Wei Yinqiu lay on her side on the daybed, dressed in a light red robe. Her lower abdomen was high and protruding, yet she was still a bright and noble beauty.
"I am too heavy to perform the proper etiquette, please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Qingying waved her hand, "It's alright, there are no outsiders here."
A maid brought a chair, and she sat down opposite her.
Having not seen each other for a long time, the two inevitably seemed a little estranged.
However, I suppose we weren't very familiar with each other to begin with.
"Is the princess settling in well at this temple?"
“What can I do if I’m not used to it?” Wei Yinqiu’s smile was slightly bitter. “The Empress Dowager has fallen from power, and most of my father’s old subordinates are gone. Now in Donglin Kingdom, I have no one to rely on and can only be manipulated by others.”
“You still have Jin Heng. He is now the Grand Tutor and can protect you.”
Wei Yinqiu's gaze followed these words to the tall, elegant man standing not far away. In the end, she didn't say anything, but nodded, "Mm."
Qingying keenly sensed something amiss and subtly concealed the expression in her eyes. She then changed the subject, "When do you two plan to make your relationship public? I'm looking forward to your wedding."
Wei Yinqiu did not answer.
Jin Heng walked over and continued, "After the child is born, I will inform the Emperor that I will marry the princess."
"Grand Tutor, you should hurry up and not disappoint the princess's sincere feelings for you."
"Your Majesty is right."
"I've come here today for another matter." She raised her eyes and gestured to Tongxia, who then left and dismissed the servants in the room.
Only after hearing the door close did she continue, "The palace will be holding a selection of concubines soon, and I need a few helpers by my side."
"What does Your Majesty mean?"
“I have learned that Liu Shushu has already made some moves. I am alone in the palace, with no family to rely on. I am weak and powerless.”
Her meaning was clear: she wanted to place her own people among the imperial concubines.
"Is the Liu family really so heartless?" Wei Yinqiu frowned slightly.
"After bringing down the Pan family, I completely broke ties with them. Although I am now nominally the married legitimate daughter of the Liu family, I have long since lost all ties with them. They rely on Liu Shushu, but she and I were destined to be mortal enemies from birth."
Jin Heng asked, "Does Your Highness have someone in mind?"
Qingying took a piece of paper out of her sleeve and handed it to Jinheng.
He took it, opened it and examined it carefully, then handed it to Wei Yinqiu, who read it and then burned it to ashes.
"The people Your Majesty has chosen are almost identical to those I had in mind. Most of them have fathers and brothers who do not hold high official positions, making them easy to manipulate. However, why is Xie Shiyu from the Xie family among them?"
It was no secret that Xie Jiaoying and she were on good terms. Xie Shiyu was Xie Jiaoying's cousin, and the two had a deep relationship. If she entered the palace, she would obviously be Qingying's person, which would be too conspicuous.
Wei Yinqiu smiled and said, "You don't understand, do you? As the saying goes, it's easy to dodge a spear but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. If there's no spear in the open as a decoy to block the way, how can you unleash a hidden arrow?"
The power struggles within the harem are no less intense than the turmoil of the previous dynasty; they need to be fully prepared to face this fierce battle.
For over a year, although Liu Shushu disliked her, she rarely made a move, mainly because there were only the two of them in the harem. If anything went wrong with Qingying, it would easily be blamed on her, and she wasn't that foolish. Qingying, of course, wouldn't go out of her way to provoke her and create trouble for herself.
She used to only want to live a peaceful life, never bothering others unless they bothered her. But after Yu Yue's accident, she realized that trouble wouldn't just leave her alone if she didn't cause it.
She was already caught in the middle; only by breaking through the encirclement could she protect herself and those around her.
This talent show will be her breakthrough.
...
After leaving Wei Yinqiu's place, Qingying returned to the room the abbot had arranged for her.
The rain kept falling.
Tongxia brought two charcoal braziers, one to warm the room in the inner chamber and the other to Qingying's desk where she writes. They used the finest silver wire charcoal, and even though the window was only slightly ajar, there was no pungent smell of smoke in the room.
Qingying set aside the paper with the writing on it to wait for the ink to dry, and then unfolded a new sheet of paper.
Tong Xia knelt down to grind ink, "The list of names that Her Majesty wrote for Grand Tutor Jin seems to be different from this one."
“There are a few differences.”
"Does Her Majesty not trust him?"
Qingying shook her head. "Trust those you employ, and don't employ those you don't trust."
"However, I can't put all my eggs in one basket, because if it falls, they'll all break. Besides, people's hearts are unpredictable. Right now, our mutual trust is bound by interests. Of course, I believe there's some genuine affection involved, but I can't guarantee that he'll still be wholeheartedly devoted to me in the face of greater interests or threats."
She learned this principle from Wei Huaixu.
She carefully rolled up the paper with the dried ink, put it into a bamboo tube about the size of a thumb, and handed it to Tongxia, saying, "This one, send it by carrier pigeon."
"Yes." Tong Xia immediately did as instructed.
The other one, which had just been written, was placed in an envelope about the size of a palm by Qingying. She folded it up and put it inside.
When the night was deep and quiet, a dark shadow flashed past the window, and soon, with a slight noise, a masked man stood in front of her.
To avoid attracting attention, the lights in Qingying's room had already been turned off.
At this moment, she was wearing only a cloak over her nightgown, sitting upright at the table, looking at the person in front of her with a gentle smile, "You're here."
"Your Majesty has been waiting for a long time." The person who came bowed slightly.
"Soon, the time will be just right." She took out the envelope from under her pillow and handed it over. "Thank you for your trouble. Please give my regards to the young master."
"Your Majesty is too kind. It's all what I should do." He put the letter away and bowed respectfully again.
"I'll take my leave."
Take care.
The shadowy figure flickered slightly, and the sound of wind swept by; it was as if no outsiders had ever been inside the house.
Before Yu Yue's accident, she often corresponded with Wei Dongchen in private. After Yu Yue's accident, she stopped allowing anyone around her to contact him, and instead, he sent assassins to collect their letters.
She recently took in a new personal maid named Meng Xia, who replaced Tong Xia in her place. Tong Xia, on the other hand, was promoted to the position formerly held by Yu Yue and became the head maid of Bao Yi Palace.
Meng Xia was Wei Dongchen's man, responsible for communicating with the assassins.
She was picked up by Wei Dongchen on the battlefield in the northern border. She was an orphan and skilled in martial arts. She did not need to send letters to communicate with the assassins; she only needed a secret technique to summon them at will.
On this trip to Yunshan Temple, she only brought two personal maids, Tongxia and Mengxia, with her.
She looked into the dark room, with only a faint ray of light coming in through the window.
She went over and closed the window.
I thought to myself: Some things are better known by as few people as possible.
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