And because the Ninth Princess, who presented the colored glaze jade pendant to the Queen Mother, was very much in love with her, she returned to the pavilion and the first thing she asked Shen Qingqiu was, "How did you know that it was a trick played by Yongping?"
"I saw the clues today when the eleventh princess found an excuse to ride on the same boat with you. Later, I kept an eye on the eleventh princess and found that she was sneaking around. When I saw that your jade pendant was lost, there was no one else but her. I might as well let her bear the consequences of this sin."
"I see." The Ninth Princess touched her chest, a little scared: "Qiu'er, you really helped me this time, but..."
The Ninth Princess frowned, worried: "Yongping is domineering and has never suffered any loss. She has fallen into your trap this time. I wonder if she will find fault with you..."
“Princess, don’t worry.” Shen Qingqiu curled his lips and sneered: “If she wants revenge, I will counter her moves. Do you think I am afraid of her?”
"Bitch, bitch, bitch, Shen Qingqiu, this bitch!" Princess Yongping tore the cooling mat under her body in anger.
It's a pity that he's in front of everyone now, otherwise she would have to slap Shen Qingqiu's face to pieces! The Ninth Princess had clearly been there the whole time, and only Shen Qingqiu walked away halfway. Who else but her would have had the chance to replace the jade pendant in the box! "You made me suffer such a great humiliation in front of everyone!"
She was also punished by the Queen Mother, how could she let her off easily? She looked at Gu Yanran on the side again. Since Gu Yanran returned to the palace last time, Queen Pei also deliberately brought her daughter forward so that she would have less contact with Gu Yanran. Princess Yongping naturally kept a distance from Gu Yanran, but now Shen Qingqiu made her look bad again.
"Kneel down!" She suddenly attacked Gu Yanran.
Before Gu Yanran could even react, she was forced by the maid to kneel down in front of Princess Yongping. Since she broke up with the Gu family, Gu Yanran has experienced the warmth and coldness of human nature. In the palace, people always flatter the weak and flatter the strong. Even if she was unhappy, she quickly bowed her head and admitted her guilt, "Princess, please forgive me."
"You are also a daughter of the Gu family. I really don't know what use you are. Shen Qingqiu can help the Ninth Princess solve her problems and be her study companion. What use do I have for you?" Yongping looked at Gu Yanran viciously.
Gu Yanran quickly lowered her head. At this moment, Chen Shihua said, "Since Shen Qingqiu embarrassed you, Princess, we naturally have to ask her to make amends."
As soon as Chen Shihua said this, Yongping didn't even look at Gu Yanran, but just said to Chen Shihua: "If you have any good ideas, just say it."
Chen Shihua stepped forward and curled her lips slightly, "It's not that difficult, Princess. After all, you are the master of the palace. You don't have to do it yourself to deal with a little companion. Just give an order and there will be many people willing to help you solve the problem." Then she said, "We will perform for the Queen Mother soon. If you let Kangle Xiangjun perform on stage to cheer the Queen Mother up, no one should say anything wrong, right?"
When Princess Yongping heard this, the anger on her face gradually disappeared. She bit her lip, and a malicious look appeared on her young face. "Go and ask the Ministry of Rites to add Shen Qingqiu's name. I want to see what she can do in front of the Queen Mother."
As they were all studying in the palace, Princess Yongping naturally knew what the situation was between the Ninth Princess and Shen Qingqiu.
Except for Master Lin's class, they couldn't escape. In other classes, whether it was music, chess, calligraphy or painting, as long as they could see their faces, it would be like the sun rising from the west today. What was the performance? She wanted to see how she could speak sweetly in front of her father after making such a big fool of herself in public!
——
Shen Qingqiu was sitting at the banquet table. Since it was the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, the food was naturally prepared to suit the Queen Mother's wishes. The fruit snacks on the table were delicious, but the light taste was tasteless after a while.
"Qiu'er, let's leave the Royal Grandmother and go to Brother Nine's palace?" The Ninth Princess whispered at the side.
Shen Qingqiu's eyes lit up. In the past six months, the Ninth Prince's palace has bought a lot of fun things. In addition to the grapevines that made the three people greedy before, Wang Xi actually raised a group of young chickens in the back. It was also Shen Qingqiu's fault. Life in the palace was boring, so she plucked a chicken and made it into beggar's chicken for the two girls who had never seen the world.
The two men immediately pestered her and urged her to go to the Ninth Prince's Palace to touch the chickens from time to time.
Today, his mouth was really tasteless, and thinking that there was nothing to do in the evening, Shen Qingqiu agreed to the two of them. The two of them were immediately in high spirits, and were planning to ask the imperial kitchen to bring something in the evening, when suddenly the ceremonial officer on the stage called Shen Qingqiu loudly.
Shen Qingqiu looked over there, confused, and the eunuch also looked over there with a smile.
"Lord Kangle, aren't you going to present a gift to the Queen Mother? It's your turn now?"
