Like the general bedroom, the eighth princess's bedroom is also divided into an outer hall and an inner hall. The outer hall is mainly used to receive guests, while the inner hall is equivalent to the bedroom, and only the princess and her personal maids can enter.
Everyone in the Jiulong Mansion entered the palace under the leadership of the eighth princess's personal maid. Standing in the outer hall of the palace, Chen Yutian squinted his eyes and looked around, searching every inch of space around him.
At this time, the palace still looked the same as it did after the princess was found missing in the morning.
There is almost nothing in the outer hall of the palace. Except for a few large red wooden pillars supporting the palace, there is a wooden table placed directly opposite the palace door. There are several Taishi chairs placed around the table, all covered by Wrapped in colorful cloth, it looks very beautiful.
Chen Yutian's eyes rested on an empty teacup on the table.
He frowned slightly, then walked over, picked up the teacup and looked at it carefully, put it under his nose and smelled it, and then turned his attention to the tea set that was also placed next to the table, but some distance away from the teacup.
This tea set is very exquisite, with a total of four teacups and a teapot. Except for the teacup in Chen Yutian's hand, the other three teacups and teapot are neatly placed on the tray aside.
Chen Yutian looked at the tea cup in his hand.
Then Weiwei picked up the teapot, weighed it, opened the lid, brought it to her nose and smelled it.
Through his observations and feelings just now, he could confirm that there were still tea residues in this teacup and teapot until not long ago.
But it's empty now.
Putting down the teacup in his hand slightly, Chen Yutian turned to ask the palace maid who led them in, "Girl, was there any tea in this teacup and teapot before?"
The palace maid smiled and nodded, "Your Excellency, you are too polite. With my status as a palace maid, how can I be worthy of being called a girl by your Lord... There is indeed some tea left in this teacup and teapot, but just now I Seeing that it was already cold, I took it upon myself to clean it up. What's wrong? Sir, could I have done something wrong? "
Chen Yutian shook his head slightly, "I don't know, I can't be sure yet."
As he spoke, he walked towards one of the windows in the outer hall and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"There are no signs of damage to the doors or windows. It seems that the murderer must have forced his way in..."
"The position of the teacup and teapot is a bit biased. It can be imagined that before the eighth princess disappeared, she should have been sitting there drinking tea..."
"And since the murderer came out of the palace openly and openly, she should have noticed it. So her silent disappearance now means..."
"Also, if the murderer really entered through the palace gate, then there should be no reason why the guards and maids guarding the palace gate couldn't see it..."
Thoughts flashed through his mind one by one, forming a line that gradually became clearer.
…
While Chen Yutian was observing the outer hall, Xue Tianhan went straight to the inner hall.
He was very familiar with Chen Yutian, so when he saw Chen Yutian starting to look around the outer hall, he chose to enter the inner hall without hesitation.
This is a kind of trust, a kind of trust between friends without any reason.
He believed that with Chen Yutian's ability, he would be able to see through all the clues in the outer hall without his help at all.
The furnishings of the inner hall are much more complicated than those of the outer hall.
If the furnishings of the outer hall are somewhat similar to the reception hall of ordinary people, then the inner hall is without exception the boudoir of a lady from a wealthy family.
As soon as he entered this place, Xue Tianhan's eyes were quickly surrounded by a touch of bright pink. Opposite the connection between the inner hall and the outer hall, there was a large pink bed. There was only one quilt on the bed. There are two long curtains hanging on both sides, also pink.
Near the head of the bed, there is an extremely exquisite-looking dressing table. The tabletop is made of fine wood and is equipped with a bronze mirror about two feet high. It is covered with various exquisite inscriptions. The pattern is like a work of art.
Opposite the dressing table, there were two wooden cabinets made of sandalwood. Xue Tianhan opened them and took a look, and found that they were all women's clothes. They must be the princess's wardrobe.
Xue Tianhan glanced carefully and even saw some women's underwear inside. He couldn't help but keep his eyes peeled, and then closed the cabinet as if nothing had happened.
Then, he set his sights on the boudoir bed.
To be precise, it was placed on the quilt that had been spread out on the bed.
"No matter how you look at it...it looks like you are about to go to bed..." A voice suddenly sounded from behind her. Xue Tianhan subconsciously looked back, and then saw Ling Miaoyin standing behind her without knowing it. Looking at the quilt on the bed, he was thoughtful.
