Chapter 342
From this direction, it looked even more deserted and was a little further away from the main palace path ahead. No one would notice her if she went through the small path, so Wei Yuewu was intrigued.
She was so curious to check out the palace! She wanted to go there right now!
Her childhood memories all pointed to this palace, as if there was something guiding her. She subconsciously walked forward.
“Stop right there! Sixth Miss Wei, what do you want to do?” A cold voice came from behind her, carrying a bit of imperceptible anxiety and urgency.
Jin Ling had already turned around one step ahead of her. Wei Yuewu also stopped and watched in shock as the Third Prince was walking over with his hands behind his back.
“Greetings, Your Highness!” After a slight pause, Wei Yuewu stopped and bowed.
“Where do you want to go, Sixth Miss Wei?” With a cold expression, the Third Prince pointed to the palace in front of him. There was only one destination from this direction.
“It seems that the palace is empty. I’m curious, so I want to go and check it out.” Wei Yuewu narrowed her eyes and smiled gently.
“Curious? Sixth Miss Wei, you should know that curiosity is the most forbidden in the Palace!” The Third Prince reprimanded fiercely. “A lot of people died because they were curious!”
Wei Yuewu was not intimidated by the Third Prince’s harshness. There was still a faint smile on her face. “Your Highness, are you trying to say that I can’t go to that place? But I seemed to have been there when I was young.”
“When you were young? How young? It’s amazing how you can still remember something that happened when you were young. Aren’t you worried that you might have remembered it wrongly? You might even die without knowing how and why!” The Third Prince’s gaze fell on Wei Yuewu.
The hair of the girl in front of him was as black and silky as a waterfall. There was a faint smile on her fair and flawless face. Coupling with a pair of sparkly and bright eyes, she looked natural and refreshing even without many accessories.
However, her face was slightly pale, and the colour seemed to drain from her lips. She seemed to be a bit weaker as compared to when he first met her. The Third Prince’s gaze became more and more profound as he looked at Wei Yuewu.
“Your Highness, is it that serious? It’s just an empty palace. Her Majesty has given us permission to walk around freely!” Wei Yuewu raised her eyes and smiled. Her clear eyes actually gave off a brimming feeling in an instant, and that familiar feeling captivated the Third Prince, so much so that he was almost unable to move his eyes away.
Sensing the Third Prince’s absent-mindedness, the keen Wei Yuewu asked with a smile, “Your Highness, is there something unusual or different there?”
Whether it was for her or the Third Prince, there must be something different or special about that place. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that there was no trace of the Third Prince in her memory, Wei Yuewu would even have suspected that the Third Prince was also there at that time.
The Third Prince withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyes slightly. He took out a bottle of medicine from his pocket and handed it over. “This is a bottle of medicine made by the imperial doctor in the Palace to strengthen the body and health. Look at you, so pale and weak. Take this!”
Did he give her medicine? Wei Yuewu was taken aback. Brocade and jewelry were common gifts, but she had never seen a man give a woman medicine.
“Your Highness…” She raised her clear eyes in surprise and glanced at the Third Prince. She did not understand what this Third Prince meant.
“This is the medicine from the Palace. It might be of help to your body!” The Third Prince suddenly became annoyed. He grabbed Wei Yuewu’s hand, roughly stuffed the medicine into her hand and then turned and left.
He did not give Wei Yuewu any time to ask a question.
Behind him, Wei Yuewu frowned slightly. The feeling that the Third Prince gave her was really too strange.
It was as if he was a familiar stranger, or rather a strange familiar person!
This feeling was very strange, as if the key to understanding everything was with this the Third Prince. However, it was extremely difficult to make him talk.
So, there were many things that she had to investigate herself, right?
“Miss, what medicine is this?” Jin Ling asked nervously. “You can’t take the medicine casually. Although you are quite weak, you don’t need to take any medication.”
“Just leave it be. I don’t need it anyway.” Wei Yuewu nodded, but unexpectedly put the medicine into her pocket. A trace of thoughts flashed across her eyes. If only the Third Prince could tell her more!
She believed that the Third Prince knew many things about her, whether it was the matter about herself, her mother, that little elder sister, or the Palace…
“Miss, do you still want to go over there to take a look?” Jin Ling didn’t say anything when she saw that Wei Yuewu had put the medicine bottle away, but she pointed at the palace and asked.
“Let’s go over and take a look!” Wei Yuewu nodded firmly. Since there was such a chance, she naturally had to go and take a look. This time, they were a bit far from the main palace path, right at the back of the palace. Their location was remote and secluded. Moreover, she was on her way here. Even if someone spotted her, they would only think that she was strolling around.
Since Wei Yuewu had decided to go over, Jin Ling would not have any doubts. They acted as if they were strolling around and headed towards the palace.
