Chapter 788 Extra: Princess Gaoping 1
Qiao Qinghe got up early today because she had arranged to go to the Huajiaolou Opera House with Madam Zheng.
Looking at the time, I thought, "The children should be here soon, right?"
She shook her head with a smile as soon as she finished speaking.
How could she forget that Qian-ge'er is now the emperor, living in the palace?
Yesterday, Princess Dingguo sent someone to say that Qian-ge'er missed his cousins very much, so she brought Qiao Zhen, Qiao Jin, and Qiao Yu to the palace.
Su Rongrong and Xu Ge'er had already returned to the Enping Marquis's residence.
Li Rui succeeded as the Prince of Qi and moved to the Prince of Qi's residence.
Li Ze and Li Lan stayed at the residence of the Princess Protector of the Nation.
Originally, Li Rui wanted to bring his younger brother and sister-in-law with him.
Unfortunately, the Prince of Qi's mansion still had Lady Liu, his nominal legal mother.
Liu is only a teenager, and before she has even had a chance to give birth to a son or daughter for the King of Qi, she is about to become the mother of an eleven or twelve-year-old child.
You can imagine how they felt.
Therefore, the mother and son caused a huge commotion at the Prince Qi's residence.
However, these are all things that happen behind closed doors.
Both of them were smart and didn't make a scene.
So everyone had heard about it, but no one bothered to get involved.
Moreover, Liu's grandfather was Grand Tutor Liu, one of the regents of the court, so others were even less willing to get involved.
For this reason, Li Rui had no choice but to hand over his younger brother and sister-in-law to the Princess Protector of the Nation.
However, he did bring Wu's two cousins back to the capital from the Qiao family in Jiangnan.
They were also raised in the Prince of Qi's residence.
We've gone off on a tangent.
In short, Qiao Qinghe doesn't have a single child by her side right now.
Usually at this time, Ah Shuang would smile and smooth things over, or change the subject by talking about something else.
But today, Ah Shuang was actually distracted.
Qiao Qinghe turned to look at A Shuang and found her staring blankly at something.
"Ah Shuang?"
Qiao Qinghe called out, and she finally came to her senses.
"Madam, is there anything I can help you with?"
She gave an awkward laugh, without explaining why she had been lost in thought.
"What's wrong with you? You're not usually like this."
Qiao Qinghe looked her over carefully again. "What happened to you? Or is something on your mind?"
"Don't keep anything to yourself, be sure to tell me."
"Yes, madam, don't worry, I will." Ah Shuang replied with a smile, regaining her usual composure and focus.
After having breakfast and giving Wei Jia a few instructions, Qiao Qinghe went out to prepare to go to the Painting Corner Tower.
After getting into the carriage, she noticed that Ah Shuang hadn't gotten in yet, and the carriage hadn't moved at all.
After quite a while, when her patience was almost exhausted, Ah Shuang finally arrived and got into the car late.
"What happened? Why is it taking so long?"
To be honest, Qiao Qinghe was a little unhappy.
Ah Shuang lowered her head guiltily and explained in a low voice, "When I got on the carriage just now, I found that the original driver had been changed, so I asked the manager about it."
"Oh, I see." Qiao Qinghe nodded, relieved.
Ah Shuang is always cautious, so it's understandable that she would care about these things.
"But you're being too cautious. The manor has been exposed to the sun so many times, how could any scoundrels possibly sneak in?"
"Besides, given the current situation in the capital, who would dare to lay a hand on me?"
"You can put your mind at ease."
Ah Shuang obediently admitted her mistake: "What the old lady said is true. I made a mountain out of a molehill."
That matter is now considered closed.
On the way from the Zhenguo Lady's residence to the Huajiao Tower, A Shuang was always absent-minded, and would lift the curtain every now and then to look ahead, and then glance at her guiltily after looking.
Even a fool like Qiao Qinghe could see there was something wrong.
But Ah Shuang didn't say anything, and she pretended not to know anything.
Half an hour later, the carriage arrived at the Painted Corner Tower.
Today, the Huajiaolou Opera House has invited several opera troupes from other places to come to Beijing to perform some fresh and special plays for a few days.
Therefore, the corner tower is particularly lively today.
Seats in the lobby on the first floor were priced exorbitantly, and the private rooms on the second floor and above were booked well in advance by prominent families in Beijing.
Qiao Qinghe and Madam Zheng had reserved a private room on the third floor, directly facing the stage. It was the best spot in the entire Huajiaolou (Painted Corner Tower) for watching the opera.
After entering, Qiao Qinghe, along with A Shuang and four maids, bypassed the main hall and went straight upstairs.
Just as the group reached the stairwell between the second and third floors, another group came down from the third floor.
Looking up, I realized it was truly a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road.
It turned out to be the old lady of the Liu family.
With Liu Wenyan becoming the Grand Tutor to the young emperor, there are recent signs that he may surpass the Marquis of Yongning and the Marquis of Enping to become the chief minister. As Liu Wenyan's first wife, the status of the Old Lady Liu has also risen accordingly in the upper circles of the capital.
If there's anyone in the entire capital who dares to disregard Qiao Qinghe, it would undoubtedly be Old Madam Liu.
"Who do we have here? How dare you block my way. It's the Lady Zhenguo."
Old Madam Liu glanced at Qiao Qinghe disdainfully and ordered, "You step back and let me go first."
Qiao Qinghe frowned. Although the stairs were not wide, they were wide enough for three people to walk side by side.
If everyone gives way, they can pass each other without bumping into each other.
Asking her to step back and make way is clearly a deliberate attempt to make things difficult.
Although Qiao Qinghe was not afraid of her, she did not want to make a scene in public.
Most importantly, half of the Painted Corner Tower is now part of her business, and she doesn't want to ruin its big business today because of this little thing.
However, it was impossible to get her to step back and make way for Liu.
So she raised her hand, signaling the people behind her to move aside, and she also turned slightly to the side.
"please."
Qiao Qinghe withdrew.
Although Madam Liu was still somewhat unwilling, seeing that Qiao Qinghe had taken the initiative to back down, she reluctantly accepted.
Old Madam Liu snorted coldly and led her people downstairs.
Whether intentional or unintentional, an old woman behind Madam Liu suddenly elbowed Qiao Qinghe as she passed by. The force was quite strong, and Qiao Qinghe, caught off guard, staggered and almost fell down the stairs.
No sooner said than done, one of the maids behind Qiao Qinghe leaped out and caught her just before she fell.
Before Qiao Qinghe could react, the maid kicked the old woman in the back.
The old woman stumbled forward and bumped into two people who were still on the stairs.
Then the three of them tumbled down the stairs together.
Fortunately, Madam Liu was walking at the front and had already reached the platform on the second floor. In addition, the people around her were quick-witted and pulled her aside in time when the others rolled down, saving her from being knocked to the ground.
Even so, Madam Liu was still quite angry.
She glared fiercely at the instigator, and was about to ask Qiao Qinghe what she meant when she looked up and saw that the maid protecting Qiao Qinghe was also glaring fiercely at her.
"Princess Gaoping!?"
Madam Liu was taken aback, thinking she had misread it. It took her a long time to confirm that the person dressed as a maid was indeed Princess Gaoping from the Yongning Marquis's mansion.
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