Chapter 213 The Shadow Behind

Chen Ning was pressed into the cave by Xiao Nanchen and kissed for a long time. They did not come out until there was no movement outside.

Even though Xu Zhong was worried that someone would discover his plan, since he didn't see anyone, he naturally didn't dare to search and capture him in a big way, otherwise it would be like he was trying to hide something.

Xiao Nanchen took Chen Ning out of Tianlu Pond and sent her to the Queen's residence before leaving... It was not until they had left for a long time that a figure appeared silently from behind the crevice of the rocks outside Tianlu Pond.

It turned out to be the Second Prince Xiao Nanyong, who always had little presence.

Xiao Nanyong glanced at the cave where Xu Fei and Xu Zhong had previously had an affair, then looked in the direction where Chen Ning and Xiao Nanchen had left. He slowly lowered his eyes, his gentle and soft eyes filled with a gloomy coldness...

Chen Ning carried the plate of lychees that had been saved by His Royal Highness Prince Ding into the Queen's Palace. She saw Queen Wei lazily leaning on the beauty couch, smiling, "Why are you so late?"

Shen Ning showed some shyness: "I was halfway there when I ran into His Royal Highness Prince Ding. His Royal Highness had just returned from suppressing the rebellion, so he spoke to me for a while longer. That's why I was delayed. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

The Queen narrowed her eyes and then said leisurely, "Seventh Prince is truly filial. The first thing he did when he returned was not to see his mother, but to go find his fiancée. It's true that when you marry a wife, you forget your mother... He hasn't even married yet, and he's already forgotten his biological mother."

Shen Ning hurriedly said: "Your Highness is worried that the Queen has already rested and is worried about disturbing her."

The Queen sneered without commenting, then asked Chen Ning: "Is the road here peaceful?"

She asked casually, as if she was just asking casually. Shen Ning showed a bit of suspicion, but still said obediently: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. The journey here has been smooth. The guards have already started patrolling the mountains. I didn't feel scared at all."

Queen Wei already knew in her heart that the girl from the Shen family in front of her was not easy to control. Seeing that she was flawless, she lost interest in saying anything more and waved her hand to let Shen Ning leave.

When she returned to the Queen Mother's residence, she saw that the lights in the Queen Mother's bedroom had been turned off, so Shen Ning went straight back to her own residence without returning the gold medal.

It's not that I don't want to return it in time, it's mainly because I forgot...

This forgetfulness lasted for three days. Until the morning meal on the third day, the Queen Mother looked at Shen Ning who was pretending to be stupid and eating by herself, and said quietly: "Did you forget something?"

Beside them, Xu Wanqing and Shen Nian immediately perked up and prepared to watch Shen Ning get humiliated.

Shen Ning touched her mouth, her eyes full of innocence: "Ah? Queen Mother, what did you say?"

Beside her, Aunt Gui smiled secretly with her hands covering her lips.

It was the first time she saw a kid pretending to be stupid and trying to cheat the Empress Dowager of her things... He was just like any other kid in an ordinary family, naughty and funny.

The Queen Mother seemed not to want to laugh and looked at Shen Ning quietly.

Seeing that she couldn't get away with playing dumb anymore, Shen Ning reluctantly took out the gold medal from her waist and pitifully presented it with both hands: "Oh, I almost forgot to take your gold medal, Queen Mother."

Nanny Gui took it, suppressing her laughter. She looked at the Queen Mother calmly, and saw her master, the Queen Mother, saying leisurely, "Did you really forget or are you just pretending to be stupid?"

Chen Ning said in a muffled voice: "I dare not say..."

Finally, Aunt Gui couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The Queen Mother rolled her eyes at Chen Ning: "You are so shameless, you even dare to steal my things!"

Shen Ning quickly said: "I am innocent, I just didn't remember it..."

Queen Mother: Hehehe…

Beside them, Xu Wanqing and Shen Nian's gloating expressions froze on their faces: they could never have imagined that the Queen Mother would even lend something like this to Shen Ning.

What kind of magic potion did Shen Ning give to the Queen Mother?

