amnesty
The sun rises, and the dazzling sunlight penetrates the diamond-shaped window panes and sprinkles on the pink and white gauze curtains.
Behind the gauze curtains, the thin quilt is half draped around the person's waist. The frosty nightgown sets off her slim figure. Her slender white neck is dotted with red marks, and her thick eyelashes tremble slightly.
The dazzling sunlight made Qi Qinghe's eyes hurt. She turned her back and wanted to sleep for a while longer. She stretched out her arm, but it was empty.
She slowly opened her eyes, still sleepy, and looked around blankly.
The man who had been tossing and turning with her in the hot spring pool for half the night before was now nowhere to be seen.
The other half of the bed was cold, obviously someone had already gotten up and left.
Qi Qinghe turned over and sat up, opening his mouth but no words could come out. He just thought that the soft pillow on the other side was Xiao Junbai, and he punched it randomly, threw it in the corner at the foot of the bed, grabbed the quilt to cover his face, and was so angry that he gritted his teeth and cursed him as a bastard.
She felt sorry for the prince being punished yesterday, but she didn't expect this man to run away after sleeping with him. What a scoundrel.
Just as she was mumbling to herself, the door creaked open and footsteps approached.
In the blink of an eye, the thin blanket was suddenly lifted up.
Qi Qinghe was startled, her eyes widened, her mouth still muttering to herself, and she met the prince's deep eyes directly.
Xiao Junbai looked at her with great amusement. His wife was very cute. Whatever she was thinking was written on her face, which was very easy to understand.
He reached out and gathered her messy hair, his voice soft and calm, "I have nothing to do today, you can sleep a little longer."
"The capital has been quite unstable these past few days. You should stay here and don't run around." Xiao Junbai said, "The Imperial Guards need to practice on the training grounds, so there aren't many left in the city. Keep this token. If you need anything, just ask them to do it."
After he finished speaking, he put something into the man's hand, pondered for a moment, and then warned, "I may not be able to come every day, so you need to be careful at all times."
Qi Qinghe was angry with him at first and was about to question him about where he had been so early in the morning, but the prince's words made her even more confused.
The object in her hand was a palm-sized bronze token with a cloud-patterned border. The front was engraved with the huge Chinese character "令" and the back was inscribed with the words "Imperial Guards".
She nodded, put the token away, and asked gently, "When will His Highness arrive?"
Xiao Junbai didn't mention a word about returning to the palace after being confined, so she simply didn't bother to ask.
It's more comfortable here than in the palace.
Xiao Junbai didn't say anything. He just stroked her shiny black hair with his fingers and was silent for a long time. "I..."
Unexpectedly, just as he said a word, the maid waiting outside knocked on the door, "Your Highness, Your Majesty, the Princess is here."
The sudden words interrupted the tenderness between the two.
Qi Qinghe cleared his throat a few times, pushed the prince, stood up and put on his coat.
Xiao Junbai responded as if nothing had happened.
The next moment, Xiao Junmei rushed in angrily, "Xiao Junbai! What on earth did you do in my hot spring villa?"
The servant who cleaned the place every day noticed that the hot spring was not as usual, so he came to report it. Xiao Junmei guessed it immediately.
"Just apologize." Xiao Junbai didn't care.
Xiao Junmei was furious and said yin-yangly, "You are the crown prince and you can do anything. Why do you care about us?"
After saying that, she took three or two steps forward, took Qi Qinghe's arm, turned around and walked out.
When Qi Qinghe heard the princess mention last night, her ears turned slightly red. She let the princess hold her arm, turned her head back, saw the prince's face, chuckled, and left with the princess.
Xiao Junbai remained calm, a hint of regret flashed across his eyes, but disappeared in an instant, and he strode away.
Xiao Junmei led people all the way around the forest to the dining room.
Thinking back to last night, Qi Qinghe felt uncomfortable and apologized in a whisper, "I was really rude last night, I..."
Xiao Junmei waved his hand, indicating that the matter was not a big deal. "He's the crown prince, but he climbed over the wall and through the window. No matter what he did, it will get out anyway. I won't be embarrassed."
Qi Qinghe sighed, feeling that this princess was truly bold and dared to say anything without reservation.
Xiao Junmei scoffed at this, "What's there to be shy about? He dared to do it, so why would he be afraid of what others would say?"
She was the emperor's eldest daughter. Although she was a girl, she was the first child after all, so the emperor was very tolerant of her.
Xiao Junmei knew this very well, so she always tried to cross the line of her father.
In the dining room, Qi Xu and Qi Qingyu were already there. The table was filled with delicious dishes, and the fragrance was everywhere.
Xiao Junmei doesn't like those rules and is quite casual when eating.
Qi Qinghe poked at the dishes and chopsticks, hesitating again and again.
Her presence here is already a trouble, and if you bring up other things, it would be like asking for too much.
After thinking for a moment and thanking him again and again, Qi Qinghe smiled softly, "Princess, have you ever thought about returning to the capital while you are in this deep mountain?"
"Never." Xiao Junmei said casually, "If I return to the capital, I'm afraid the door will be trampled down."
Qi Qinghe lowered his head upon hearing this and stopped asking.
"Oh right." Xiao Junmei put down her bowl and chopsticks as if she had thought of something. "I heard that you have an embroiderer here whose craftsmanship is first-class."
Qi Qinghe was startled. Unexpectedly, the princess' words hit the mark. He nodded slightly, untied the brocade bag from his waist and handed it to the princess. "Li Niang has excellent craftsmanship and a good temper."
She steeled herself and said, "It was just an accident. Her appearance was disfigured. She has to hide her face with a silk scarf. I dare to plead for her. Princess, please find her a place to live in peace. I will be grateful to you."