This palace was not big. It was the same as the palace that Wei Fengyao had temporarily lived in. They were both considered to be relatively small. Perhaps it was due to its remote location and quietness, when they walked over, an eerie feeling sent chills down their spines.
Then, they stood at the back door of the palace, where a large iron lock was tightly locked. Judging from the rust marks on the lock, they determined that the door had been locked for a long time, so much so that the lock was rusted.
A very old nurse bent over and diligently swept the floor. Even when she saw Wei Yuewu bring Jin Ling over, she did not raise her head and still diligently cleaned the withered branches and leaves under her feet.
Slowly, the old nurse approached Wei Yuewu’s feet as she was sweeping. She raised her slightly turbid eyes and glanced at Wei Yuewu. In a daze, she suddenly threw away the broom in her hand and knelt down with a thud, stammering frightfully, “Your Highness! I-I’m sorry! I didn’t see you!”
Your Highness? Wei Yuewu was shocked and hurriedly winked at Jin Ling as a hint.
Jin Ling quickly went over to support the old nurse and reassured gently, “You must be mistaken. She is the Sixth Young Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. She is not a master in the Palace.”
Jin Ling’s gentle tone calmed the old nurse’s emotions. She stood up while holding Jin Ling’s hand and carefully looked at Wei Yuewu’s face. After a while, she seemed to see Wei Yuewu clearly. She hurriedly lowered her head and explained, “Sixth Young Lady… I… I mistook you for someone else. I thought you were the concubine from the Palace.”
“Are you from Shufang Palace?” Wei Yuewu smiled and asked casually.
“Yes, I am from Shufang Palace. My eyesight is not very good, so I stayed here to clean up.” The old nurse nodded hard, her voice a little loud.
“You are the only one in such a big palace?” Wei Yuewu smiled warmly.
“Yes. Everyone was transferred away. There is nothing much we can do in a palace without a master,” the old nurse asserted.
“So… why didn’t you leave?” Jin Ling looked up and down at the old nurse and asked in confusion.
People strived to succeed. Since there was nothing much to do here, why did this old nurse stay here?
Wei Yuewu quietly sized up the old nurse. It was really rare to see such an old nurse in the Palace. When it came to a certain time, palace maids would be released from the Palace. Only some maids who were highly regarded by their Master would stay and be promoted to the position of nurse-in-charge in the end. However, which Master kept this old nurse here?
Moreover, the nurse-in-charge was not very valued. If something happened to her Master, she would often lose her life too. What was the matter with this ordinary old nurse in front of her?
“I stayed here voluntarily. I-I used to work in this place…” The old nurse sighed. Her eyes fell on the dark brown palace wall, and her expression was complicated.
“I heard that this place was haunted. Aren’t you afraid of staying here?” Jin Ling pointed at the palace wall, her face full of fear. She lowered her voice and asked in a shaky tone.
“Haunted? I am old anyway, so I am really not afraid of ghosts. If there is really a ghost who wants to catch me, it does not matter.” The old nurse chuckled very indifferently. The wrinkles on her face gave off a vibe that her life was dim.
It seemed that the old nurse would collapse to the ground at any time and place.
Wei Yuewu walked over, squatted down, picked up the bald broom, handed it over, and said gently, “Here, your broom.”
“Thank you, Sixth Young Lady!” The old nurse’s hearing was good, and she remembered that Jin Ling introduced this young lady as the Sixth Young Lady from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
“Who is the last Master here?” Wei Yuewu handed the broom to the old nurse and asked softly.
“The last Master? Oh, it has been a long time! She was the Former Emperor’s concubine of low rank, I think. As for who she was, I can’t remember it now.” The old nurse thought for a moment and shook her head forcefully.
“Where did she go?” Wei Yuewu asked thoughtfully as she turned to look at the palace.
“She died! They all died. None of them survived!” The old nurse’s gaze also fell on the palace wall. She shook her head and added, “In this palace, if the Master could stand out, she would have stood out a long time ago. I lost count of how many people died in such a palace. No one even remembered who the Master who once lived here was!”
“After that, no one lived here anymore?” Wei Yuewu asked, her eyes slightly cold.
“No, no one. Rumors about this place spread around the imperial palace, claiming that this palace was haunted and cursed. Some even claimed that they had seen ghosts here. Actually, people died in every corner of the Palace, but why didn’t anyone say that they had seen ghosts in other places?” The old nurse shook her head again. With the broom in her hand, she trembled slightly as she walked to the other side and continued to sweep, looking like she didn’t want to talk anymore.
In other words, when the incident happened, this palace was empty. Then, why did she come here? At that time, she was just a child. How could she come to such a place alone? Who brought her here? Or who led her here?
The helplessness, panic, and fear at that time seemed to be right in front of her eyes. Her hand quietly pressed on her chest, feeling the rapid heartbeat. Her heart seemed to thump a bit faster than usual…
“Miss, what is that?” Jin Ling suddenly pointed to a corner of the palace wall and exclaimed.