Chapter 37 Chapter 37 Cousin, you use this ugly body...
Here, the Duke of Zhenguo arrived at the Cining Palace in fear. The Empress Dowager was quite surprised. Her brother had been guarding the border for several years and had spent most of his life in the wind, sand and swords. He was also calm and measured in his actions. But today, he was so frightened that sweat broke out on his forehead for the first time.
"What could have frightened my brother so much?"
The Queen Mother had great respect for her brother and asked him to sit down with concern. She ordered the palace servants to serve tea to the Duke of Zhenguo and sat aside herself.
The Duke of Zhenguo waved his hand, no longer in the mood for tea. He let the sweat trickle down his temples as he mentioned Pei Chengjue's court appearance. "The court is peaceful now. The reason for His Majesty's change must lie in the harem."
The Queen Mother had never seen Pei Chengjue's appearance before, so she was surprised to hear this. She also felt that the Duke of Zhenguo was making a fuss. "It's common for young people to have unstable temperaments."
"My brother said the cause lies within the harem, but I don't think that's right. Your Majesty only has Concubine Hui in the harem, and she and Your Majesty seem to be getting along very well lately. Why would Your Majesty be so upset over this?"
The Duke of Zhenguo stared at her closely. She suddenly thought of the matter of Wei Qingyan. They had kept this matter secret from His Majesty for a long time, and His Majesty should not know about it. She looked back guiltily.
The Duke of Zhenguo knew what she was thinking at a glance, and shook his head and sighed, thinking how foolish his sister was.
"On the day I returned to the capital, Madam mentioned the matter of Concubine Hui and Qingyan to me. Even if the Empress Dowager dislikes Concubine Hui, she should not have joined forces with her to deceive Your Majesty, and certainly not used Qingyan to force Concubine Hui to leave the palace."
The Queen Mother didn't take it seriously and said dissatisfiedly, "Brother, you are wrong. If that Noble Concubine Hui doesn't leave the palace, considering Your Majesty's love for her, do you really want me to watch her become the Queen?"
The Duke of Zhenguo sighed, suppressing his anger. "His Majesty favors Concubine Hui. Even if Concubine Hui wants to leave the palace, His Majesty will not allow it. The Empress Dowager has truly miscalculated."
The Queen Mother smiled upon hearing this, forgetting to conceal her thoughts for a moment, "So, even my brother can be wrong sometimes. I'm using Qingyan to force Concubine Hui to leave the palace. It would be best if Concubine Hui could leave the palace. If not, once His Majesty learns of her and Qingyan's affair, he will only resent Concubine Hui for deceiving him..."
Suddenly, seeing the Duke of Zhenguo's expression suddenly change, she immediately realized her mistake and changed her words, "Brother, don't worry. Qingyan and Your Majesty are cousins by blood. Even if Your Majesty is angry, he won't do anything to Qingyan. Moreover, brother is Your Majesty's uncle. Even for your brother's sake, Your Majesty will forgive Qingyan."
The Duke of Zhenguo recalled Pei Chengjue's cold gaze, which was the reason for his visit. He let out a long sigh, "Your Majesty has grown up and his heart is strong. Blood ties cannot shake him. As a mother, how could the Queen Mother be so ignorant of her own son?"
The Queen Mother was confused. "Of course I don't understand Your Majesty. Your Majesty has always respected his elders and valued the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion. Could it be that he would disregard the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion for a woman?"
The Duke of Zhenguo said, "Your Majesty also values Consort Hui."
"How can a woman compare to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion? Your Majesty is just young and looking for something new..."
The Duke of Zhenguo slowly shook his head, his eyes filled with disappointment. "Sister, when you entered the palace, you had the protection of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, and the late emperor liked your sensibleness. Even if you were a little confused about some things, the late emperor would not bother with you."
"But how can you be so confused about your own son?"
The Queen Mother was unconvinced and wanted to speak, but the Duke of Zhenguo stopped her, saying, "Sister, it's better that His Majesty doesn't know about your thoughts. If he knew, he would... be heartbroken!"
"Ever since I learned about Qingyan and Concubine Hui's affair, I've been worried about Qingyan every night. I even discussed it with my wife—"
He looked at the Queen Mother, not afraid of speaking out of turn, and said cruelly, "Can you please ask Your Majesty to give Concubine Hui to Qing Yan?"
Of course, this is absurd and extremely unlikely to happen. Once His Majesty knows about it, it will be a blessing that he does not punish the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
The reason the Duke of Zhenguo said this was to let the Queen Mother know, "This is what parents should think about their sons!"
