35. Rustle

◎Which one is mean?◎

Chapter 35

Although it was not very noticeable on weekdays, Jiang Qiuye had a photographic memory and clearly discovered that Prince Qi's Mansion had secretly replaced a group of maids and attendants, and even several secret guards were different from before.

She had a strong premonition that once the palace and those outside who were related to the spy incident were completely eliminated, it would be her turn.

Maybe Ji Ci didn't have direct evidence to prove that she was the spy who leaked the information, but once he really became suspicious of her, he would definitely expel her.

The desire to truly become Ji Ci's woman became even stronger after a new person moved into the palace.

She is Chen Zheng's daughter, Chen Susu.

Chen Zheng was an honest official of the Jin Dynasty, with only one wife and one concubine. After his wife died of an epidemic many years ago, he dismissed the remaining concubine. His wife left behind only one daughter, a talented and elegant woman who had once been renowned in Shengjing and was named Sisi.

Now Chen Zheng died of illness in prison. According to Tian Qu, Ji Ci had visited Chen Zheng in prison before his death. Chen Zheng had no regrets about his death, but was only concerned about his daughter Susu, so he entrusted her to Prince Qi.

So, the legendary talented woman Susu moved in openly on this day.

Jiang Qiuye was holding a food box in her hand, which contained the rose pastries she had just made. She had originally intended to give them to Ji Ci.

She looked at Wenlan Courtyard not far from Wutong Courtyard, where Susu and the maids were going in and out moving boxes and tidying up the room.

"Who is that?" Jiang Qiuye bit her lip lightly.

Mingyue looked over from afar and said, "That's Chen Zheng's daughter, Susu. She's a descendant of a loyal and righteous man. It was Chen Zheng's last wish that Miss Susu moved into the palace."

She answered this way, looking at Jiang Qiuye who didn't show much expression, and after a pause, she continued, "This Susu has known the prince since childhood, and it is said that she has been in love with the prince for a long time."

"So..." Jiang Qiuye lowered her eyes expressionlessly, "She might become the Princess of Qi County in the future."

Mingyue couldn't help but open her eyes wide and said, "Miss, don't worry. If the prince was interested in her, why would he still be alone until now? The prince doesn't like women, so no one can get close to him, but he only allows you to get close to him. This Sisi is not as good as her."

"yes."

Jiang Qiuye murmured, "I'm afraid...she's the descendant of a loyal and righteous man."

After spending all this time with Ji Ci, she knew very well that he would definitely not like this person.

But judging from his personality, marriage has nothing to do with love. Perhaps he would marry her in order not to disappoint her loyalty.

The fact that she lived in Prince Qi's mansion with such openness showed her unique status.

If it were any other man, she would marry him, she wouldn't care. Whether he was a concubine, a mistress, or even someone with no status, she was confident that she could keep him firmly in her hands.

But Ji Ci is different. He is simply a breath of fresh air in the mudslide.

He will definitely not take a concubine.

If Sisi became his princess, he would definitely keep his distance from her, or even send her away, to avoid suspicion. After all, she was an immortal who talked about saints all day long and practiced abstinence.

This is what she doesn't want to see.

Jiang Qiuye tightened the food box in his hand and walked straight to Wenlan Courtyard. Mingyue didn't understand why, and seeing that Jinhong had no reaction, she quickly followed.

Susu was in the courtyard directing the servants who were moving things, "This box of calligraphy and paintings is a gift for the prince, so be careful with it."

"yes."

"Who is my sister?" Jiang Qiuye asked sweetly.

Susu was startled when she realized someone had entered the courtyard. She turned and looked at Jiang Qiuye. Seeing the beauty, who was as beautiful as a painting, with her hair and clothes fragrant, even more beautiful than flowers, her eyes were filled with strong vigilance.

"I am Chen Zheng's daughter, Chen Susu."

"So you are Sister Susu! I often hear the prince mention you, the talented woman who is famous in Shengjing. I finally meet you in person. I am so happy." Jiang Qiuye squeezed forward and directly hooked Susu's arm.

Susu was stunned, her arms being embraced by a soft body. She suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, but she didn't want to push away, and the vigilance in her eyes slowly relaxed.

Her cheeks gradually turned red, and she hesitated and said, "Your Highness...Your Highness actually mentioned me?"

"Yes." Jiang Qiuye smiled, revealing two sweet dimples. "Sister and the prince grew up together, and we can be said to be childhood sweethearts. Sister is talented and so beautiful. Isn't it normal for the prince to mention Sister Susu?"

"Beautiful? Really?" Susu couldn't help but laugh and raised her hand to stroke her cheek.

She has always been praised for her talent, and this is the first time someone has said she is beautiful.

"Of course it's true! Before I met Sister Susu, I always thought that talented people lacked beauty. And that beautiful people were dull like vases. But after meeting Sister Susu, I realized that there are people in this world who truly combine talent and beauty. They are truly a combination of talent and beauty."

Jiang Qiuye lowered her head and smiled secretly. She has always been good at making people happy.

As long as this person lacks something, just praise him for that.

This Chen Susu sounds like a talented woman, but her appearance is extremely mediocre and there is nothing outstanding about her.

As expected, Susu was overjoyed and couldn't stop laughing. "Who... who are you?"

"I'm Qiu Ziye, Zhang Liang's widow."

After hearing this, Susu was surprised and said, "So, you are Qiu Ziye."

"You...and the prince?"

Jiang Qiuye chuckled and said, "Sister Susu, I'm a widow. I was married a long time ago. I'm still a widow, even though my husband is still the now-infamous Zhang Liang. Do you think... is there really anything between me and the prince?"

