Chapter 66: Qi Meng Xie Jing and Qing Jia have never appeared at the same time, and he also...

Yu Qing's consciousness was hazy and he didn't know where he was, as if he was trapped in a ball of soft cotton.

Something brushed against her face, like a sleeve or a silk handkerchief, it was a little itchy. She suddenly smelled a familiar fragrance on it and struggled to open her eyes.

"Hmm? Are you awake?"

Someone asked in a soft voice.

Yu Qing only then realized that he was lying on her lap and in her arms.

"...Qingjia?"

Qingjia responded gently: "Hey."

She lowered her head and looked at herself. Yu Qing also stared at that still beautiful face, stunned and speechless.

For a moment, she almost forgot Qingjia was dead, lost in the warmth. It took a long time before she took Qingjia's hand, which was still slightly cold. Infinite longing and sadness suddenly surged in her heart. Yu Qing said, "Your Highness, I'm fine—"

"Shh," Qingjia said, his finger raised to her lips. "I know everything. Stop talking and sleep a little longer..."

But I really miss you.

Yu Qing murmured in his heart.

It seemed as if she was about to return to darkness again. She was unwilling to leave the princess's arms and stubbornly refused to close her eyes.

Then, she suddenly realized that something was wrong.

The princess's outline is softer; her shoulders are not so broad; she does not wear her favorite earrings and hairpins; she does not have eyebrows drawn or lip balm.

This is not her!

Yu Qing was startled and was about to stand up, but was stopped by the man.

"What's wrong?" he asked doubtfully, "Why are you leaving so suddenly?"

Yu Qing clearly thought she could easily break free from him, but at that moment, his pampered hands suddenly became incredibly strong. Her spine tingled. She wanted to break free from him, but it felt like she was stuck in a swamp, unable to extricate herself.

Xie Jing held her wrist, let her palm cover his cheek, and his long eyelashes fluttered a few times.

"Don't you like me the most?" he whispered.

Yu Qing was speechless. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't pull her hands away from that handsome face. She felt like she was entangled in poisonous spider silk, unable to move. Every part of her body that touched him was burning.

"Why don't you speak, Prince Consort?" he said angrily, "You must have forgotten me..."

Xie Jing leaned over and kissed her between the eyebrows.

“——!”

Yu Qing woke up in shock, a cold sweat dripping down her face. She looked outside the bed curtains and saw that it was still pitch black. It was already midnight.

After a long time, she slowly fell back, and her heart began to palpitate when she thought of the dream she had just had.

What you think about during the day you dream about at night, and she dreamed of Xie Jing again.

She calmed her disordered heartbeat and breathing, and sorted out her mind.

She knew why she had such a dream.

In fact... Ever since she first saw Xie Jing, this thought had been planted like a seed. No matter how she suppressed it or ignored it, it inevitably took root and sprouted, breaking through the ground.

Is it really possible that they look so similar?

Maybe it's the same person...

She persisted in investigating the two people's life stories, not for anything else, but just to give herself evidence to dispel her doubts, to tell herself that everything happened for a reason, so that she could let go of her unrealistic fantasy.

Otherwise it will never end.

She once went to see his face late at night in the inn, was stunned by his every frown and smile, and even wrote his name on a piece of paper when he was not around.

The experience during the day made her feel that the barrier of her rationality was crumbling again, and she even confused the two people in her dream.

"I should find time to go to Qingjia's spirit and apologize," Yu Qing thought silently, feeling full of shame. "I've let her down."

How can you put someone else on her?

Even if it is the same face, it cannot be compared with the princess.

Moreover, this speculation was disrespectful to Qingjia. The princess had passed away, yet she had suffered an injustice, and it was Yu Qing herself who suspected her. If the princess's spirit in heaven discovered Yu Qing's worries, Yu Qing would be ashamed to face her.

She wanted to explain that she didn't mean it, and that she just missed the princess too much.

Tomorrow is a day off, and she won't have to see Xie Jing, which will make her feel a little relieved.

However, thinking that this matter was not over after all, he was very distressed and wanted to impulsively bring Xie Jing over and examine and question him thoroughly——

Xie Jing and Qing Jia never appear at the same time.

Xie Jing has never denied that she is a woman.

Xie Jing and Qing Jia both have the surname Xie.

So maybe it was his late wife?

Yu Qing covered her face silently, thinking that if she did this, not only would she offend Qing Jia, but even Xie Jing would probably think she had a mental problem.

