As soon as she stepped out of the imperial bedroom, Dongfang Yi saw Concubine Shu and her personal maid, Cuiping, waiting anxiously at the palace gate. They were talking to Donghua with worried looks on their faces.
When they saw Dongfang Yi coming out of the bedroom, they quickly surrounded her.
Concubine Shu looked haggard. It seemed that she had just woken up in the morning and rushed here without even dressing up.
Dongfang Yi wondered what could have happened to make them so anxious. Frowning, she asked, "What's going on?"
Concubine Shu immediately knelt on the ground, her shoulders trembling as if she were crying. With a sobbing voice, she said, "Empress, the night pearl is missing!"
Hearing this, the drowsiness that had been lingering in Dongfang Yi's mind instantly disappeared.
What? The night pearl was lost?!
"What exactly happened?" she asked.
She had just promised Helian Qi last night that she would retrieve the night pearl today. How could such a thing happen?
Moreover, the night pearl was not an ordinary item. It was a tribute from the Southern Neighboring Country. Their envoy was still in the Eastern Victory Country. If word got out that a tribute had been lost in the palace, it would surely disgrace the royal family.
Thinking of this, she asked Concubine Shu to tell her exactly what had happened.
Concubine Shu said that after the night pearl banquet last night, all the concubines left her palace. She then placed the night pearl on the table in the main hall.
To be on the safe side, Cuiping locked the bedroom door tightly after leaving.
But early this morning, they found that the night pearl that should have been on the table in the main hall had disappeared.
There were no signs of intrusion in the bedroom, and the palace guards on duty last night didn't see any strangers in the palace.
After hearing this, Dongfang Yi frowned tightly, and an unknown look flashed in her eyes.
There were palace guards on duty in the palace. If a stranger wanted to sneak into the palace and steal such a large night pearl, it wouldn't be an easy task.
Unless that person was an extremely skilled martial artist.
Or there was a traitor in Concubine Shu's palace who colluded with someone outside, sneaking past the guards and taking the night pearl out.
Thinking of this, she said to the woman still kneeling on the ground, "Get up. Come with me to your palace and let me take a look."
After saying that, she went back to her own palace, casually put on a robe, and led Donghua towards Concubine Shu's palace.
"Has this matter been spread?" she asked the woman beside her.
At this time, Concubine Shu was completely in a daze, immersed in the fear of losing the night pearl.
Hearing the question, she quickly replied, "Your servant has sent people to block the news. For the time being, no one will know that the night pearl is lost."
She still had this common sense. After all, the night pearl was a tribute. The envoy from the Southern Neighboring Country was still in the Eastern Victory Country. If the tribute was lost at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.
So the most important thing now was to find the item quickly while the news was still blocked. Only then could everything be all right.
Thinking of this, the group quickened their pace towards Concubine Shu's palace.
When they arrived, Dongfang Yi walked into the bedroom. After looking around, she found no signs of intrusion. The bedroom door didn't seem to have been pried open, and there were no loose tiles on the roof.
She frowned in confusion. This shouldn't be. Even the most skilled martial artist would leave some traces when entering a room to steal something.
Unless, as her second guess, there was a traitor in the palace.
Thinking of this, she asked Cuiping beside her, "Who were the palace servants on duty last night?"
Cuiping quickly went to call those people over.
There were three people on night duty in Concubine Shu's palace last night.
One of them was Xiaotongzi from the backyard. He was only in charge of the backyard. Since the night pearl was stolen, the traitor must have colluded with someone outside in the front yard, so his suspicion was not very big.
The two people in charge of the front yard were a maid named Zhizhi, who was mainly responsible for guarding the bedroom door, and a eunuch named Xiaolaizi, who was mainly responsible for the inner courtyard.
Since Concubine Shu's palace was not very big, it was more than enough for the three of them to be on night duty.
After this analysis, it seemed that Zhizhi was the most suspect. As long as she opened the bedroom door when the outsider came, the theft could be completed.
Dongfang Yi squinted at the three people in front of her and then asked sternly, "Whoever stole the night pearl should hand it over quickly. I can still spare your lives!"
The three of them quickly knelt on the ground and began to plead for mercy, "Your Majesty, please investigate clearly. We have always served Concubine Shu whole - heartedly. How could we have any ulterior motives!"
Concubine Shu felt a bit reluctant to see them like this. These people had been with her since she entered the palace. She couldn't believe that there could be a traitor among them.
Dongfang Yi's eyes flashed an unknown look. She knew that the traitor was very likely among these three people. Her question just now was also to see if she could force out the criminal.
But for the time being, she couldn't guess who it was, so she became a bit annoyed.
"Donghua, question them one by one. If you find any suspicious clues, come and tell me."
After saying that, she walked into the main hall of the bedroom and sat down.
Donghua took the order and led the three people to the side hall and began to question them one by one.
At first, all three of them said that they had been doing their duties faithfully. But later, they couldn't bear Donghua's fierce look and began to tell the truth one by one.
Xiaotongzi said that he had a gambling addiction. There was a gambling game in the eunuch's quarters last night. He couldn't resist the temptation and went to play for a while, but he came back in less than a quarter of an hour.
Zhizhi said that she felt sleepy at night and fell asleep for a while. When she woke up, she didn't know how long she had slept, but she vaguely saw a black shadow running past.
After hearing this, Donghua frowned and asked her, "Why didn't you mention such an important piece of information just now?!"
Zhizhi just lowered her head, her shoulders still shaking, and said, "Your servant was really scared. I was afraid that it was my fault that the night pearl was lost, so I didn't dare to say it."
After hearing this, Donghua gave her a fierce look and then continued to ask.
When it came to Xiaolaizi, he hesitated. After Donghua slapped the table to threaten him, he finally spoke smoothly.
He said that he had become a "married couple" (a eunuch - maid relationship) with Xiaocai from Concubine Shun's palace and went to accompany her for a while last night.
After Donghua finished asking, she told Dongfang Yi everything in detail.
After hearing this, Dongfang Yi frowned tightly. She didn't expect that these palace servants would all be sneaky at times. She couldn't help but feel a bit conflicted.
It seemed that all three of them were suspected of stealing the night pearl.
But then, she suddenly thought of the eunuch Xiaolaizi who said he had a "married couple" relationship with someone from Concubine Shun's palace.
Immediately, she thought of Concubine Shun. Although Concubine Shun usually looked gentle, she couldn't rule out the possibility that she might hold a grudge against herself because of the incident of Nanny Dong last time.