On the other side, the Northern Palace was filled with a light cheery atmosphere. The empress was happily chatting with Fei Ning, Ji Er and Ming Yan. She had been busy these last few days that she didn't get a chance to visit her daughter-in-laws.
Fei Ning gently poured some tea for the empress. "Mother, this is the new tea Prince Shao brought back from the state of Chu a few days ago. Have a try."
The empress took a sip. "It's quite refreshing." The thought of tea made her smile.
Seeing that Ji Er was closest to Yu Mei, the empress set her cup down and asked. "Ji Er, how come Yu Mei is not here?"
Ji Er forced a smile. She was about to speak when Ming Yan beat her to it. "Mother, I'm afraid Sister Yu Mei won't be able to come for a while." She sarcastically spoke.
"What is that supposed to mean?" the empress questioned.
"Sister Yu Mei got caught…" Fei Ning held onto Ming Yan's arm and shook her head, telling her to stop. She didn't do it out of kindness but because she knew the empress would become anxious. She was indeed right. The empress proceeded to ask.
"Fei Ning, what are you guys hiding from me?" her hawk like-eyes looked at the "timid" Fei Ning. Fei Ning placed her hand on the empress's arm. "Mother, it really isn't anything big. Yu Mei just got into a fight with his highness."
"Sister Fei Ning, why are you trying to shield her? Sooner or later, the empress will find out that Yu Mei stole from his highness." Ming Yan blurted out.
Ji Er quickly grabbed her by the arm. "Ming Yan! Sister Yu Mei is not that kind of person. There was a misunderstanding between his highness and Yu Mei. Since his highness has released her, it proves that she is innocent." Ji Er reminded her.
Fei Ning innocently looked at the confused empress. "Mother, don't be mad at Yu Mei. She didn't mean to steal a military map from his highness. Like Ji Er said, it must be a misunderstanding. His highness has already released her from the Taiji Palace." She made sure to emphasize the words, "military map". Her eyes never left the empress's side. She waited for the empress to get mad and scold Yu Mei in front of them. But she didn't. The empress only sat there calmly.
"Seeing that Pei Nan has released Yu Mei, I won't look further into the matter." The empress looked at her maid Tao Yu. "Tao Yu, let's go."
Fei Ning had a huge smirk on her face as she watched the empress leave. Could the empress be so mad she had no words to say? She couldn't wait for Yu Mei to be punished by the empress. When was the empress ever not on her side? Surely she would not let Yu Mei get away with this one.
Once the empress was in her sedan, she turned to Tao Yu. "Go find out what happened. Yu Mei may be a stubborn child but I don't believe she would steal."
That day, Tao Yu wasn't the only person doing their own investigation. Yu Mei had already done some investigation on her own in the afternoon. The maid that blamed her was named Lu Man. She was born in a poor village with her mother. Just thinking that, she assumed Fei Ning bribed her with money.
In the middle of the night, covered in a black cloak were Yu Mei and Chu'mei. The two of them were standing in the middle of the forest with a man. Chu'mei quickly handed him a silver tael. He happily shoved it into his sleeve.
The man had a rolling cart filled with corpses behind him. He was a burial guard, responsible for getting rid of corpses. With a bright voice, he asked what he could do for them. He did not dare to assume their genders. He could not see their faces, nor did he really care. This was not the first time something like this has happened. As long as someone paid him, he would give up the corpse. One less body to bury.
"We're looking for a palace maid's corpse." Chu'mei spoke.
The man thought hard and long about it but he could not recall. It was impossible to not remember a palace maid.
"She's about 17 years old. Very young and skinny. She should have been sent her last night. Surely you remember?" Chu'mei further described the girl.
The man didn't reply. He was still thinking hard on it. A youthful maid…he would remember. These past few days, he has only buried old people and male prisoners. No young females.
Yu Mei and Chu'mei left after confirming with him. "Xiaojie, how can it be? I've already confirmed with the guards that she was executed yesterday morning and tossed here last night." Chu'mei explained.
"Where could her body have been disposed? Unless Pei Nan didn't kill her..." Yu Mei kept thinking about it but it didn't make sense. Knowing Pei Nan, he would never let someone off that easily.
***
Two days went by and Yu Mei had no more tracks. She couldn't find anything to point it towards Fei Ning. The guards watching the prison didn't say anything other than the same thing, the maid was executed. What exactly was everyone hiding from her.
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Nothing was adding up. She would have to wait until tomorrow morning and ask Prince Shao.
Pei Nan was in the next town with the town's magistrate. He shouldn't be home until the day after tomorrow. Which meant one thing. A perfect timing to meet Prince Shao.