19 Strangers
◎I'm lying to you. She even kissed me.◎
"By the way, there's also the Fuguo family. I heard they're currently arranging a marriage for the Crown Prince."
Xu Qinghe was stunned: "Are you talking about Wei Che?"
Jing'an nodded. "That's right. It's said that the wife of the Duke of Fuguo wanted to marry a girl from her mother's family, the Zhao family, to the Crown Prince of Wei, but the Crown Prince of Wei was not very happy about it."
Wei Che is a playboy and has many concubines in his backyard. Even though the Duke of Fuguo's Mansion is very popular, few people in the capital are willing to marry their daughters into the Duke of Fuguo's Mansion and suffer their humiliation.
I think the wife of the Duke of Fuguo had no choice but to turn her attention to someone from her mother's family.
Xu Qinghe was about to ask again whether Wei Che would go to the outing on Shangsi Festival today, but the coming-of-age ceremony had already begun.
The two of them had no choice but to stop talking and go to watch the ceremony with everyone else.
The Queen Mother and the Empress should have been present at such a major event as the princess' coming of age, but because the mothers of the seventh and ninth princesses did not come from prominent families, the Queen Mother Wei stayed in the palace to recuperate on the grounds of being unwell.
However, Queen Wei, who everyone thought would not appear, appeared in a bright yellow luxurious palace dress. She had makeup on her face, but she did not look sick at all.
After everyone arrived, Empress Wei, surrounded by palace maids, stood at the head of the court and presided over the coming-of-age ceremony for the two princesses.
The Seventh Princess and the Ninth Princess are at the age of being as beautiful as flowers. Today they are both dressed in their best clothes, with flowers and decorations on their hair, looking very gorgeous. They are led by female officials to meet the guests.
Most of those who were able to come to the palace to watch the ceremony today were royal relatives. Regardless of age, they all prepared gifts for the two princesses.
The Seventh Princess was quiet, so Xu Qinghe presented her with a set of four treasures of the study, including a square stone lotus leaf inkstone, which was a tribute from the local area. Emperor Yongshun only received three of them, and gave them to her last year as a birthday gift to show his courtesy to Xu Qinghe.
The Ninth Princess was lively and outgoing, so Xu Qinghe gave her a yellow and white riding suit. The riding suit was exquisitely made of precious Yuehua brocade. It was so eye-catching just by looking at it, let alone riding a horse in the suburbs of the capital after putting it on.
Both princesses thanked her sincerely and gave her gifts in return.
After that, the sound of stringed and bamboo music was heard, and the female officials recited the blessing loudly, while Queen Wei combed the hair and ceremoniously assisted the two princesses one by one.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Princess Jing'an leaned over to Xu Qinghe and whispered, "The inkstone and Yuehua brocade are both valuable items. Why would you be willing to give them away?"
Xu Qinghe's eyes were still fixed on the ceremonial ceremony in the center, but he also tilted his head slightly and whispered to her, "No matter how precious something is, it must be put to good use. Keeping those two things wouldn't be very helpful, and would be a waste of natural resources. The Seventh Princess has beautiful handwriting, and the Ninth Princess is an excellent horseman. These are perfect for them."
Furthermore, this can be considered as doing good to others. If something happens in the future, the two princesses might help her because of the gift today.
After the coming-of-age ceremony was over, everyone changed into lighter clothes and prepared to leave the palace in groups of three or four, heading towards the suburbs of Beijing.
Since Xu Qinghe did not have the permission of Queen Mother Wei, he could only return to his bedroom and wait for news.
She waited until almost noon. Just after she had lunch, Aunt Zhang, who was beside Empress Dowager Wei, came to report that the Empress Dowager took pity on the princess and invited her to go for an outing in the suburbs of Beijing.
Xu Qinghe thanked her and left the palace with several palace maids and guards including Nanzhi and Lin Xiao.
At the palace gate, Princess Jing'an was waiting for her in front of the carriage.
"Why did you come in person?"
Because Jing'an was weak, she paid special attention to keeping warm in her carriage. In order to talk to her, Xu Qinghe simply gave up his own carriage and sat with her.
