A few days ago, Chu Qingxuan would get a headache whenever she heard the name Lord Li. After leaving the palace, Chu Qingxuan felt much quieter around her, if Nan Yuan wasn't with her.
Chu Qingxuan said lightly, "Nanyuan, did your parents send you here to keep watch?"
"Yes," Nan Yuan replied.
Chu Qingxuan beckoned to Nan Yuan with her finger. Nan Yuan looked at Chu Qingxuan suspiciously. Under Chu Qingxuan's gaze, he hesitated for a moment, but still walked up to Chu Qingxuan.
"I ask you, does your family have a young lady you like?"
Nan Yuan was stunned for a moment: "Huh?"
Chu Qingxuan explained, "It's about whether your family members have someone they like."
Nan Yuan immediately replied, "No, no, my master has been the Imperial Advisor for three years, and all his attendants have been men. I have never seen a woman by his side."
Chu Qingxuan narrowed her eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Is that so... you mean the Eldest Princess doesn't count?"
Upon hearing this, Nan Yuan hurriedly admitted his mistake, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, this servant meant no other..."
Chu Qingxuan chuckled and coughed lightly, "Why are you so nervous? I was just asking casually."
Nan Yuan: "..."
Didn't they say that His Majesty is in love with the Imperial Advisor, and that the Imperial Advisor will become the Emperor's consort in the future?
If I say something wrong, it will cause trouble.
But the emperor doesn't want to be the emperor's consort.
Nan Yuan looked conflicted, while Chu Qingxuan nodded slightly to him and then said, "Little guard, I'll be leaving now."
Nan Yuan breathed a sigh of relief after Chu Qingxuan left.
As the saying goes, serving a ruler is like serving a tiger, and the Imperial Advisor once said that Chu Qingxuan is a smiling tiger.
Chu Qingxuan lived in the Imperial Preceptor's mansion. The people in the mansion only knew that Chu Qingxuan was a guest left behind by Ruan Qingchen, and they did not know Chu Qingxuan's true identity.
Chu Qingxuan stayed at the Imperial Preceptor's residence for a while, but still found it too boring.
Having found Ruan Qingchen's study, Chu Qingxuan pushed open the door and went inside.
After wandering around the study, my gaze finally settled on a painting on the wall. The woman in the painting was stunningly beautiful, so beautiful that I couldn't take my eyes off her.
Chu Qingxuan stepped forward, unaware that Ruan Qingchen had already entered.
"Your Majesty has come to my study for some business?"
Ruan Qingchen's voice was cold, with a hint of anger in it.
Chu Qingxuan was startled by Ruan Qingchen's voice and turned to look at him. "I... want to find a book to read."
Chu Qingxuan felt somewhat guilty for barging into Ruan Qingchen's study alone and being caught by him.
Then Chu Qingxuan remembered that she was the Empress and Ruan Qingchen was her subject, and she became firm again.
"Or is there something here that I cannot see, Grand Preceptor?"
Ruan Qingchen pursed her lips and said coldly, "No, what book would Your Majesty like to read?"
"Do as you please, I'm just passing the time."
Ruan Qingchen walked to the bookshelf to find a book, while Chu Qingxuan's gaze fell on the stunningly beautiful woman in the painting.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?"
Before she knew it, Ruan Qingchen found a book and handed it to Chu Qingxuan, asking in a low voice.
Chu Qingxuan nodded and commented, "She is so beautiful that fish would sink and geese would fall from the sky, and the moon would hide and flowers would blush."
"What a pity," Ruan Qingchen said in a deep voice, then raised his eyes to stare at Chu Qingxuan. His eyes were unfathomable, as if they were hiding other emotions.
He told Chu Qingxuan, "She has passed away."
Chu Qingxuan asked instinctively, "Who is she?"
Ruan Qingchen turned around and stood side by side with Chu Qingxuan, answering Chu Qingxuan's question.
"She is my mother."
Ruan Qingchen's voice was long and drawn out, carrying a lingering sadness and longing.
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