The next day, Ruan Yuyi sat in front of the bronze mirror, and Mu Xiang dressed her up. After putting on the hairpin rings one by one, she kept thinking that there was something missing.
After thinking for a moment, Mu Xiang took the rouge and put a small vermilion mole under her eyes. The small mole fell on the end of her eyes, making her eyes twinkling and her face even more radiant.
At this time, Mrs. Li opened the door and came in, said hello, and said that Mrs. Cheng Zhu invited her to have breakfast with her.
Ruan Yuyi nodded slightly and agreed.
"Put those earrings on, they match today's clothes." She was wearing a soft silver lily skirt today, with a piece of snow-white exposed at the neckline, but her ears seemed a little empty.
"Yes." Mu Xiang saw that the young lady's ears were almost in good condition, so she opened the drawer and tried to take out the pair of Dongzhu earrings.
But there was only a crumpled and spread veil inside, and where did the earrings come from.
Both of them were startled.
Ruan Yuyi suddenly remembered that when she got off the bed, she felt a strange touch like stepping on a bead under her feet. Her heart tightened and she got up to check.
"Miss, this..." Mu Xiang saw her bending down and moved closer.
Sure enough, I found a white bead with a hole in it, which was one of the four East beads strung on the earrings.
Mu Xiang hurriedly looked around for the remaining beads. The beads collapsed and scattered, some by the wall and some under the table. It took a lot of effort.
Ruan Yuyi gathered the Dongzhu and gold wire she found in the palm of her hand, pursed her lips and said nothing.
The cut on the gold wire was flat, so she thought someone had done it deliberately. She had a vague guess in her mind, but due to identity issues, she was not allowed to question the person head-on.
However, the last thing that matters right now is that such an expensive earring is broken. What should she do if the prince asks her? With the value of this earring, she might not be able to repay it even if she sells it herself.
Mu Xiang said on the side, "Miss, these earrings come from Linglong Pavilion. Maybe you can take them back there and repair them."
"Let's go and ask in a few days. There is no other way."
She put away the broken earrings and planned to go to Cheng Zhu's side first.
As soon as I came out, I heard the clear and clear chirping of birds, which echoed in the courtyard, seeming to make the wind blowing bring a deeper chill.
Muxiang was afraid that she would catch cold, so she went back and got a goose-yellow shawl for her to wear.
When she returned to Cheng Zhu's house, Cheng Xingqiu and others had already taken their seats, but Zhaorong was nowhere to be seen.
Ruan Yuyi gave a brief salute and then found her seat. As soon as she sat down, she heard Cheng Zhu say, "Sister Yi, did you see anyone when you were looking for children yesterday?"
When asked this question, the first thing she thought of was the confrontation between the Crown Prince and Cheng Xingqiu yesterday. She narrowed her eyes slightly and pretended to be calm, "Who is your aunt talking about?"
Cheng Zhu simply spoke up, "This morning, the concubine, the biological mother of King Yu, sent a box of pastries, saying it was for you and Rui'er. Who is the concubine...
We met you when we were together?”
It turned out to be not what she was worried about.
Hearing this, she breathed a sigh of relief and explained quietly, "Yesterday, my second cousin ran into the concubine's courtyard, and we couldn't find him now."
She had heard about the concubine being happy for Cheng Rui from Wen Zhi, but she never expected that the concubine would send cakes, let alone that the concubine would still remember her.
Cheng Zhu then asked, "Why did the concubine bring pastries?" Seeing the greed in her eyes, Ruan Yuyi roughly understood what she really wanted to ask.
So she asked, "Won't my aunt ask my second cousin why he went there?"
Cheng Zhu didn't know why and frowned slightly. Knowing that she had something to say, he followed her words and asked.
Cheng Xingqiu, who was on the side, thought of how he and Zhao Rong had coaxed Cheng Rui, and felt guilty, so he got up and left his seat on the pretext of giving Zhao Rong some breakfast.
After careful calculation, he was indeed not thinking carefully about this matter. Even if he didn't want to keep Cheng Rui around, how could he coax him to walk out of the yard. He was a little confused at the time, so he didn't stop him.
Hearing that Cheng Xingqiu was going to bring food to the eldest princess, Cheng Zhu quickly asked Mother Li to get a food box and put some noodles and a bowl of millet porridge in it, and even said something flattering.
Cheng Xingqiu was indifferent, picked up the food box and left. As long as he had free time the next day, Zhaorong didn't get up until three o'clock in the morning, and he was probably still asleep at this moment.
But after he left, Ruan Yuyi continued, "Although the eldest princess made the mistake unintentionally, she should have thought that the Shenghe Temple is so big that it would be very easy for the second cousin to not be able to come back."
"Is it still related to the princess at this time?" Cheng Zhu heard something was wrong, "You mean..."
She didn't say anything further. After all, she was a princess. Even if it was her fault, what could an ordinary lady do to her? Even if something happened to Cheng Ruizhen, she could only break her silver teeth and swallow blood.
"In the future, it would be better for my aunt to ask more people to follow my second cousin." Ruan Yuyi took the millet porridge that Mu Xiang had scooped out and stirred it nonchalantly with a spoon.
When Cheng Xingqiu also came back and finished his breakfast, Mrs. Cheng Zhu asked everyone to go down and make some preparations. She said that the concubine had helped to keep an eye on Rui'er, and she also brought cakes. As a courtesy, she should go over to pay her respects.
In particular, Cheng Rui and Ruan Yuyi should go.
She asked Mother Li to inform the princess. When Mother Li came back, she said that the eldest princess said she was not feeling well and would not go this time. The eldest son said he wanted to stay here to take care of the princess, so he did not go either.
After hearing this, Mrs. Cheng Zhu's face darkened. Your Highness, she couldn't explain it. Qiu'er had always known etiquette, so why did she behave like this?
She knew that Cheng Xingqiu had always been self-righteous and aloof. In his eyes, he would naturally not be willing to do such flattery.
As for Zhaorong, she was not ill.
She had always known that the concubine and Prince Yu were here to eat fast and worship Buddha. However, when the late emperor was still alive, the concubine had a very bad relationship with her mother and empress. Zhaorong, a son of a man, had no good impression of the concubine, and even more so.
Don't talk about visiting Yi or Two.
Ruan Yuyi originally wanted to shirk it, but suddenly realized that the prince might also be with the concubine, so she didn't say anything more and followed her.
Relying on their memory, several people walked to the residence of the concubine. Mrs. Cheng Zhu straightened her appearance, then grabbed the door knocker and knocked once. After the sound was steady, she knocked three times in a row.
Then she put down the knocker and took half a step back.
The door was opened immediately, and a maid half leaned out and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Cheng Zhu nodded and said, "I am the wife of the Imperial Censor. Yesterday, my second son went missing and was under the care of the concubine. I came here with my junior to express my gratitude. Please let me know."
"Okay, wait." The maid glanced at them and slammed the door.
After a while, the door opened wide and several people were welcomed in. "The Princess and Princess Yu are in the side hall. I will lead you over right now." Her expression and tone were obviously much more respectful.
I originally wanted to come here to try my luck and see if the Crown Prince was here, but I didn't expect that Princess Yu was also here. Ruan Yuyi consciously walked away from the Zhu family.