When the conversation turned to midnight, the question was asked, "Ahe, do you want to leave the palace?"
Shen Muqing said with half-closed eyes and a heavy sense of drowsiness.
"Can I leave the palace?" Song Jinhe sighed, turning to look at Shen Muqing, only to find her asleep. "Yes."
A single word, spoken softly, carries the weight of her thoughts. To her, the palace is nothing but a cage, and she is merely a canary kept in captivity by Mo Yunjing.
"good."
In her sleep, Shen Muqing mumbled a reply. Song Jinhe tucked her in, then slowly closed her eyes. Finally, there was someone to talk to in the palace. How wonderful.
She knew that Bai Zhi was sent by Mo Yun Jing to monitor her, so she usually dared not reveal any thought of escaping the palace in front of Bai Zhi, otherwise she would not be able to bear the consequences.
A month passed quickly, and the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived. Shen Muqing got up very early in the morning to prepare for the banquet. This was the first time she had ever organized such a large-scale banquet, and she only hoped that nothing would go wrong.
The banquet was held in the Lufeng Hall, and the emperor and empress were seated at the head of the table.
Below them, in order, are the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, the other princes and princesses, and the favored concubines. To Shen Muqing's left is the Crown Prince, and to his right is Mo Yanye. Song Jinhe didn't come today; she never likes crowded places.
The envoy from the Moon Kingdom raised his wine cup to toast the emperor of the Mo Kingdom, and after exchanging pleasantries for a while, they got down to business.
"Your Majesty, I believe your country is already aware of the purpose of our visit. What is Your Majesty's opinion?"
The emperor chuckled and said, "Princess Yaoyue, which of my princes have you taken a fancy to? Just tell me."
Princess Yaoyue, who was called out, lowered her head shyly. She first glanced shyly in Mo Yanye's direction before quickly looking away. Everyone present understood what she meant.
"Your Majesty, Yaoyue is fond of the Fifth Prince."
"Oh~, Yan Ye, what do you think? I remember you've been alone for several years now. It would be good to have someone to care for you."
The emperor asked Mo Yanye for his opinion, and Yaoyue looked at him expectantly, hoping that he wouldn't refuse her in front of everyone.
However, everyone clearly underestimated Mo Yanye's ruthlessness. Without thinking, he said, "Father, I already have someone in my heart. Princess Yaoyue, please choose someone else."
When he spoke of having someone he loved, he turned his head to look at Shen Muqing, who was eating snacks, and a warm feeling appeared on his terrifying face.
Yaoyue also noticed his gaze, which turned to Shen Muqing, a look that seemed to hold a knife aimed at her.
"Haha, why don't you invite Yue to take a look at my other princes? They're quite good too."
No one dares to force Mo Yanye to do things he disagrees with, after all, he is the guardian deity of the Mo Kingdom, and the future of the Mo Kingdom depends on him.
Having said all that, Yaoyue could only swallow her anger and lower her head in agreement without saying another word.
The envoy from the Moon Kingdom came out to ease the tension, talking about the new tribute items that had been presented to the Mo Kingdom.
"Your Majesty, this is a newly cultivated variety of jade mushroom in our country."
As soon as he finished speaking, a group of palace maids entered, carrying a stack of small plates. They first placed the plates in front of the emperor, and then the rest of the palace maids.
Shen Muqing thought it was some kind of mushroom, but it turned out to be a cantaloupe, albeit a green one.
"And there's also the Early Autumn Red Jade."
Another stack of small plates was placed in front of Shen Muqing. She couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw what was on the plates. Why give a watermelon such an artistic name? It makes her think it's something high-class.
"Excellent, excellent, reward me." It was the emperor's first time tasting such fresh fruit, and he found it very novel, praising it repeatedly.
Next, the dancers entered the hall, and the singing and dancing began.
Feeling bored, Shen Muqing said to Mo Yunjing, "I'm going out for some fresh air."
Mo Yunjing nodded, and just as she was about to get up, she noticed Mo Yanye pressing down on her dress. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going out for some fresh air, I'll be back in a bit."
After saying that, Shen Muqing ignored him and walked straight out of the hall. "Phew~ the air outside is still so fresh."
Outside the Lufeng Palace was a pond filled with blooming lotus flowers, and the air was filled with their fragrance.
"Zhuqiu, is it far from the East Palace?"
"Not far."
"Then let's go back."
Zhu Qiu's face showed struggle as she tried to persuade Shen Muqing, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate for the Crown Princess?"
"It's alright, let's go."
No wonder Song Jinhe dislikes crowded places; she's finally figured it out.
Shen Muqing returned to the East Palace and went straight to Luoxia Pavilion. Before he even entered, his voice could be heard throughout the entire courtyard.
"Ahe, Ahe, where are you?"
She searched everywhere for Song Jinhe's figure and found her sitting alone by the window, looking utterly forlorn.
"Qingqing, why are you back? Weren't you at the banquet?"
"I was bored, so I left first. Ah He, what were you thinking about just now?"
Looking at the round and bright moon, Song Jinhe's thoughts drifted into the distance. Usually at this time, she would be making mooncakes in her thatched hut. On this day, many people would come to give her things because she only symbolically charged a few coins for treating the villagers, and the villagers were very grateful to her.
She was an orphan, taken in and raised by an old village doctor who passed on all his skills to her. Now she is all alone.
"I miss home." Even though it's a home where she lives alone.
Seeing her dejected appearance, Shen Muqing felt bad too, but then her hand touched something hard. Right, how could she have forgotten about this jade pendant? It could be used to leave the palace.
"Ahe, do you want to leave the palace? Let's go out and have some fun."
She spoke excitedly, and Song Jinhe's eyes lit up as well, "Really? Can we leave the palace?"
“Of course, with this jade pendant you can go anywhere.” Shen Muqing said confidently, holding the piece of black jade. Zhu Qiu wouldn’t lie to her.
"Okay!" She had to leave quickly while Mo Yunjing was still at the banquet; this was the closest she could get to him.
"Bai Zhi, I'm sleeping with Qing Qing tonight, you don't need to come along."
"Yes." Bai Zhi didn't think much of it; this wasn't the first time Song Jinhe and Shen Muqing had slept together.
The two of them took Zhu Qiu back to Tingyu Pavilion. "Ahe, we should change into a palace maid's clothes. It's too conspicuous to go out dressed like this. Zhu Qiu, go and find us two sets of clothes for you."
"Yes, Crown Princess."
The two quickly changed into palace maid outfits and were about to walk towards the palace gate when one of them said, "Miss, I want to go out too."
Seeing this, Shen Muqing gently stroked Zhu Qiu's head: "Zhu Qiu, be good. I'll take you next time. This time you have to keep watch for us. If anyone comes, just say we're asleep."
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, yes." Zhu Qiu nodded vigorously; she would definitely do what her mistress asked her to do.
With half an hour left before the palace gates were locked, "Ahe, we have to run faster."
"good."
Heavily guarded the palace gates, the women stopped panting at the entrance. The guards, looking menacing, demanded, "What are you doing here? Which palace are you from? What are you doing out so late?"
Shen Muqing was somewhat frightened, and Song Jinhe also tightly held onto her sleeve.
She took out the jade pendant that Mo Yanye had given her from her clothes. As soon as she took it out, the gatekeeper's expression changed.
"So you're from the Fifth Prince's palace. My apologies for not recognizing you."
"Open the door for your two aunts."
A group of people opened the palace gates with a series of loud thuds and stood on both sides to see Shen Muqing and his companion off.
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