Chapter 29 Ye Tanxiang You and I are husband and wife, this is how it should be.
"Have you slept yet?"
Cui Yiluo heard the man's low voice behind her and thought to herself, as expected, it was perfectly reasonable for him to ask for an heir for the Jiang family.
There is no need for emotions to do this, otherwise there wouldn't be so many men who linger in brothels and have three wives and four concubines.
Therefore, Cui Yiluo didn't mind. It was just that when she teased him in the past, she always felt it was a bit interesting to see him forget the rules he had to abide by and indulge in the desires he hated the most.
She had lost interest in teasing him these days, but in fact, she only needed to be a qualified young lady of the Jiang family.
It is natural for a couple to respect each other and have children.
She turned around, looked at him with a complicated expression, and said, "Husband, is there something you want to say?"
Seeing her calm eyes, Jiang Yunjin pursed his lips.
He swallowed the words that had been stuck in his throat all night and said, "Tomorrow is the Queen's Thousand Years Banquet. You must be careful in the palace. If you see anything unusual, send someone to find me."
Cui Yiluo didn't expect that he didn't mention the matter of offspring, but she realized the next moment that he had always been abstinent and his official business was not yet finished. Even if the old lady told him about it, he would probably not be in a hurry for the time being.
And for the sake of the Second Prince, he needs to protect her.
"I see."
After he finished speaking, Jiang Yunjin did not speak again. The tent was closed and Jiang Yunjin's eyes became a little dim.
These past few days, she had her back to him. This was the first time she turned towards him in the tent as before. Now that the tent was quiet, she did not turn back.
But perhaps because he was rejected by her last time, he just looked at her, as if he was testing her, or as if he was too reserved to speak, waiting for her to take the initiative.
Cui Yiluo smiled suddenly, but there was no smile in her eyes.
Jiang Yunjin frowned slightly, and the next moment he heard her say, "I have to go to the palace tomorrow, so my husband should go to bed early."
His throat swelled and he said, "Okay."
Then all the lights went out, and the bedroom became dark again. Cui Yiluo turned her back as she had done in the previous few days.
In the darkness of the night, the man's dark eyes were filled with ink, so thick that it could not be dissolved.
The second day was the Queen's Birthday. Everyone got up early in the morning and dressed very formally. They harnessed their carriages and headed for the palace gate.
Although rumors had intensified in recent days about the Second Prince, the Empress's alleged plot to usurp the throne, the Emperor hadn't yet expressed his stance. As long as Empress Gu was Empress, no one dared to disrespect her. Everyone was also curious: with the rumors circulating for days, what was the Emperor's true attitude toward the Second Prince?
Everyone had different thoughts and entered the palace from Shunhua Gate according to the time.
The Queen arranged for the female members of the family to enjoy the flowers and drink tea in the Peony Garden. The Queen usually advocated frugality and had no extravagant hobbies. She only loved to grow flowers and plants. It was said that many beautiful flowers in the Peony Garden were taken care of by the Queen, so the servants in the flower room were more careful, for fear that they would not take good care of one and would be punished by the Queen.
Beside the path in the garden, the begonias are bright and beautiful, and Cui Yiluo and Jiang Zhaoyue are walking side by side.
"I heard that after tonight's banquet, the Queen will take us here to see it again."
Cui Yiluo asked doubtfully, "At night?"
Jiang Zhaoyue's expression was somewhat mysterious. "Tell me, why did you take us to appreciate the flowers at night? Isn't it better to appreciate flowers during the day?"
Cui Yiluo smiled helplessly: "Cousin, do you have any good ideas?"
Jiang Zhaoyue's smile was tinged with pride as she said, "I heard that the Empress personally planted a nightshade beside the Jade Face Pond. It blooms only at night. This flower is extremely difficult to cultivate, and it was presented by another country, so it's very precious. I've never seen one before, so I'm sure I'll be able to see it tonight."
No wonder there are so many guards patrolling the Peony Garden today.
Cui Yiluo and Jiang Zhaoyue walked casually for a while, only to see Jiang Zhaoyue suddenly frown, his whole face wrinkled, and his palms pressed on his abdomen.
Cui Yiluo keenly noticed that she was extremely unwell and asked hurriedly, "Cousin, what's wrong?"
Jiang Zhaoyue frowned and shook her hands, her voice weaker than usual. "Maybe the tea I drank was too cold. I have a stomachache. Cousin, wait here for me. I'll go change first."
Cui Yiluo was just about to ask Yang Jingling to come and check on her, but Jiang Zhaoyue left anxiously, so she had to wait here for the time being.
Not long after Jiang Zhaoyue left, he saw two palace maids coming towards him.
Cui Yiluo always had a photographic memory and instantly recognized that this was Xiao Ying's personal maid.