"Yes, yes...it's still broad daylight, why is the quilt still spread on the bed? Could it be..."
On the side, Xuan Xi also nodded, but then his expression changed slightly as if he thought of something.
"It seems that you are also aware of it." Xue Tianhan smiled lightly, turned and left.
Ling Miaoyin looked at his back in confusion, somewhat puzzled, "Realized...what?"
Xuan Xi frowned slightly and thought for a while, then turned to look at Chen Yutian who was questioning the palace maid in the outer palace, thoughtfully.
And Ling Miaoyin looked at the quilt spread out on the bed, and suddenly an idea flashed in her mind, and she smiled slightly.
"I see..." As she finished speaking, her eyes fell on Xue Tianhan who was walking toward Chen Yutian in the outer hall.
…
"Let me ask you, what was the situation like before the eighth princess disappeared last night?"
Seeing Chen Yutian in front of him ask this question seriously, the personal maid who led them in couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
"Same as usual..." She looked at Chen Yutian in confusion, completely confused as to why she would ask such a non-nutritious question.
But Chen Yutian did not give up, but continued to ask: "If you think about it carefully, is it really the same as usual? No matter the expression or movement, or even the slightest abnormal behavior or expression compared with usual, there is nothing What?"
"Abnormal behavior or expression..." The palace maid murmured this sentence, thinking about it carefully, and suddenly a sparkle appeared in her eyes, "After the Lord mentioned it, I did think of something."
"What is it?" Chen Yutian asked eagerly.
The palace maid thought for a while, seemed to confirm what she said next, and then said again, "I can't explain clearly, but I remember that when the eighth princess returned to the palace last night, there was indeed one thing that was very different from usual. I I remember that she seemed a little nervous at that time, and Her Royal Highness the Princess ran all the way back to the palace."
"Nervous? Trotting?" Chen Yutian accurately grasped these two key words,
"Yes. Although I thought it was my misunderstanding at first, but now looking back on the state of Her Royal Highness at that time, she did seem a little nervous, and as soon as she returned to the palace, she ordered the palace door to be closed tightly, so that none of us could enter without permission. Go in and disturb her."
Chen Yutian narrowed his eyes slightly, "Go on."
"Her Royal Highness also asked me to make a pot of tea for her and bring it in, but she rarely drinks tea."
"Oh?" Chen Yutian raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Then what?"
"Then we waited outside the palace... until a fire broke out in the cold palace..."
"Wait..." Chen Yutian suddenly interrupted her narration and asked, "Were you here when the fire broke out?"
The palace maid shook her head, with a bitter look on her face, "No, the nearby guards and palace maids were temporarily recruited to put out the fire. We and the palace guards were called there, and we didn't come back until the fire was out."
Hearing this, Chen Yutian showed an unknown smile on his face.
"Has there been any change in Your Majesty the Princess since you came back?"
"No." The palace maid shook her head again, "When we came back, the lights in the palace had been extinguished. At that time, we all thought that Her Highness the Princess had gone to bed, so we did not wake her up again... Until this morning, I came over to prepare to call Her Highness the Princess. When I got up, I found that she had already..."
At this point, the palace maid's face changed, and her tone of voice also had a hint of crying.
It can be seen that the disappearance of the eighth princess made her feel uncomfortable.
Chen Yutian nodded slightly, then smiled slightly and said, "It seems that things are very clear..."
When he spoke, his eyes turned slightly, and they met Xue Tianhan's eyes for an instant.
The next moment, smiles appeared on both of their faces at the same time...
They have basically figured out the circumstances of this disappearance case. The question now is who the murderer is, why he kidnapped the eighth princess for no reason, and whether this person has any connection with the cold palace fire. , is the chamberlain who was burned after death in the cold palace related to this person?
All this has no answer yet.
At this moment, the palace maid seemed to have thought of something again. She looked at Chen Yutian and said, "Sir, I have thought of something again, which may have something to do with the disappearance of the princess."
"Oh? What is it?" Chen Yutian looked at her curiously.
The palace maid thought for a while and said in a very positive tone: "I remember when I returned to the princess's palace after the fire, I smelled a very fragrant smell at the door. It was much more fragrant than the rouge and gouache that Her Royal Highness usually used. "
"Oh? Does it smell strange?" At this time, Gongsun also came over. Hearing the palace maid's words, he immediately showed a thoughtful expression.
The same is true for Chen Yutian.
