Shanhe Festival 288. Black-bellied Little Treasure

"What happened?" Ye Li hurried over and was slightly relieved when she saw Mo Xiaobao and Leng Junhan standing there safely. She tilted her head and asked the guards beside her. The two Qilins who were temporarily acting as secret guards looked helplessly at the woman who was in disgrace not far away, and then looked at their own young master. Even if they were their own people, they were too embarrassed to say that their young master was wronged.

Ye Li guessed what was going on when she saw the dark guard's expression, and glanced at Mo Xiaobao. Mo Xiaobao showed no fear at all, and smiled sweetly at Ye Li. Ye Li looked around, and saw a few more handsome children of seven or eight years old. Not far away, a pretty woman in a bright red dress with a lotus pattern was crawling up from the ground. Something was stained on her bright red dress, and the strange color made people feel very uncomfortable. Next to the woman in red, a gorgeous woman in a water red dress was reaching out to help the woman in red up, but she was slapped away by her rude palm. The gorgeous woman didn't care, and smiled faintly and stood aside.

Ye Li frowned, and finally recognized the familiar red-dressed woman. This was the fiancée of the Marquis of Muyang, whom she had met once before, and now the young lady of the Marquis of Muyang. However, the elegant and graceful girl with a hint of shyness back then has now become a married woman wearing a bright red formal dress, with a hint of harshness in her gracefulness.

Madam Mu raised her hand and slapped Yao Ji who was standing beside her. Although Yao Ji did not have any martial arts skills, she was a superb dancer and could be considered the best in the world. She was naturally very agile, and Yao Ji had already stepped aside to avoid the slap as soon as she raised her hand.

"Young Madam!" Yao Ji took a step back, her face slightly changed and she said in a deep voice.

Madam Mu slapped nothing, her face became even uglier, "Bitch! How dare you hide! Do you think that when your husband is still at home, he will support you in everything?" Yao Ji looked at her indifferently and said, "I don't know if Mu Yang can support me now, I only know that we are in the palace now. Madam Mu really wants to make trouble, then it will not only be you who will be embarrassed, but also the Muyang Marquisate."

Madam Mu couldn't help but choke up. She knew that her parents-in-law loved the reputation of the Marquis Muyang Mansion the most. No matter who was right or wrong today, she would be in trouble if she lost face in the palace. But she was extremely unwilling to let Yao Ji go. When Mu Yang was in the mansion before, he always protected this woman and embarrassed her. Now that Mu Yang had finally gone to fight, her mother-in-law, who doted on this woman's son because she had no children, naturally had to give her some face. Moreover, this woman was much more difficult to deal with than a few years ago. She couldn't get any good out of her, either openly or secretly. This time, she finally took advantage of the situation, but it happened in a place like the palace, and even alarmed Princess Ding.

With hatred, she glanced at Ye Li and the three children not far away, sneered and said, "Why? Princess Ding is here to support this bastard? How come I don't know when a bastard concubine in our Muyang Marquis's Mansion has caused Princess Ding so much trouble?" Ye Li frowned slightly, looked at Madam Mu and said calmly, "Madam Mu, you think too much. I just came to see because I heard the shouting here, so as to prevent the children from encountering danger." While saying this, Ye Li couldn't help but sigh in her heart. However, in just a few years, this Madam Mu has changed a lot compared to the girl who was a little scheming but still gentle and beautiful. What she couldn't understand the most was where did her hatred for her come from?

Although Yao Ji's return to Mu Yanghou Mansion was her idea, this Mu Shao Madam would never know it. And when they met that time, Ye Li asked herself whether she was biased towards Yao Ji.

"It seems that Madam Mu is fine. I will not disturb you any more. Goodbye." After Ye Li finished speaking, she turned to Mo Xiaobao and said, "Why don't you bring Jun Han over? Are you the one making trouble again?"

Mo Xiaobao pouted his lips, walked slowly to Ye Li, looked up and said: "I'm not kidding, I found a new friend. Mother, I want to play with him." Mo Xiaobao pointed at the child standing aside, who was Mu Lie, the only young master of the Marquis Muyang Mansion.

Before Ye Li could say anything, she heard Madam Mu sneer and shriek, "The young prince of Prince Ding's palace has a very special taste. He is eager to play with the son of a concubine? No wonder he has no manners at all..." As she spoke, she looked at the hem of her shirt with disgust. There was a ball of something on it. It was particularly conspicuous on the festive and elegant red lady's dress. Yao Ji pulled her aside and whispered, "Madam, be careful with your words."

Madam Mu glared at Yao Ji fiercely, and her anger grew even more intense. The clothes she was wearing were the work of the prince of Ding Wangfu, who looked particularly well-behaved and handsome in a black brocade dress. She was walking in the garden with Yao Ji, and she made some sarcastic remarks about the mother and son. She happened to see the two children of Yiyihei playing by the garden. She had been married to Mu Yang for so many years but had no children, so she was always particularly envious and fond of other people's children. Of course, except for Mu Lie, who was born to Yao Ji.

