Chapter 12 Chapter 12 The king’s heart was in turmoil, and his kiss was like falling rain.
It seemed as if she would not leave unless Wei Qingyan responded.
But in the end, her stubbornness only earned Wei Qingyan an unmoved, "I'll remember that. Thank you, mother."
After seeing the Duke's wife off, when Wei Qingyan came back, the letter on the piano stand in front of the window was blown out by the wind and landed behind him.
A familiar fragrance seemed to be in the air. Wei Qingyan paused, slowly turned his head, lowered his eyes and glanced at the letter on the ground. He turned around and walked to the side of the letter, bent down and picked it up.
Qiao Tang knew the purpose of this flower viewing trip very well. She originally thought that after the girls entered the palace, they would first go to the Cining Palace to pay homage to the empress dowager, and then the empress dowager would summon Pei Chengjue over, and she would just go along to go through the motions.
Little did she know that the next day during breakfast, palace maids came one after another to report that the girls from various families had arrived and were waiting in the front hall. Even Wei Ruomei stayed in the front hall. She was startled and puzzled, "Was it arranged by the Empress Dowager?"
The palace attendant said, "It was arranged by His Majesty. His Majesty said that since I am here to accompany the young lady, I should first come to see her and then be led by her to see the Queen Mother."
This behavior clearly shows that he treats Qiao Tang as his concubine, and a very favored concubine at that. It is possible that in Pei Chengjue's heart, she is already his queen.
The palace maids all laughed and said, "It shows how much His Majesty likes the girl."
Nanny Wang smiled lovingly and took Qiao Tang to sit in front of the mirror. "Young lady, please dress up well and don't let His Majesty down."
Only Qiao Tang felt as if she was drowned and couldn't breathe. When she struggled a little, Pei Chengjue's fiery eyes flashed in her mind, and she kept calling out, "Sister..."
Qiao Tang's fingers trembled in her sleeves as she closed her eyes in deep thought. No matter how much Pei Chengjue liked her, it was only a temporary interest. He had finally come to his senses. With so many beautiful women around today, he would take a look at them. Who knows, he might become interested in one of them, and then he would stop pestering her.
"Your Majesty likes you to wear green clothes the most. How about this one today?"
Qiao Tang opened her eyes, glanced at the dress in Nanny Wang's hands, and shook her head firmly, "Even if I like it, I'll get tired of it. Change it to a color... I've never worn it before."
From today on, she would not do anything Pei Chengjue liked, and see how Pei Chengjue still liked her.
The palace maids looked at each other in bewilderment, and finally brought a moon-white dress and helped Qiao Tang put it on. Qiao Tang noticed the surprise that flashed in their eyes, and her heart fell, sighing that there was no way to change this face.
Nanny Wang smiled and said, "Young lady, you have good taste."
Qiao Tang pulled the corners of his mouth stiffly, walked out of the bedroom and headed towards the front hall, followed by a large group of palace servants.
Qiao Tang paused and looked back. The palace maids and Nanny Wang were looking at her innocently. Nanny Wang said, "Young lady, there are many distinguished guests in the front hall, so they need help. We can help out on the side."
Qiao Tang turned around and left. She knew in her heart that the palace maids and Nanny Wang were trying to save her face. Pei Chengjue asked the girls from the noble families to wait for her, which would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the girls. If they saw her alone, wouldn't that mean they looked down on her again?
There were about ten girls sitting in the front hall, all of them were as pretty as flowers. Wei Ruomei chattered, "You'll know when you meet Sister Qiao. Sister Qiao is pretty and gentle, and she'll play with us."
The young girl with the same temperament as her rolled her eyes and asked, "How pretty is Sister Qiao?"
"She's prettier than all of us put together!" Wei Ruomei's words caused some girls to be dissatisfied. Just as they were about to retort, Wei Ruomei said in surprise, "Sister Qiao is here!"
The girls looked in the direction of the voice, their eyes gradually widened, and they saw a slim girl walking out.
Her tall, slender figure, clad in a moon-white dress, resembled a secluded orchid in a valley, gorgeous yet unpretentious. Her waist was like a silk ribbon, her hair like a pile of crows, her beautiful face unpainted, her eyebrows undrawn, dark as a distant mountain. Beneath her long, thick, butterfly-winged eyelashes, her affectionate eyes curved slightly as she gazed at the crowd, extremely gentle and amiable. "The girls are here."
The girls were stunned, but fortunately Wei Ruomei reacted and bowed to Qiao Tang first. Qiao Tang knew that she was giving him face, so he immediately returned the greeting.
