After all, if the night pearl couldn't be retrieved, she would surely be implicated in the end.
After all, the night pearl was a gift from Helian Qi to her. In the end, it was lost while in her possession.
If everyone pointed their fingers at her then, and if Consort Shun hated her for it, that would be a result she'd be happy to see.
Thinking of this, she regarded Xiaolaizi as the prime suspect in her mind and ordered Donghua to summon him to her presence.
She stared at him with a slightly cold look in her eyes but said nothing, aiming to put pressure on him.
The little eunuch looked very thin. As soon as he saw Dongfang Yi, he knelt on the ground trembling and said, "Your Ladyship, this slave really didn't steal the night pearl!"
Dongfang Yi let out a cold snort in her heart, thinking that no thief would admit to stealing.
But on the surface, she still looked amiable. She said to the eunuch in front of her, "Get up. I didn't say you were the thief. I already know who stole the night pearl."
The eunuch's face showed a hint of surprise upon hearing this, as if it were the best news.
Dongfang Yi watched his expression and felt a twinge of suspicion. She couldn't tell whether his excitement was real or fake.
But she still continued to ask, "I heard you have a palace maid as your partner?"
Xiaolaizi blushed a little upon hearing this and lowered his head, giving a soft "yes".
"I like nothing better than helping lovers get together. So I'm going to help you two," she said.
If she could get his partner, the palace maid, to come out and conduct a thorough interrogation, the truth of the matter would be easy to find out.
Xiaolaizi, after hearing her words, was both afraid and excited. He kept kowtowing to the woman in front of him, as if he had received great satisfaction.
Looking at his appearance, Dongfang Yi became even more confused. If all this was just an act by the little eunuch, he was pretending a bit too well.
Could it be that her reasoning was wrong and this had nothing to do with Consort Shun?
But for now, this was the only path to follow. Xiaolaizi was the only lead, so she had to pursue it.
After thinking for a while, she gave the eunuch in front of her a charming smile and said, "It'll be tomorrow then. Bring your partner, the palace maid, to me. I'll officiate for you."
Then she left with Donghua towards the outside of the palace. Before leaving, she instructed Concubine Shu not to let the news leak and told her that she would come again tomorrow.
On the way, she kept thinking about Xiaolaizi. She always felt that his joy didn't seem to be feigned, but if it wasn't him, then who could it be?
The more she thought about it, the more headache she got. She let out a long sigh into the air.
On the other side, in Lanfangyuan.
At this moment, Yaoji was sitting on the bed drinking tea. With a sly look in her eyes, she stared out of the palace, thinking that the Empress should be in a complete mess by now.
She then turned to look at her bed, on which lay the night pearl that should have been in Concubine Shu's palace.
It turned out that it was she who had sneaked into Concubine Shu's palace last night and stolen the night pearl.
Ye had come to the palace to find her last night and said that if they wanted to disrupt the imperial court, they had to start with the harem.
And the most noble woman in the harem was the Empress. As long as her mind was in turmoil, how could the Emperor sit firmly on the throne?
So they came up with this idea. After all the news spread tomorrow, everyone in the harem would blame the Empress for losing the tribute.
At that time, her two elder brothers would also step forward to make the situation worse. By then, it would be impossible for the imperial court not to be in chaos.
Thinking of this, a victorious smile curled up on her lips. If one only looked at her beautiful face, one would never think of the evil thoughts in her mind.
This was probably what people called a beautiful face with a cruel heart, a venomous beauty.
On the other side, Dongfang Yi had returned to her own palace. Feeling a bit exhausted, she slumped into a chair.
She let out a long sigh into the air, then raised her hand to drink a cup of cold tea. She asked Donghua, "What if we can't find the night pearl?"
She was really worried now. She began to doubt her own reasoning.
If the night pearl was really lost, the situation would surely not be simple. It might even threaten the peace between the two countries.
Moreover, if the dignity of the royal family was truly disgraced, the Empress Dowager would surely be the first to criticize her. She didn't like her in the first place. At this moment, she probably even wanted to devour her.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but sigh.
Donghua watched the woman in front of her looking like this. She was a bit anxious that she couldn't help at all. Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind. She said to her, "Your Ladyship, why not tell the Emperor about this? He will surely be able to find out the culprit quickly."
Dongfang Yi shook her head slowly after hearing this. Thinking of that man in her heart, she just didn't want to tell him about this.
It was her own stubbornness to lend out the night pearl. Now that such a thing had happened, it would be so hard for her to ask him to solve it for her.
She wanted a relationship where the two could be evenly matched, not one where one side kept giving help to the other.
Moreover, deep down in her heart, she still believed that she could find out the truth.
"Don't worry. I will surely find out the truth!"
Donghua knew that she had her own plans in mind, so she didn't say anything more.
She always trusted her and knew that she could surely find out the truth on her own.
Night came quickly, and Dongfang Yi slept soundly for once.
Maybe it was because she hadn't slept much last night and was woken up early this morning. The whole day's worry had really tired her out, so she slept soundly.
She had no dreams all night and it was the next morning before she knew it.
The next day, she got up early and sat in front of the dressing table, letting Donghua do her hair. Today she was going to meet Xiaolaizi and his partner, the palace maid. If her speculation was correct, she could find the night pearl today.
Thinking of this, she let out a soft sigh and began to encourage herself in her heart, saying that her reasoning must be correct.
In a short while, she had finished getting ready and was about to leave the palace.
But just as she stepped out of the palace gate, an unbelievable piece of news came.
Zhizhi from Concubine Shu's palace had actually jumped into a well!
Before jumping into the well, she had even gone to other palaces to tell everyone that the Empress and Concubine Shu had lost the night pearl that was a tribute from Nanlin together.
At this moment, the whole palace was abuzz with this news. Now, even the Emperor might have known about it.
Dongfang Yi was shocked on the surface when she heard this. Her heart began to pound wildly. She never thought that Zhizhi would die and even frame her before she died.
This proved that all her speculations yesterday were wrong. In fact, Zhizhi was the insider, and Xiaolaizi was just a decoy.
"So the real insider is her!!!"
Thinking of this, she stopped in her tracks. She then retreated back to her own palace. She knew that under the current situation, it was really not suitable for her to go out.