"Empress, what are you talking about?" Taotao behind Concubine Guo Xian said to stop her.
Concubine Guo Xian clapped her hands and said with a smile: "Look at Yang Siji's expression."
"Empress, you are so ridiculous." Taotao said helplessly.
Lan Yin finally realized that she had been tricked and was a little angry. Did she come into the palace to play with Concubine Guo Xian?
Concubine Guo Xian probably knew that she had gone too far, so she took Lan Yin's hand and said: "The palace is boring all the time. It is rare to have an interesting person like Yang Siji. It is inevitable that we will have fun for a while, Yang Siji Haihan."
Lan Yin was really angry because she couldn't get along with her. She just thought about what happened this time. She wanted to stay away from Concubine Guo Xian, no, she wanted to stay away from the entire Guo family.
"Can you please tell me how you found out that Mei Zhu disappeared?" Lan Yin didn't want to talk in circles with her anymore and went straight to the point.
"Taotao, please talk to her." Concubine Guo Xian was a little uninterested and said boredly while touching her own pill.
The maid named Taotao stepped forward to give Lan Yin a blessing and said, "I was the one who discovered that Mei Zhu was missing."
"Do you need to take out the charm beads frequently?"
"The Concubine Xian does not believe in the efficacy of the beads. Since the Empress Dowager gave them to her, the Concubine Xian has never touched them except for the first time she took them out to play with."
"When did the Empress Dowager give her the bead of charm?"
"It's been about half a year."
"Never took it out again?"
"Never." Taotao affirmed.
This is strange. How could Wang Cairen suddenly learn about the bead half a year later and ask the saint to beg for the bead?
"Who usually keeps the Mei Zhu?"
Taotao's eyes suddenly turned red, "I usually keep it in my queen's private vault. There are two keys. I have one here and my queen has one there. You must have two keys to open the box."
This means that the thief must steal two keys to get the charm beads. Although this is difficult, it is not impossible.
"Have your and your concubine's keys ever gone missing?" Lan Yin asked.
"Probably not. I always carry the key with me and never dare to leave it for a moment. The key with the Queen is always kept in her dowry. The only people who can touch the dowry are us. A palace maid."
Lan Yin glanced at Taotao, which meant that Taotao could definitely get the two keys.
"You don't have to doubt her!" Concubine Guo Xian said suddenly, applying kodan, "She is my confidant, I completely trust her."
Taotao's eyes became even redder.
Lan Yin was noncommittal. It was not that there were no suspects in this case, but that there were too many suspects.
At least the maids around Guo Xianfei are all suspects. Do we need to investigate them one by one?
"What excuse are you using now? When do you need to hand over the beads of beauty to the Holy One?" Lan Yin wanted to know how long she had.
Taotao glanced at Concubine Guo Xian and said softly: "The empress told the saint that the bead of beauty is the inner elixir of the thousand-year-old fox demon. Now there is a fox demon in Chang'an City. If you take out the bead rashly, you might attract the fox demon." To rob it, you need to bathe and fast for fifteen days, let Taoist Zhao Guizhen offer the purifying pearls, and then hand them over to the saint."
Lan Yin was in awe of Concubine Guo Xian at this moment. Sure enough, survival in the palace was impossible without means. With these words, one can delay time, and the other can blame others, and the room for maneuver suddenly becomes much larger.
"Your Majesty, you have such a good plan!" Lan Yin said with sincere admiration.
Concubine Guo Xian smiled and said: "This is not my idea, it is the intention of my grandmother and the Queen Mother."
Lan Yin's heart skipped a beat. Sure enough, the eldest princess of Hanyang still had a backup plan and did not put all her hopes on her.
Even among the people, there is now a rumor that the emperor used the blood of young girls to make elixirs. It is conceivable that the court should not agree with the saint taking elixirs. If the eldest princess of Hanyang followed up properly, she would not be able to bring down Taoist Zhao Guizhen. impossible.
From the moment Lan Yin decided to enter the palace, she had already foreseen the difficulty of this journey, but it was not until this moment that she fully realized how deep the abyss was.
"Yang Siji? Yang Siji?" Seeing Lan Yin deep in thought, Taotao couldn't help but remind her.
"Well, I wonder if aunt can bring me the box containing the beads?" Lan Yin came back to her senses.
"Okay, knowing that Yang Siji is coming, the empress has just ordered Fengxian to bring the box over."
Lan Yin thought of the box Fengxian was holding. It was square and inconspicuous.
Taotao took out the box, and Lan Yin checked it in her hand. It should be made of rosewood, with complicated patterns carved on it.
Taotao took two keys and opened the box.
"Hey, why is Mei Zhu still in there?" Lan Yin said in surprise.
"This is the imitation that the empress put in." Taotao said carefully.
Lan Yin picked up the fake bead and looked at it carefully in the sunlight. It was completely transparent and reflected colorful light.
The fake ones are so beautiful, but what is the real one like?
"How is it? You can't tell it's fake, right?" Concubine Guo Xian said arrogantly.
Lan Yin shook her head.
"This fake charm bead is exactly the same as the real charm bead we saw, but the real charm bead may have other effects that we don't know about." Taotao said worriedly.
Lan Yin also thinks the same way. No matter how fake it is, it will still be fake after all. It is always too risky.
Lan Yin carefully took out the fake charm beads and carefully inspected the inside of the box, but it looked like an ordinary box without even a compartment.
"I wonder if there is a possibility. There are two identical boxes. As long as the thief takes away the box of the true bead and leaves the empty box, wouldn't he take away the bead?" Lan Yin thought of another possibility. .
"This is impossible. Yang Siji also saw the size of this box. Holding it in his hand, it is impossible not to attract people's attention. The private treasury of the Concubine Xian is guarded by dedicated personnel. Without the Queen's warrant, no one can Take out such a precious box." Taotao affirmed.
"Is it possible that someone went to steal it privately at night?"
"It's probably not feasible. The guards of the private treasury live next to the private treasury. There are also Jinwu guards patrolling the palace at night. The probability of taking out the box is not high."
What Taotao said makes sense. The only possibility is to get the box on the way.
"When we pick up valuables, we usually send two people to pick them up so they can supervise each other." Taotao added as if she knew what Lan Yin was thinking.
Since the box cannot be replaced, the only way is for someone to take out the True Bead from the private vault, put it on his body and take it away. As long as the speed is fast enough, another person may not be able to discover it.
In the past half year, there must have been many people coming in and out of Concubine Xian's private treasury. This investigation would probably be quite laborious, so perhaps we should start by looking at who has access to the key.
The most suspicious ones are these palace ladies!
