Others also tried the food. Gu Yinwei didn’t like mooncakes. While others were eating with their cheeks puffed up, she was the only one sitting quietly.
The Queen saw her like this as a provocation.
The queen glanced at Gu Yinwei, then glanced at Qi Gengyi threateningly. Qi Gengyi nodded and lowered his head.
Chuchu's eyes lit up as she looked at the mooncakes. Gu Yinwei wrapped two pieces in a handkerchief and handed them to her.
Chuchu took it and put it into her sleeve.
Concubine Jin said, "Chuchu, come here. I'll give you my mooncakes too."
Chuchu shook her head. Although she was greedy, she knew the rules.
By this time, the Queen had already left, and the others were also leaving one after another. Concubine Jin pointed at the mooncakes on the plate and said, "You really don't want to take it."
Chuchu glanced at Gu Yinwei, and Gu Yinwei said, "Go ahead, Concubine Jin is not an outsider."
"Would you like to go to Cheng'en Palace for a barbecue? I just got a musk deer."
Gu Yinwei was about to agree when Qi Gengyi came over.
"Gu Gengyi, you can't wander around anymore today. You have to go see the stage."
Concubine Jin stood up and left, "What a coincidence, let's meet again another day."
Gu Yinwei sent Concubine Jin out, and Qi Gengyi followed closely behind, with a pair of sinister eyes that looked very unpleasant.
"You always follow me, don't you know the way?"
"The Queen Mother asked me to follow you." Qi Gengyi was frightened and did not answer directly.
"You obey the Queen's orders, but will you give her your life if she asks for it?"
Gu Yinwei said this without reservation, and Qi Gengyi shuddered.
"I've seen the stage, no problem?" As soon as she finished speaking, she stood up and left.
Qi Gengyi blocked Gu Yinwei's way and said, "You can't leave now. You have to wait until the raised beam is upright."
"OK."
Gu Yinwei sat down with her legs crossed. She wanted to see how strong Qi Gengyi was.
Two strong palace maids came out carrying a beam with a red silk flower tied to it.
The eunuchs tied ropes to the crossbeams and shouted slogans, "Hey yo hey, hey yo hey."
Qi Gengyi stood far away, fearing that the beam would roll down, and Gu Yinwei also stood up and stood next to her.
"What are you doing so close to me?" Qi Gengyi stepped back a few feet.
"I didn't dislike you when you followed me."
Qi Gengyi turned his head away and said nothing.
The beam was finally erected, and the eunuchs brought in a wooden board and a bowl of lacquer made from tung oil.
The eunuch said loudly, "Please ask Gu Gengyi to write the inscription."
"Writing an inscription? I can't read." Gu Yinwei lied without stuttering.
This bowl of paint stinks to high heaven and it's obvious that it's not a good thing.
"Qi Gengyi's handwriting is beautiful, so you should write the inscription."
"My handwriting is ugly, so you should do it."
Gu Yinwei said, "It seems that neither of us is good at writing, so let's forget it."
The eunuch had no choice but to retreat with the paint.
"Qi Gengyi, how many tricks have you prepared? Why don't you make a move?"
Qi Gengyi clenched her palms like a stone statue, and it took her a long time to adjust her mood.
"Gu Gengyi, you're joking. You and I are jointly supervising the construction of the stage. I can't even help you enough, so how could I harm you?"
"Hahaha, you're so nervous, could it be that what I said is right?"
"Facts speak louder than a thousand words. Over time, Gu Gengyi will understand my good intentions."
Gu Yinwei said: "I don't expect you to still have a kind heart, as long as you don't lose your conscience."
The stage was built, and with a group of palace maids running around on it, it looked very sturdy.
Qi Gengyi instructed the palace maids to lay the red carpet on the floor. She walked around the stage several times. The manager in charge of setting up the stage brought a booklet for her to sign.
Qi Gengyi took the pen and wrote his name with a flick of his hand.
Gu Yinwei asked, "Can I press my fingerprints?"
The eunuch smiled bitterly, "Please, Master, don't make this difficult for me."
Gu Yinwei turned around and said, "All of you turn around. I don't like others watching me write. I can't write well if others are watching me."
So everyone turned around, and after Gu Yinwei wrote down her name, the eunuch walked away with the booklet.
Qi Gengyi also followed the eunuch, her eyes never leaving the book in the eunuch's hand, as if the book was more important than her name.
"Is everything alright? If not, I'll go back and rest."
Qi Gengyi had already walked away, and no one answered Gu Yinwei's words.
On the way back, Bian Tao frowned and said, "Master, do you think the paper of the booklet you just signed is a little strange?"
"What's strange about that?"
"The paper is thick, one sheet is thicker than two normal sheets."
"Don't overthink it."
"But the master has signed it. If they use the master's handwriting to write an article, it will be bad."
"Almond, when I sign, do I use my left or right hand?"
"This... I didn't see it clearly." Bian Tao stammered.
Chu Chu said: "I didn't see it clearly either."
"You two couldn't see clearly even though you were so close to me, so they certainly couldn't see clearly either."
…
The mooncake in Chuchu's arms had already gone cold, so she ran back to the small kitchen in the backyard to heat it up. When she came out, she saw a footprint on the tree trunk.
Seeing Chuchu holding the mooncake but not putting it into her mouth, Biantao looked up at a newly planted locust tree and called out to her, "Chuchu, what are you looking at?"
"There's a footprint in the tree."
"Whose footprints could have reached that tree?" Almond didn't believe her. "Come into the house! It's getting dark."
Qi Gengyi left the Moon-Raising Platform and went straight to see the Queen.
The queen took the booklet and turned to the page where Gu Yinwei signed. Xia Chan gently tore it open and took out a forged letter from the inner page. There was a love poem written on the letter, and Gu Yinwei's name was also signed at the end.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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