The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1162 - 1162 564 Great Righteousness (One more )

Chapter 1162: 564 Great Righteousness! (One more chapter) Chapter 1162: 564 Great Righteousness! (One more chapter) Steward Wei quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Princess Ning An, frozen in place, was not so pleased. Her gaze turned icy, “Steward Wei.”

“At your service!” Steward Wei concealed his emotions, promptly transforming into a fawning subordinate, “What are your orders, Princess?”

Princess Ning An commanded indifferently, “Go find the Empress Dowager.”

“Yes.” Steward Wei complied, and together with the imperial guards searched the Renshou Palace inside and out three times. All the other palace maids were present, except for Empress Dowager Zhuang and Steward Qin.

“Go ask those palace maids,” said Princess Ning An.

“I asked, they know nothing,” Steward Wei replied.

Princess Ning An looked at him coldly.

Steward Wei blocked the view of the imperial guards and whispered a reminder, “Princess, we can’t use torture in Renshou Palace; it draws too much attention. Besides, rectifying the Imperial Harem is the Empress’s affair. Overstepping bounds could give others leverage against us.”

Princess Ning An took a deep breath and slowly suppressed her anger, “Go summon Commander Fu.”

“Yes.”

When Commander Fu arrived, Princess Ning An questioned him, “How have you been guarding the Renshou Palace? My mother has suddenly disappeared; didn’t you realize anything at all? I don’t know if my mother has had an accident, of if some thief has abducted her.”

“This…” Commander Fu was at a loss, to be honest, he really didn’t know. He had clearly seen Empress Dowager Zhuang walking in the courtyard that afternoon, so how could she have vanished by dinner time?

“When was the last time you saw my mother?” Princess Ning An asked.

Commander Fu answered truthfully, “It was in the afternoon, around the hour of You. The Empress Dowager was walking in the courtyard, and after that she returned to her sleeping palace. I’m only responsible for standing guard and cannot disturb Her Majesty.”

Implicitly, the imperial guards could only surround Renshou Palace, but they could not watch Empress Dowager Zhuang closely.

But then again, with such strict surveillance, how did the Empress Dowager vanish into thin air?

The night was dark and the wind was high.

A figure swiftly climbed up to the roof, whistling in the chilly breeze, nimbly flitting across the eaves in the darkness.

Soon, the figure slipped into Bishui Alley and entered the home of Gu Jiao and Xiao Hen.

At this hour, it was late. The Yao Family and the children were all asleep, with only Gu Jiao, Xiao Hen, and the old sacrificial priest still sitting in the main hall.

Hearing movement in the courtyard, Gu Jiao stood up, but Xiao Hen got to the door ahead of her, opening it.

Gu Chengfeng entered, carrying someone on his back, panting like an ox, “I’m dead tired! It’s too far from the Imperial Palace to here!”

Xiao Hen glanced in the direction of the courtyard and closed the door behind Gu Chengfeng.

Gu Chengfeng carefully set Empress Dowager Zhuang on a chair.

“Be careful,” the old sacrificial priest reached out to help, “Didn’t you get chilled?”

Empress Dowager Zhuang ignored him.

He took a good look, and his face changed.

Gu Chengfeng turned around, tugging at his collar while eyeing the unconscious Empress Dowager Zhuang.

Uh… had the Empress Dowager fallen asleep? He hadn’t jostled her into unconsciousness, had he?

Well, he was traveling rather fast just now after all.

“Zhuang Jinse, Zhuang Jinse, Zhuang Jinse!” The old sacrificial priest called out a few times, his heart tightening. “Nothing’s happened, has it?”

Gu Jiao leaned in close to her grandmother-in-law, “Grandmother-in-law, we’re one short.”

Empress Dowager Zhuang instantly woke up, her eyes snapping open as she sat up swiftly, “Where?”

Then, she truly went to play the card game…

The onlookers watched her blustering figure, sleeves rolled up, ready to enter a heated battle of three hundred rounds, their mouths twitching in unison.

Gu Chengfeng: “…Was she just waiting to come out and play cards?”

Princess Ning An took Steward Wei on a trip to Kunning Palace, reporting to her the imperial edicts and the situation at Renshou Palace.

Empress Xiao put down the account book she was reviewing, and spoke to Princess Ning An in a tepid tone, “You better inform me first in case of such matters in the future.”

Princess Ning An bowed slightly, “Yes, sister-in-law.”

Steward Wei broke out in a cold sweat on behalf of Empress Xiao.

Empress Xiao called for Steward Su, “Go tell Commander Fu, whether the Empress Dowager left on her own or was kidnapped, we must find the Empress Dowager. We’ll search both inside and outside the Imperial Palace.”

“Yes,” Steward Su responded.

Empress Xiao’s gaze swept over the two of them dispassionately, “Princess Ning An may leave. Steward Wei, you stay.”

“Ning An takes her leave.” Princess Ning An performed a curtsy, stepped back a few steps, then turned and brushed past Steward Wei as she left Kunning Palace.

Steward Wei kept his gaze fixed, maintaining his bowing posture, while Princess Ning An showed no abnormality as she left Kunning Palace.

Empress Xiao looked at the imperial edict in her hand and sternly faced Steward Wei, “Tell me, did His Majesty really wake up just now?”

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