Chapter 111 Danger
In the warm mountain residence, the leaves begin to turn yellow and the cicadas' chirping becomes weaker.
"Princess, Cuilu is here." Tingqin came in and reported.
"Let her in." Qu Ling's voice was neither hurried nor slow.
The door curtain was lifted, and Cuilu walked in with lowered eyebrows.
"This servant greets the princess."
She was still wearing her concubine's clothes, but she treated Qu Ling with the courtesy of a servant.
"Get up," Qu Ling said, "you've worked hard to serve the old lady."
Cuilu straightened up, but still didn't dare to look up. "This is my duty as a servant. I dare not speak like this in front of the princess."
Qu Ling raised his hand to signal the maid beside him.
The maid immediately brought out a mahogany box, opened it, and found banknotes neatly stacked inside.
"This amount of money is enough for you to buy a house in Jiangnan and a few maids to serve you."
Qu Ling's voice softened. "I promise to send you to Jiangnan and make you a wealthy wife."
Cuilu was overjoyed, and the heavy stone in her heart fell to the ground.
She planned everything just to avoid having to live a hard life from now on.
"You can also stay in the Marquis' Mansion and continue to be your concubine."
Qu Ling said, "What is yours will be no less."
"No."
Cuilu shook her head quickly.
She doesn't want to serve anyone anymore.
Too tired.
She was afraid that Qu Ling would change his mind, so she quickly knelt down and kowtowed, "This servant is willing to go to Jiangnan."
Qu Ling pulled out a yellowed piece of paper from his sleeve and gently placed it on the table. "This is your indenture. I'll return it to you today."
Cuilu stared at the paper, her heart beating like a drum.
She signed the indenture when she was sold to the Marquis' Mansion early on. With it, she was free.
She reached for it with trembling hands, but stopped just as she was about to touch the paper.
Cuilu's hand paused, feeling something was wrong.
Would the princess really be so kind as to let her go?
I can still vividly remember how the princess tortured the old lady during the days when she was paralyzed.
Outsiders only think that the princess is filial, but what is the reality?
Cui Lu looked at Qu Ling again and found that Qu Ling was still looking at her with a smile.
She seemed to understand something, and a chill ran up her spine from the soles of her feet.
"Princess," Cui Lu withdrew her hand and kowtowed deeply, "Could you please keep this indenture?"
Qu Ling, "Why?"
Cui Lu was very firm. "I will always be a member of the Marquis' Mansion and a slave of the Princess. Only when I have my indenture in the Princess's hands can I feel at ease."
Qu Ling chuckled softly, supporting her chin. "Without the indenture, you can be a wealthy wife and feel at ease. Do you understand?"
Cuilu felt dizzy, she certainly understood.
This was telling her that whether there was that piece of paper or not, her life was in the hands of the princess.
"I understand." Cuilu replied.
Qu Ling put away the indenture contract and said, "In a few days, I will send someone to take you to Jiangnan."
She waved her hand and said, "Go down."
Cuilu felt as if she had been pardoned. She kowtowed three times before leaving.
When she walked out of Nuanshanju, the sunlight shone on her, but it could not dispel the coldness in her bones.
The indenture contract is in the princess's hands, so she belongs to the princess, and the princess will feel at ease.
Otherwise, he might die before reaching Jiangnan.
Inside Nuanshanju, Qu Ling was playing with the indenture contract. She didn't say anything, but tore it into two pieces.
During the days of mourning at home, she rarely left her warm mountain residence.
Occasionally I would listen to Guanqi talk about the funny farces of the second house, just to pass the time.
It was a clear and crisp autumn day, and she received an invitation from Zhao Yuanrong to go to Fengzuilou for a drink.
"Princess, we have offended the Song family so much, so we should not go out easily, right?" Su Shang frowned.
God knows how many groups of assassins have come to the Marquis' Mansion during this period of time.
Qu Ling raised the corner of his lips slightly, "It's okay."
The enemy is in the dark and I am in the light, which is too passive.
It would be better if everyone played their cards straight.
She took another piece of plain paper and wrote quickly, "Send it to the Dali Temple and give it to Lord Chi."
On the day she and Zhao Yuanrong had an appointment, Qu Ling went out with great fanfare.
"Hurry, the two princesses are out."
The secret guards who were watching at the door of the Marquis' Mansion rushed to report the news.
In the private room of Fengzui Tower, Zhao Yuanrong was leaning against the window in a trance. Seeing Qu Ling come in, her eyes lit up, "A Ling is finally here, this pot of Zui Taiping will be all mine."
Qu Ling and Zhao Yuanrong sat opposite each other.
"Are you worried about something?" Qu Ling picked up the pot and poured wine, then handed it to Zhao Yuanrong.
"Hou Xu is coming back." Zhao Yuanrong drank the wine in the glass and laughed loudly.
She didn't know what she was laughing at.
Just be happy.
"Mother said that he will still be the commander of the imperial guards when he returns," Zhao Yuanrong approached Qu Ling, the smell of alcohol hitting him in the face. "A Ling, you don't know how ugly the faces of those people in the Song family are."
And there is Zhao Xuanyi.
Seems very unhappy.
That day in the Imperial Garden, he pinched her wrist, his fingers cold but his eyes burning, "Aunt tried every possible means to get him back. Could it be that she wanted to marry you to him so that she could control the Imperial Guards?"
"The Imperial Guards belong to His Majesty, how can they be controlled by others?"
She shook it off and turned to leave, "You worry too much."
"Then why do you have to let him come back?" Zhao Xuanyi grabbed her shawl with such force that he almost pulled her into his arms.
Zhao Yuanrong laughed in anger, "Of course you don't want him to come back. If he doesn't come back, the Twelve Guards will be yours sooner or later."
Zhao Xuanyi pulled her closer and said, "You are wrong."
His voice was low, "I don't want him to come back because he shouldn't covet you."
"The commander of the Imperial Guards can be anyone, except him."
Zhao Yuanrong confronted him, "This court is not for you and the Song family to have the final say."
When Zhao Xuanyi heard this, the storm in his eyes became even more intense.
The two were at a stalemate.
"Hou Xu wants to be the commander of the imperial guards, and no one can change that." Zhao Yuanrong took a few steps back and tidied up his messy clothes and shawl.
She looked at the person in front of her who had almost grown up with her and felt extremely tired.
As she turned to leave, she didn't see the murderous intent flashing in the eyes of the Crown Prince and the whisper, "I will never let him return to you."
Qu Ling remembered that in his previous life, Hou Xu died on the way back to Beijing.
The Twelve Imperial Guards soon had new generals.
Qu Ling wondered if the eldest princess had started to feel overwhelmed since that time.
"General Hou is in danger," Qu Ling said, "The Song family and the crown prince will not let him return safely."
Zhao Yuanrong shook his head. "It's not that easy to kill him. The Song family has tried many times."
He is a military commander who can fight a tiger with his bare hands, and he is accompanied by loyal confidants.
General Hou was the commander of the imperial guards trained by the late emperor himself. Hou Xu succeeded his father's position. This decree was left by the late emperor before his death.
The late emperor said that the position of the commander of the imperial guards must not be replaced without authorization.
This is also why the Queen Mother of Song could only transfer Hou Xu but not replace him.
"What if it was an epidemic?" Qu Ling finally remembered how Hou Xu died.
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