He didn't want to wait any longer, so he bowed and took his leave. "After today's court session, I, an old minister, have observed Your Majesty's reaction and I'm afraid Your Majesty has already noticed something. Please make preparations as soon as possible."
He turned and left. The Queen Mother remained in her chair, lost in her thoughts and unable to react.
After leaving Cining Palace, the Duke of Zhenguo learned that Wei Qingyan would give a lecture to Princess Jingyi in Wenhua Palace today. Calculating the time, it was about to end, and Wei Qingyan should return to the Hanlin Academy.
The Duke of Zhenguo was feeling uneasy, fearing that something had happened to his son. He wanted to see his son right away, so he hurried towards the palace gate, intending to go to the Hanlin Academy.
Just as he reached the palace gate, he met someone. It was Xue Zhang from the Ministry of Justice, who was also about to leave the palace. When he saw him, his eyes flashed and he saluted, "Your humble servant greets the Duke of Zhenguo."
The Duke of Zhenguo greeted him and asked, "Where is Lord Xue going?"
Xue Zhang glanced at him meaningfully, "Your Majesty ordered me to go to the Ministry of Justice to fetch some things. Is the Duke of Zhenguo going back to his palace?"
The Duke of Zhenguo smiled and said, "Let's go to the Hanlin Academy to see our second son and then return home later."
Xue Zhang paused, looked at the figure who had walked ahead of him, and his usually cruel eyes were tinged with sympathy.
Qiao Tang comforted Princess Jingyi. Seeing that she was fine, he read with her for a while before sending her back to Cining Palace and returning to Taiji Palace himself.
When she arrived at the palace gate, she found that there were many more guards guarding the gate, which was tightly surrounded. When they saw her coming back, they stood on both sides to welcome her in.
She stepped inside with a puzzled look on her face and asked the palace maid at the door what was going on. The maid bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it was arranged by His Majesty. I don't know the reason."
Qiao Tang thought it was related to the big event that happened last night, so she walked in. After taking a few steps, she suddenly heard the palace gate behind her open loudly, which startled her and she looked back.
But I saw the two palace doors slowly closing and sticking together tightly. Another row of palace servants came forward and stood in front of the palace doors, without saying a word, just guarding quietly.
Qiao Tang was shocked by this sudden change and her heart skipped a beat. This door was never closed, but today when she came in, it was closed tightly.
Qiao Tang suppressed his doubts and first walked through the main hall and then to the bedroom in the back hall. During this time, he called out "Madam Wang" several times, but no one responded.
She then asked the palace maid, who replied, "Not long ago, Nanny Wang went out and hasn't returned yet."
It turned out that she had just gone out. Qiao Tang's uneasiness eased a little. He returned to the door and ordered the palace servant, "Open the door. I want to go out and look for Nanny Wang."
The door didn't budge.
A palace maid stepped out and replied, "Your Majesty has issued an oral order. After Noble Concubine Hui enters the palace, she must not leave again."
Qiao Tang suspected he had misheard. It took him a moment to understand what was going on. He was horrified, "When did His Majesty give the order?"
The palace attendant said, "It's about two quarters past four."
At that time, she was talking to Wei Qingyan in Wenhua Hall, and there was no way she could anger Pei Chengjue. Pei Chengjue must have his reasons for doing this, perhaps because of the major events that happened in the court last night.
As she comforted herself, she thought of Nanny Wang who had not yet returned, and asked, "Even if I can't leave, Nanny Wang can come in?"
The palace maid lowered her brows and replied, "Your Majesty has ordered that no one except Your Majesty is allowed to enter the harem."
Qiao Tang was shocked again. This was tantamount to imprisoning her in the palace. What was the purpose?
She stood in front of the palace gate for a long time, thinking over and over again but still could not figure out the answer. She could only wait for Pei Chengjue to come back in the evening and ask him.
Unexpectedly, Pei Chengjue didn't come back in the evening. The doubts and shock in her heart disappeared, and were replaced by uneasiness. Could it be that she had really angered Pei Chengjue in some way?
She paced back and forth in the bedroom and suddenly found that the portraits she had painted were gone. Pei Chengjue obviously liked them very much and insisted on keeping them in the bedroom. Without his order, no one would be moved.
Pei Chengjue must have ordered them to move away.
Where did you move to?
She entered the clothing storage room in fear and found it in a mess. The box she brought into the palace was opened, and clothes were hanging in disarray on the edge of the box.