With Wei Ruomei leading the way, the other girls came to their senses and realized that they had been disrespectful. They blushed with embarrassment and quickly added another one.
Qiao Tang also replied. When she lowered her body slightly, her plump and towering chest with obvious curves, coupled with her slender neck, was particularly eye-catching, or perhaps even alluring without realizing it.
The girls turned their eyes away in panic. This sister was so...well, they dared not say out the erotic words in their hearts.
Some girls secretly lowered their eyes to look at their chests, bit their lips, and closed their eyes unwillingly.
A girl who was the same age as Wei Ruomei looked up and asked, "Can I call Miss Qiao "Sister Qiao" too?"
"If the girl is willing, of course you can."
Qiao Tang's eyes turned, and the corners of her lips raised slightly, revealing an extremely soft and beautiful smile. She was very good at this kind of smile, which showed a beauty without any aggressiveness, and was very suitable for dealing with a girl like Wei Ruomei.
In the blink of an eye, Qiao Tang became the beautiful sister in the hearts of all the girls, but there were also a few girls who just stood there dignifiedly, smiling in a non-close manner. Qiao Tang also smiled slightly, which was considered a greeting.
"Ladies, please follow me to see the Queen Mother." Qiao Tang led them out of the Taiji Palace and headed towards the Cining Palace.
Qiao Tang walked in front, the spring breeze ruffling her hair slightly, gently draping over her snow-white neck, revealing a lazy charm.
The palace maids along the way bowed, secretly watched her walk away, then looked at the girls following her and shook their heads secretly.
Although the girls from aristocratic families are pretty, they are much duller than Miss Qiao's mature and graceful demeanor.
In the Cining Palace, the Queen Mother was originally in high spirits, but when she heard that Pei Chengjue let the girls meet Qiao Tang first, she became somewhat dissatisfied that Pei Chengjue was praising Qiao Tang too highly.
Now that Qiao Tang brought all the girls to pay her respects, she felt even more uneasy. Glancing at Qiao Tang's graceful figure, she thought to herself that she really shouldn't have let Qiao Tang show up.
This was because the dozen or so girls she chose were three or four years younger than Qiao Tang, half a head shorter than Qiao Tang, and when they stood beside Qiao Tang, they all became Qiao Tang's foil.
Putting this aside, even though Qiao Tang was not wearing makeup, it could not hide her delicate and beautiful appearance, not to mention her soft swaying waist, the plump bulge of her chest, and her alluring eyes.
Compared with her, these girls are just a bunch of green and immature little sisters!
If Pei Chengjue came, he would probably not even look at her and go straight for his Miss Qiao.
The Queen Mother felt choked with discomfort and glanced at Qiao Tang vaguely. Qiao Tang understood everything clearly and raised the corners of his lips, then found an excuse to leave.
As they were about to leave the Cining Palace, Wei Ruomei came after them and said pitifully, "I'll accompany Sister Qiao to the Shuyu Pavilion."
"Let me guess. The Queen Mother must have sent for His Majesty. You are afraid of His Majesty, so you came to find me."
"It's enough for Sister Qiao to know. Why bother to tell it all?" She pouted dissatisfiedly and followed Qiao Tang to Shuyu Pavilion.
From the palace garden to the Shuyu Pavilion, the branches are lush with flowers of various colors clustered on the branches, trembling in the wind, which is lovely and pitiful and worth admiring.
Wei Ruomei teased a few of them, and seeing that Qiao Tang wasn't interested, she went with her to the second floor of Shuyu Pavilion. "Sister Qiao, did you notice the girl in the light pink dress?"
Qiao Tang thought about it carefully, pursed his lips and smiled, "Miss Liu, she's just as cute as you."
"Hey, Sister Qiao, stop teasing me. I heard from my mother that if my brother agrees, she wants Miss Liu to be my sister-in-law!"
Qiao Tang frowned. That Miss Liu was indeed lively and cute, and perhaps she could really melt the indifference of Brother Wei Ruomei.
In this world, couples also pay attention to complementing each other's temperaments, such as Miss Liu and Brother Wei Ruomei, and her and her ex-husband who died early.
Wen Jing was also an extremely cold person. She had kept him in her heart for three years, but perhaps it was not warm enough, and she only got a few smiles from him occasionally. Instead, she learned music, chess, calligraphy, painting, perfume making, and reading from him.
During their three years together as husband and wife, she once joked, "You are not really my husband, you are just my teacher."
