Fulan complied and she reached the dressing table. She took out and opened a jewelry box, but immediately felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Like a corpse, she stood there motionless.
There was no movement for a long time, so Xia Yunting stretched her neck to look at her and whispered, “Bring it over here."
Fulan slowly turned back, her face pale as she held the empty jewelry box: “Master…the red coral bracelet… it’s gone. "
“What?!”
Xia Yunting rose suddenly from her seat.
She hurried over to take a look at the jewelry box and indeed saw that there was nothing in it.
“How could that be?”
She looked dumbfounded. Fulan, who was next to her, had also turned pale with fear. She spoke in a trembling voice, “This servant put it here yesterday, how could this…”
Xu Miaoyin, who sat on the other side, heard their words. Her brows furrowed slightly. She glanced at Wu Wan, who was sneering beside her, as well as at Gao Yurong, who had a sarcastic look on her face. She said in a deep voice, “Xia Zhaoyi, report to this Palace. In the end, what happened?”
Xia Yunting came and knelt on the ground with a box in her hand. “Your Highness, this servant's… red coral bracelet has disappeared.”
Xu Miaoyin looked briefly at the box in her hand.
“So, what this concubine said was right? Xia Zhaoyi, what’s the matter with you! You just said it yourself, it’s His Highness's gift!” Wu Wan said with a cold smile.
“This—, This concubine…”
Xia Yunting’s sweat on her forehead dripped down one by one. She was unable to utter a single word.
Xu Miaoyin frowned and said, “And this thing is small, but tell me how do you look after gifts bestowed to you by His Highness? Moreover, Xia Zhaoyi, you should worry about how to deal with the people serving you.”
Fulan and Xique also fell on their knees in fright and trembled. “Your Highness, spare these servants' lives.”
At this time, Concubine De Xin Qing, who had been sitting quietly on the side until now, “It must have fallen somewhere. Empress, let them look for it first.”
Back in Yan Wang’s Palace, she was a senior and, out of everyone here, she had spent the most time with Zhu Feng.
Just now, she had spoken, so Xu Miaoyin agreed, “First, try to look for it.”
As a result, a few servants combed Shou An Palace, but still could not find any trace of the missing red coral bracelet.
Finally, Gao Yurong asked, “It couldn’t have been stolen, right?”
As soon as she said this, Xu Miaoyin spoke up, “Concubine An, speak with caution. There are not many people allowed in the Hharem, and those who can move about are sisters and those with them.”
The implication was that if it was really stolen, then it would have to be the doing of one of their own people.
And she, as the head of the Harem, was in charge of the sixth house. So if such a thing had really happened, she would also share responsibility.
Concubine An immediately bowed her head and pleaded, “Empress, please forgive me.”
But Wu Wan, who hadn’t said anything in awhile, leisurely commented, “Although Empress says this, it’s hard to tell what’s going on in the minds of others. Besides, now that this has happened, if it were discovered that someone really has stolen the bracelet but has yet to be caught, then anyone here could be labeled a thief.”
“This consort believes it would be better to investigate thoroughly and prove everyone’s innocence in the end.”
"What’s more—," she said with a sneer, “All of us are sisters. However, there is an outsider here.”
That said, she looked out the window.
The people in the room all followed her gaze to see, not far away, from Shou An Palace, the quiet Chun Xi Palace.
Xia Yunting frowned.
End of Chapter
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Edited by Anon & Michelicious11