Xiansi Pavilion.
Qin Yi abandoned the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Princess, and pulled Nan Qianyue up to the seventh floor.
The Fifth Princess looked at her uncle's heartless back and pouted so hard her lips almost touched the tip of her nose. "Uncle went too far. He used me and then threw me away."
The Fourth Prince was in a very good mood. If it weren't for Miss Nan's bold comments today, he wouldn't have known that his uncle valued him so much.
"Come on, little sister, it's rare for you to come out, let your brother accompany you to stroll through the market." The fourth prince pulled his dejected sister through the streets and alleys.
Just as the sullen fifth princess was about to continue complaining, a mother and daughter begging suddenly appeared out of the corner of her eye, and she couldn't help but stare at them.
At the narrow alley entrance, a mother and daughter, dressed in tattered clothes, knelt with their heads bowed. In front of them was a chipped bowl containing only a single copper coin.
The mother and daughter remained silent and motionless, like statues piled up there, suffering in silence.
The Fifth Princess walked over, stood in front of the mother and daughter, and frowned, saying, "You have perfectly healthy hands and feet, why don't you go find work to make a living? Instead, you drag your little daughter here to beg. This will only harm her."
Hearing the sound, the woman did not raise her head. Instead, she lowered her head even further and did not speak. She simply hugged the little girl tighter.
Princess Wu opened her mouth, but ultimately couldn't bear to criticize them anymore. The mother and daughter looked so pitiful, especially the little girl.
"Xiaomei, bring the money," she instructed the person behind her.
The maid Xiaomei immediately handed over a bag of silver.
Without hesitation, the Fifth Princess placed the entire bag of silver into the bowl. She squatted down and looked at the woman, saying, "Take this silver and do some business. Your daughter is still young; she should grow up healthy."
The woman finally uttered in a very low voice, "...Thank you, sir."
The Fifth Princess's gaze shifted slightly upwards, settling on the wooden hairpin inserted in the lady's hair. Although it was made of wood, it was extremely exquisite, suggesting that the person who made the hairpin was very meticulous.
The seventh floor of Xiansi Pavilion.
I felt unusually uneasy during the month of my southward migration; my heart was pounding erratically.
She and Qin Yi sat facing each other by the window, the lake view outside was exactly the same as yesterday.
Yesterday, Xiao Chen was sitting opposite her, but today it's Qin Yi.
I wonder what his purpose was in arranging this trip.
I had a bad feeling about the southward migration month.
"How's the view outside?" Qin Yi sat with a bold posture, his deep black eyes reflecting a burning gaze, fixed on Nan Qianyue's face.
Nan Qianyue had the idea of avoiding it, but when she thought about what might be exposed, she pretended to be calm and said, "It's alright."
"How does it compare to yesterday?" Qin Yi asked, almost catching the last syllable of her voice.
Nan Qianyue's fingers, which were resting on her lap, tightened involuntarily. She didn't dare to look away from Qin Yi's face. A faint smile appeared on her lips. "Your Highness, are you perhaps confused? This is my first time here. Didn't the guards tell you?"
"Heh." Qin Yi lowered his eyes and smiled, with a hint of self-mockery in his expression.
He didn't answer, but instead picked up the teapot and poured Nan Qianyue another cup of tea, pushed it in front of her, looked up at her, and said calmly, "Drink tea."
Nan Qianyue looked at the two cups of tea in front of her, her brows furrowing slightly. "Isn't there already one cup?"
Qin Yi's gaze flickered slightly, and his Adam's apple bobbed as his deep, husky voice rang out from between his lips, "That cup is already cold, the one I gave you is hot."
Nanqianyue placed her fingertip on the teacup to test its temperature. "It's not cold."
"I said it's cold, so it's cold." Qin Yi's tone grew serious as he reached for the cup of "iced tea" and splashed it out the window.
Nan Qianyue pursed her lips slightly, staring intently at Qin Yi. She seemed to understand what Qin Yi meant.
He probably already knew that Xiao Chen had come to Dongling ahead of time. Using herbal tea as a metaphor for Xiao Chen, was he warning her to stay away from Xiao Chen?
QQ—
There was a gentle knock on the door, and a respectful and firm male voice came from outside.
"Your Highness, there is news from the palace."
Qin Yi lowered his eyes slightly. "Come in."
The door was pushed open and then closed again.
A young man dressed in a dark-colored arrow-patterned robe walked up to Qin Yi's side, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Your Highness."
He glanced at the moon as it moved south, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
Nan Qianyue recognized him; he was the young man who had coerced the Fifth Princess to come to the Prime Minister's residence to apologize that day. There was also a middle-aged man, who was the steward of the Prince Anzheng's residence.
"Just say it," Qin Yi said sternly.
Only then did the young man dare to speak, “The news of the Empress’s serious illness has spread. Just as Your Highness said, the palace has sent people to invite Lord Bai to the palace for treatment. Butler Lu, following Your Highness’s instructions, said that Lord Bai has returned to his hometown to visit relatives and is not in the capital for the time being.”
"However, what's strange is that the Empress's symptoms are much more serious than expected, and she even has a sword wound. It must be that someone else did something, because the Eldest Princess is also seriously ill, and her symptoms are similar to the Empress's."
They didn't lay a hand on the princess this time.
After listening for a while, Nanqianyue had a general idea of what was going on.
Qin Yi targeted the Empress, and not only the Empress, but also the Eldest Princess.
She guessed that person was Xiao Chen.
Didn't we just hear that the Empress was also wounded by a sword? The first person she could think of who could sneak into the palace silently and leave a sword wound on the Empress was... Ye Jian.
Qin Yi should know better.
"Step down."
"yes."
In the three-sided, well-ventilated space, only Nan Qianyue and Qin Yi remained.
The moon, which had migrated south, turned its head slightly, as if admiring the scenery outside the window.
Qin Yi kept staring at her, his dark eyes reflecting a penetrating gaze, as if he could see through the secrets in Nan Qianyue's heart.
After a long silence, Nan Qianyue finally couldn't sit still any longer. "If Your Highness has nothing else to say, I'll head back now."
She now finds learning etiquette from Granny Qiao quite easy.
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