The Ninth Princess and Princess Changhe were stunned. They had always been with Qiu'er, so how could they not know that she had registered with the ceremonial officer? Shen Qingqiu stood up, and the Queen Mother looked over from the stage with a smile, "Although I don't go out much, I have heard that you are a capable girl. I wonder what gift you are going to give me today?"
Shen Qingqiu's eyes swept across the crowd, and when they landed on the Eleventh Princess's face, he saw her smiling provocatively, as if she was not afraid at all that she would find out that she had done this.
But it couldn't be concealed at all. As long as Shen Qingqiu went to the Ministry of Rites to inquire afterwards, he would be able to find out.
But now was not the time to think about these things. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she couldn't say that Princess Yongping had cheated her and that she had not prepared any gifts for the Queen Mother. That would only make her even more embarrassed. Thinking of this, Shen Qingqiu closed her eyes and pondered for a moment, then slowly walked onto the stage, "Queen Mother, please give me a pair of white silk and a bucket of ink."
Yongping pursed his lips in disdain, "I thought she was so capable, but she's going to show the Queen Mother how to write a birthday greeting? Isn't that embarrassing?"
The Queen Mother's guess was similar. She had already collected more than a dozen longevity characters this year. She was about to give up when the Emperor next to her said with great interest, "Come on, bring what Kangle Xiangjun wants..." Then he looked at the Queen Mother next to him, "Your Majesty, you don't know, this girl has a lot of tricks, she is not the same as others, just wait and see."
The Queen Mother was skeptical, and soon the eunuch brought up the white silk and ink that Shen Qingqiu wanted.
Everyone thought Shen Qingqiu was going to write words on the white silk with ink, but she actually split the white silk into two parts, asked the eunuchs to carry one part, and soaked the other part in the ink bucket. When she took it out, the originally soft white silk was like a thin stick in her hand.
The venue was still playing music to celebrate the Queen Mother, and Shen Qingqiu was waving the white silk to the beat like dancing with a sword. Even if you don't look at what gift she gave, just looking at her sword dancing posture is already wonderful. Soon Shen Qingqiu stopped, and the eunuch held the white silk horizontally, and the word "Shou" in vigorous font appeared in front of everyone.
The Queen Mother clapped her hands in satisfaction and said, "Although it's not very original, your sword dance is pretty good. I like it very much."
Shen Qingqiu did not speak, but the eunuch beside him spoke, "Empress Dowager, wait a minute..." After that, they turned the white silk over again, and the mystery was revealed. On the front was a longevity character, but on the back was a portrait of a person, or the Empress Dowager's portrait, with just a few strokes, and the natural facial features outlined by the ink pen were not particularly detailed.
But it is also because of this that the figure is outlined. The Queen Mother has the wisdom in her eyes and the grace accumulated by age, but the lack of delicate features makes her look younger and more attractive. No woman does not like to see a beautiful portrait of herself, even if the portrait is slightly different from her appearance.
The Queen Mother quickly asked someone to bring up the portrait. After a closer look, she asked the palace maid to put it away. "Appreciation, Xiangjun's gift is exactly what I like." She looked at the emperor beside her and said, "My son, the same is true. Xiangjun is clearly a man of both civil and military talents. Are you going to tell me that she is a naughty girl?"
The emperor touched his nose. He had no reason to argue in front of his mother. "This girl is hiding her incompetence. I have no way to deal with her. It's because you, the queen mother, have the face to ask this girl to present you with a gift. She has used all her skills."
The Gu family was naturally present at the Queen Mother's Thousand Years Banquet. The Emperor raised his wine glass and saluted Gu Yong from afar, "My dear, you have given birth to a good daughter." Gu Yong drank it all in one gulp. Shen Qingqiu had already left. Naturally, everyone on the scene was praising her, or praising Marquis Gu, saying that he had gotten such a blessed, good, and capable girl without doing anything.
But Shen Qingqiu, who was praised so highly, didn't look very good after he stepped down from the stage.
She had the ability to go on stage and present gifts, which was her own business, but being forced to go was a different matter. At this moment, a young eunuch suddenly appeared beside her, bowed his waist and said respectfully: "My lady, your hands and clothes have just been stained, follow me to the side hall to wash them."
Shen Qingqiu looked at the ink on his body and nodded. Just as he was about to nod in response, he discovered that the young eunuch had lowered his head very low, as if he didn't want him to see his face.
She had a plan in mind, but she didn't say anything at this moment, just followed the little eunuch silently. When she was walking, she unexpectedly met Gu Yanran. They had not seen each other much in the palace these days. Since she lost the protection of the Gu family, Queen Pei's care for Gu Yanran naturally decreased by three or four points.
Naturally, she would not be invited to many ordinary banquets, and Shen Qingqiu did not attend classes with her, so it was rare for the two of them to see each other.
And even if they met, Gu Yanran herself... would not dare to provoke her openly. She had suffered too much in front of her.
Gu Yanran bit her lip. She now lived in the palace relying on her status as Princess Yongping's companion. She would never let the princess get tired of her. No matter how terrible Shen Qingqiu was, she had to offend him.
Thinking of this, Gu Yanran did not dodge or evade, but rushed straight towards Shen Qingqiu.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
