Chapter 198 She Cried Very Sadly (Part 1)

In Yongning Palace, the empress dowager heard the emperor's arrival and slowly opened her eyes.

"Today is the Lantern Festival. Why is the emperor not watching the lanterns in the Vermillion Bird Tower coming to my palace?" she asked.

"My Queen Mother also said that today is the Lantern Festival. How can I let my Queen Mother be alone..." Li Jinyu entered the hall and suddenly saw Liang Yixin here. He paused.

The Queen Mother noticed this subtle movement and smiled faintly, lowering her eyes. "You are so thoughtful. I heard that you had two glasses of wine, but you still miss me."

Li Jinyu sat down calmly. "I was a little tipsy and wanted to rest, but I heard that the Yongning Palace was brightly lit. Isn't the Queen Mother waiting for me?"

Between these two sentences, it was clear that a crack had appeared in the most honorable mother-son relationship in the heavenly family.

The emperor naturally knew the reason why Yongning Palace was brightly lit. Today he came here to test and wait, but he did not expect to meet Liang Yixin.

She looked thinner than last time. Standing beside the Queen Mother, she lowered her eyes, as if... feeling a little uncomfortable?

"Aiya, I won't wait for anyone," the Queen Mother said. "I'm old and can't stand loneliness. Ask the palace maids to lighten the lights so we can have a festive atmosphere."

"Fortunately, there is still a lovely person around me," she looked at Liang Yixin, "Xin'er is a filial child. He stayed with me all night without complaining of being tired."

The emperor looked at Liang Yixin again, and in the candlelight, he realized that her face was slightly pale.

After a moment's silence, he asked, "What happened to my cousin?"

Hearing this, the Queen Mother also turned to look at Liang Yixin.

Liang Yixin didn't know what was wrong with her. She had been feeling listless lately, with a poor appetite and easy fatigue. She had been standing for a long time and was now dizzy and her calves were trembling.

She forced herself to bow and said, "Your Majesty, I am fine. I just haven't been resting well lately."

Just as she was about to stand up, her eyes blurred, the world spun around, and she fell down. Unexpectedly, someone rushed over and supported her the next moment.

It’s Li Jinyu.

His eyes were filled with worry: "Be careful, cousin."

Liang Yixin was stunned: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

When Li Jinyu raised his eyes again, the worry in his eyes had completely disappeared. He ignored the Queen Mother's inquiring eyes and calmly sat back in his seat.

"Mother, my cousin is not feeling well. It would be better for her to go back and rest."

"You're protecting me right now?" The Queen Mother laughed. "It seems the Emperor is also a caring person."

The old nanny beside him also laughed: "That's right, there is a folk saying, a virtuous wife makes a happy husband and a harmonious family. The emperor and Miss Liang are so harmonious, their future life will only be better."

Li Jinyu had no expression on his face and remained silent.

The Queen Mother looked at the two of them and suddenly stood up. "Forget it. I really am too old to stay up late."

She covered her mouth and pretended to be sleepy: "Your Majesty, there is no need to accompany me. Please send Xin'er back on my behalf."

After saying this, the old nanny helped her into the inner hall.

As soon as the Queen Mother left, the hall suddenly became deserted. After a moment of silence, Li Jinyu also stood up: "Cousin, I will take you back."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Liang Yixin lowered her head and followed him out.

A palace maid holding a lantern was in front, and the two men walked slowly in the middle, with the emperor's sedan chair behind them.

Liang Yixin was feeling unwell and walked very slowly. Li Jinyu took two steps and then stopped without a trace. His eyes slanted slightly, falling on the shadows on the bluestone floor.

Seeing her slender shadow catching up a little, he raised his foot again.

In this way, the two of them walked quietly all the way, and it took them a full quarter of an hour to reach the Dongchen Palace.

The little palace maid who had been following all the way saw from afar that Li Jinyu was leaving after sending Liang Yixin into the hall, so she immediately turned around and ran back.

When I ran to Yongning Palace, the empress dowager had not yet rested.

"How did the investigation go?" asked the old lady.

The young palace maid was the old nanny's goddaughter. Although she was young, she was very clever in her daily work. She knelt on the ground and reported everything she had seen.

"The Emperor and Miss Liang didn't speak. After sending Miss Liang into the palace, the Emperor left."

"You didn't say a word the whole time?" asked the old lady.

"No."

"Are there any other actions?"

"Speaking of movements..." The little maid thought carefully, "The two of them walked very slowly. It seemed that the emperor stopped every few steps to wait for Miss Liang."

Hearing this, the old nanny smiled and said to the Queen Mother, "It seems that your Majesty guessed right. The Emperor has feelings for Miss Liang."

The old queen also laughed, but the smile did not reach her eyes: "It's good that you have feelings, otherwise this chess piece would be wasted."

.

Pei Mansion.

After sending Princess Wu Jing back to the princess's mansion, Zhuang Wan also returned to Muxiangyuan.

She was restless, and after a moment's thought, she asked Lixia, "Do you have any way of finding out Pei Xingju's whereabouts? This evening is unusual, and I'm worried about him leaving alone."

Lixia comforted him: "Don't worry, young lady. How could the master be alone? He has many secret guards around him."

"But I still can't feel at ease. Beginning of summer," Zhuang Wan instructed, "send someone who can get information out there to see what the situation is like."

"Okay." Lixia nodded and went there immediately.

After a while, the maid came to report that Lord Shen had arrived.

"Chen Yi?"

Zhuang Wan immediately stood up and went to the front yard, but saw that Chen Yi was not with Pei Xingju, but came alone.

Chen Yi looked a little anxious. When he saw Zhuang Wan, he asked, "Miss Zhuang, have you seen Princess Wu Jing?"

"Are you looking for Princess Wu Jing?"

"That's it..." Shen Yi recounted what had happened before.

The crowd was thick, and Wu Jing was quite far away, so he decided to take Jiang Baohe to a safe place first. When he returned to look for Princess Wu Jing, she was gone. After a long search, he heard that a woman in purple had boarded a carriage. The description suggested the carriage belonged to the Pei residence, and purple was the color Princess Wu Jing was wearing tonight. Shen Yi immediately rushed over to inquire.

After hearing this, Zhuang Wan felt a little complicated.

She didn't want Chen Yi to abandon Princess Wu Jing and take Jiang Baohe away. No wonder Princess Wu Jing cried so sadly in the carriage.

"I have sent her back to the princess's mansion." Zhuang Wan said.

After hearing this, Chen Yi breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought something happened to her. Thank you Miss Zhuang for letting me know."

After saying this, he was about to leave. Zhuang Wan hurriedly asked, "Where are you going, Master Shen?"

"It's a mess outside, I have to go check it out."

"Lord Shen!"

Zhuang Wan called him back again, thought for a moment, and said, "If there's no urgency, Lord Shen might as well go back and visit Princess Wu Jing first."

Shen Yi was puzzled.

Then Zhuang Wan said, "Lord Shen, you may not know this. When I met Princess Wu Jing tonight, she was trapped by a few vagrants... You should go back and see her. Princess Wu Jing... was crying very sadly."

Shen Yi was stunned.

"Thank you, Miss Zhuang," he said immediately, "I'll go back right away."