Chapter 118: Interfering?

Song Lingyi lowered her eyebrows.

She was clearly at a loss, but in Empress Shen's eyes, she looked like a pitiful girl who was forced by power and was heartbroken and depressed.

But she had to consider the Crown Prince's face and couldn't lose her temper in front of outsiders. Queen Shen took a deep breath and said in the gentlest tone of her life: "Miss Song, don't worry. Pei Erlang is a rare and capable minister. I will never let a pearl be buried in the dust. You and Pei Erlang are in love. When you two get married next year, I will definitely send someone to send a big gift to express my feelings."

"Thank you, Her Majesty, for your consideration!" Song Lingyi stood up and bowed to express her gratitude, taking this opportunity to bring up the matter of leaving the palace.

She has been in the palace for so long, and the Duke's Mansion must be worried if they don't have any news about her.

Fortunately, Queen Shen was straightforward and did not keep her any longer. She also ordered the aunt in charge to take a pile of gold, silver and jewelry from the warehouse and give them to her.

Song Lingyi was surprised and happy.

She had thought that coming to Yongning Palace would inevitably lead to her being held accountable for entering the palace without permission, but she had not expected Queen Shen to be so generous. Not only did she make the decision for her, she also gave her a large sum of 'hush money'.

There was a cold wind outside the palace.

Xiao Mingyi stood under the corridor with a cold and calm expression. The palace maids in the courtyard nodded and lowered their brows, as silent as a cicada.

After a long time, he suddenly heard a noise at the door of the main hall. Xiao Mingyi slowly turned around and looked at Song Lingyi who came out in a thick cloak, his black eyes narrowed slightly.

Their eyes suddenly met. Song Lingyi felt inexplicably guilty. She bowed and was about to leave, but was stopped by Xiao Mingyi.

"Did your mother give you a hard time?" Xiao Mingyi frowned.

What happened today was because he was not careful enough.

The head aunt was right beside her, so Song Lingyi didn't dare to answer. She shook her head repeatedly: "No, the Queen Mother is very kind. She gave me a lot of things and said that she would give us gifts when my brother Jianzhi and I get married next year."

Xiao Mingyi didn't say anything, knowing that she was hinting to him that his mother already knew about what happened between them, and he chuckled softly.

"Really?" He glanced at the gold, silver, and jewelry held by the palace servants, his voice sinking slightly. "Although these are precious, they are just worldly possessions. If you like them, I will give you something more special and precious someday."

"No."

Song Lingyi didn't think about whether he had hidden meaning in his words, she just refused: "I am already Brother Jianzhi's fiancée, I can't accept gifts from other men. Your Highness, please keep it for the future Crown Princess."

As soon as she finished speaking, that cold gaze swept over and circled her face. Xiao Mingyi curled his lips, but there was no smile in his eyes.

"I'm sorry for scaring you today. I'll send someone to escort you out of the palace." He turned to look at Feng Tong who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, "Send Miss Song out of the palace."

Feng Tong bowed and said "yes", and made a gesture to invite Miss Song to follow him.

When the figure in white fur disappeared outside the Yongning Gate, Xiao Mingyi's narrow and long phoenix eyes were filled with desire, and the remaining smile at the corner of his lips completely disappeared. He turned and walked into the main hall.

There was a quiet and low atmosphere in the hall.

Walking around the painted screen, he saw Queen Shen sitting there with a stern look on her face.

This scene was like the time when he made a mistake as a child and returned to the palace to wait for a scolding from his mother. He exuded an awe-inspiring majesty that brooked no questioning.

But he was no longer a child, and facing the angry Queen Shen, his heart was not greatly disturbed.

"Your Majesty, your son respectfully wishes you the best of health."

Snap——

Empress Shen, who was sitting at the head of the table, slammed her teacup heavily on the table beside her and shouted angrily with an unsteady breath: "An? How can I be at peace with what you did?!"

No wonder he refused to reveal the identity of the girl he liked, and even refused to bring her to see him after finding her. It turned out that she was already engaged and had no interest in him at all!

The Crown Prince who is the regent of the country is so domineering and rude when it comes to his children's private affairs!

Xiao Mingyi remained calm as he sat down on a side chair and said calmly, "Your Majesty, your words are too harsh. I don't know what I have done to provoke you so much anger."

Seeing that he still refused to admit it, Queen Shen said in a low voice: "Are you using the young master's case to force the young lady to cancel the engagement? Also, before, I asked you to bring the person into the palace to see, and you refused three or four times. Are you planning to force the person to cancel the engagement and then bring him into the palace?!"

Xiao Mingyi remained calm and composed despite being caught in a trap. "Your Majesty, what are you talking about? I was forced to do this. If I bring a woman with an engagement into the palace, aren't you afraid she'll be frightened?"

“…” Queen Shen was speechless for a moment.

The aunt in charge standing beside her suddenly opened her eyes wide, thinking that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince didn't care whether the other person was engaged or not, and was just thinking about stealing the other person's girlfriend! This was definitely not the behavior of a wise ruler!

"Asshole!" Queen Shen slammed the table in anger, stood up suddenly, pointed at Xiao Mingyi and said, "I will never allow you to have any evil thoughts!"

"Ms. Song and Pei Erlang are in love, how can you interfere? Is that reasonable?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the calmness on Xiao Mingyi's jade-like face faded away little by little. He stared at the teacup in his hand without saying a word.

Interfere?

If we talk about the order of events, the one who intervened should be Pei Zhao.

"In short, the marriage between the Lu and Pei families is secured by this palace! If you still have the dignity of a crown prince, you should focus on the right path, go through the imperial selection and get married as soon as possible, and stop dwelling on someone else's fiancée!"

Queen Shen spoke with great force. Seeing that the prince still did not express his opinion, she tried to persuade him earnestly.

Today I wanted to give Miss Song a lesson, thinking that it was she who was keeping the prince in suspense, which caused the disagreement between mother and son on the selection of concubines. I didn't expect that the root of the problem was the prince himself. I am really embarrassed.

After all the persuasion, Queen Shen was really having a headache and waved her hand to signal the prince to leave.

…

In the afternoon, the streets were bustling and lively.

The carriage left the Imperial City and headed straight for the Duke's Mansion. During the time the driver had been 'missing,' the eunuchs had warned him not to ask a single question, acting as if nothing had happened.

When passing by a pastry shop, Song Lingyi asked the driver to stop, went into the store and bought several kinds of pastries. When asked when she got back, she said that she was greedy and had been walking around outside for a while.

It was already quarter of an hour later when they returned to the Duke's Mansion. When the housekeeper saw Song Lingyi, he hurried forward to ask her where she had been. He also said that Pei Erlang had come to the mansion to visit his wife and was now in the hall.

Hearing this, Song Lingyi carried the cakes and walked quickly towards the hall.

The aroma of tea wafted through the quaint and elegant hall. Lu Tanwei sat at the head of the table, while Pei Zhao and Lu Yu occupied chairs on the left and right, respectively.

As soon as Song Lingyi entered the house, Lu Yu came up to her and took her hand, asking, "Where have you been, cousin? I've been back home for a while and you haven't come back yet. I'm so worried."

"I wandered around the market for a while and bought some of your favorite pastries." Song Lingyi smiled calmly and tilted her head to look at Pei Zhao. "Brother Jianzhi, aren't you busy with official business today?"

The curling tea mist enveloped that sharp-edged handsome face. Pei Zhao slowly put down his teacup, a gentle smile playing on his lips. "It's my day off today, so I came to the mansion to visit Madam Lu and see you as well."