Madam Mu saw two children squatting and playing by the garden, so she walked over to check on them. The secret guards following Mo Xiaobao saw that she had no ill intentions, and also saw the fighting gestures of their young master, so they did not stop her. Who knew that just as she squatted down and had not touched Mo Xiaobao, something suddenly appeared in Mo Xiaobao's arms and rushed towards Madam Mu. Madam Mu was startled and tried to dodge, but she tripped over something under her feet and fell to the ground. The black and wet little thing, who was not sure whether it was a cat or a dog, stepped on her a few times and quickly ran away. That was not the end. Mo Xiaobao, who had frightened others, not only did not apologize at all, but also mocked and ridiculed her without any hesitation, and pulled Mu Lie aside to talk and laugh. It turned out that what Madam Mu said to Yao Ji and Mu Lie just now was heard by the sharp-eyed and sharp-eared Mo Xiaobao, so Xiaobao, the prince of Mo, decided to be a chivalrous man and make a friend at the same time.

While they were talking, the ladies and young ladies following Ye Li had already caught up. Seeing Madam Mu's ferocious appearance, they couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise and were stunned. Madam Mu was ashamed and angry to be looked at by so many people. She was born in a noble family and married into the Marquis Muyang's mansion. She was also pampered and treated with courtesy by everyone. How could she lose face like this? She was so angry that a surge of rage rushed to her head and she could no longer control her mouth. She looked at Ye Li provocatively and said, "Isn't it? I just wanted to say hello to the prince of Dingwangfu, but he made me like this. What else can he do if not lack of education?!"

Ye Li's face darkened. Perhaps Mo Xiaobao was wrong, but Madam Mu's words were too harsh. Besides, it was not the turn of Marquis Mu's Mansion to teach the people of Prince Ding's Mansion a lesson! The ladies present looked at the frenzied Madam Mu as if she were a madman.

Before Ye Li could say anything, Mo Xiaobao poked his head out from behind Ye Li and said, "Madam, it's not like that. I didn't mean it." His big dark eyes rolled around wetly, and the hearts of the ladies and girls who were watching around him were immediately diverted to him.

Ye Li leaned over with a smile, touched her son's head and asked, "What's going on? Tell mother about it."

Mo Xiaobao said aggrievedly, "I saw a puppy fall into the water, so I asked someone to pick it up. Leng Xiaodai and I were trying to dry the puppy's fur. Suddenly, this auntie came from behind and tried to pat me. I got scared and the dog jumped out, and then... Mom, I didn't dirty your clothes on purpose... But... this auntie was very angry. Mom, can we give her one as compensation? I don't have any money, so I'll pay for it. When I grow up, I'll make money and pay it back to you."

Seeing the handsome child who was not even as tall as his thigh in front of them discussing things with his mother seriously, the ladies present were moved. If they had the same background as Ye Li, they would know a word: cute. The ladies who had been pampered were instantly moved by the cute, kind, and brave child who dared to admit his mistakes.

"Young Master, this is just an accident. I'm sure Madam Mu won't mind it." Someone at the side quickly spoke to comfort him.

"Really?" Mo Xiaobao raised his head and looked at the lady who was speaking, his big wet eyes full of worry.

"Of course it's true. A piece of clothing is not worth much. Young Master, don't take it to heart." The lady hastily promised, not caring about the victim who was still standing aside. The secret guards on the side looked at Mo Xiaobao with admiration. Their young master, at such a young age, already knows the art of lying, evading the important and focusing on the trivial, and lying without blinking an eye. He really has a bright future. Of course, if we ignore that the puppy that fell into the water was accidentally dropped by their young master, if we ignore that he actually fell into the water after Madam Mu entered the Yu Garden, and if we ignore that the puppy became more and more wet and colorful after the young master wiped it dry. In fact, their young master did not lie.

Looking at those women who were deceived by the young prince and were full of pity, they shook their heads secretly: instead of having time to pity the young prince who sometimes even the prince has to suffer losses, it would be better to pity the puppy who has gone to take a bath somewhere.

Ye Li patted her son's head gently, seemingly comforting him but actually warning him to stop. Mo Xiaobao blinked and shrank back to Ye Li's side obediently. He held Leng Junhan with his left hand and Mu Lie with his right hand, looking like a good boy.

Ye Li looked at Madam Mu, whose face had turned blue with anger, and smiled faintly, "My son was a little naughty, please forgive me, Madam Mu. My son and Young Master Mu hit it off immediately, so let them play together for a while. What do you think, Madam?" Madam Mu's face flashed with disgust, and she said coldly, "Mu Lie is naughty by nature, very rude and rude, I'm afraid he will bring bad luck to the young master."

