Chapter 334 - The Emperor Died

Song Yixiao received the news that the boat had capsized after midday. She was surprised, and naturally, she had to ask about the safety of the people on board.

The person who came to report the news was Wei Mengying’s first maid, Sitao, who had been promoted last year. She looked very anxious, “After the boat capsized, Miss Wei and Miss Lu saved Princess Consort ashore first. But where they went ashore was a long way from where the servants were. When the servants rushed over to serve them, they found that Princess Consort and the two ladies had disappeared! Even now, they have not been found!”

“As for the others, they have all been rescued and nothing serious has happened. The only problem is that we can’t find Princess Consort and the two ladies. That’s why Ms. Bo wants to borrow some people from you!”

In fact, the Prince of Hengshan was a prince after all, and his children were not few, so he had brought a lot of men to Cuihua Mountain this time. If they wanted to search the mountain, those should be enough. There was no need to borrow people from Song Yixiao.

But Ms. Bo, as Wei Mengying’s trusted person, didn’t think this way.

What she was thinking was that so many people had seen Wei Chan and Lu Chai’er rescue Wei Mengying ashore. How long did the subordinates spend rushing there? How could all three of them be gone and nowhere to be found nearby?

This was obviously not a good sign. Ms. Bo was worried that they had met some criminals. Among the three missing people, Wei Chan and Lu Chai’er were both in their prime and had beautiful looks, while Wei Mengying was older but still charming. Their dresses were wet at that time. It was summer at the moment, and the dresses were thin. So when they got wet, it was inevitable that they would expose themselves.

If they really were fallen into the hands of someone with an ulterior motive, it would be obvious what would happen!

So even if Wei Mengying survived, it would not end well if the scene was embarrassing.

Ms. Bo rose or fell together with this Princess Consort, so, of course she needed to be proactive. That was the reason why she sent Sitao to borrow people from Song Yixiao. Even though the mother and the daughter were at odds, Song Yixiao couldn’t just sit back and let her own mother’s reputation be ruined.

As expected, when Song Yixiao heard this, she summoned Yu Shiheng immediately and ordered him to take some trustworthy people with him and go to the place where Wei Mengying and the three of them had disappeared to search carefully. He had to make sure they were brought back safely!

However, after Yu Shiheng and the others had set off, Song Yixiao suddenly remembered that what happened two days ago when Madam Lu visited her. She was shocked, “Cuihua Mountain was an imperial summer resort. How can there be so many bad people? When the ladies are going to admire the lake, how can they not send people to check the area beforehand and make sure that those who are not involved stay away? Mother has disappeared this time. Maybe she’s been asked by my stepmother to talk in some secluded place.”

She thought about it for a while, and ordered Jinxun to take some desserts and go to the Song Family’s summer residence, “Find any excuse you can to see my stepmother. If she is not there, try to find out where she is!”

After a while, Jinxun came back and said, “Ms. Zhang said that Madam Lu suddenly caught a cold last night and was resting in her room, so she couldn’t meet me. But I found that Ms. Zhang avoided to look me in the eyes. So I think, as Madam expected, Madam Lu was indeed not in the mansion.”

Song Yixiao nodded slightly and thought, “It seems that this is indeed the case!”

Unexpectedly, Jinxun continued to say, “But Master Song seemed not in the mansion either.”

“Not in the mansion either?” Hearing this, Song Yixiao didn’t take it to heart and said, “Perhaps he had some official business and had been asked to go out.”

After all, Song Yuan had an official job, so it was not strange that he was not at home in the middle of the day.

But Jinxun said, “No! Madam only asked me to find out if Madam Lu was there. I didn’t expect to find out Master Song’s whereabouts by the way. But the colleague of Master Song happened to visit at that time. He was told that Master Song had left early this morning and no one knew where he was going.”

Then she whispered, “According to the tone, it seemed that when Master Song left, he didn’t even bring the servant who always stayed with him!”

“Do you know what direction he went?” Song Yixiao thought for a while, and her look gradually became serious.

But Jinxun shook her head and said, “It was too early, so the guard didn’t notice.”

“Could it be that Father went to meet Mother together with Stepmother?” Song Yixiao thought this was unlikely. If Song Yuan approached Wei Mengying alone, perhaps it was because he couldn’t let go of her before leaving the imperial capital and wanted to meet Wei Mengying in private again. It would make sense. But meeting ex-wife with current wife, what did this mean?

If her current stepmother was Madam Liu, Song Yixiao wouldn’t be surprised. After all, Madam Liu gave her the impression that Madam Liu was sarcastic and hostile to Wei Mengying in particular. She would definitely be able to do something like urging Song Yuan to go after his ex-wife.

But Madam Lu…

She remembered that it was Madam Lu who had asked her about Wei Mengying’s trip!

Song Yixiao also could not help but wonder, “Could it be that they really went for Mother together?”

Normally, not to mention the fact that Song Yuan and Madam Lu had gone after Wei Mengying, Song Yixiao wouldn’t worry about her own mother even if they went together with Elder Lady Pang.

But it was different this time. Wei Mengying had just been rescued and none of her maids were with her. Wei Chan and Lu Chai’er were both delicate women. It would be fine if there was only a verbal argument. But if a fight broke out, Song Yuan was at least a man, and he would have no problem fighting those three on his own under normal circumstances. In addition, he had Madam Lu as a helper!

