Duan Tianzhang hated Gu Qian to the extreme. He thought to himself that after Gu Qian left, he would definitely find a way to get rid of Qiu Yan and make Gu Qian feel the pain of losing a loved one.
Her mother's death left her deeply resentful.
Qiu Yan knew that Duan Tianzhang harbored a deep grudge against Gu Qian.
However, she was too busy to care about these people.
However, Qiu Yumei's heart was pounding fiercely.
"Xiaoyan, what exactly did that woman mean? What did she mean by saying that her aunt was murdered?"
Qiu Yan knew that her aunt had taken this matter to heart.
So he went through the whole story in detail.
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yumei felt genuinely indignant on behalf of the Gu family, saying that the Qin family truly deserved their fate.
"Xiaoyan, doesn't that person look like Yu'er?" Qiu Yumei's sudden question instantly caught Qiu Yan's attention.
She fixed her gaze for a moment, and following her aunt's line of sight, she saw a girl in a pink dress sitting by the window on the second floor of the brothel, looking up at the sky.
"It looks like it!" Qiu Yan stared intently, about to step into the brothel to investigate, when Qiu Yumei forcefully grabbed her wrist.
"Xiaoyan, this is not appropriate."
Qiu Yan looked at herself dressed in women's clothing.
"That is somewhat inappropriate."
She looked up at the second floor of the brothel, but the girl in pink had vanished without a trace.
"Could it be her?" Qiu Yan wondered. "Or is it just that she looks somewhat similar?"
"No, Yu'er is a genuine man." Qiu Yumei assumed the two were similar.
Qiu Yan didn't insist. Of course, she was afraid that if she was blocked outside the brothel, the clue she had finally obtained would disappear into thin air.
...After quietly leaving the palace last night and finishing up the matter at the Nuwa Temple, He Jinran did not return to the General's Mansion.
Instead, they went to the Prince Yi's residence.
At this very moment, he appeared in the garden of the Wing King's mansion.
The Xuanming Xuanying behind him had a rather unpleasant expression.
Last night, the two of them chased after He Jinran as soon as he slipped away.
However, after going around in circles and failing to catch up with the person, they returned to the East Palace only to find His Highness sleeping soundly on his bed.
They wondered last night, where did Nineteen go?
They wanted to catch up, but they discovered it too late; it was too late.
Unexpectedly, this morning, right after His Majesty left, they discovered that the person lying in bed was none other than the Nineteenth Prince.
They were instantly flustered, but Nineteen's eyes were tightly closed, and he was in a deep sleep, unable to get up no matter how much they called him.
Your Highness's act of deception was truly ingenious.
They thought His Highness was too young and liked to play house with him.
Knowing that His Majesty had been busy grading the imperial examination papers recently, they knew that he wouldn't be returning anytime soon. Therefore, they instructed Mu Bai and Mu Xiao to keep an eye on the sleeping 'His Highness' in the palace.
The two men, under the pretext of carrying out business for His Highness, quietly left the palace to search for him.
This led to the current situation.
"Your Highness, let's return to the palace," Xuanming reminded him.
It wasn't until they found the Prince of Yi's residence that they learned why His Highness had been acting so secretly.
Perhaps it was because of this inexplicable friendship with the Wing King.
They always felt that the friendship between His Highness and the Prince of the Wing came about inexplicably.
“His Majesty will find out if it’s too late,” Xuan Ying added.
"No, Father is too busy to think of me. But the new Empress is no pushover." He Jinran said this purely out of wishful thinking.
He really wanted to see his sister.
"Your Highness!" At this moment, the Wing Prince, propelled by Chu Wei, slowly arrived on a four-wheeled carriage.
"Why haven't you left yet?" He Xuan asked unhappily.
This plague god came over to freeload at midday, complaining about everything, saying that apart from the braised fish, everything else at his Prince Yi's residence was inferior to that of the General's residence.
"Third Imperial Uncle, if I leave, who will keep you company?" He Jinran completely ignored He Xuan's disdain.
"I saw that Third Imperial Uncle's throwing knife skills were quite impressive the other day. Could you teach me a few moves?"
"Your Highness flatters me." He Xuan said impatiently, "My skills are merely trivial and cannot compare to General Gu's martial arts prowess."
"If Third Imperial Uncle doesn't want to teach, then forget it." He Jinran slunk away, leaving He Xuan looking dejected.
After He Jinran left, he stroked the throwing knife in his hand, his thoughts drifting back to thirteen years ago.
"Shu'er, do you hate me?"
...the palace
He Lin and Qin Hui entered the Eastern Palace together.
As He Jinran approached the Eastern Palace, this was exactly the scene he witnessed.
"What should we do?" I should have known better than to go out.
He stopped in his tracks.
If His Majesty were to see this now, a reprimand would be the least of his worries.
He cannot rely on His Majesty's favor to completely disregard His Majesty's imperial authority.
Xuanming and Xuanying shook their heads simultaneously; they were just as panicked as He Jinran.
How could they possibly know what to do?
Along the way, He Lin looked worried.
"Your Majesty, who told you that Jin'er is ill?"
When he went to see Jin'er this morning, he also felt that something was wrong.
He didn't think much of it at the time, but now he feels somewhat guilty.
He Jinran, who was following closely from the shadows, asked: "Who's sick? He's perfectly fine."
"I heard it from the palace maids in the Eastern Palace," Qin Hui said, her face full of worry as she mentioned He Jinran to He Lin.
"I have also heard that His Highness the Crown Prince is not interested in women."
He Jinran... He remained silent.
"Not interested in women?" He Lin was amused by Qin Hui's words. "Jin'er is only fourteen years old."
Qin Hui: "It wasn't me who said it, it was me who overheard people in the palace gossiping. It's just that His Highness has sent all the palace maids to a side hall and forbade any of them from getting close to him, so the palace maids have started to speculate like this!"
"Oh?" He Lin frowned. "Is Jin'er really like that?"
He Jinran: Okay, he did do that.
But all he was thinking about was convenience when going out.
Wasn't my mother's past betrayed by a palace maid?
Therefore, it's possible that the palace maids in the Eastern Palace were bribed by Qin Hui.
"Absolutely true." Qin Hui's eyes flickered slightly, and after thinking for a moment, she continued:
"Your Majesty, fourteen years old is not young anymore. It's time to arrange two concubines for His Highness the Crown Prince. It would be better to have someone to take care of his daily life than his guards."
He Jinran almost cursed. This Qin Hui was just trying to make him miserable.
"A concubine?" He Lin paused, seemingly pondering Qin Hui's words.
"Very well, then this matter will be left to the Empress."
Little did they know, his expression subtly changed.
He Jinran… he wanted to laugh.
That's absolutely hilarious.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will certainly do it well." Qin Hui had a serene smile on her face.
When His Majesty walked to the outside of the East Palace,
Upon hearing the announcement, Mu Bai and Mu Xiao both performed the kowtow ceremony.
"Greetings, Your Majesty! Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress!"
"No need for formalities!" He Lin waved his long sleeves, not even glancing at the two of them, and directly pushed open the door of the bedchamber on his own.
He Jinran's heart skipped a beat.
Nineteen, you absolutely mustn't give yourself away.
He Lin saw that 'Jin'er' was still lying on her side and hadn't gotten up, and his expression tightened.
"Jin'er, are you feeling unwell?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
