The sky gradually darkened, and rain drizzled down outside.
Meng Qianshan paced back and forth at the entrance of Anyin Hall, feeling uneasy. He repeatedly sent servants to the gate to check if the prince had returned.
That morning, His Highness had asked him to accompany him to the Ministry of Justice. His Highness had been silent on the ride back from the prison. He seemed moody, his face dark and expressionless.
When they reached Changping Street, about a third of a mile away from Qinghe Ward, the Prince of Jing ordered the carriage to stop and got out on his own.
“Don’t let anyone follow me,” he’d instructed. “I just want to take a walk. I’ll return to the residence shortly.”
Meng Qianshan wanted to dissuade him, but seeing Jiang Suizhou’s cold expression, he didn’t dare to speak.
Feeling he had no choice in the matter, Meng Qianshan helped Jiang Suizhou out of the carriage and sent two guards to follow him from a distance.
But that was hours ago, and he hadn’t returned yet.
As it grew later, Meng Qianshan’s anxiety reached its peak.
He hated how obedient he always was, but it’d been ingrained in him since childhood. He wasn’t the brightest, and His Highness had little fondness for him. However, he hadn’t been dismissed in the years since as he’d been assigned to the Prince of Jing by the late emperor.
Meng Qianshan had always been a cautious people pleaser. He followed the prince’s every command, hoping to make up for his lack of intelligence with agreeability. But now, this very obedience had led to trouble.
As he paced for what felt like the hundredth time, he heard the sound of a wheelchair approaching.
Meng Qianshan looked up belatedly to see Huo Wujiu already in front of him.
“What’s wrong?” Huo Wujiu asked.
“Madam, it’s all this stupid servant’s fault!” Meng Qianshan rambled in distress. “I let His Highness go out alone, and he still hasn’t come back…”
Huo Wujiu looked toward the door.
The rain wasn’t heavy, but it’d been drizzling for a while without stopping.
“Very stupid, indeed,” Huo Wujiu confirmed.
His tone was calm, but it carried an undeniable authority that made Meng Qianshan freeze, unable to speak. He cautiously looked at Huo Wujiu.
Huo Wujiu’s gaze shifted from the rain outside the window to Meng Qianshan’s worried face.
“It’s so late, and you haven’t sent anyone to look for him?” he asked, his voice stern. “What good is pacing around here?”
As if roused from a dream, Meng Qianshan quickly snapped into action again.
“You’re right! How could I have been this negligent?!”
Just as he began to rush out into the rain himself, a servant came running in the opposite direction.
“Qianshan-gonggong, His Highness has returned!” the servant called out.
Meng Qianshan hurried to the corridor.
The servant ran up to him and gave his report, panting and breathless.
“His Highness has returned. Although the guards held an umbrella for him, he still got a little wet,” the servant said.
“Where did His Highness go?” Meng Qianshan asked fretfully.
The servant hesitated, then spoke in a low voice.
“Someplace where he, um…had a bit too much to drink.”