After hearing this, Susu felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it was not impossible for such a lovely beauty to seduce Prince Qi.

"I see. Then why did you end up living in the palace?"

"Sister, have you ever heard of Guihong Hall?"

"Guihong Hall... I've heard of it, but I heard it burned down later."

"Yes." Jiang Qiuye blinked. "I am the owner of Guihongtang. Initially, I was under the prince's surveillance because of the Zhang family case. Later, the medicinal food of Guihongtang really won the prince's favor. Now that Guihongtang is gone, the prince hired me to come to the palace to specialize in medicinal food."

"Normally, the prince doesn't let anyone get close to him. I was the only one who served him because of the medicinal food."

Susu nodded, and when she heard the words "closely serve you", there seemed to be something more in her eyes.

Jiang Qiuye had been observing her expression. Seeing this, she continued to speak at the right time: "Sister Susu, are you in love with the prince?"

"Ah?" Susu's thoughts were quickly interrupted, and she felt uncomfortable all over. Finally, she nodded gently, with pride in her eyes. "To be honest, when my father entrusted me to the prince, he actually meant to marry me to the prince. The prince's teacher, Taifu Tang, has also mentioned this to the prince recently."

Looking at her smiling face, Jiang Qiuye's heart skipped a beat.

really......

She laughed again and gently shook Susu's arm. "Since Sister Susu likes the prince, and I can serve him closely, how about I help you find out about the prince in the future? If you can cultivate feelings with the prince, perhaps this marriage will be more successful. I'm a widow, so Sister doesn't need to be on guard."

Susu was a little annoyed when her thoughts were exposed by Jiang Qiuye, but she immediately became happy when she heard that she was willing to inquire for her.

"Really? If that's the case, I'll have to trouble Sister Ziye a lot in the future."

"No need to bother."

Jiang Qiuye's eyes rolled as he handed over the food box in his hand, saying, "I heard today that Sister Susu is staying at the palace. I'm very happy. This is the rose pastry I made myself, specially for Sister."

Susu glanced at it casually, looking down on it, but still accepted it and asked Qingling, the maid behind her, to take the food box.

After sending away the rose cakes that were originally intended for Ji Ci, Jiang Qiuye walked out of Wenlan Courtyard empty-handed, went back to the room, picked up Jianjian, hid him in his cloak, and went straight to the main courtyard.

Mingyue followed behind her, puzzled.

She always thought that Miss Qiu had a secret crush on the prince, and she diligently went to the study in the main courtyard every day to take care of the prince. Even the prince tacitly allowed her to get close to him.

But she had listened to every word of the conversation with Susu just now. After hearing this, she felt that Miss Qiu actually did not like the prince.

Every word she said was very logical, yet strangely contradictory to her previous behavior.

Mingyue glanced at Jinhong who was standing next to her with her eyes fixed straight ahead, and who seemed to be used to it, which made her even more puzzled.

But it is not for a servant like her to guess the master's thoughts and actions.

Even though Qiu Ziye was just a widow, she still had the title and identity of the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Anguo.

After arriving at the main courtyard, Mingyue and Jinhong could only wait at the door and were unable to enter.

Ji Ci was resting under the locust tree in the main courtyard, as if he had just finished listening to Tian Qu's report.

"Your Majesty!"

Jiang Qiuye laughed and shouted, then entered the yard and ran towards Ji Ci, holding Ji Ci's arm with one hand. He actually looked like he was used to it and didn't push her away.

Mingyue was even more confused when she saw this scene outside the yard. She watched Ji Ci walk forward with an expressionless face, while Miss Qiu swayed on his arm and returned to the study.

…

Silver charcoal was burning in the study, bringing warmth.

After entering the house, Jiang Qiuye took off his cloak and put it aside.

Jianjian crawled out of the cloak and came to the study for the first time, exploring around curiously.

Ji Ci sat down at the desk, looking at the little white cat walking around, and asked in confusion: "When did you get a cat?"

"When I went out earlier, I saw some little brats bullying it. I felt really sorry for it, so I brought it back. It's still so small, and the prince is so kind, he will definitely let it stay in the palace, right?"

Ji Ci looked at the little white cat, which seemed to be only about three months old, and his heart softened. He had also raised a little white cat in his childhood. It had a bad temper and loved to act like a spoiled child, much like the little widow, but unfortunately, it was deaf.

"It's just a cat. You can keep it if you want."

After saying that, he stopped looking at it, took out a piece of letter paper and started writing.

"Jianjian, come down quickly." Seeing Jianjian jump directly onto the bookshelf, Jiang Qiuye immediately ran over and tried to catch the cat.

When Ji Ci heard the cat's name, his hands couldn't help but tremble. He looked up in disbelief and asked, "What's its name?"

"Bitch, what's wrong?"

"...Which one is cheap?" Ji Ci raised his eyebrows slightly.

"The one next to the word '贝', what happened to the prince?" Jiang Qiuye acted innocent and naive, leaving Ji Ci at a loss as to what to say to her.

This young widow is becoming more and more lawless.

"Are you... indirectly scolding me?"

Jiang Qiuye blinked and shook his head, "Why do you say that, Your Highness? Look how cute Jianjian is."

Just like you, mean and cute.

Ji Ci clenched his fist and put it to his mouth to clear his throat. He shook his head helplessly, stopped talking to her, and continued to concentrate on writing the letter.

Jiang Qiuye held Jianjian and sat down beside him. Looking at the serious Ji Ci, he smiled and said, "Your Highness, I met Sister Susu today."

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Little White Lotus Jiang Qiuye is online～～～