"Greetings to Madam Jiang Shao. Princess Hejia would like to invite you to reminisce about the past. The princess is waiting for you at Fengchi Pavilion."
Xiao Ying?
Cui Yiluo frowned. Xiao Ying had been very friendly to her during the Lotus Feast, but she had intentionally distanced herself from her during the last summer hunt. But Xiao Ying was clearly concerned about something; it wasn't that she genuinely didn't want to talk to her.
Therefore, Cui Yiluo was not sure whether it was really Xiao Ying who was looking for her, or someone else was using Xiao Ying's name.
Out of caution, she was about to find an excuse to refuse when one of the maids suddenly stepped forward and said, "Madam Jiang, the princess said she has a secret she wants to share with you. It's about Madam Jiang's biological mother."
Cui Yiluo's expression froze.
Fengchi Pavilion is not far from here. Many ladies and noble girls gather along the way to enjoy the flowers and have fun. If they want to assassinate her, they would not choose to take her to Fengchi Pavilion. Moreover, these two maids are indeed Xiao Ying's maids.
Moreover, she really wanted to resolve the doubts in her heart. After thinking it over again and again, Cui Yiluo asked one of the maids to stay and tell Jiang Zhaoyue, and went to Fengchi Pavilion with another maid.
After walking for a while, as they passed through a long corridor, Cui Yiluo suddenly felt something was wrong. The road ahead was indeed leading to Fengchi Pavilion, but after going around this corridor, it was not the Fengchi Pavilion that was going to be reached.
Cui Yiluo's expression turned cold, and she turned around and left without hesitation.
The maid behind him did not catch up either.
Cui Yiluo walked back quickly, and when she saw that she was about to go out of the corridor, she felt a little relieved.
Unexpectedly, just as she exited the corridor, she saw a noble lady passing by, flanked by several other ladies, followed by numerous palace maids and attendants carrying ceremonial guards and sunshades. Cui Yiluo quickly stopped in her tracks, thus avoiding bumping into the lady at the outermost corner.
The lady on the outermost side was the wife of Cao Zhuang, a Jinzi Guanglu doctor. Seeing Cui Yiluo's hurried look, she frowned slightly and asked, "Madam Jiang, why are you in such a hurry?"
Concubine Qiong glanced over gently with her phoenix eyes, met Cui Yiluo's gaze, and frowned slightly.
Cui Yiluo lowered her gaze and bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Her Majesty the Concubine Qiong."
Today is the Queen's Thousand Years Banquet, but Concubine Qiong is not shy about it. Her imperial-colored dress is embroidered with large blooming peonies, and her hair is full of pearls and jade, but it does not look cumbersome, which makes her look more graceful and elegant.
Perhaps it wasn't that she wasn't shy about it, but that Concubine Qiong always dressed like this on a daily basis.
Her expression was indifferent, making her seem even more unattainable.
"Get up. Madam Jiang, please be careful when walking. Be careful not to get hurt."
Her tone was calm and cold, without a trace of emotion. Even though her words were concerned, no one would think that she was caring.
Cui Yiluo lowered her head and replied, "Yes."
One or two ladies looked at her and Concubine Qiong's faces with a hint of surprise, and then widened their eyes slightly.
"Let's go."
Until the group left in a mighty manner, Cui Yiluo's eyes became completely gloomy.
Returning to the place where she had just agreed to meet with Jiang Zhaoyue, the maid who had been instructed by her to stay here and tell Jiang Zhaoyue that she was going to Fengchi Pavilion to see Xiao Ying was indeed not there. There was no one there.
Cui Yiluo didn't know whether Jiang Zhaoyue had returned. The Peony Garden was so big that she would have nowhere to look for her, so she just waited there.
I didn’t expect that Jiang Zhaoyue would really show up.
Jiang Zhaoyue's expression returned to its previous gentleness. She quickened her pace and said, "Sorry, cousin, I kept you waiting for so long."
"Nothing, cousin is feeling better now."
"Much better. I don't know what I ate," Jiang Zhaoyue said with a puzzled look. He glanced at the sky and said, "It's almost time for the banquet. Let's go back first."
The two of them headed for Mingde Hall where the Qianqiu Banquet was to be held tonight. However, they were stopped by armored imperial guards before they even left the Peony Garden.
"The Queen invites you all to the Jade Face Pool."
Jiang Zhaoyue and Cui Yiluo's expressions changed, and they looked at each other. They saw that the noble ladies around them were also stopped by the imperial guards and asked to go to Yuyan Pool.
It was not yet dark when the armored imperial guards again came out to seal off the Peony Garden. Even Jiang Zhaoyue, who was somewhat naive, knew that the Queen could not have invited them to appreciate the night peony.
