Chapter 137 Back then
"Ordinary things?"
Concubine Qin raised an eyebrow. "I've heard that the mountains there are high and densely forested, with many miasma and poisonous insects, and the people's lives are quite difficult. Qingning, yet you think lychees are ordinary things?"
"The royal family has imperial merchants who use special channels to transport lychees, but ordinary Lingnan lychee merchants would not go through so much trouble to send lychees from Lingnan to the capital."
"Nowadays, bandits are rampant and human lives are more important. So Qingning feels that compared to human lives, lychees are more common."
"You are quite insightful. Your remarks really impressed me. I never thought you had such an understanding of local business. You are indeed a remarkable woman who has been able to gain a foothold in the capital."
Concubine Qin praised him and changed the subject subtly.
"I remember correctly, you are only twenty-four this year, and you are about the same age as Chengyuan?"
"Your Highness has a good memory, but Qingning's birthday is February 2nd, and Lord Qin's is October 11th, so he's a few months younger than Qingning."
"Oh? You don't like men younger than you? Or do you just dislike Cheng Yuan?"
Jiang Qingning paused, then spoke carefully, "Your Majesty, the two cannot be confused. There are only a handful of ordinary men like Sir Qin who have already achieved great success at such a young age. Sir Qin is a pillar of the country. How dare Qingning dislike him?"
Concubine Qin looked at her with a half-smile, picked up the teacup, and casually instructed the head palace maid standing beside her:
"Go and see if the prince is on duty today. If he is asked to come to the palace immediately, tell him that I have just acquired some good tea and ask him to taste it and pick someone up."
Her eyes swept across Jiang Qingning below with a smile.
The maid understood and immediately bowed her head and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Jiang Qingning's hand holding the teacup trembled almost imperceptibly, and a sense of tension suddenly arose in his heart.
"Your Highness, there's actually no need for Lord Qin to answer. If Your Highness is tired, Qingning will take her leave first."
Jiang Qingning put down the teacup, stood up, and bowed respectfully.
"Don't bother. I'm sending you out of the palace, and I'm sending Cheng Yuan out when he comes. If you two weren't familiar with each other, I wouldn't have asked so rashly."
"……yes."
Jiang Qingning had no choice but to sit back.
Concubine Qin stopped talking and just sipped her tea leisurely, her eyes occasionally glancing towards the palace door with an amusement as if she was watching a show.
Not long after, a burst of hurried footsteps came from afar.
"Bang!"
The tightly closed hall door was suddenly slammed open by a huge force from outside, and the candlelight in the hall seemed to be shaken by the strong wind.
A tall and straight figure suddenly rushed in, and what came into view was the face that the two of them were most familiar with.
Qin Xiu had obviously come in a hurry, and he didn't even have time to change his crimson official uniform. His anxious expression made his face look even more like jade, and there was even a hint of red at the corners of his eyes.
The man who remained calm when seeing the bodies of the Lin family members who committed suicide by taking poison was now really panicked, fearing that his sister had said something that would cause her lover to misunderstand.
He stared at Jiang Qingning with burning eyes and walked up to her with big strides.
The distance between the two people suddenly shortened.
"Jiang Qingning, are you okay?"
"Me? Lord Qin, what could possibly happen to me?"
Jiang Qingning was forced to look up to meet his eyes.
On the high seat.
Concubine Qin's hand holding the teacup paused almost imperceptibly.
After a long time, my brain seemed to have come around.
Does Chengyuan think that she is deliberately forcing his future wife?
She gracefully put down the teacup in her hand, and the porcelain collided with the rosewood table, making a crisp sound that broke the silence in the hall.
"Okay." Concubine Qin's voice sounded with indulgence.
Her eyes swept across the man and woman below, and the curve of her lips deepened slightly.
"Chengyuan, when will you change your impetuous temper?"
Her tone was full of affectionate reproach, but her eyes did not show much annoyance, and her voice was a little gentler: "Qingning girl must have been scared by you. Look, the tea has been spilled."
She nodded slightly to the servant standing beside Jiang Qingning.
Qingdai immediately understood and quickly stepped forward, saying softly to Jiang Qingning, "Miss Jiang, may I take you to the side hall to tidy up your dress?"
"Thank you very much."
Only then did Jiang Qingning realize that her dress had been inadvertently wet by herself.
"Your Highness, I will be back soon."
"Okay, go quickly." Concubine Qin nodded with a smile.
The blue skirt of the sky and water brushed across the smooth floor tiles, and the dark tea stains on them were particularly conspicuous.
Qin Xiu's gaze did not slowly withdraw until Jiang Qingning's figure disappeared behind the bead curtain of the side hall.
"Are you satisfied now?"
Concubine Qin's voice came from above, with a hint of ridicule: "How dare you be so presumptuous in front of me? Don't you think about whether this girl is too shameless?"
Qin Xiu bowed respectfully and said, "I have been disrespectful. Please punish me, Your Majesty. However, I was so reckless only because I was worried about my fault."
He raised his head and looked at Concubine Qin with an open gaze.
"Since my sister has summoned her to the palace for questioning, I'm sure she knows what she's worried about. It's nothing more than being expelled from the Jiang family, with her father and brothers in Lingnan. She feels alone and helpless, and she's afraid of bringing trouble to me. She's even more afraid of the negative comments she'll make about the family."
"However, in my eyes, these are not obstacles, nor are they her fault."
Concubine Qin raised her eyes slightly: "Oh? Not an obstacle?"
"Do you know how many eyes are staring at our Qin family in the court? Now that the Lin family has fallen, the queen and the prince have been deposed,
Everyone in the former imperial court and harem knew that I was destined to be the empress, but who ever asked me if I was willing to enter the palace?
"Marry a woman who has been expelled from the clan and whose father and brother are still serving in Lingnan as a criminal.
How will you deal with your father, the clan elders, and those who are waiting to see you make a fool of yourself and find something to blame?
"I will handle the affairs between my father and the clan!"
Qin Xiu's answer was firm and decisive, without any hesitation.
"As for others?"
"Who dares to say anything? The Lin family father and son are still alive. This is probably enough to teach some people to keep their tongues."
Concubine Qin quietly looked at her brother who had grown up well-behaved but now had become so sharp and imposing.
There was determination in his eyes, and he would never look back.
Concubine Qin slowly leaned back on the soft fox fur pillow, lowered her eyes, held her forehead and sighed softly, with a sense of helplessness and relief.
"I wish someone could protect me at that time."
Qin Xiu felt a pang of pain in his heart, and said bitterly, "Sister, if only I could shoulder the burden of Duke Qin's Mansion at that time."
"You were only ten years old then."
Concubine Qin chuckled, "Sister knows, I just spoke from my heart. I don't blame you, nor do I blame anyone in the Qin family."
"Sister, you're going to have to endure this."
"That's all."
She waved her hand and looked towards the side hall. The bead curtain swayed slightly, and a figure swaying inside could be vaguely seen.
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