He spent the whole morning playing with Qin Yue, yet did not see Zhu E; she usually doted on Yue'er the most, unwilling even to let her sleep with the wet nurse.
He found a maid and asked, but the latter hemmed and hawed, speaking at length without giving an answer. She only said that usually the Princess did not allow them to ask questions at will, and clearly did not know much. Chen Yi, however, suddenly understood: Zhu E must have gone to deal with official business.
It had been more than ten years since Qin Qingluo inherited the title of the Annan Royal Mansion; all major military and state affairs were decided by her. Yet there were always matters in the shadows that were inconvenient for her to decide personally, and a person's energy is limited, so she had entrusted almost all of them to Zhu E.