Everyone was invited to the Yuyan Pool one after another, and saw that only the stems of several rare and precious night-blooming hibiscus were left, and the delicate and beautiful flowers that were about to bloom had disappeared. They were all shocked and the scene immediately caused a commotion in the crowd.
"Who is so bold as to steal the treasures cultivated by the Empress herself?"
"The Empress loves these flowers the most. This person dared to do this at the Qianqiu Banquet. If he is caught by His Majesty, he will probably be beheaded!"
Cui Yiluo looked at the empty stem of the nightshade and her expression turned cold.
The eunuch's high, shrill voice suddenly suppressed the commotion in the crowd: "Your Majesty has arrived, the Empress has arrived—"
Everyone immediately knelt down and saluted.
The emperor and empress came side by side, followed by a large group of officials and princes.
The emperor's face was dark, his thick brows thick with anger, and the emperor's majesty made people's hearts tremble unconsciously. The empress, standing beside him in a calm and elegant manner, also had a frown on her face and a look of worry.
The emperor's voice was filled with a suffocating pressure: "Get up."
Cui Yiluo stood up, but met the gaze of Jiang Yunjin, who was standing behind the emperor and came with the emperor.
The Queen's Thousand Years Banquet was grand and solemn. All the officials entered the palace in their official robes. The strong crimson purple made him look more like the untouchable snow piled on the mountains.
His eyes were serious as he looked at her through the crowd, as if asking a question.
Obviously, he thought the same thing as her.
"Just now, the guards reported that someone took advantage of the guards' shift change and stole Yetan. How dare someone so bold as to steal during the Queen's Thousand Years Banquet! Today, for the Queen's sake, if you can come forward and admit it, I can spare your life for now."
Everyone looked terrified, and after a long while, there was no movement in the crowd.
Seeing this, the emperor's face grew even more angry. "Yuan Ling, take someone to investigate."
Yuan Ling, who was wearing a black robe with dark cloud patterns, bowed his head and accepted the order: "Yes."
"Wait a minute," a calm female voice suddenly rang out, "Your Majesty, why mobilize so many troops? I have invited all the ladies to the Peony Garden today. There are so many people around, perhaps someone has seen the thief?"
The emperor's expression eased slightly, and he raised his hand to stop Yuan Ling, who was about to leave after receiving the order. He said to the crowd, "As the queen said, have you seen anyone with strange behavior?"
The ladies and girls immediately became nervous and looked at each other with confusion in their eyes.
Suddenly, a woman walked out of the crowd and knelt before the emperor and empress.
After seeing the man's figure clearly, Cui Yiluo's face darkened.
That was none other than the wife of the Jinzi Guanglu Doctor whom she had almost bumped into accidentally before.
"I boldly report to Your Majesty that at dusk, I was following the Imperial Concubine as she passed by the long corridor. I saw Madam Jiang hurriedly exiting the corridor, as if she were... a thief. I was confused at the time, but now I think carefully. Isn't that the Yuyan Pool that we passed through that corridor?"
In an instant, everyone's eyes were sharply focused on Cui Yiluo.
Almost the next moment, the purple-robed figure behind the emperor strode forward and bowed.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being so abrupt. My wife has always been respectful and obedient. This could not possibly be her doing."
His voice was deep and resolute as it resounded in the courtroom, and the questioning looks that everyone had cast at Cui Yiluo wavered a little.
Looking at the tall man with a straight back, dressed in a rich crimson purple, Cui Yiluo couldn't help but be stunned. She had never thought that he would directly stand up for her and risk being disrespectful and contradicting the emperor.
Isn't he the most rule-abiding and fair person? Anyone who hears Mrs. Cao's words would undoubtedly doubt her to some extent. But he said it was impossible without any investigation.
The emperor glanced at Jiang Yunjin, who was bowing respectfully, and turned to look at Concubine Qiong, his eyes inexplicably meaningful.
"My beloved, is what Madam Cao said true?"
Concubine Qiong's eyes paused slightly, as if she hesitated for a moment, but under the emperor's gaze, she regained her composure.
“But this is the case.”
The imperial concubine's admission was the final word; Cui Yiluo was inextricably linked to Yetan's theft. Everyone's gazes towards Cui Yiluo grew even more intense.
The emperor pondered for a few breaths, then cast a stern gaze at Cui Yiluo, "Madam Jiang, do you have anything to say?"
Cui Yiluo pinched her palms, her hands hanging in her sleeves, and stepped forward to Jiang Yunjin's side. She bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I didn't do it. I just accidentally got lost and was anxious to find my cousin, so I looked hurried."
Those people were not sent by Xiao Ying. If she mentioned Xiao Ying, it would allow the other party to find a flaw and use her lies as an excuse to completely confirm her guilt.
The emperor asked, "You mean there is no witness?"
Cui Yiluo's eyes darkened, "No."
