The room still had no windows, so there was no way to see outside. However, there was a door.
Opening the door only led to another room, not to the outside. What exactly was inside the Qiankun Bag was a mystery.
Zhong Liangshu walked around the room arranged for her by Huangfu Yue, examining every corner. When she reached a wall, she reached out and tapped it.
Judging by the sound, the wall was about a fen thick, and it seemed quite spacious outside.
"Mother, what are you doing?" Huangfu Ling asked her mother, looking confused.
"Nothing," Zhong Liangshu quickly turned around upon hearing her daughter's voice. She saw her daughter standing about half a zhang away.
Behind her daughter were the maids attending her, and the governess who served both mother and daughter.
Seeing the governess, Zhong Liangshu's eyes flickered. The governess was back; had she made any discoveries?
She smiled at her daughter and walked over to pick her up.
"You went to see the rooms where the maids are staying with the maids. How did you find them? How are their rooms?" Zhong Liangshu asked Huangfu Ling.
In truth, she had already seen the rooms assigned to the servants who were attending her and her daughter, arranged by her sister-in-law. She was deliberately asking her daughter to change the subject, so her daughter wouldn't press her about tapping the wall.
"Their rooms are not as big as ours, nor are they as nice as our rooms," Huangfu Ling replied.
The governess serving the mother and daughter exchanged a glance with the maids, and one maid immediately closed the door.
Zhong Liangshu looked at the governess, sensing she had something to say.
The governess came to Zhong Liangshu's side and whispered, "Third Young Madam, I have already visited all the rooms. I managed to look inside those I could, and I also tried to get a good look from the outside of those I couldn't enter. None of the rooms have windows, only doors.
But the doors all connect to these rooms, with no exit doors. Going from room to room, you just end up back in these rooms, with no way out."
"You've worked hard," Zhong Liangshu nodded.
It seemed that understanding what it was like outside, and the nature of this Qiankun Bag, would be difficult and not something that could be achieved quickly.
"Mother, what are you and the governess talking about?" Huangfu Ling asked curiously.
Being still young, she didn't quite understand what her mother and the governess were saying.
"Nothing," Zhong Liangshu looked at her daughter, showing a loving smile.
She certainly couldn't tell her daughter what they were discussing.
Huangfu Ling wanted to ask more, but the governess signaled to the maids.
A maid immediately stepped forward and said to Huangfu Ling, "Little Master, didn't you say in our rooms that you wanted to go play with Miss Jing? I'll take you to play with Miss Jing now."
"Okay," Huangfu Ling happily nodded and looked back at her mother. "Mother, can I go play with Sister Jing?"
"Of course, you can. Go ahead," Zhong Liangshu handed Huangfu Ling to the maid.
The maid immediately led Huangfu Ling away, leaving only Zhong Liangshu and the governess in the room.
"Third Young Madam, have you discovered anything?" the governess asked quietly, returning to Zhong Liangshu's side after closing the door.
Zhong Liangshu said, "I found that the wall of this room is about a fen thick. Judging by the sound of tapping, it's quite spacious outside."
"I wonder what it's like outside, and what's there," the governess said, her wrinkled old face filled with curiosity.
Zhong Liangshu was also very curious and eager to know.
"Oh, right, Third Young Madam, when I returned, I saw that bailiff named Jiang Shangyun enter the Second Young Madam's room," the governess reported.
"That man truly has no manners. A man who is an outsider, and a servant at that, daring to enter the lady's room. How audacious! Should we report this to the Old Madam and the Eldest Miss?"
Before Zhong Liangshu could reply, the governess said, "Third Young Madam, in this old servant's opinion, the relationship between that Jiang Shangyun and the Second Young Madam is likely not as simple as master and servant.
They seem quite intimate, with a rather ambiguous atmosphere. If this is not stopped early, I fear something will happen sooner or later."
Zhong Liangshu smiled wryly. She could see it; how could she not?
Seeing her mistress smile without saying anything, the governess, who had served her for many years and had married into the Dai Wang Fu with her, instantly understood her unspoken sentiment of "watching the show."
Knowing that she didn't intend to stop Jiang Shangyun and Xu Yuqing, the governess naturally didn't intend to report Jiang Shangyun entering Xu Yuqing's room to Consort Dowager Zheng and Huangfu Yue.
"This old servant did not see Jiang Shangyun enter the Second Young Madam's room just now," the governess immediately stated.
The curve of Zhong Liangshu's lips deepened further, and she nodded.
"Whatever Xu Yuqing and that Jiang Shangyun do is none of our concern; we can just watch the show. If we have time to worry about them, we might as well study this room more."
Saying this, Zhong Liangshu walked to the opposite wall from where she had tapped earlier and reached out to tap it.
Seeing this, the governess went to another wall and reached out to tap it.
"Third Young Madam, judging by the sound of tapping, this wall in front of me should also be about a fen thick, and it's very spacious outside. I can't discern anything else," the governess reported, looking at Zhong Liangshu.
"It's the same here," Zhong Liangshu said, tilting her head to look at the ceiling.
The ceiling was painted a stark white, and she couldn't discern its construction, but she felt it wasn't made of tiles.
It was a pity she didn't know martial arts, nor was she tall enough. Even standing on a table and stretching her arm, she couldn't reach the ceiling. Otherwise, she could check if she could climb out through the roof to see what was outside.
Never mind, there was no rush. As long as she stayed by Huangfu Yue's side, there would surely be opportunities to enter this Qiankun Bag again, and she could study it slowly.
With that thought, Zhong Liangshu sat down at the Eight Immortals table in front of the bed and asked the governess to pour her a cup of fruit tea.
Everything was provided in this room, even drinks. Huangfu Yue had prepared fruit tea in all the rooms earlier.
The governess immediately poured a cup of fruit tea and respectfully handed it to Zhong Liangshu with both hands. "Third Young Madam, please partake."
Zhong Liangshu took a shallow sip of the fruit tea, her beautiful eyes lighting up. This fruit tea was delicious!
"I wonder if the road to Lingping will pass through Luoyang," the governess suddenly said, a look of longing on her face.
Zhong Liangshu was the daughter of the Prince of Luoyang. Before marrying into the Dai Wang Fu in the capital, she had always lived in Luoyang. The governess who had served her since childhood had naturally also lived in Luoyang. Luoyang was their hometown.
Seeing the governess's expression, Zhong Liangshu knew she was homesick and wished to return to Luoyang.
"I don't know," Zhong Liangshu gently shook her head. "I haven't heard that the road to Lingping will pass through Luoyang. Even if it did, with our current status, it wouldn't be convenient to return to the Luoyang Wang Fu. We wouldn't be welcomed, so why would we go and humiliate ourselves?"
Even if it were convenient to return, her family would likely refuse them entry, or even have servants drive them away, to insult them.
They were now convicts facing exile. Her family would undoubtedly fear being associated with them and being implicated.
Her family probably wished they had absolutely no connection to her and wanted to sever ties with her to avoid being dragged down by her.
The people of the Luoyang Wang Fu were those who fawned on the high and trampled on the low, unlike the people of the Dai Wang Fu.