She was asked by Li Niang to find a job in the capital, but she was under house arrest and could not enter the city. She was in a hurry this morning and did not inform His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so she had to come to the Princess to ask.
"This little thing is nothing." Xiao Junmei said with a smile, then remembered something, "You said you once ran a cloth shop in Jiangnan?"
Qi Qinghe didn't know how the topic came to him, and nodded hesitantly.
"That's a coincidence." Xiao Junmei called the maid to get something, "I do have a cloth shop here, why not give it to you."
Qi Qinghe was startled and stood up suddenly, repeatedly refusing, "How can you give me the princess's things?"
She was already married to the prince, so it was normal for her to ask for his help, but it was not the case for others.
There is absolutely no reason to ask for things from others casually like this.
Seeing her so frightened, Xiao Junmei couldn't help but laugh, "You are quite the person. Why are you so polite? This is how sisters-in-law should behave."
"Besides, who told you that this shop belongs to you?"
The eldest princess' words made the three members of the Qi family put down their chopsticks, looked at each other, and dared not say a word.
"You help me manage this shop. I will pay you the salary of the current shopkeeper in the capital. When you have saved enough money, you can discuss the ownership of the shop." Xiao Junmei said.
Hearing this, Qi Qinghe felt relieved. "In that case, thank you very much, Princess."
After she finished speaking, her curiosity grew even more intense. She tilted her head, her dark eyes clear as stars, "Princess, how could you trust me so much?"
Since she came to this palace, the eldest princess has taken great care of her and has never neglected her for a moment.
Xiao Junmei glanced at her. She had lived half her life and had seen all kinds of people. She had a rough idea of whether this person was good or bad.
This was settled.
Although Qi Qinghe was confined and not allowed to go out, it did not affect others.
Li Niang was led into the capital by the maid sent by the princess.
She grew up in Linyu County, and the farthest place she had ever been to was Yangzhou.
Compared with Yangzhou, the capital city was more prosperous. The vendors walking through the streets shouted loudly, and the various novel snacks and exquisite hairpins dazzled her.
The maid led the group all the way to the cloth shop.
This street is extremely prosperous, with gold and silver headwear, jade and jadeite everywhere.
The black and gold Mei's Cloth Shop has a very bright sign, and people coming and going are all dressed in luxurious clothes and wearing gold and silver jewelry.
It was completely different from the maid's clothes that Li Niang was wearing.
She lowered her head to look at herself, raised her hand to touch the towel on her face, then looked at these nobles, and finally said nothing, and followed the maid into the backyard.
Although she was brought by the eldest princess, she did have some skills. After a brief demonstration, the embroiderers and dyers of Mei's Cloth Shop did not accept her wholeheartedly, but they did not reject her either.
The inviting maid, seeing that Li Niang was doing well in the cloth shop, gave her a few more instructions, called the shopkeeper to get the account book, and then left.
The days passed one by one, and the half-month confinement was about to end.
Qi Qinghe lived a very happy life in the princess's palace.
The eldest princess never made things difficult for her and was very easy to get along with. Her younger sister Qi Qingyu was still carefree and talked all kinds of stories with the eldest princess. Even her mother, Qi Xu, was getting better.
After the prince came that day, he came to look for her every few days. Sometimes he would only be away for a day or two, and sometimes he would not show up for five or six days.
Only the next day, Yuntao and Yunxing were sent to serve her.
When they first met again, the two little girls cried and said nonsense, saying that the queen might not want them anymore.
Qi Qinghe was so upset that she wanted to cry but had no tears. She had to be comforted and coaxed repeatedly before she stopped crying and stayed by the Empress' side to serve her.
The Royal Guard's token was hidden safely in the box.
Mei's cloth shop became more and more stable, and she was good at accounting.
Xiao Junmei came to see him specially and saw that he was focused and serious, and then left quietly.
Qi Qinghe was completely unaware of this, and even half a month later, when Xiao Junmei gave her the house deed, she was even more confused.
That day, Yun Tao was waiting in the courtyard holding the account book. She was about to go out to talk about the matter in detail with the princess when she suddenly ran into Qi Qingyu who was looking for her.
The two sisters sat opposite each other and the maid served them hot tea.
Qi Qingyu always loved brightly colored clothes, and today she wore a snow-white gauze dress, which was rare. Her beautiful face was without any makeup, and she clutched a pink and white handkerchief between her fingers. Her eyes were dodging, and she wanted to speak several times, but she hesitated.
Silence spread between the two.
Qi Qinghe was puzzled and asked directly, picking up the teacup, "Why can't you talk about it openly?"
Qi Qingyu rubbed her fingers together for a long moment before she whispered, "Sister, did you hear about the emperor's general amnesty yesterday?"
Her voice was as thin as a mosquito. Qi Qinghe leaned closer to listen to her say it again, and raised her eyebrows slightly. "I did hear it, what does it have to do with you and me?"
After asking this question, she was stunned.
How could it be unrelated? Qi Qingyu's father, her uncle Qi Lin, was imprisoned.
The emperor issued a general amnesty, and he was among them.
"He is my biological father after all. I was thinking whether I should go and see him." Qi Qingyu finally raised her head and looked directly into her sister's eyes.
The amnesty will be held in these two days. If you go too late, you may not see anyone.
Qi Lin didn't treat her well, and when she hated him the most, she wished they would never meet again.
However, time has passed. During the time I spent with my sister and aunt day and night, when it was quiet at night, I couldn't help feeling melancholy when I recalled the little things my aunt and sister did together.
She hesitated for a long time about this matter and could not make a decision, so she came to ask her sister for some advice.
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