Lock and secure

The next morning, just after dawn, the people in the West Courtyard usually did not wake up until noon.

Next to the fish pond not far from the West Courtyard, a maid was walking towards the West Courtyard with a broom.

The servants in the palace, especially those who did odd jobs like them, had to get up at dawn every day to work. She yawned continuously because she hadn't slept well the night before.

The maid yawned, rubbed her eyes, and when she opened them she saw a flash of white. What was that?

The maid thought she was dazzled, so she rubbed her eyes and looked carefully, only to see a white fish on the ground next to the lotus pond!

The maid rushed forward to take a look. Isn't this the prince's favorite spirit fish? It's actually dead!

The spirit fish was presented by the Northern Qi people when they were defeated and sought peace. It's said that the spirit fish comes from the outer sea and can bring good fortune. There are only two in the entire Great Achievement! Its rarity is unimaginable. After the Northern Qi presented it to the Great Achievement, it was kept in the imperial palace and later brought back to the palace by Bei Zhenting.

Now one of them is dead, and died by the side of the fish pond. The spiritual fish will not come ashore on its own, so it must be human intervention.

Who is so brave as to kill the prince's favorite fish!

The maid felt that this matter was not simple, so she threw away the broom and hurried to report.

-

In the west courtyard, Qing'er and A Shi had just gotten up, washed up, and were preparing to get something to eat.

"Open the door! Open the door quickly!"

"Who is it?" Qing'er went over to remove the bolt, but the person outside kicked the door open.

Qing'er had a bad temper and didn't tolerate the rudeness of the people outside: "What are you doing! How dare you break into the princess's residence!"

The two guards outside the door didn't care about who was the princess or not, and shouted angrily: "Who is Yun Qing'er?!"

"What is wrong with me!"

Qing'er looked impatient.

The two guards were as cold as ice, "You killed the spirit fish, come with us!"

After the two guards finished speaking, they stepped forward, handcuffed Qing'er's hands behind her back, and dragged her out of the west courtyard.

Qing'er was still confused after being caught, and kept struggling and shouting.

Hearing the shouting, Ah Shi came out and saw Qing'er being roughly dragged by the two guards. He quickly stepped forward to stop them: "What are you doing!"

"Ashi and the others said I killed the spirit fish! I don't even know what a spirit fish is!"

Ah Shi stared at the two guards, "What evidence do you have? Why are you arresting people?"

"Haha, evidence? The two maids who were cleaning near the lotus pond yesterday personally identified her as the only one who had been near the lotus pond! Who else could it be but her?"

"Hurry up and go!" A guard pulled Qing'er hard and took her away.

When Ah Shi heard the guard say there was a witness, he didn't know what to do. He watched Qing'er being dragged away and shouted, "Qing'er! Wait, the young master and I will definitely save you!"

"Master, Master! Something terrible has happened! Wake up!"

Luo Yao opened his eyes drowsily and saw Ah Shi standing beside the bed with a worried look on his face. Luo Yao said sleepily, "Ah Shi, what happened?"

"Qing'er was captured by them!"

what? !

Qing'er was captured?!

After realizing what happened, Luo Yao woke up instantly!

Bei Zhenting has been very busy these days. Not only does he have to arrest people for His Majesty and control the rumors flying around the capital to prevent public instability, he also has to find time to study gunpowder. Bei Zhenting hasn't had a good night's sleep for several days.

After walking out of the Machinery Bureau, Bei Zhenting rubbed his eyebrows. Thinking of that damn gunpowder, Bei Zhenting felt a headache.

Luo Yao had only mentioned something like "one sulfur, two saltpeter, and three charcoal." Bei Zhenting had mixed no fewer than a hundred different proportions of sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal, but when they were mixed together, they only emitted black smoke when lit, and some wouldn't even light at all!

After staying at the Machinery Bureau for another night and hiring Li Qingyun to drive the carriage, Bei Zhenting prepared to return home to rest.

As the carriage approached the palace, Bei Zhenting could hear the noise from afar.

There was a fierce quarrel in the palace. Qing'er had been fighting for three hundred rounds with the maid who insisted that she had killed Lingyu.

The two of them were arguing with each other in mumbling and blaming each other.

"Why did I kill the spirit fish? You were cleaning nearby yesterday, and I said you killed it to frame me!"

The two maids who accused Qing'er of killing the spirit fish were the same two who had been cleaning the lotus pond yesterday. One of them, seeing Qing'er's hot temper, cowered behind the other maid, not daring to speak, lowering her head to minimize her presence.

Another maid saw Qing'er change out of yesterday's pale yellow skirt and into a more expensive one with blue trim. She couldn't hide her jealousy. "Everyone knows how expensive spirit fish are. You must have set your eyes on it and want to catch it and sell it to someone else. Look at your clothes. They're even better than those worn by the rich ladies in the capital! I don't believe a maid like you has so much money!"

It turns out that he was jealous of me, so he framed me!

Qing'er saw through the maid's thoughts and cried out to Wang Guangcheng, "Butler Wang, you saw it too. This girl is jealous of my good clothes and framed me. You were the one who followed my princess last time she went out, and you paid for this dress."

Wang Guangcheng was still confused when he heard the maid talk about the clothes. It was most likely that the little maid had done this deliberately out of jealousy when she saw Luo Yao's servants were well-dressed. Besides, he knew the truth from the beginning, but he didn't know the motive.

Wang Guangcheng was just about to symbolically scold the maid, but Qing'er mentioned the matter of the clothes, which directly made him angry!

How could he have forgotten that! He was the one who bought the clothes and paid for them!

When he went out with the princess that day, he only had four thousand taels of silver from the palace treasury. A full one thousand of these taels were his own money! He had originally planned to return to the prince to withdraw money from the treasury, but that evening the prince flew into a rage, and the one thousand taels he had promised him were never returned.

Wang Guangcheng was furious. He looked at Qing'er, who was kneeling on the ground with an unconvinced look on her face. Her fiery expression was very charming. Thinking of something, Wang Guangcheng's eyes changed.

He stood up and walked to Qing'er, looking at the little maid kneeling beside her. "What Yun Qing'er said does make sense. Did you really frame her? Or is there someone else involved?"

Wang Guangcheng meant something.

The maid was terrified when she heard the first half of Wang Guangcheng's words, fearing that Wang Guangcheng would discover the truth. However, she reacted instantly after hearing the second half and said quickly, "Yun Qing'er, please don't slander me. I didn't know that the princess bought your clothes. We weren't cleaning around the lotus pond that day. We didn't go there at all. If it wasn't you, it could only be the young master. That afternoon, you and the young master were the only ones by the lotus pond!"

When Qing'er heard the word "young master", she became anxious and was about to refute when Bei Zhenting entered the palace.