Xu Wanqing thought of how Shen Ning had treated the Queen Mother before, and paused for a moment. She showed some concern and served the Queen Mother a small bowl of lotus seed porridge: "Queen Mother, you ate too little just now, drink some more lotus seed porridge."

Before she could finish her words, the Queen Mother looked at her coldly, "The lotus seed porridge is so sweet, don't you know that I can't eat too much sweets?"

Xu Wanqing's face fell and she hurriedly apologized.

Beside him, Shen Nian pursed his lips, being very cautious and not making any rash moves.

She now understood that Chen Ning's identity as Prince Ding's fiancée was already a position that was difficult for her to shake. These petty fights were completely meaningless. To deal with Chen Ning, she could only endure temporarily and look for an opportunity... and then, strike a fatal blow!

The next day, Empress Dowager Zhou and her entourage went up the mountain to worship the Niangniang Temple as usual.

To show her piety, every year when she went to escape the summer heat, Empress Dowager Zhou would personally climb the mountain to burn incense at the Niangniang Temple. She would not take a sedan chair on the way, but climb up step by step on her own.

Originally, Nanny Gui was a little worried about whether the Empress Dowager's health could hold up this year, but under Shen Ning's urging, Empress Dowager Zhou has been exercising to stretch her muscles. In the past two days, Nanny Gui discovered that Empress Dowager Zhou's legs and feet seemed to be much lighter than last year, so she gave up the idea of dissuading her.

Early in the morning, a group of palace maids followed Queen Dowager Zhou to start climbing the mountain...

It was only after Empress Dowager Zhou actually climbed the mountain that she realized that her legs and feet seemed to have really loosened up a lot in the past few days. When she turned her head to look at Shen Ning next to her, she felt that, well, she looked more pleasing to the eye.

Actually, I didn't really want to get the gold medal back yesterday. I just saw that naughty monkey was so bold and presumptuous to act stupid and cheat, so I wanted to teach her a lesson and see how unhappy she looked.

However, Empress Dowager Zhou's lightness didn't last long. After all, she was old, and halfway up she was exhausted and panting. Nanny Gui offered to help her, but the Empress Dowager refused, saying, "Let that monkey do it, she's stronger."

Shen Ning accepted her fate and stepped forward to support the Queen Mother... and finally climbed to the top of the mountain.

Fortunately, the palace is already halfway up the mountain and the distance to the top of the mountain is not too far, otherwise the empress dowager might not be able to climb up.

But even though it was not far, the empress dowager was already exhausted when she arrived at the temple. It took her a long time to get up and burn incense.

After offering incense, the group had a vegetarian meal at the Niangniang Temple and rested for a while before heading down the mountain.

It was only when Nanny Gui saw that the air was a little stuffy and cloudy, and was worried that the empress dowager would be blocked by rain in the temple, that she dared to urge her to go down the mountain.

After all, the temple was small and there was really no place for the empress dowager to stay.

When the group was going down the mountain, the Queen Mother's legs were already a little weak. She barely held on and refused to be carried, fearing that it would be disrespectful to the gods.

Just as the Queen Mother led a group of people down the mountain, the Second Prince Xiao Nanyong and the Tenth Princess Xiao Bi were sitting in the pavilion. Xiao Nanyong was playing a pleasant and light tune with leaves, while next to him, the usually arrogant and domineering Xiao Bi had a rare sadness in her eyes.

As if talking to herself, or perhaps confiding in her brother, Xiao Bi said quietly, "I know he doesn't come from a high background... and has a sister with a less-than-stellar reputation. But, I really think he's a good person..."

Xiao Bi pouted, "He's incredibly talented and so handsome... but he doesn't seem to have noticed me at all. Second brother, do you think Mother would be willing to marry me to him?"

Thinking of something, Xiao Bi showed an excited expression again: "If he wins the imperial examination, mother and father will not object. I heard that he has the talent to be the top scorer..."

Xiao Nanrong listened with gentle eyes, as if to comfort her sister. The melody produced by the leaves became softer and more pleasant.

But no one noticed that in the distance, the thick fallen leaves and soil beneath the trees began to rustle. A pointed, triangular snake head poked out and then slithered away. Then another one appeared...