Chapter 573 Sacrifice, Meeting
"Lanlan!" Qin Yuwei held her hand tightly and couldn't help but call out.
The two hadn't seen each other for a long time. Zhu Lan looked at Qin Yuwei's thin face and felt a little sad.
Zhu Lan also held her hand, his eyes full of worry, and said:
“The afternoon sacrifice is about to begin, and I can’t stay here too long.
I heard that Jing'er almost had an accident a few days ago because of the pastries she made. What happened in the harem? Why did His Majesty's temperament become like this?"
Qin Yuwei quickly recounted the story about the bracelet and her own speculations.
After hearing this, Zhu Lan's eyes became darker.
"Sure enough. Yesterday, Youyou's spies found out that Ma Yan had very close contacts with Li Zhengqing, the Minister of Rites.
It seems that those people in the Li family want to take advantage of the conflict between the emperor and you to get rid of you and me, and then control the emperor and completely control the government."
"They are really scheming." Qin Yuwei said coldly.
Zhu Lan paused, slowed down his tone, and asked:
"Is your relationship with the Emperor...really impossible to repair?"
Qin Yuwei smiled bitterly:
"The emperor is young, his parents have passed away, so his temperament is naturally different from before. He misses his mother so much that he inevitably becomes extreme.
I can only blame myself for being careless at the time and letting someone like Ma Yan stay by his side, instigating and misleading him every day, which led to the situation today.
At this point, even if I explain it to him, he already has a set of preconceived ideas in his mind, and I'm afraid he won't listen to me."
Qin Yuwei thought of another thing and said to Zhu Lan:
"Lanlan, I heard that Li Zhengqing used the incident of Yixue to incite public opinion and force you to leave the capital temporarily?"
Zhu Lan nodded.
Qin Yuwei said, "Don't worry. The emperor is still young, and I still have the power to listen to government affairs. If I don't agree to this matter, even if the Li family continues to stir up trouble, the Hanlin Academy will not dare to write that imperial edict."
"No." Zhu Lan suddenly said, "It might be a good thing for me to leave Beijing at this time."
"What do you mean?"
Zhu Lan said:
"Everyone in the government and the public knows that you and I are good friends. Li Zhengqing made a big fuss about the charity school incident to force me to leave Beijing, just to clip your wings.
But think about it from another angle. I am in the Censorate, and there are countless eyes staring at me every day. If I can take this opportunity to temporarily get out of their sight, some things will be easier to do.
You should follow the emperor's wishes in this matter and not escalate the conflict for the time being, which will also allow them to relax their vigilance."
"You got a plan?"
Zhu Lan smiled slightly.
Qin Yuwei thought deeply for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness I have you, so I can feel at ease. But Lanlan, there is one more thing——"
"You want to send Jing'er out of the palace?" Zhu Lan guessed what she was thinking.
"Yeah." Qin Yuwei nodded, with a hint of worry between her brows.
"To completely eradicate the Li family, we still need to plan our response, which involves many risks.
The emperor's behavior is becoming more and more outrageous, especially the pastry incident last time... I'm really worried that Jing'er will face more dangers if she continues to stay in the palace.
I thought about it and decided to find a reason to send her out of the palace. It would be best if she could stay in Jiangzhou and go to Longchang Academy.
There, she can study and someone can guarantee her safety.”
At the end, Qin Yuwei's tone became a little anxious.
Zhu Lan shook his head and said seriously:
"It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books. Yuwei, I want Jing'er to go with me when I leave Beijing this time."
"Travel together?" Qin Yuwei was stunned for a moment, then she thought that it was true. Nothing could be more reassuring than Jing'er staying with Lanlan.
"Shiming has arranged everything that needs to be done next. It's not advisable to stay here for long. I'll leave first." Seeing her nod, Zhu Lan put on his veil again and prepared to leave.
Just as she reached the door, she suddenly heard a woman's voice outside. She immediately stopped where she was, hoping that the person outside just happened to pass by.
The voice was getting closer and closer, and was actually coming straight towards Qin Yuwei.
Qin Yuwei also recognized that it was the voice of Concubine Zheng and Jing'er.
"Mother, mother." Yan Jing walked in and did not notice anything unusual about "Biyu" standing in the corner.
Concubine Zheng followed in and said with a smile, "Sister, haven't you rested yet? Jing'er came to me just now and said that she forgot to bring a seal that she loved very much. I told the servants to get it, but the child insisted on coming back by herself."
Yan Jing quickly found his seal, bowed to Qin Yuwei, and took Zheng Taipin's hand again:
"Madam Taipin, let's go!"
Concubine Zheng was also about to leave, and Qin Yuwei and Zhu Lan both breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, Concubine Zheng seemed to suddenly think of something. She turned around, searched for a moment, and her eyes fell on "Biyu".
"Oh, I just remembered that I still have some ointment prepared by the Imperial Hospital, which can speed up the healing of such a small wound. I'll ask someone to bring some to you later. A woman's appearance is the most important thing, so you can't treat her badly."
Zhu Lan dressed up in advance today. Judging from his features, he does look somewhat similar to Biyu. Unless you are very familiar with him, it would be difficult to recognize him.
But if she opened her mouth to speak, she would be exposed immediately.
So Zhu Lan had no choice but to bow his head to express his gratitude.
Unexpectedly, Concubine Zheng was too kind-hearted. She took a few steps forward and said, "But that ointment is only effective for shallow wounds. Let me take a look at your wound again..."
Zhu Lan lowered his head and instinctively wanted to take a step back, but he forced himself to hold back.
A thin layer of sweat broke out on her palms. As the Chief Censor, she secretly dressed up as a palace maid to meet the Queen Mother... This was a crime of deceiving the emperor.
Concubine Zheng was of noble status and would not have bothered about the palace maids, but she wanted to please the empress dowager, so she was very kind to everyone in Changyu Palace and never put on airs.
She actually reached out her hand and tried to lift the veil.
Zhu Lan couldn't speak. Qin Yuwei was thinking and was about to open her mouth to find an excuse, but she saw Concubine Zheng suddenly staggered a small step.
It turned out that the hem of her skirt was stepped on by Yan Jing behind her. I don’t know where the dust on her soles came from, but it left a faint mark.
"Your Highness, Jing'er didn't mean it..." Yan Jing pursed his lips pitifully, about to cry.
She was born lively and cute, and seeing her aggrieved look melted Zheng Taipin's heart, and she quickly squatted down to comfort her.
Qin Yuwei saw this and said:
"Sister, the afternoon sacrifice is about to begin, this ceremonial dress cannot get dirty, otherwise it will have a bad omen.
While there is still some time, go back and change, Jing'er stay with me."
"Oh, sister, it's true what you said. Fortunately, I have an extra set. I'll take my leave now."
Concubine Zheng hurried away holding up her skirt.
Zhu Lan and Qin Yuwei finally relaxed. Before they could speak, Yan Jing had already rushed into the arms of Zhu Lan, who was wearing a veil. She grabbed her sleeves with her two little hands and said happily:
"Aunt Zhu, you finally came to see Jing'er!!!"
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