The female official looked astonished, disbelieving, "Your Highness, you cannot speak carelessly."
"Carelessly? Does the female official mean that the people in my manor are all lying? Qingyue is missing, and I am joking with you?" The Second Prince looked at the female official with disgust, seeing her as nothing but a hypocrite, a thief crying stop thief.
The female official now understood what it meant to be unable to defend herself.
She was a trusted confidante of the Empress. Whenever anything happened, the Empress would confide in her. She was certain that the Empress had not ordered anyone to harm the Second Prince Consort. Yet, the two dead bodies lying there had indeed come from the Empress's side. There must be some untold secret involved.
The female official said with a serious expression, "These items were given by Her Majesty to the Second Prince Consort, and I have now delivered them. As for what Your Highness mentioned, I must immediately return to the palace to report."
After speaking, she curtsied and left quickly.
The maidservant beside Su Qingyue glanced at the Second Prince, seeing the confusion filling his eyes.
"Your Highness, what do we do now? The female official has gone back. Will Her Majesty continue to send people to harm the Prince Consort?" the maidservant asked with a worried expression.
The Second Prince did not know. He had a feeling that the female official's reaction just now was not an act.
Was this matter not the Empress's doing?
If it wasn't the Empress, then who was it?
The Second Prince immediately ordered his subordinates to search for Su Qingyue and then rushed back to the palace himself. His pace was swift, and he arrived at the palace even before the female official.
"Mother," the Second Prince said urgently.
"Why are you here again?" Empress Lu was somewhat puzzled.
"Mother, you did not have anyone make a move against Qingyue, did you?" the Second Prince asked directly.
Empress Lu was surprised internally but showed no outward reaction, her eyelids not even fluttering. "What is it now?"
"Qingyue is missing, and the two people you sent to the courtyard are gone. Qingyue's maidservant said they intended to harm the child. Qingyue escaped!" the Second Prince said.
"Escaped? Can the dignified Prince's manor not hold her? If someone made a move against her, did she have no one to protect her?" Empress Lu frowned. "Have they found her yet? This conduct..."
Empress Lu shook her head.
"Mother, those two were too vicious, and Qingyue was frightened for a moment. Her escape was out of necessity. I am asking now, did those two receive your orders?" the Second Prince pressed.
Empress Lu's mind raced. The women were sent by her, and they were brought into the palace from the Lu family. They were usually the most loyal and capable of carrying out any task. Although she had instructed them to monitor Su Qingyue's actions, she had never ordered them to harm Su Qingyue.
The women came from the Lu family—
This meant that some master from the Lu family had given them orders.
They had relatives still serving in the Lu family.
Without a doubt, it was likely her mother and sister-in-law's idea. Su Qingyue and the child would become stumbling blocks for Ruo Yun. The Emperor's son had a good relationship with Su Qingyue, and as long as she was present, regardless of whether she had a child or not, it would affect Ruo Yun's cultivation of a relationship with the Emperor's son. Empress Lu could understand this concern. But could they not act more decisively? It would have been fine if the people had died; it would have been over and done with. Now, they were not dead, and they had escaped. What was this?
If they were found, it would be good, and there would be a chance for remedy.
But if they could not be found now, and reappeared later...
"Mother, say something!" the Second Prince urged.
"Have you sent people to look for her? Qingyue is with child, and being outside is not ideal. I remember Qingyue has an uncle in the capital. Could Qingyue have gone there?" Empress Lu avoided the question. While she suspected, she needed to confirm it later.