"Father, today is Queen Mother's birthday. This man has done something so bold, he will certainly not admit it now. This matter is of great importance, and there is only one suspect, Madam Jiang. In my opinion, it is better to kill someone by mistake than to let him go. It is better to detain Madam Jiang for investigation to prevent the thief from being released by mistake."
Cui Yiluo stared coldly at Xiao Zheng, who looked worried.
If she were detained in the palace, even if she was proven innocent of the theft, her reputation would be ruined. It's like an ink spot on white paper; no matter how hard you wipe it, it will eventually become dirty.
How could the Jiang family allow a woman with such a bad reputation to be the head of the family? At that point, she would be unable to survive in Shengjing and would have no choice but to leave. But where else could she go?
She pinched her palms, she couldn't be detained.
What a good plot! It could not only destroy her, but also alienate the second prince born by the queen and Jiang Yunjin.
There were low whispers coming from the crowd behind me, and suddenly I heard a familiar old voice. I didn't know if it was intentional, but it was not very obvious in the crowd, but everyone could hear it clearly.
"Mrs. Jiang is from Ningzhou after all. She has never seen something as rare and precious as Yetan. It's only natural for her to be tempted to steal it."
The crowd's whispers suddenly grew louder. Without needing to listen closely, she knew what they were talking about: her family background and status. She didn't even need to look back to imagine Cheng Feng's filthy, smug expression.
In the crowd, the expression of a woman in gorgeous clothes also turned gloomy.
The whispers fell on Cui Yiluo's back like raindrops. She lowered her head and bit her lip.
Suddenly, the man next to him took a step forward and bowed.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to guarantee it with my life."
Jiang Yunjin's tone was not high or intense, but still as calm as usual, yet with a hint of determination.
Cui Yiluo subconsciously glanced at him sideways, only to see that his handsome profile was cold, hard, and resolute, revealing an unyielding determination.
Cui Yiluo's heart stopped.
Concubine Qiong and Madam Cao, who was kneeling on the ground, looked rather grim, while those behind them exchanged glances, their expressions somewhat bewildered. Everyone knew that the Minister of Internal Affairs, Jiang Yunjin, was a most impartial and just man. Even for a close relative, he would not shield a crime before the law. Now, he had even pledged his life, even if his wife truly would not steal. What misunderstanding could there be?
The situation suddenly came to a stalemate.
At this moment, the Empress, who had been standing silently beside the Emperor, suddenly said, "Lord Jiang is an upright and honest man, with a noble character. His wife cannot possibly be a thief. And since Lord Jiang has given such a guarantee, I believe Madam Jiang."
The most honest and upright minister among them pledged his life as a guarantee, and the calm and composed Empress also said she would not pursue the matter further. The Emperor's expression softened and he said, "If that's the case, then I imagine there's some misunderstanding. However, this matter concerns the Empress, and even more so, the dignity of the Imperial Family. I must get to the bottom of it! Yuan Ling, I leave this matter to you. You must get to the bottom of it."
Yuan Ling bowed in response.
Despite such a major incident, the aristocratic families were adept at whitewashing the situation. Once outside the Peony Garden, their attitude toward Cui Yiluo softened. Even Madam Cao, who had just accused her, approached her warmly and apologetically, promising to return the next day to make amends. Cui Yiluo politely declined, showing no sign of embarrassment, remaining warm and welcoming. The Queen's Thousand Years Banquet proceeded as planned, as if nothing had happened.
It was already late at night when we returned to Jiang Mansion.
In the bedroom, the servants had already lit the lamps and were waiting for the master to return, making it as bright as day.
Cui Yiluo and Jiang Yunjin walked back to their room in silence. When Jiang Yunjin turned around to close the door, Cui Yiluo's gentle voice suddenly rang out from behind him: "Husband, thank you so much for today."
The man paused, then turned around.
Looking at the genuine emotions flashing in the woman's clear and beautiful eyes, Jiang Yunjin's eyes rippled slightly.
"You and I are husband and wife, so this is what I should do."
His voice was low and serious.
Cui Yiluo looked into his dark and serious eyes, and her breathing couldn't help but stop.
She lowered her eyes for a moment and said suddenly, "Husband, shall I go take a bath first?"
"Um."
It seemed that before, she had always been the one waiting for him to take a bath outside, but now the situation was reversed, and Cui Yiluo suddenly felt a little strange in her heart.
The bathroom door closed.
Outside the bathroom, the man looked at the tidy bedroom, and a trace of doubt flashed through his mind.
This hint of doubt had flickered through his mind a few nights ago, and he suddenly grasped it at this moment.
"Call Manager Liu."
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The author has something to say: Make peace tomorrow [poor]
Thanks to the babies who irrigated the nutrient solution [heart]
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