As soon as she got into the car, she felt a surge of warmth. Jing'an smiled at her and handed her a warm hot water bottle. "You went out alone on your last birthday and something went wrong. This time I'm going with you."
The next words sounded awkward, so Jing'an whispered in her ear, "The guards at the Qi Mansion are better than those assigned to you by Concubine Zhao, and they make you feel more at ease."
Xu Qinghe gently covered the hot water bottle, grateful for her attentiveness. "You are now protected by your husband, and I just want to benefit from your kindness."
Jing'an angrily said to her, "It's not just me. Do you know who first suggested that I come to look for you?"
Xu Qinghe's heart sank, he had already guessed the answer.
Sure enough, Jing'an said, "It was my cousin Wei. I sent someone to tell him that you were alone and depressed in the palace, so he immediately sent someone to the palace to plead with the Empress Dowager. He also asked me to let me go with you to avoid any accidents."
If it were someone else, it would be good enough to ask Queen Mother Wei for a favor, but Wei Ming was so thoughtful that he even specially found Jing'an to pick her up.
Xu Qinghe lowered his head and held the hot water bottle tightly in his hand.
Wei Ming is indeed a very good person.
**
The carriage took about three quarters of an hour to reach the outskirts of Beijing. As it was past noon, the spring sunshine was a little warmer.
Xu Qinghe pushed aside the curtain of the car and looked out.
The azure sky was vast and boundless, with sparse, light clouds floating in the sky, but they could not block the warm sunlight that was shining down. Under the sunlight, the mountains and plains were covered with green grass, and flowers of all colors grew among them, creating this boundless wilderness.
When the warm breeze blows, you can smell the fragrance of soil and grass, which contains infinite vitality.
Compared with the square sky in the palace, the scene in front of him made Xu Qinghe feel refreshed.
The carriage slowly stopped. Jing'an was still holding the hot water bottle in her hand, but Xu Qinghe had already gotten off the carriage unable to contain himself.
She was not particularly cold, so she simply threw her cloak into the car, stepped onto the wooden stool with Nanzhi's help, and turned around to take Jing'an's hand.
"Sister Qinghe."
When Jing'an calmed down, she turned around and saw Wei Ming walking towards them in a moon-white robe. Under the warm sun, he looked like a handsome gentleman.
"Cousin Wei."
"cousin."
The two of them saluted Wei Ming at the same time.
Jing'an knew that he wanted to be alone with Xu Qinghe at this time, but she was more concerned about Qinghe's wishes, so she did not find an excuse to leave, but stayed with her all the time.
Wei Ming was not annoyed when he saw this. He smiled and invited her and the other two to drink wine together. However, while he was speaking, his eyes were fixed on Xu Qinghe.
Xu Qinghe looked not far away, avoiding his somewhat burning gaze.
A stream about five feet wide flowed out from a low mountain in the distance, winding down and just passing by the crowd.
A group of young men and women would float cups filled with water on the water, each finding a turning point and sitting down. Whoever the cup stopped in front of or swirled around would have to compose an impromptu poem and drink the wine in the cup. If the person could not compose a poem, they would be punished by drinking three cups.
Most of the young men present today are those who will take part in the imperial examinations in the future. They have read millions of good books and are worried about where to display their talents. Today, with so many famous ladies here, they are naturally trying their best to show their talents.
At this time, the people by the stream were still drinking and writing poetry. Wei Ming had obviously left on the way and came to find them.
Before Xu Qinghe and Jing'an could answer, another person left the table. As soon as he left, three or five friends followed him, and the group walked towards the carriage at a leisurely pace.
"Young Master Wei suddenly left the table. I thought he had something important to do, but it turns out he came here to meet a beautiful woman."
Hearing this voice, Wei Ming's expression changed almost imperceptibly. He took half a step to the side before turning around and calling out, "Prince Wei."
His position just happened to half-block Xu Qinghe behind him. Wei Che knew what he was thinking, but he didn't want to let him have his way. After greeting Princess Jing'an, he deliberately raised his chin and pointed behind him.
