Only after seeing Yi Shangyun enter the house did Qiaohui finally breathe a long sigh of relief, patting her chest and saying, "I was so scared, so scared! Luckily you were here, and thankfully she believed you."
Qiaolan stared blankly at Yi Shangyun's departing figure, her face clouded with worry, and said meaningfully, "In my opinion, leaving her here will only lead to disaster sooner or later!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than an uninvited guest appeared at the door.
Upon catching a glimpse of the two figures from afar, the man said with an anxious expression, "Sisters Qiaolan and Qiaohui..."
Just as Qiaohui turned around abruptly and saw the person's face, she gasped in shock, her eyes wide and mouth agape, exclaiming, "My God, why is she here?"
Then she hurriedly turned back to look at Qiaolan's face. Qiaolan pretended to be calm and looked at the person who came in, lowering her voice to say, "It's really true that what you fear most is what happens. One wave subsides and another rises."
As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly put on a smiling face, grabbed Qiaohui's arm, and dragged her forward to meet them.
"So it's Sister Jinlan. I wonder what brings you here today? Don't His Highness and the Empress need your services?"
As Qiaolan spoke, she went over and helped Jinlan, Xuanyuan Yue's personal maid, who was about to step into the courtyard, turn around and walk out of the courtyard.
Once they reached a pavilion in the front yard, Qiaolan finally sat Jinlan down and released her hand. She then ordered the maid beside her, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and pour tea for Sister Jinlan. And bring up some delicious snacks as well."
Jinlan was truly anxious. Upon hearing the sound, she quickly stood up to stop her, saying, "Sister Qiaolan, there's no need for such formalities. Right now, I'm like an ant on a hot pan. The little prince has been crying and making a fuss for a long time for some reason, and things are in complete chaos."
Qiaolan frowned anxiously and asked, "What's wrong, Your Highness? Are you feeling unwell anywhere? Have you called the imperial physician to take a look?"
Jinlan seemed almost in tears, repeatedly saying excitedly, "It's no use, it's no use. Your Highness, he's only upset because his favorite kitten is missing..."
She seemed to be choking up a little, and Qiaolan quickly went over to help her sit down on the stone bench in the pavilion.
After a pause, Jinlan composed herself. Perhaps unable to bear the torment she had been enduring, she wanted to find someone to confide in. She said, "Our Lady is actually very pitiful. From childhood to adulthood, she finally found her only true friend in the Western Qin Palace. Although her status was just like ours, a lowly palace maid who had to be subservient all day long, the Lady treated her extremely well and took her everywhere. After learning that she was destined to marry far away and could no longer do anything for her, before coming to Dongning, she personally asked the Empress for a royal dowry of ten miles, not wanting her to be looked down upon by her husband's family."
Qiaolan sighed with emotion, "The affection between that lady and that palace maid must be as deep as the sea!"
Jinlan said, "Who says otherwise! Her Majesty has no relatives or friends here, and the Third Prince is often away on official business. In the dead of night, when no one is around, Her Majesty always secretly sheds tears, without even anyone to confide in. She had finally looked forward to the birth of the little prince, hoping it would bring her some comfort, but who would have thought that now she would either confide in that little child who can't understand anything, or to Xiaomi. Her Majesty... she... she is suffering so much!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she took out a handkerchief and silently wiped away the tears of sadness from the corners of her eyes.
Just then, the maids brought over several exquisite tea and snack dishes on food platters.
Qiaolan personally handed a cup of hot tea to Jinlan: "Sister, have some hot tea to warm yourself up first. We can talk about it slowly."
After a long day of work, Jinlan was quite thirsty, so she took the cup and slowly sipped it.
Qiaolan smiled slightly. She was unaware that the good friend of her mistress that Jinlan was talking about was currently in the courtyard, which was only separated from her by a wall. So she asked in a puzzled tone, "Since our lady is so close to that palace maid, why not bring her to Dongning Kingdom to keep her company, just like the other ladies?"
Jinlan glanced around, and Qiaolan immediately understood and dismissed everyone around her, including Qiaohui.
After everyone withdrew, Jinlan pursed her lips and frowned, saying, "Sister, because your name is the same as mine, with the character 'Lan,' and you are someone the Third Prince favors, I know that the Third Prince and the faction in the palace have always been irreconcilable enemies. So from the first time I met you, I felt a special connection with you. But you must promise me that you will not tell anyone about this matter except you?"
Qiaolan slowly placed her hands on Jinlan's hands, holding them tightly, and said solemnly and confidently, "Sister, don't worry, Qiaolan will definitely keep your mouth shut!"
Jinlan took a breath, slowly stood up, and looked at the ripples on the water around the pavilion as the breeze blew. She said with a serious expression, "The reason why Your Majesty did not bring Yun'er to Dongning Kingdom is because she is someone who has taken a liking to a very important person in my Western Qin Kingdom!"
As Qiaolan pondered, she murmured to herself, "A person of paramount importance in the Western Qin Kingdom... someone our Empress would be so willing to part with... could it be..."
