Chapter 202 Qiu Heng's Guess
The incident happened so suddenly that, amidst the exclamations, Qiu Heng suppressed her instinct to nimbly dodge and, with a hint of panic, dodged to the side, raising her arm to block the white cat that was pouncing on her.
The white cat landed and approached Qiuheng's feet.
Consort Yu's voice rang out: "Quickly take the snowball away."
Several palace servants rushed forward and carefully carried the white cat away.
Qiu Meiren loosened her grip on her mouth and asked anxiously, "Sixth Sister, are you alright?"
Consort Yu glanced at Consort Qiu, who had spoken up, but did not reprimand her. Instead, she asked Qiu Heng the same question: "Is Princess Suiyun alright?"
Qiu Heng lowered her hand from her arm, revealing the sleeve that had been torn by the white cat.
"It's alright, the winter clothes are thick, only the outside was torn."
Consort Yu breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. Fortunately, Princess Suiyun reacted quickly. If her face had been scratched by Xueqiu, I would have been ashamed. Someone, bring the Moonbeam Satin that His Majesty bestowed upon Princess Suiyun before the New Year."
"Your Highness is too kind. It was just a minor accident. I dare not accept such a generous reward."
"If Princess Suiyun refuses to accept it, is she blaming me?"
"This humble woman dares not."
"Then you shall accept it. I've been thinking of inviting you to the palace often so I can learn the art of incense making from you."
Qiu Heng's heart skipped a beat.
They often summoned her to the palace?
"I come from the countryside and have only learned about incense by trial and error. With so many skilled incense makers in the palace, how could I possibly embarrass myself in front of Your Majesty?"
Consort Yu's expression darkened slightly: "Princess Suiyun is being polite, but from what I've heard, does she not want to teach me?"
Hearing Consort Yu say this, Consort Qiu's face turned pale, and her eyes were full of worry as she looked at Qiu Heng.
"If Your Highness does not find it offensive, it would be my honor."
Consort Yu smiled gently, as if ice had melted and snow had fallen: "Then Princess Suiyun, come tomorrow. The palace has all the spices you need, so you don't need to bring anything."
"yes."
Consort Yu then looked down at the kneeling Beauty Qiu, as if looking at a tiny insect: "Beauty Qiu is frail, please accompany Princess Yun to escort your sister back."
"This humble woman takes her leave."
Qiu Meiren felt a sense of relief, as if she had survived a disaster: "This concubine takes her leave."
The two sisters left Yuchen Palace and returned in silence to Qiu Meiren's residence.
Finally back in her own place, Qiu Meiren sat exhausted on the bed and grabbed Qiu Heng's wrist: "Let me see, are you really not injured?"
"No, I just tore my coat."
Looking at her torn sleeve, Qiu Meiren said with lingering fear, "Thank goodness it wasn't summer."
Let alone scratching your face, even scratching your arm could leave a scar, which would be terrible.
"Sister, where did Consort Yu's white cat come from?"
"It was presented as tribute before the New Year."
"Is that white cat very temperamental?"
"Since returning from the autumn hunt, I've tried to stay home as much as possible. I've occasionally seen Consort Yu holding the white cat, and she seems quite docile—" Qiu Meiren's expression changed slightly. "Sixth Sister suspects that the white cat's attack on you today wasn't an accident?"
"It might be, it might not. I'm just asking so I'll have a better idea, since I might be coming to the palace often in the future."
Qiu Meiren gave a bitter laugh: "They say serving the emperor is like serving a tiger, but I think dealing with Consort Yu is even riskier than serving the emperor. You must be extremely careful."
Qiu Heng nodded: "Sister, I'll go back first."
"Change your clothes, I've never worn them before."
"No need, I can just wear a cloak when I go out so no one can see me."
Qiu Meiren tried to persuade her again, but Qiu Heng said seriously, "Sister, it's better to avoid trouble."
Qiu Meiren paused for a moment, then nodded with a wry smile: "Sixth Sister is the most thoughtful."
Stepping outside, Qiu Heng pulled her cloak tighter and looked up at the sky.
The sky was overcast, with clouds like dark gauze covering the heavens.
"What is Sixth Miss looking at?" Zheng Yu asked curiously.
"Look at the clouds."
Zheng Yu silently looked up.
There's really nothing to see on a cloudy day.
Qiu Heng withdrew her gaze and walked outside.
The carriage remained where it was, where people from Yuchen Palace were waiting. The Moonbeam Satin bestowed by Consort Yu had already been placed in the carriage.
Qiu Heng sat down, glanced at the magnificent silk, and closed her eyes in deep thought.
The white cat, which was presented as tribute to Consort Yu, wouldn't normally attack people. So, was today's pounce by someone?
If so, what was Consort Yu's purpose in doing this?
The image of the white cat pouncing flashed through my mind.
Do you want to ruin her face?
What benefit would this bring to Consort Yu?
Qiu Heng pondered carefully and shook her head slightly.
There's no benefit to it; at most, it just makes me dislike her and doesn't want her to have an easy time.
Is it harmful to others and not beneficial to oneself?
Are there any other possibilities besides this one?
Consort Yu's words echoed in my ears: Fortunately, Princess Suiyun reacted quickly—
Qiu Heng suddenly opened her eyes, a thought flashing through her mind: to test her?
In such a sudden situation, without specialized training, it is easy to expose one's actual skills.
This guess seems more reasonable than simply disliking her.
Why would Consort Yu test her?
After returning from the autumn hunt, they had no further contact.
Qiu Heng gently rubbed her temples to gather her thoughts.
After the autumn hunt, she devoted all her energy to eliminating the treacherous minister. She succeeded, was granted the title of County Princess, then was kidnapped by Northern Qi spies to threaten Xue Han, and then Granny Su was drowned—
Qiu Heng paused, her hand pressing on her brow, and a startling guess arose in her mind: Could it be Consort Yu who killed Granny Su?
After visiting the mass grave, she told Xue Han that if the person who killed Granny Su was after her, there would definitely be more to come.
After things calmed down until the New Year, Consort Yu set her sights on him.
Is this Consort Yu's move to test her skills?
But something still doesn't feel right.
Qiu Heng lifted a corner of the car window curtain, letting the cold wind blow in to clear her head.
Consort Yu's probing suggests that she suspects Consort Yu of having a problem, but where does this suspicion come from?
It's not during the autumn hunting season, at least not.
Qiu Heng's gaze unconsciously drifted to the street. The pedestrians and the noisy sounds seemed to be separated from her by a barrier, close yet distant.
The hand gripping the embroidered curtain suddenly loosened, and Qiu Heng leaned against the car wall, her heart pounding like a drum.
It was that spy who escaped!
The spy, disguised as a maid, abducted her to the valley, allowing only Xue Han to pass through. Both she and Xue Han assumed that only the three of them were present.
She used a sleeping potion to knock out the female spy, which, in the eyes of another spy, made it seem as if her accomplice, who was holding her at knifepoint, had inexplicably collapsed.
In the eyes of the escaping spies, there was definitely something wrong with her, this seemingly delicate noblewoman in the eyes of the world.
So they sought out Granny Su to understand her unusual behavior and then killed her to silence her. This led to Consort Yu's attention on New Year's Day and today's test.
This means that the escaped spy was able to communicate with Consort Yu.
Was Consort Yu also a spy?
At this point, the puzzling aspect of Consort Yu's framing of Lin Chengfeng becomes clear: it was to sabotage the talented generals of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Qiu Heng's heart was pounding, and her fingertips were icy cold.
Maybe she's overthinking it, but overthinking doesn't hurt, while underthinking is the real problem!
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