Chapter 331 There is a conspiracy
At the farm outside the city, Wei Qingyan handed the painted portrait to the old lady.
The portrait is exactly the same as the one in Qingwu's hand, but the degree of newness is different. The scroll in Qingwu's hand looks quite old, which is because Shi Yu deliberately made it look old.
The old lady's eyesight was not very good, and after looking for a long time, her eyes finally turned red.
"After all these years, hasn't she been reincarnated yet?"
Wei Qingyan sat down beside her, carrying a bamboo basket. "Maybe there are people and things that you can't let go of."
The old lady's hands trembled. Could it be that her Zhuzhu couldn't rest in peace even after death?
"Since you haven't been reincarnated, why haven't you appeared in my dreams for all these years so that I can see you?"
Wei Qingyan glanced at the bamboo basket. Fu Zhuzhu was lying on the old lady's lap, tears streaming down her face. She kept calling out, "Grandma, Grandma, Zhuzhu misses you and Grandpa so much. Zhuzhu misses you so much, Grandma..."
Fu Zhuzhu didn't say anything, and Wei Qingyan didn't speak either.
The old lady didn't get a response, so she asked again, "Since the Crown Princess could paint this, I think she could see her. How is she now... Did she come with us?"
She originally did not believe in ghosts and gods, but over the years she had to rely on gods and Buddhas to survive.
On the first and fifteenth day of every month, she would release animals and pray for her deceased children, hoping that they would be reborn into good families soon.
Now that she is in poor health and cannot go out, the old marquis who never believes in ghosts and gods will go for her.
But her beads...
She looked at the portrait carefully again. The Crown Princess painted the outfit of Zhuzhu when she last saw her. On that day, Zhuzhu was going to the palace for a banquet and came to pay her respects happily.
After returning from the palace banquet, he was in a bad mood and stayed in the room alone. He went out early the next morning and then disappeared.
When I saw her again, she had been swollen in the water and had been eaten by fish and insects beyond recognition.
Her Zhuzhu, who lost her mother at a young age and grew up with her, learned that she was unhappy that night, but she just thought it was a child's temper and did not go to see her in time, which made her do something stupid in impulse.
It was her fault.
"Sister, don't tell Grandma I'm here." Fu Zhuzhu covered her lips and shook her head desperately, "Please."
If her grandmother knew she was there, she would definitely ask her questions. She felt so wronged that she was not sure if she could keep the secret in front of her grandmother.
Wei Qingyan moved the bamboo basket to the other side. The old lady was in poor health, and Fu Zhuzhu staying close to her for too long was not good for her health.
"Madam, these are what she told me in a dream, and this portrait is based on another portrait."
If I can't tell the truth, I can only lie again.
"My husband and I stayed at the Crown Prince's Mansion yesterday, and we saw this portrait and that headband among the antiques and paintings bestowed upon us by the palace.
That night, a voice came into my dream, asking me to come and see you on her behalf, which led to my trip today."
"What does the Crown Princess mean?" Nanny Xi asked anxiously, "Since the young lady hasn't been reincarnated, why can't she come to visit the old lady?"
"I don't know, but she hopes that the old lady and the old marquis live long and healthy lives, and stop worrying about her death. Only then can she rest in peace, knowing that this life is over and the next life can be expected."
The latter sentence was said to Fu Zhuzhu, hoping that the relatives in the next life would give her some hope for reincarnation, otherwise she would die in a few days.
Seeing that Fu Zhuzhu had raised her head from the old lady's lap, Wei Qingyan stood up and picked up the backpack in his hand. "Old lady, I have done what she asked me to do. I will take my leave now. I hope you will take care of yourself."
The old lady is too weak, so Fu Zhuzhu should not stay here for too long.
Nanny Xi wanted to say something more, but was stopped by the old lady. She bowed her head as a gesture of greeting and said, "Thank you, Crown Princess."
"Sister, thank you." After leaving the village, Fu Zhuzhu cried, "Thank you for bringing me to see grandma, and thank you for comforting grandma for me."
"No need to thank me." Wei Qingyan placed the backpack on the ground and faced the person in the porcelain bottle. She said, "You should be able to hear that I would rather you tell me the truth.
Ever since you were sent to me, some things are no longer just your business, Fu Zhuzhu, you have people you want to protect, and I also have people I want to protect.
If you don't want to say it, I will do my best to fulfill your wish without hurting the people I care about, but I'm afraid it might go against my wishes."
She and Shi Yu would never passively take a beating.
Fu Zhuzhu pursed her lips and said nothing.