Everyone was silent. Is this woman crazy? Although most people can guess the reason why Madam Mu Shao did this, after all, many people know that the mother of the young master of the Marquis of Muyang Mansion is Yao Ji, the top dancer in the capital. But as a smart lady, let alone whether the prince's mansion can be offended now, is it really good to ruin the reputation of the only male in the family? After being married for several years and not giving birth to a daughter, who knows if she will have to rely on this illegitimate son in the future.

Ye Li frowned in displeasure, "Just now Madam Mu was questioning the upbringing of Prince Ding. It seems that Madam Mu doesn't think that the young master will spoil the child, but she is afraid that the child will spoil the young master."

"Princess, you are joking. It is Lie'er's blessing to be favored by the young prince." Madam Mu wanted to say something, but a stern female voice came from behind the crowd. Madam Mu's face turned pale, and the crowd made way for Madam Muyang who came forward with a solemn look on her face.

"Mother..." Madam Mu said unwillingly.

"Shut up!" Madam Muyang Marquis glared at her fiercely, turned around and bowed to Ye Li, saying, "My daughter-in-law is ignorant, please don't be offended, Princess." Ye Li smiled and said, "Madam Muyang Marquis is joking, it's all the children's nonsense, Madam Mu, please change your clothes first."

"What the princess said is right." Lady Muyang nodded and said to Lady Mu, "Why don't you go quickly? How can you be so dishonest?" Lady Mu blushed, glared at Mu Lie unwillingly and turned away. Yao Ji glanced at Ye Li and turned to follow.

Seeing that Princess Ding was not in a good mood, the others knew that it was not the time to talk, so they all left and went to wander around the Yu Garden. Marquis Muyang's wife gave Mu Lie a few instructions and left as well.

"Hello, Princess, Young Master." Mu Lie bowed to them politely. Leng Junhan looked at the new brother in front of him with wide eyes of curiosity.

Mo Xiaobao said unhappily, "The prince is the prince, why do you have to add a little character to it?"

Ye Li pinched his face unhappily, "You are the one who is always bothering. How are you doing recently?" The latter question was naturally addressed to Mu Lie. When this child was chosen to follow Yao Ji back to the capital, this child must have been strictly trained. Even though Ye Li valued this child who was only eleven years old but looked only seven or eight years old, anyone who could survive under Qin Feng's hands must be a master. So Mu Lie's role was not as simple as pretending to be the son of Yao Ji and Mu Yang. At important times, he was even more important than Yao Ji herself.

"Thank you for your concern, Princess. Lie is fine." Mu Lie said seriously with a face like a little adult.

Ye Li smiled and rubbed his little head, "Little boy, why are you so serious? Aren't you afraid of scaring Mu Yang?" Mu Lie stiffened for a moment because of this sudden intimacy, and his originally serious face turned red without knowing it. He said seriously, "They will only think that I am mature at a young age and a genius." Ye Li smiled, "It can be seen that the people in Mu Yang Marquis's Mansion like you very much."

"Hmph!" Mu Lie pouted and said, "They like any son of Marquis Muyang. I heard that Marquis Muyang's wife has gone crazy for her grandson in recent years. She kept stuffing women into Mu Yang's room. Things didn't get better until we entered Marquis Muyang's house. But she still wanted a legitimate son, so she gave that woman medicine every day. It turns out that taking too much medicine affects her brain, hmph!"

Ye Li straightened his clothes and said softly, "In a few days, the prince and I will leave the capital. Leng Er has gone to the border, and Feng San will also leave with us. By then, only you and Yao Ji will be left in the capital. You must be careful, okay? If you encounter any trouble, get out of it first. Saving your life is more important than anything else."

Mu Lie's eyes flickered with a wave, and he said seriously: "Don't worry, Princess. Yao Ji is not stupid, and neither am I. The people in Muyang Marquis's Mansion will not doubt it. We will handle Chu Jing's affairs and will not let the prince and princess worry." Ye Li sighed apologetically: "You are still a child..."

Mu Lie instantly exploded, "I'm not a child! I'm a Qilin!" Reserve.

"Okay..." Ye Li quickly soothed him, "When you come back, I'll let Qin Feng make an exception and accept you into Qilin. So, please be careful?"

"Thank you, Princess!" Mu Lie said happily. He thought he was no less capable than others, but Commander Qin always refused to let him join Qilin because he was too young. Humph! Isn't he on a mission now? And it's a mission that those tall, stupid cows can never replace!

Just by looking at Mu Lie's expression, one could tell what he was thinking. Ye Li just smiled slightly and shook her head.