As she pondered, Qiaolan suddenly felt a jolt in her heart, and then looked at Jinlan's back in disbelief, saying, "Could it be that what Sister is talking about is the legendary War God Qin Wang, who dominates the entire Lingkong Continent? Our Empress's only royal uncle?"
Jinlan turned to look at Qiaolan's face, which was now more than just astonished, and praised, "Sister, now you finally understand why the Third Prince values you so much. You are indeed exceptionally intelligent and quick to grasp things!"
At this moment, Qiaolan was completely stunned. After a moment's thought, she said, "Then... then if what you say is true, if that maid named... named 'Yun'er' were to enter the Prince of Qin's mansion one day, wouldn't Princess Yongle, the current Princess Consort of Qin, lose to a mere palace maid? Wouldn't she lose face?"
At this moment, Jinlan suddenly looked dejected, silently walked to the stone bench, sat down, and sighed, "It's a pity, I'm afraid she will never be able to enter the gates of the Prince Qin's mansion in this lifetime..."
Upon hearing this, Qiaolan suddenly realized what was happening and said with some disappointment, "Yes, I heard that the battle in the Northwest was extremely fierce. In the end, the Qin King, the war god of Western Qin who looked down on the world, actually died together with the Northern Lie. What a pity."
"Ah? Died together?" Jinlan was perhaps too engrossed in her deep memories at the moment, and was immediately surprised when she heard this.
But then he suddenly snapped back to reality, swallowed hard, realizing he had almost made a terrible mistake, and quickly replied, "Oh, yes, what a pity, what a pity..."
Qiaolan sighed, shook her head, and said sadly, "It seems that this servant was destined to be a lowly servant from birth. She shouldn't have had any grand dreams of 'rising to the top and becoming a phoenix.' Look, even God isn't on her side. Alas..."
Jinlan remained silent, only pursing her lips before guiltily burying her head deep in her chest.
Suddenly, Qiaolan perked up and said, "Since the King of Qin is dead, why not have Her Majesty write another letter back to the motherland and ask Yun'er to come to the Dongning Palace? Even if she can't be a phoenix, being by Her Majesty's side is not bad!"
Jinlan slowly raised her head and said, "What I fear most is Yun'er. She has already died and will never return in this life!"
"What?" Qiaolan couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Jinlan pondered for a while, then slowly said, "Sister, you don't know this, but in fact, the war in the Northwest, on the surface, was due to the long-standing grudges between the Western Qin and the Northern Lie on the border, but in reality, it was all caused by Yun'er."
"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Qiaolan stood up abruptly and almost jumped up.
Jinlan explained softly, "Actually, Yun'er had already left the palace before Your Highness married into Dongning. At that time, she was originally scheduled to work at the Prince Qin's residence after the Mid-Autumn Festival. It was the Princess Qin who personally asked the Empress for her, so she certainly didn't have any good intentions. Later, as the date drew closer, one day, Yun'er suddenly fell off a cliff in the south of the city and disappeared, and there has been no news of her since."
"How could such a thing happen? This woman really has a tragic fate!" Qiaolan said, finding it hard to believe.
Jinlan sighed and recalled, "Who says otherwise? From birth, she was known throughout the entire Western Qin Kingdom as a useless, ugly girl, and was even jilted at marriage. After entering the palace, she was repeatedly punished for the sake of the princess, leaving herself covered in bruises. After the incident, everyone thought she had fallen off a cliff and died, but only His Highness the Prince of Qin firmly believed that she had been abducted to Northern Lie by the eldest prince of Northern Lie, Tuoba Ze. This completely enraged His Highness the Prince of Qin, so he petitioned the Emperor to send troops north to attack Northern Lie and rescue Yun'er. Who would have thought that in the end..."
After these words, a hush fell over the room, and both women fell into deep thought...
"Jingle bells, jingle bells..."
Just then, a series of clear, continuous bell sounds rang out.
Upon hearing such a familiar sound, Jinlan quickly looked up and saw a cute little white animal wagging its tail as it ran towards the pavilion from the other end of the covered bridge.
She suddenly stood up, lifted her skirt, and rushed towards him, picking him up in her arms. Excitedly, she exclaimed, "Xiao Mi, it's Xiao Mi! It really is you! It really is Xiao Mi, Xiao Mi..."
Jinlan was extremely excited. After regaining her senses, she asked Qiaohui, who had followed closely behind her, "Xiao Mi, how did it get here..."
Qiaohui explained, "Sister Jinlan, Xiaomi must have been bitten by a poisonous snake and fell off the wall. It was extremely serious at the time, and it almost lost its life. Fortunately, the young master is a skilled doctor. He used leeches from our lotus pond to detoxify it and carefully bandaged it up. Look, it's not swollen at all now, and it will definitely recover completely in a couple of days."
Jinlan then looked in the direction Qiaohui pointed and said, "It's been poisoned... No wonder the palace maids said they saw Xiaomi walking with a limp. They wanted to check it, but they wouldn't let them touch it. When everyone chased after it, it ran away instead, and everyone searched the entire courtyard but couldn't find it no matter what."
After a pause, Jinlan suddenly said, "By the way, which young master healed Xiaomi's injuries? I must thank him in person."
As Jinlan spoke, she strolled towards the courtyard on her own...
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