Thinking of this, Song Yixiao looked solemn instantly and regretted not being able to withstand Madam Lu’s pestering. Although she was annoyed with Wei Mengying, she honestly preferred her own mother between her own parents.

After all, in her last life, it was her own father who had decided to trap her in a cage and drown her. In contrast, her own mother had just stood by and watched.

In this life, her own father had tried to destroy her future several times. Wei Mengying had sheltered her growing up, even if her intentions were not pure, and she tried to put her own daughter to death in order to frame Dowager Consort of Hengshan.

But in contrast to her own father, who had just recently started to show his goodwill to her, Song Yixiao still felt that if one of her parents had to suffer, then she preferred her own mother not to suffer!

So, she waited anxiously, fearing that something bad might happen to Wei Mengying.

She waited until nightfall. By this time, most people had known about the disappearance of Princess Consort of Wei and the two juniors, and many families had sent people to Prince of Hengshan’s summer residence to ask if they needed any help.

It was amidst this hubbub that Wei Mengying was sent back.

She was not in as much of a mess as everyone had thought. Obviously, she had changed her dress and redone her hair. Although she inevitably looked a little tired, her slightly raised chin was as confident and elegant as ever.

The person who brought her back didn’t have much to discuss. It was Yu Shiheng, the head guard of the mansion of Duke of Yan. It made sense that when her own mother had been rescued from the lake and disappeared, Song Yixiao, as a daughter, was worried and packed some clothes and hairpins for someone to take with him and help find her.

Since there was nothing embarrassed to see, everyone said a few words about ‘luck will have its way’, and after Wei Mengying thanked them and politely said she was exhausted, they dispersed.

Song Yixiao was relieved to hear that her mother had returned safely and asked Yu Shiheng, “Where did you find her? What were the circumstances? Why did she leave the shore?”

“It was outside a small valley.” Yu Shiheng mused, “Madam, I felt that there was something strange about that valley. It seemed that Princess Consort of Wei didn’t want us to enter that valley. Therefore, I didn’t go inside. As for the reason why Princess Consort was there, Her Highness said that Miss Wei and Miss Lu felt that it would be indecent for them to be seen with their dresses wet, so they planned to hide in a quiet place and come out after their dresses had dried. But as they walked, they got separated.”

Song Yixiao thought about it and said, “So you only found Mother? Don’t you know where Miss Wei and Miss Lu are by now?”

“It is true that I only met Princess Consort and at the urging of Princess Consort, escorted Her Highness back to Prince of Hengshan’s summer residence first.” Yu Shiheng explained, “But Madam had said that all three must be brought back safely, so after seeing Her Highness enter the summer residence, I went to look for Miss Wei and Miss Lu. On the way, I heard that they had met the people looking for them at about the same time as Her Highness and were already being looked after. After confirming that it was true, I came back to report it to you.”

“Thank you for your hard work!” Song Yixiao nodded. After she said a few words of encouragement and condolence, Yu Shiheng instantly said that he couldn’t take it for granted.

After these words, he thought it was time to leave.

However, Song Yixiao pondered for a moment and then asked, “When you were looking for them, did you meet anyone else? For example, my stepmother. She seemed to have gone to the lake today too. I don’t know if she saw the boat capsize and if she was terrified.”

Yu Shiheng shook his head, “No.”

Song Yixiao heard this and was about to ask him if he had seen Song Yuan. But after thinking about it, she didn’t ask. Madam Lu and Wei Mengying were both women, so their presence in one place at the same time, even if it aroused suspicion, could always be passed off with Song Yixiao as their common daughter.

But Song Yuan and Wei Mengying had been a married couple. If it was revealed that he might also have gone to the lake today, the consequences drawn out would be troublesome!

“You’ve worked hard today. Go and rest now!” Song Yixiao thought of this and sighed, imploring Yu Shiheng to leave.

It was already late. So she didn’t have time to send someone to the Song Family to find out if her father and stepmother had returned.

The next day, Song Yixiao ordered someone to inquire, but was told that Song Yuan had accidentally broken his leg while walking in the mountains yesterday. As he was near the foot of the mountain, he was afraid that the broken bones would be harmed during carrying him up the mountain, so he was placed at the foot of the mountain first.

As for Madam Lu, “Madam Lu seems to be really sick. When I went there today, she summoned me into the inner room to talk. She looked…as if she didn’t have much time to live. It even made me a bit frightened!”

“Was it only Father who went to meet Mother yesterday?” Song Yixiao heard this and became a little unsure of her previous guesses. She thought with doubts, “Otherwise, even if Father had been nice to Mother in front of my stepmother, she would not have been so angry that she became heavily ill overnight, right? I think Stepmother did get sick yesterday and Father left alone…Did Father go to see Mother? Did they meet? What happened to his leg?”

Song Yixiao had so many doubts. She thought that Jian Qingyue became healthier and more active recently, so she could find a day to go to the foot of the mountain to visit Song Yuan. Maybe she could find out the truth.

But she had just agreed to do so with her husband when the sound of a heavy bell suddenly rang out from the palace on Cuihua Mountain!

Emperor Xianjia died!