·

She tossed and turned until dawn, when she fell asleep again, until a servant called her outside the door.

"Prince? Crown Prince?"

What time is it now?

Only Qiying could enter her bedroom, but even if she overslept during her rest period, Qiying usually didn't disturb her. Now it wasn't Qiying, but someone else, so Yu Qing asked, "What's wrong?"

"Sir, please go to the front hall and take a look," the servant said. "The Duke of Lu has arrived with many boxes of rich gifts, claiming to be proposing marriage."

Yu Qing was stunned: "What? Proposing marriage?"

She immediately cleaned herself up, dressed neatly, and went to the front hall.

No wonder Qiying was not here. She had already arrived and was looking at the group of people with a frown. When she saw Yu Qing, she gave him an embarrassed look.

"Miss, this is just the first batch of betrothal gifts. I'm sending it to you for your review first. There will be other betrothal gifts later..."

Qiying said, "My refusal wasn't due to the betrothal gift. I've never had any connection with your young master..."

"Miss Qiying, you clearly recognize me!"

Yu Qing interrupted, "Are you here to propose marriage to Qiying?"

She waved to Qiying, and Qiying stood beside her.

A young man stood opposite, dressed quite elegantly. He introduced himself to Yu Qing and said that he was Ye Chengyuan, the fourth young master of the Duke's Mansion. He claimed that he had met Qiying by chance not long ago and they hit it off at first sight, so he came to propose to her.

Yu Qing glanced at Qiying, who said, "I just saved him once by accident."

The young master opposite said: "Miss, but you and I have met alone..."

Yu Qing frowned when she saw his frivolous look. Who on earth dared to bother Qiying?

She patiently said in a gentle voice, "Meeting is nothing. Since Qiying has no feelings for you, please take the gift money back. The housekeeper will see you off."

Even if he really wanted to propose marriage, he should have informed me in advance. I have never seen anyone like this who would come through the city with so many people without saying a word and insist on proposing marriage.

"Miss Qiying, that's not what you said last time," Young Master Ye said, "Don't tell me you don't even acknowledge my token of love?"

Qiying was stunned and asked, "What token?"

"You gave me your handkerchief and asked me to make a promise. Now that I'm here in person, why are you turning your back on me?"

Ye Chengyuan took out a handkerchief from his arms. Qiying opened her eyes wide. This was indeed embroidered by her, and there was a word "Qi" on it.

"This is……"

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Qiying's beating was clearly an admission of guilt.

The person from the Duke's Mansion across from them said, "Whether the young lady is shy or dissatisfied with the etiquette, you can explain it in detail and discuss it separately. There is no need to reject her directly and betray the young master's deep affection."

Qiying had never seen such a shameless person before and was speechless for a moment. Yu Qing, unable to tolerate it any longer, stepped forward and said, "Doesn't anyone in your family understand what we're saying? We don't agree to this marriage."

"This handkerchief clearly..."

Yu Qing said, "This thing came from an illegal source. How do you know it wasn't stolen by you?"

"Would our young master steal a maid's belongings?" the other party said, "Don't be ridiculous, my prince."

"Qiying wouldn't give the things to your young master." Yu Qing said.

"How can this be fake? It was Miss Qiying who showed mercy first... How can you deny it? This is about a woman's reputation..."

"Where this thing came from, your young master should know it well, right?" Yu Qing gave Ye Chengyuan a cold look, causing him to flinch subconsciously. She continued, "What does it have to do with reputation? Your family should stop making such a fuss. Even if you get married and have children, you can still divorce; even if you're engaged, you can still call it off. I've never heard of anything you have to do just because you took someone else's handkerchief. Please go back."

Seeing that they could not challenge Yu Qing, the people from the Duke of Lu's Mansion had no choice but to pack up their things and carry them out the same way they had carried them in.

After the messy crowd left, Qiying said, "I..."

"No rush," Yu Qing said, "Let's go back and talk."

When they arrived at Huaifeng Pavilion, Qiying had a gloomy look on her face and told the whole story of her acquaintance with Mr. Ye.

The story was simple. The young man had once been out and about with a heart attack. Qiying passed by and kindly gave him a few acupuncture needles. Later, the man insisted on thanking her, so Qiying had to show up again, refusing to accept his gift. The final time, Qiying was out on the street and happened to be in a shop owned by him. The young man recognized Qiying inside and invited her in for tea.

"I didn't even know he was from the Duke's Mansion," Qiying frowned, "otherwise I wouldn't have said a word to him."

