Chapter 694 Moving into the Qiao Residence
When Qiao Qinghe left the palace, it was already close to evening.
The chief eunuch serving Emperor Xiaozhao personally escorted the person to the palace gate.
Besides Mu Jin, the group also included the brothers Li Rui and Li Ze, who were carried on the backs of two eunuchs, and Li Lan, who was held in the arms of a nanny.
When the group arrived at the palace gate, Qiao Qinghe had the three children put into the carriage first, exchanged a few polite words with Liu Xin, and then got into the carriage.
By the time they returned to the Qiao residence in the southern city, it was already completely dark.
Wei Jia and Madam He were both waiting for her at the main gate.
"Why are you waiting here?" Qiao Qinghe helped Wei Jia down from the carriage.
Wei Jia said with a worried expression, "I heard that you brought three children out of the palace."
Qiao Qinghe was surprised; she had returned directly after leaving the palace. Before the news even arrived, word had already spread that she had taken several children from the palace.
However, thinking about Emperor Xiaozhao's plan, Qiao Qinghe felt relieved.
Thinking of this, Qiao Qinghe didn't hide anything and nodded, saying, "They are all the late Crown Prince's three children. They will be raised in our household from now on."
Everyone was shocked by these words.
He looked at Qiao Qinghe with a pale face, then at Wei Jia, wanting to say something, but in the end she said nothing.
She was just a housekeeper after all, and it wasn't appropriate for her to say too much.
Wei Jia doesn't have this concern.
She frowned and lowered her voice, asking, "Mother, do you know that the Crown Prince is dead, and the Crown Princess is dead as well? The Court of Judicial Review and the Jingzhou Prefecture Government are investigating the cause of their deaths."
“Countless eyes are now watching this matter.”
At this point, instead of keeping a low profile, why would they actively get involved?
Qiao Qinghe naturally understood what "not seeing" meant, but she was also helpless!
With a wry smile, she explained helplessly, "His Majesty trusts me. In addition, our household has a precedent of raising royal offspring. That's why His Majesty entrusted us with the important task of raising the late Crown Prince's orphan."
"Don't overthink it, just take good care of the children."
Hearing Qiao Qinghe say this, Wei Jia had no way to refute it. She could only agree with a worried expression.
Soon, Madam He called over several reliable old women who helped the three children down from the horse.
"Where should we place the three children?" Madam He, along with several women carrying children, waited for Qiao Qinghe's instructions.
Qiao Qinghe thought for a moment before instructing, "Place them in my courtyard for now."
"Several children have been poisoned and will not wake up for another day or two."
"Let's wait until they wake up and ask for their opinions before making any arrangements."
Li Yiqian lives in the east wing of the main courtyard, and the west wing is still empty, which is perfect for the three children.
"Yes," Madam He replied, leading the people to take the child to the main courtyard.
Qiao Qinghe lagged behind and instructed Wei Jia, "If anyone comes to inquire about the three children, tell them the truth. There's no need to hide anything."
Wei Jia nodded slightly, but her brows remained furrowed.
After a long pause, she couldn't help but ask, "Does Your Majesty have some plans in mind by doing this?"
Qiao Qinghe smiled, her eyes full of satisfaction as she looked at Wei Jia. "You figured it out?"
Wei Jia sighed, "The children of the deposed crown prince are still royal offspring. Although they were implicated by the deposed crown prince and demoted to commoners, you can tell from the emperor's attitude that he still cares about them."
"If you care about it, you should raise him properly in the palace. Even if you don't raise him in the palace, there are better arrangements."
"But His Majesty placed several children in our residence."
"And they didn't even arrange for someone to take care of me personally."
"In addition, the news spread as soon as the child left the palace with his mother."
"Moreover, Mother just said that if anyone comes to inquire, we should tell the truth."
"All these things combined mean that His Majesty and Mother must have some kind of plan."
"That's why they made such a big fuss about letting everyone know that the three children have moved into the Qiao family mansion."
"Otherwise, everything would be too abnormal."
Qiao Qinghe patted Wei Jia's hand that was supporting her, "You understand. You guessed correctly. It's just that I can't tell you the specific plan."
"I was merely cooperating with His Majesty in this matter."
"Just pretend you know nothing."
Wei Jia was startled.
Her mother had never kept anything from her, whether it was a big or small matter.
Now they're saying they can't tell her, which shows how complicated the matter is.
"I understand. I won't ask anymore."
When Qiao Qinghe returned to the main courtyard, Madam He had already led people to clean up the rooms in the west wing.
The three children were placed in three separate rooms.
Mu Jin, who returned with Qiao Qinghe, had already instructed people to prepare medicine for the three children.
She would wait until the soup was cooked, feed it to the children, and check on their condition before she could leave.
Qiao Qinghe went back to her room to change into some light clothes, and the servants then set out dinner on the table.
"Where is Qian-ge'er? Has he had dinner?" Qiao Qinghe asked.
"It's already been used."
A-Wu replied with a smile, "The old lady has not returned yet, so when the time came, we served the young master his dinner."
"The young master is probably joining in the fun in the west wing right now."
Li Yiqian's meal times were fixed and rarely changed.
The people below were all strictly following her orders.
Qiao Qinghe nodded in satisfaction.
But when she heard Ah Wu say that Li Yiqian was currently in the west wing joining in the fun, she couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.
This child is good in every way, except for one thing: he is too curious and always goes to wherever there is excitement.
However, this doesn't seem to be a bad thing.
Qiao Qinghe stopped asking questions once Li Yiqian was accompanied by someone.
After having dinner and pausing for a while, he went to the west wing.
When she arrived, Mu Jin was leading a group of people to feed medicine to the three children one by one.
Because the three children were placed in three different rooms, Mu Jin led her people to go from room to room.
Li Yiqian, the little rascal, happily followed behind the crowd, running here and there, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Qiao Qinghe didn't stop her. She waited until Mu Jin finished feeding the last child the medicine before she stepped forward to ask, "How is the situation?"
"The journey back from the palace wasn't long, but getting on and off the carriage was quite bumpy. I hope it didn't affect the children?"
Mu Jin smiled and shook her head: "Madam, you're overthinking it. It's nothing."
"While we were in the palace, I managed to temporarily control the toxins in the children's bodies. We're just waiting for them to be expelled slowly."
After a pause, Mu Jin withdrew her hand from taking Li Lan's pulse. "Later, please ask the old lady to send someone to feed the three children some rice porridge."
"I know what that means," Qiao Qinghe nodded. "You should go and have some dinner too."
Mu Jin hesitated for a moment, but still smiled and agreed, "Thank you, Madam."
"Oh, by the way. You can stay at the Qiao residence for the time being."
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