"Master Wei, could you please introduce this beautiful lady to us? How is it that I have never seen her in such a long time since returning to the capital?"
Xu Qinghe's gaze passed over Wei Ming's shoulder and looked at Wei Che.
If Wei Ming is a piece of gentle and restrained jade, then Wei Che is a sharp sword.
Among the noblemen dressed in blue or white, he chose to wear a flamboyant silver-beaded round-necked robe, which was dazzling and ostentatious.
In the eyes of everyone in the capital, the Young Master of the Wei family and Princess Qinghe had indeed never spoken to each other, so it was understandable that he asked about her identity in such a casual manner.
But both of them knew in their hearts that they had known each other for more than three months since Xu Qinghe was robbed on her birthday. During that time, they had even ridden a horse together, and she had even been forced to kiss him.
Wei Ming was completely unaware of this inside story, but his face darkened slightly because of Wei Che's unconcealed gaze.
He did not move aside, but said in a deep voice: "This is Princess Qinghe of the Nan'an Palace."
Thinking of Wei Che's romantic deeds since returning to the capital, Wei Ming paused and added, "Qinghe has been treated with great respect by the Queen Mother and His Majesty. I hope that Prince Wei will restrain himself and not be rude to others."
Both of them were over eight feet tall, but Wei Che was still two inches taller than him. Passing over Wei Ming's shoulder, Wei Che's eyes were fixed on Xu Qinghe for a moment.
He hadn't seen her for three months.
But the girl hid silently behind the man next to her, raised her clear eyes and looked at him indifferently.
Even though Wei Che was extremely dissatisfied with Wei Ming's behavior of treating her as his property, as long as he looked into the girl's eyes, he would no longer be angry.
Like a firecracker about to explode being doused with water, Prince Wei, who was always said to be unable to walk when seeing a beautiful woman, actually lowered his gaze and sighed softly, "So it's Princess Qinghe. Wei Che has long heard that the princess is as beautiful as an angel. Seeing her today, she is indeed like a deity."
Wei Ming was dissatisfied with such a rash comment on Xu Qinghe's appearance.
In his heart, Xu Qinghe was already his wife-to-be, so how could he allow others to praise her beauty so recklessly?
He was about to speak with a sullen face, but Xu Qinghe spoke before him: "Qinghe has lived in the deep palace for a long time and has never met the Crown Prince. I would like to thank the Crown Prince for his praise."
After saying that, he immediately ordered Nanzhi: "Stop the carriage and call the one who made the mistake a few days ago, I think her name is Lin Xiao, to watch over the carriage. The rest of you can go and rest."
Nanzhi replied yes and conveyed the message to everyone. The coachman then drove away with the two carriages of Princess Jing'an and Princess Qinghe and parked them under the shade of a tree nearby.
After Xu Qinghe finished giving the order, she glanced at Wei Che inconspicuously. The latter raised his eyebrows at her and nodded, obviously understanding what she meant.
It would be better for the two of them not to have too much contact for now. Nanzhi is Xu Qinghe's confidant, and those who are interested will naturally keep an eye on her every move. The others are all the Queen Mother's people, and Xu Qinghe cannot trust them.
After much thought, the only person she could think of was Lin Xiao, who had just entered the palace and was obviously not valued. She trusted him and he would not be targeted by others.
In addition, Lin Xiao was sent to the palace by Wei Che, so it was most appropriate to ask her to contact Wei Che to ask for a layout map of the Wei family.
After arranging this matter, Xu Qinghe deliberately stopped paying attention to Wei Che. Wei Ming invited her to drink and write poetry with Jing'an, but she actually wanted to go horse racing more.
Jing'an noticed her peripheral vision glancing at the young men and women riding horses, and he knew what she was thinking. He then said, "Qinghe hasn't been out of the palace for a long time, and now that she's finally out, why not go horse racing? Today's opportunity is rare, so why not put drinking and poetry aside for the banquet?"
But when she actually took a look at the group of people racing, she felt something was wrong.
Isn't the girl sitting on the horse, looking up at them with a look of suspicion, the third Miss Cen who once sent people to assassinate Xu Qinghe?
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