At first, Yu Qing also thought that Ye Chengyuan was a fool who coveted Qiying, but when he took out the handkerchief, they both realized that something was wrong.

"The handkerchief is the one I lost earlier," Qiying said, "but I'm sure it wasn't lost outside, it must have been lost in the Marquis' Mansion."

Yu Qing said: "Yeah."

This man wants to marry Qiying, and his purpose must not be simple.

Some time ago, Yu Qing took over as the leader of the Xuanlin Guard, and the Marquis's residence was in chaos for a while. Now Yu Qing suspected that those people had tried to find connections in all branches of the family, from the main family to the side branches, but found nothing, and finally found their way back to the Marquis's residence.

Qiying kept a low profile, but anyone with a keen eye could certainly find out about her. She had once served as a military doctor with Yu Qing, and later managed the affairs of the Marquis's residence, becoming far more than just a housekeeper or maid. During Yu Qing's absence over the past two years, Qiying entertained guests at the residence and accompanied the Marquis's wife on outings, and many people had come across her.

So he set his sights on her.

They probably thought that if a young master of a noble family was willing to marry a woman of low status, the woman would be filled with gratitude and surprise. Seeing their sincerity and generous gift money, the Yu family would agree, and it would become a beautiful story in the future.

As a result, Qiying was not moved at all, and the prince refused to let her go.

Even though he threatened Qiying with a handkerchief, he still couldn't get her to submit. In the end, he could only leave the mansion in disgrace.

We could settle those accounts later. The most important thing right now was how Qiying's handkerchief was stolen. It seemed the other party was aware of her whereabouts, so they took advantage of the opportunity to meet her.

"Someone unscrupulous has infiltrated our mansion," Yu Qing frowned and said, "Qiying, conduct a thorough investigation over the next few days. It's been a while since the Marquis's mansion has been cleaned up, right?"

·

The young master of the Duke of Lu's mansion brought betrothal gifts to propose to a girl from the Marquis of Xuanbei's mansion, but his proposal was rejected and all the gifts were returned. This incident quickly became a topic of conversation.

The man has feelings but the woman has no feelings is just the most common saying.

Some people said that the girl was actively trying to get close to him, playing hard to get, and actually wanted to make the fourth young master fall in love with her more; some people said that the girl was a beauty who brought disaster, who only liked to tease but was unwilling to take responsibility, and even when her personal belongings were taken out in public, she refused to admit it; or maybe Qiying was unwilling to agree to him because she had chosen someone better.

There were even rumors that Qiying and the Xuanbei Marquis' son had been childhood sweethearts, and that their relationship had been kept secret due to the hierarchy. It was also said that Qiying had long been Yu Qing's concubine, and that was why she looked down on the bastard. There were also rumors that Qiying and the Fourth Young Master Ye were indeed in love, but that Yu Qing was interfering...

Rumors spread everywhere, and it was obvious that someone was deliberately stirring up trouble, thinking that Yu Qing would let Qiying get married for the sake of the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion.

Yu Qing herself didn't care, but when it came to Qiying, she got angry. Qiying said, "You don't care, and neither do I. Whoever wants to say what they want can say it. I don't know them anyway. It's better to be quiet from now on so that I won't be disturbed again."

On the surface, she was coaxed by Qiying, but in fact, she was still very angry and thought that she must teach them a lesson.

During those days, she often wore a sullen expression when she visited the Northern Palace. She wasn't actually taking her anger out on others, but her overwhelming aura made her subordinates act with caution, fearing they would make a mistake and only add fuel to the fire.

Xie Jing was very good at observing people's expressions. He would stay by Yu Qing's side. When he saw that she was in a good mood, he would come over and say a few words; when he saw that she was busy with official business, he would quietly sort out and categorize her things.

After a while, she calmed down a lot.

She arrived at Beichensi early that morning, and had just sat down when her personal guards hurried into the main hall.

"General," the guard said, "News just arrived from Duke Lu's residence that the fourth young master, Ye Chengyuan, died last night."

Yu Qing paused.

Xie Jing on the side looked over with a little surprise. Although he didn't ask, Yu Qing actually understood what he meant.

"...What are you thinking? It wasn't me," Yu Qing cleared his throat, "I didn't have time to do anything."

The guard's next words made Yu Qing stand up: "...The fourth young master's biological mother has identified Miss Qiying from the Xuanbei Marquis's Mansion as the murderer, and she wants the officials to go to the Marquis's Mansion to arrest her!"