The dim back

Zhang Yulu looked at the official in front of him and asked, "Didn't you look carefully enough?"

The officials immediately turned to Zhang Yulu respectfully: "Princess, you are joking, Princess. When you left the city, everyone followed you, but then you disappeared."

As they were talking, everyone called over Cui'er, the princess's personal maid.

Cui'er, after seeing Zhang Yulu, started to dodge and her eyes became a little vague.

Zhang Yulu comforted Cui'er: "Don't be afraid, tell me what you know. If you can't tell me, I can help you."

Cui Er, seeing that Zhang Yulu was kind, finally let down her guard and said, "You're right, I should have told you what I knew. When the monarch and I left the city that day, we were clearly going to the city to burn incense, but a group of bandits came instead."

Zhang Yulu thought it was obvious: "So the bandits took the princess away, then why did she disappear later? Didn't you send anyone to look for her?"

Cui Er smiled bitterly and said, "Princess, although you are of noble status, if you are kidnapped by bandits, it will be very embarrassing if the news gets out. After all, a girl's reputation is important. If you are kidnapped into a bandit's lair, how can you escape unscathed?"

Zhang Yulu thought it was ridiculous: "That's why I looked for it privately, didn't dare to declare it, and publicized it widely. I missed a great opportunity this time."

Liu Zhongqing thought it made sense: "Then why are they suddenly saying that the princess is dead?"

An official nearby came over and said, "We saw the princess's clothes outside the city, and then we saw a charred body. I think they killed the princess when she was trying to escape."

Zhang Yulu thought that they should examine the body first: "Then take me to the scene to have a look. I want to see what the body looks like."

The official brought Zhang Yulu to the scene and pulled out the body: "Come and take a look at what this body looks like."

After Zhang Yulu looked through the corpse, she smiled happily: "This is obviously a fake. If it was the princess, how could it be possible? There is a scar on the back."

Zhang Yulu pointed to a corner of the body and said, "Look at this scar, it's obviously from when he was a child. How could a princess, a princess of a royal family, get injured like this?"

Cui Er immediately understood: "That's great, so the princess is not dead. What happened? Where is the princess now?"

Zhang Yulu narrowed her eyes and looked at Cui'er: "I have to ask you this. Usually when you are with the princess, who does the princess get along with better?"

Cui Er lowered her head, shook her head and said, "I really don't know. The princess was very unhappy about getting married, so I took her out for fun. I didn't expect that the princess was kidnapped by robbers."

Zhang Yulu insisted: "Did he leave on his own, or was he taken away by bandits?"

Cui Er understood: "What is the princess doubting?"

Qiu Feng said shamelessly, "Could it be that your princess knows the bandit leader? Otherwise, why would she go outside the city?"

Cui Er looked at Qiu Feng with her beautiful eyes: "Concubine Qiu, you are wrong. Our princess is aboveboard. At least she will not be someone else's concubine."

Qiu Feng was very angry and slapped Cui Er in the face: "What do you mean? I am also the Prince Qing's man now, how dare you talk to me like that."

Faced with such a situation, no one present dared to say anything, and the officials present all lowered their heads.

Liu Zhongqing then said to Cui'er, "What did your princess teach you? Isn't it a little wrong to talk like this?"

Cui Er also realized her mistake: "Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Seeing Cui Er kneeling on the ground, Zhang Yulu was helpless: "I know you are eager to protect your master, but what Qiu Feng said is not without reason. What kind of people does your young lady have contact with?"

Cui'er licked her lips, but still said nothing?

Zhang Yulu threatened: "If you don't tell me the truth now, you will regret it when your young lady gets into trouble. Not everyone can be a bandit."

Cui Er had no choice but to tell Zhang Yulu: "I can only tell the princess."

Zhang Yulu said to Liu Zhongqing, "Then I'll go out for a while. You wait for me here with the others."

After a while, Zhang Yulu and Cui'er came to the inner hall. Cui'er knelt down and said, "Princess, my young lady originally fell in love with a scholar who failed the imperial examination, but my master disagreed. My young lady wanted to elope."

Zhang Yulu had already thought of it: "I already know, so I asked you that just now, but after your young lady was kidnapped, you were not worried that he would treat your young lady badly, after all, there were other bandits in the village."

Cui Er shook her head: "Mr. Guang, no, they are very good to our young lady. If there is anything delicious, they will treat our young lady first. I even met them the day before yesterday."

Zhang Yulu felt that something was wrong: "Since he had already met your young lady, why did your old prince tell the emperor that the princess was missing?"

Cui Er cried and said, "Our old prince was afraid of losing face, so he said that the princess was missing. He didn't want the princess to embarrass him, so he told everyone that the princess was dead."

Zhang Yulu didn't expect that a prince could be so cruel to his own daughter and let him do nothing.

Zhang Yulu felt a little embarrassed: "We are both daughters, Your Majesty, don't you feel sorry for me? My father treats me and my sister equally well."

Cui Er nodded: "It is true for ordinary families, but our princess's mother has never been favored because she is the daughter of a criminal."

Zhang Yulu felt that something was wrong: "If she is the daughter of a criminal, why would she be with the prince? She would rather be a concubine. Actually, she is not a concubine, but someone who hides her identity."

Cui Er rolled her eyes and said, "Our Madam has been very sad recently, but she has been unable to express herself. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, our Princess was born to our Madam, but our old Princess has never liked the Princess. Fortunately, she has no children of her own."

Zhang Yulu always felt that something was missing: "You have to tell me the truth. If I find out that you lied, I won't be able to help your princess. On the contrary, I will hurt him."

Hearing what Zhang Yulu said, Cui Er could only smile and say, "I didn't expect the princess to be so amazing. Everyone says that the prince loves Concubine Qiu, but it seems that's not as the rumors say. Is the princess so amazing? Of course the prince will look at you with new eyes."

Zhang Yulu felt that he had asked enough questions, so he took Cui'er out.

Liu Zhongqing ran over and said, "Tell me, what exactly is going on? What actions do I need to take?"