Wei Qingyan didn't say much. She knew that Fu Zhuzhu must have encountered something extremely tragic, but since she asked to see the old lady and wanted to give her the headband, her story was destined to be revealed.
She relieved the pain of missing her relatives, but it also brought back painful memories and doubts of her relatives. However, those who died in vain miss their relatives, so who can say she is wrong?
After handing the bamboo basket to the secret guard, Wei Qingyan said to Fu Zhuzhu, "I'm afraid you won't be able to see your grandfather today. You should go back to the Prince's Mansion first."
The old marquis wanted to return home at sunset, and they couldn't wait until nightfall because the city gates would be closed by then.
Fu Zhuzhu said thank you again and said nothing more.
Wei Qingyan nodded, took another bamboo basket from the secret guard, and got on the carriage with Shi Yu.
The carriage stopped at the foot of a mountain, and the two men went up the mountain with their backpacks. About half an hour later, they got back on the carriage and returned to the city.
Qingwu was waiting anxiously in the Prince's Mansion, but Jingzhe's mouth was like a gourd with a sawed mouth, and she couldn't pry it open no matter what she did. She had no choice but to go out in person and plan to take a look at the old Zhenbei Marquis's manor outside the city.
But on the way, he met a couple returning to the city.
Qing Wu stopped the carriage and jumped onto the Prince's carriage, showing the portrait to Wei Qingyan. "Tell me the truth, how did this portrait come about?"
Wei Qingyan still said the same thing as before.
Qing Wu had actually noticed while waiting that the scroll was somewhat old, but she still asked suspiciously, "Then why did you go to see the old Zhenbei Marquis and his wife today?"
Wei Qingyan repeated to Qingwu what he had said to the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei about the voice that had come into his dream.
"You mean, the palace's reward includes not only Fu Zhuzhu's portrait, but also that headband?"
She wanted to ask why she had never heard her mention the headband before, but Wei Qingyan said that it was only after seeing the portrait that Fu Zhuzhu appeared in his dream at night, and only then did he know the origin of the headband and found it.
The logic made sense, but she felt something was wrong, so she had to ask, "You didn't lie to me?"
Wei Qingyan smiled, "Auntie, are you suspicious of us, or are you worried about us?"
What did Qingwu think of that made him come so eagerly?
Qing Wu rolled her eyes. She did have doubts. She suspected that these two idiots had been plotted against as soon as they arrived in Fengzhao. That woman, Lin Wanzhi, was no pushover.
But Shi Yu still doesn't know her own life experience. In his heart, the queen is her mother. She can't say anything bad about the queen in front of him, as it would be considered as an attempt to sow discord.
Then he raised his chin and said, "You are my nephew and niece-in-law. I am worried about what is wrong with you.
The dress Zhuzhu was wearing was the one she wore the day before the accident. The palace held a chrysanthemum viewing banquet that day, and no painter was arranged. Logically, there shouldn't be a portrait of her in the palace, so how could it have ended up in the Crown Prince's residence among the palace's rewards?
Wei Qingyan looked at Qingwu. "Did Auntie stay with Fu Zhuzhu the entire time during the palace banquet? Perhaps someone painted this portrait of her without your knowledge?"
She was certain that Fu Zhuzhu had an accident in the palace. If Qingwu didn't know the real cause of Fu Zhuzhu's death, then the two must have been separated for a period of time.
It was during that time that Fu Zhuzhu was murdered.
Qingwu paused.
She and Fu Zhuzhu did separate.
If someone really painted a portrait of Fu Zhuzhu that day and hid the portrait in the palace for many years, and now sent it to the Prince's Mansion, this is definitely not a coincidence.
People in the palace would lose their heads if they were careless in their work, so someone did it on purpose.
But it also felt wrong. If the portrait was painted in the palace, how to explain the headband? Fu Zhuzhu couldn't wear a headband into the palace during the banquet, right?
Qingwu looked at Wei Qingyan suspiciously again.
It is not ruled out that this girl did not tell the truth, but as someone who had just arrived in Fengzhao, she would not interfere in things that happened many years ago for no reason.
Could it be that someone is using Wei Qingyan to do something?
She couldn't figure it out for a moment, but she always felt that there was a conspiracy.
Qing Wu was extremely alert in her heart, but on the outside she appeared lazy and said nonchalantly, "Those slaves in the palace are really getting more and more lazy in their work.
I will take the responsibility and go check for you to make sure there are no messy things from other places in your house."
"Thank you, auntie." Shi Yu, who had been making ornaments, spoke.
Wei Qingyan also raised his lips, "Okay."
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