here?" Nanny Chang murmured quietly.
"Prince An is likely preoccupied with searching for Lady Li. Send someone to inform him later. Ensure the children are well-guarded." The Empress sighed deeply at the thought.
Where in the world was Li Zhiwei now?
Xu Qingshi, meanwhile, couldn’t shake the voice he had heard earlier.
It had sounded so much like Li Zhiwei.
---
"You’re saying Lady Li left the palace?" The Empress stared coldly at the little eunuch before her.
"Y-Yes, Empress. Lady Li asked this servant to inform you." The little eunuch trembled as he spoke.
He had thought this would be an easy task, a chance to earn the Empress’s favor.
But why did she look as though she wanted to tear him apart?
The little eunuch’s heart pounded with fear.
"Take him to the Emperor." The Empress’s face darkened.
Only one thought filled her mind—who would dare abduct someone right under the Emperor’s nose?
Could it be the Zhennan Prince’s faction?
---
Zhu Jingchen received word the moment the little eunuch stepped into the Empress’s palace.
Now, he too seethed with anger. Someone had the audacity to kidnap a person within his own palace?
This was nothing short of a direct challenge to his authority.
"Your Majesty, shall we hand him over to Prince An?" Eunuch Liu glanced at the petrified little eunuch below.
"Give him to Prince An. This useless wretch isn’t even worth keeping." Zhu Jingchen sneered at the little eunuch—a mere pawn, discarded without a second thought.
"Your Majesty, we’ve located Lady Li." A shadow guard suddenly appeared in the study, kneeling as he reported.
"Where?" Zhu Jingchen’s voice was icy, sending chills down the guard’s spine.
"The cold palace!" The guard shuddered but answered truthfully.
The cold palace?
Zhu Jingchen hadn’t expected her to be there. Whoever was behind this clearly knew the palace well—only someone familiar with its layout would hide her there.
The shadow guard remained kneeling, awaiting orders to rescue Li Zhiwei.
But the Emperor said nothing further.