The small statue and the zither inside were gone, as was the belt sewn for Pei Chengjue.
Qiao Tang's heart was pounding. Everything related to Jizhou was gone, or perhaps had been taken away by Pei Chengjue.
Even Nanny Wang hasn't returned yet.
Qiao Tang's mind raced, and she felt a chill all over her body. Could it be that Pei Chengjue knew about her and Wei Qingyan?
If this is true, Pei Chengjue trapped her here, so where did he take Nanny Wang?
Wei Qingyan is still protected by the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, and the Duke of Zhenguo has returned to Beijing. Even if Pei Chengjue wants to touch him, he has to take the Duke of Zhenguo into consideration, right?
But what about Nanny Wang?
Qiao Tang turned and left the bedroom. The cold wind chilled her heart. She hurried to the palace gate and shouted coldly to the palace servants, "Get out of the way!"
Seeing that the palace maid did not move, she walked forward, unbolted the door and was about to open it. The palace maid knew how much His Majesty doted on her, so she did not dare to stop her and watched her open the door and step out.
As Qiao Tangfu left, a row of guards approached with knives in hand. The leading officer lowered his brows and pleaded, "Please ask Concubine Hui to return."
Qiao Tang ignored her and kept approaching. The guards were defeated and dared not touch her at all.
The commander steeled himself and drew his sword, pressing it against her. "Your Majesty has ordered that Concubine Hui must not leave the palace. If Concubine Hui insists on going forward, don't blame the sword for its blindness!"
As soon as the sword came out, the guards and the palace maids behind him fell to their knees, and only the commander was still struggling to hold on.
Qiao Tang suddenly took a step back. "I don't have to leave. Please ask the commander to inform His Majesty to send Nanny Wang back."
Qiao Tang did not want to make things difficult for them. This was a good decision for everyone. The commander breathed a sigh of relief, agreed immediately, and left in a hurry.
Qiao Tang did not go in either, but waited at the palace gate. The cold winter night wind rushed into her heart, making it unbearable for her.
Even though a palace maid put a thick coat on her, her nose soon turned red from the cold. The palace maid advised, "Your Majesty, why don't you go back to the palace and wait?"
Qiao Tang shook his head without saying anything, walking on the icy ground, looking in the direction the commander left.
Will Pei Chengjue return Nanny Wang to her?
The commander left Taiji Palace and went all the way to Qinzheng Palace. He unexpectedly met the Duke of Zhenguo at the palace gate. He hurriedly bowed and explained his purpose to Eunuch Li who was standing beside him.
When the Duke of Zhenguo heard this, his eyes flashed and he felt even more uneasy. He said that he went to the Hanlin Academy to see Wei Qingyan during the day and learned that Wei Qingyan had not returned.
He just thought that Wei Qingyan had gone somewhere else, but he didn't expect that Wei Qingyan hadn't returned home until evening.
He and his wife sent people to search many places and inquired in the palace. They learned that Wei Qingyan could not even leave the palace during the day. Feeling that something was wrong, they hurried into the palace to ask to see Pei Chengjue.
He originally thought that Pei Chengjue didn't want to see him and asked Eunuch Li to find a reason to send him away, but he didn't expect that even Concubine Hui didn't know where Pei Chengjue had gone.
The Duke of Zhenguo frowned and ordered people to go to the Empress Dowager's palace to ask, but the Empress Dowager also didn't know. For a while, the three of them stood at the palace door, wondering in confusion, where had His Majesty gone?
Unexpectedly, there was a deserted hall in the northwest corner, with the door tightly closed. Muffled groans came out from inside. After an unknown amount of time, the groans disappeared.
The palace door creaked open and Xue Zhang walked out expressionlessly. The cold wind blew away the smell of blood on his body and dispersed it in the air.
A few candles were lit in the hall, reflecting a bleak scene. The mottled palace walls were splattered with blood, looking disastrous and terrifying.
Wei Qingyan was kneeling on the ground, his hands hung up by iron chains, his head drooping weakly, and his black hair was disheveled.
The traces of old wounds were still on his body, now cracked and bloody from being whipped.
Suddenly, there was a sound of iron chains rattling, and Wei Qingyan's head was forced up. Blood flowed from his chin, but his eyes were still clear.
In the candlelight, Pei Chengjue grabbed his hair, his eyes filled with violent anger.
"Cousin, you used this ugly body to hold Concubine Hui in your arms in the past?"
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