How could the headmaster of an academy and the abbot of Xishan Temple possibly sit together and play chess?
Qin Su couldn't understand it. She shook her head and went to check on Yuanyuan and the others first.
"Sister." Luo Zhi stood up immediately when she saw Qin Su coming over.
Qin Su held her down and looked down at Yuan Yuan. Yuan Yuan had her big black eyes wide open and didn't seem to be frightened.
"Are you all alright?" Qin Su asked, teasing the children with her fingertips.
Luo Zhi knew what she was talking about and nodded, "Just a bunch of rabble."
She glanced at Tuoba Yan and snorted, "Only he was really scared."
Tuoba Yan touched his nose somewhat uncomfortably; he was still feeling lingering fear.
But he didn't think much of it. Chongyang was a well-trained man, Luo Zhi was a member of the martial arts world, and even Lian Tao was incredibly strong. Among them, only he and Qin Zhi didn't know martial arts.
And he didn't perform that badly.
"You must have been frightened." Qin Su nodded to Tuoba Yan, without any intention of teasing him.
Tuoba Yan scratched the back of his head and said, "I'm not that scared. She's exaggerating."
They were, after all, nomadic people, so their fighting genes weren't that bad.
Qin Su nodded when she saw that his complexion was indeed not bad, but Luo Zhi didn't think so and laughed without any politeness, "That's different. Qin Zhi can remain calm, but you were actually startled."
Tuoba Yan also lost his temper, and he put his hands on his hips and said, "I'm not the same as you!"
Qin Zhi seemed to notice what was happening and immediately got up and ran over, eagerly running to Qin Su, "Sister."
He then looked Qin Su up and down, seemingly trying to see if she was injured.
Finally, their gaze settled on Qin Su's shoulder. She was wearing a white cloak today, so it was impossible to tell whether the wound had reopened.
Qin Su turned slightly to the side and said, "I'm fine. As long as no one is hurt, that's all that matters." She then added, "Aren't you going to take my sister to see the dean?"
Qin Zhi immediately led Qin Su to meet the person.
The abbot and the headmaster of Xishan Temple were playing chess. The two seemed to be longtime friends and were about the same age.
"The female benefactor has arrived." The abbot placed a chess piece down, his gaze towards Qin Su relatively gentle.
The dean stood up and bowed to Qin Su, saying, "Please forgive me for not personally welcoming Princess Consort Chen."
"Dean, there's no need for such formalities." She sat opposite Qin Zhi and said with a forced smile, "After all, the dean didn't come earlier, so there's not much point in bowing now."
When the headmaster of Heshan Academy heard Qin Su speak like this, he was taken aback for a moment, and then said, "Your Highness, please don't be offended, I really have something to attend to and cannot get away."
Qin Su picked up a handful of chess pieces and said calmly, "Playing chess with the abbot of Xishan Temple is indeed too much of a hassle to handle."
The dean looked somewhat embarrassed and coughed a few times.
Qin Zhi looked at this one and then at that one, and finally, with a forced smile, called out, "Sister."
It seemed to be an attempt to plead for their dean.
"Tick-tock" is the sound of a chess piece falling into a jar.
"I heard the dean wanted to see me?" She referred to herself as "I" instead of "this princess" or anything like that, which shows that the matter is now closed.
The abbot nodded. "Yes, firstly, he should see the princess. Secondly..." He looked at the abbot of Xishan Temple and betrayed his friend without hesitation, "He wants to see the princess."
Qin Su raised an eyebrow. Did the host have something else to ask her about?
She didn't think the monk had any credit for Yuanyuan's birth; she believed more that it was the Empress Dowager's boldness and meticulousness that ensured Yuanyuan's safe delivery.
"It's been a long time since we've seen the Princess. She doesn't look too well." The host's tone was still gentle, but his words made Qin Su feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
"The benefactor should rest and recuperate more."
"Um."
Qin Su gave a lukewarm response.
“You are a blessed person, and this humble monk expresses his gratitude on behalf of those people.”
Qin Su knew that he was referring to the servants of the Duke of Cheng's mansion. They had all been exiled, but the exiles were so far away that it was hard to say whether they would even make it to their place of exile.
Most of those people would die during their exile.
These hosts couldn't possibly be unaware of this, but Qin Su was still satisfied that they could still say such things.
Everyone likes to hear nice things, and Qin Su was no exception.
Perhaps he called me here just to talk about this.
"This has nothing to do with me."
The host simply smiled and looked at Qin Su.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
The dean had long heard that the Princess Consort of Chen did not come from a prominent family, and her personality was indeed quite different.
But it's good, too. I'm carefree and don't have any big schemes.
Qin Su found Chongyang and asked him to tell her about the assassination attempt.
Still no clues. She rubbed her temples and asked again, "Have you noticed anything?"
Chongyang is someone who follows Yu Shuo closely, so perhaps he knows things that even Tao doesn't.
Chongyang solemnly said, "I suspect these assassins are from the capital."
"Hmm? How so?"
"I have observed the swords they use; the patterns on them belong to the royal family."
Qin Su immediately shook her head, "Impossible. No one in the royal family could assassinate me."
Emperor Mingyang doesn't seem like it. Even if he wanted her dead, he wouldn't use such methods. It's too low-level.
The remaining two princes had no conflict of interest whatsoever.
"So it must be a frame-up."
Chongyang continued, "No one would be foolish enough to expose their family's mark to us."
"So who do you think is behind this?"
Qin Su searched every household in Kyoto but found absolutely no clues.
If the Third Prince of Yuehai Kingdom were in the capital, she would definitely suspect this person, but it is obvious that he is not there.
Chongyang answered firmly, "The Prince of Minzhou."
Qin Su repeated, "Why do you think it's this person?"
Chongyang shook his head. "To be precise, she is the daughter of the Prince of Minzhou."
These words completely baffled Qin Su. She didn't even know the daughter of the Prince of Minzhou, so why would he send someone to assassinate her? It was utterly inexplicable.
Chongyang hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "The Prince of Minzhou once wanted to marry his daughter to you, but the matter was dropped. It was just that it caused quite a stir back then."
Qin Su had never heard of this matter.
"This happened a long time ago?" To be precise, they've only been in the capital for five or six years. Could it have happened before that?
Chongyang nodded.
"No, how old was Yu Shuo back then? He wasn't even old enough to be looking for a partner yet, was he? Why were they in such a hurry?"
Chongyang replied, "There is a rumor that when the daughter of the Prince of Minzhou was born, the sky was filled with colorful clouds, and hundreds of birds circled the Prince's mansion for three days without ceasing. At that time, His Majesty had already decided to depose the Empress, so the daughter of the Prince of Minzhou naturally could not enter the palace to become the Empress."
"So you set your sights on Yu Shuo?"
Chongyang nodded.
Qin Su finally understood. The assassination attempt on her was merely to make way for the "Princess Consort of Chen." The banquet the day after tomorrow was most likely also aimed at her; they were planning the assassination because she wasn't going.
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