"The fire broke out! The fire broke out..." Suddenly, a loud noise came from the distance. Ye Li stood up and looked in the direction of the noise. Two guards stood on the left and right of Mo Xiaobao and Leng Junhan. Mu Lie stood on a stool and looked, raised his eyebrows and said, "That's the direction of the cold palace. It's the Qiuliang Palace, where Concubine Liu is now imprisoned!"

"Qiuliang Palace? What a coincidence that the new emperor's enthronement palace, Qiuliang Palace, is on fire?" Ye Li pondered. After thinking for a while, he ordered the people around him, "Take the young prince to find the prince, I'll go over and take a look."

"Princess?" the guard behind him asked hesitantly.

Ye Li shook her head and said, "There won't be any major danger in the palace. Protect the three children and go."

Mu Lie said dissatisfiedly: "The young master doesn't need protection, Princess, I will protect you!" Ye Li said with a smile: "That won't work, if you follow me now you will be suspected. Be good and follow Xiaobao and Junhan. I'll leave these two kids in your care." Without giving Mu Lie a chance to refute, Ye Li flew out.

Mu Lie had a serious face, but his ears were red. He looked at Mo Xiaobao awkwardly and muttered, "Okay, I'll protect you guys with all my might." Mo Xiaobao rolled his eyes, "Who needs your protection?" Leng Junhan smiled and stretched out his little hand to Mu Lie, "Brother, hug me."

"Leng Xiaodai! Do you know the difference between relatives and strangers?!" Mo Xiaobao was furious.

"Um... Leng Xiaodai, Mo Xiaobao... hehe..."

Mo Xiaobao's face was full of black lines, haha, your sister!

When Ye Li arrived at Qiuliang Palace, the fire had already burned half of the side hall. Qiuliang Palace was the coldest palace among the cold palaces. It was overgrown with weeds after years of neglect. It was hard to believe that this was in the imperial palace. Few people came here on weekdays, especially today, when the coronation ceremony was held. Naturally, no one would come here. Even if there was a fire, the palace maids and eunuchs who saw it from afar saw that it would take them quite a while to pass through the overlapping corridors of the palace gardens. At least when Ye Li arrived, there was no one to put out the fire.

"Princess." After all, not all the guards stayed with Mo Xiaobao, and two of them chased after Ye Li.

"Help... Help..." A faint cry for help came from inside, and Ye Li frowned. This was not Concubine Liu's voice. Ye Li would never mistake Concubine Liu's arrogant and cold voice, even if she was weak, it would not be such a voice.

“Help…”

Ye Li flew into the Qiuliang Palace. The two guards were startled and hurried to follow her in. Ye Li's voice came from inside, "Stay outside!" Qiuliang Palace itself is a side hall, and the interior is not very big. So when Ye Li entered, he saw a woman lying on the ground and hurriedly stopped the two guards who wanted to follow in. The woman was wearing a light pink dress. Judging from her figure, she should be a girl, and from the material of the clothes, it was obvious that she was not a palace maid.

Ye Li went forward to help the girl up and quickly went outside. Fortunately, the girl must have run out after seeing the fire, but she didn't know why she fell down just a few steps away from the door. If she was deeper in, they would not be able to hear her voice.

He led the girl out of Qiuliang Palace quickly and placed her on the bluestone road outside. Turning back, he saw that the raging fire had surrounded the entire Qiuliang Palace. If they had been one or two steps later, the girl would have been burned to death inside.

"Princess, Concubine Liu Guifei..." the guard behind her reminded.

Ye Li shook her head and said, "Forget it, the fire is too big, let's wait until the fire is out before we go and see."

He leaned over and brushed the long hair away from the girl's face, revealing a pretty face, but there was a burnt scar with blood on the left side of her face from the corner of her eye to her earlobe, and there were also some marks of fire on her clothes. The guard lowered his head to check and said, "She was drugged, and something that was burned by the fire must have fallen on her face, which woke her up, and then she struggled to crawl out."

"This is..." Ye Li looked at the intact half of the girl's face. Although she hadn't seen it for several years and she was still very young at that time, Ye Li's good memory still allowed her to recognize the identity of the girl in front of her, the daughter of Concubine Liu and Mo Jingqi, and the second princess of Da Chu.

"Princess Zhenning."

Princess Zhenning on the ground forced herself to open her eyes. Even though the drug was so powerful that it left a deep scar the size of a palm on her face, the shock and despair of having just escaped death also left her with a bit of energy left.

Ye Li looked down at the girl on the ground. She had never seen such a pair of dead eyes in a girl of this age. After the relief of escaping, her eyes suddenly became dead and lifeless. Looking up at the blazing Qiuliang Palace in front of her, and then at Princess Zhenning's slightly trembling body, Ye Li could almost guess what happened.

"It's okay." Ye Li said in a low voice.

Princess Zhenning stared at her blankly, opening her mouth but unable to say anything. A line of tears slowly fell from the corner of her eyes and sank into her dark hair...