Wen Jing's expression turned cold. He reached into his sleeve and plucked a willow branch from the window, then played with it in his palm. "Since you are the teacher, I didn't play the music right just now. Come over here and let me slap your palm."
She ran away in fear, and a helpless sigh came from behind her, "Even if it's just one word off, I don't want it. Tangtang, don't talk nonsense again in the future."
She was confused at the time and looked back in a daze, only to receive a faint smile from Wen Jing.
She still remembers the spring light that appeared when the frost and snow melted. Now when she thinks about it carefully, she understands the hidden affection of the sentence "If it were just one word less, I wouldn't want to do it either."
In the spring breeze, willow branches brushed against the railings. Qiao Tang gently broke off a piece of them, turned his back to Wei Ruomei, and lowered his eyebrows to hide the moisture in his eyes.
But Aunt Sulan received the order and went to Qinzheng Palace to invite Pei Chengjue.
Eunuch Li stepped out and said with a smile, "Just now, Censor Wei came to report something to Your Majesty. Your Majesty is in the mood to play chess with Censor Wei, so it's not a good idea to disturb him right now."
In the hall, Pei Chengjue sat beside the chessboard, looking lazy, with his chin supported by one hand and the chess piece pinched between his fingers with the other hand.
Wei Qingyan stood there with a serious expression, staring down at the chessboard, and the chess piece in his hand was reluctant to drop.
Pei Chengjue raised his eyebrows and took a look. He saw that he was like a green tree standing in the frost and snow, with a cold and cool temperament. Suddenly, he remembered that his sister was curious about this man, and he felt a sense of suspicion for no reason.
This man was as cold as ice, without any warmth at all. He didn't know what his sister was curious about. Then he thought again, if his sister was curious, then so be it. In order to please his sister, he reluctantly asked a few more questions.
Pei Chengjue tapped the chessboard with his fingers, signaling Wei Qingyan to listen. "Mr. Wei, you're still thinking about official business on your day off. Aren't you afraid your wife will be angry?"
Wei Qingyan put down the chess piece, which meant he admitted defeat. He was silent for a while, as if he was choosing his words.
Pei Chengjue pondered at the hesitant attitude, "Could it be that Wei Qing hasn't married yet?"
Wei Qingyan's eyes flickered slightly.
Being misunderstood by the emperor and suspected of deceiving him, he could only tell the truth, "Your Majesty, I have been married for four years, but we are not together now."
The Duchess's wife mistakenly thought that he had divorced her, but he never defended himself and just made it an excuse that he didn't want to get married. Today, in front of the Emperor, he told the truth. From his point of view, he and the Duchess were not actually divorced yet, so he just said that they were not together.
Pei Chengjue raised an eyebrow in surprise, but didn't delve into it further. He just wanted to use this as a joke with his sister later. He stood up and walked out of the hall. "Then Wei Qing, you can't just focus on official business. Go find your wife."
Wei Qingyan bowed respectfully and Pei Chengjue hurried out of the hall. After listening to Aunt Sulan's report, he was only concerned about one thing, "Where is Miss Qiao?"
Aunt Sulan said, "It should be in Shuyu Pavilion."
"Summon them to Shuyu Pavilion to see me and Miss Qiao."
Pei Chengjue arrived at the Shuyu Pavilion, but when he looked up, he saw Qiao Tang standing in front of the railing on the second floor. She was wearing a moon-white dress that he had never seen before, and she was playing with a willow branch in a graceful manner.
Wei Ruomei snatched the willow branch away with a pout, but she was not annoyed, but just smiled gently.
Pei Chengjue's breathing quickened, his heartbeat in his chest became faster and faster, and there was a burning fire in his eyes. He immediately waved away the palace people and walked away quickly.
"Sister Qiao, His Majesty is here, I'm leaving now!"
Wei Ruomei ran very fast and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Qiao Tang looked downstairs helplessly, frowning in confusion, but Pei Chengjue was not downstairs.
When she heard footsteps, she turned around and was blocked by a warm chest. Then, her slender waist was tightly embraced by an arm, and Pei Chengjue carried her into the pavilion behind him.
With a bang, the door closed tightly.
She was pressed against the door panel. In the quiet space, her delicate chin was clamped and lifted by Pei Chengjue, and her gaze met a pair of dark and deep eyes.
"Sister, my heart is beating so fast, please save me."
The kisses fell like rain.
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I’ve updated it in advance, so I won’t update it in the evening.
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