Chapter 115, Section 113: Deep Within the Palace Walls
Seeing the girl bowing respectfully, Xue Quan smiled and walked away.
Qiu Heng stood quietly, watching Xue Quan's departing figure.
Scenes flashed through her mind: Xue Han visiting the Yongqing Marquis's residence, using the pretext of investigating spies to ask for her help. A chance encounter on the street, where Xue Han told her to contact him if she needed anything in the future. Each time she helped him, Xue Han said he pitied the poor and weak…
Those unusual occurrences that had puzzled and made her wary finally had their answers.
Fangzhou walked over and asked in a low voice, "Miss, did that person give you a hard time?"
Qiu Heng stepped forward and saw the worry in Fang Zhou's eyes. She didn't hide anything: "Don't worry, it's not difficult. Just tell me that Lord Xue said in front of the Emperor yesterday that he admired me for another reason, and that I shouldn't be presumptuous."
"You're just being presumptuous?" Fangzhou raised her eyebrows in anger. "It was Lord Xue who said it himself, how can you say that about the young lady!"
"Lord Xue said that out of guilt, and Eunuch Xue was afraid I would misunderstand..." Qiu Heng recounted the story she had heard from Xue Quan.
Actually, she had no recollection of it.
Her mother said that when she was found, the kidnapper's body was right next to her. She was very frightened, and because she was too young, she had no memory of what happened before she was kidnapped.
Naturally, he also didn't remember anything about red bean cake or little beggar.
Qiu Heng felt a little wronged as she thought about all this.
If she had known from the beginning that his approach stemmed from guilt, she would have been more careful and guarded her heart.
"So, the girl was abducted because of Lord Xue?" Fangzhou asked in shock.
Although the young man and woman treated the girl like their own daughter, she was lucky to have met such a good family. The fate of the vast majority of beautiful young girls who fell into the hands of kidnappers is easily imagined.
"You can't say that." Qiu Heng thought of the deep, restrained look in the young man's eyes when he looked at her, and said calmly, "It was just a little joke played by fate."
The little beggar boy back then did nothing wrong; he was just envious of his father buying her snacks. The little girl back then also did nothing wrong; it was her compassion for the poor and weak that led her to run to him.
"Pity the poor and weak"—Qiu Heng pondered in her heart, suddenly feeling that Xue Han's excuse was quite appropriate.
In the eyes of the world, the sixth daughter of the Yongqing Marquis's mansion had a bad life, falling into the hands of kidnappers. But after growing up and returning to the Yongqing Marquis's mansion, she was grateful for the ten years she spent with her father and mother.
If it weren't for those ten years of loving care from her parents, and those ten years spent in the Great Xia Dynasty in later generations, she would have been kept in a cage like a canary, and even if her grandfather skinned her alive and sold her, all she would have known was to cry.
“Even if Lord Xue has other hidden reasons, it is not right for Eunuch Xue to speak to the young lady.” Fangzhou felt wronged for Qiuheng.
Qiu Heng walked forward slowly: "Eunuch Xue is Lord Xue's adoptive father, so it is only right that he cares about Lord Xue."
"He just thinks the girl isn't good enough for his son." Fangzhou thought angrily, and grabbed Qiuheng's hand. "The girl shouldn't like Lord Xue anymore."
Qiu Heng smiled and said, "I know, I won't like him anymore."
"real?"
"real."
They remained silent the rest of the way until they arrived at Qiu Meiren's residence. Fangzhou stayed outside, while Qiuheng followed Zheng Yu inside.
Zheng Yu doesn't look well.
"Eunuch Zheng looks a bit haggard. Did you not sleep well last night?"
Zheng Yu gave a wry smile: "It seems that the Sixth Miss slept well."
Such a big thing happened yesterday, and there's been no reaction at all. This girl is really thick-skinned.
"Sixth Miss, the beauty's days ahead may not be easy," Zheng Yu said quickly in a low voice.
After he finished speaking, he was surprised himself, wondering why he couldn't help but say these things to Miss Qiu.
Is it an expectation that a little girl can do something?
They've gone mad! Miss Qiu Liu did so much yesterday that it would make all the palace servants who serve her grateful to tears.
It's easy to imagine what would happen to these people if it were confirmed that Qiu Meiren had an affair.
Passing through layers of curtains, Qiu Heng met Qiu Meiren.
She looked much more haggard than Zheng Yu, her face shockingly pale.
"Sister," Qiu Heng called out.
The expressionless Qiu Meiren rolled her eyes and looked at the graceful young girl.
"Eunuch Zheng, you may go out first. I want to talk to my sister."
Since Qiu Meiren remained silent, Qiu Heng took the initiative to send away the servants in the room and sat down next to Qiu Meiren.
Qiu Meiren looked at her and said in a voice so soft it could be blown away by the wind, "Sixth Sister is here."
"Of course I'll come." Qiu Heng took something out of her bosom and held it up in front of Qiu Meiren.
When Qiu Meiren saw the wooden doll in Qiu Heng's hand, her face grew even paler.
"Did you give this wooden doll to Chief Lin, sister?"
Qiu Meiren trembled, met the girl's cold gaze, and shook her head: "No."
Qiu Heng slightly raised her eyebrows.
It wasn't Qiu Meiren who gave it to me.
Seeing the surprise in Qiu Heng's eyes, Qiu Meiren gave a self-deprecating smile: "Sixth Sister has glimpsed my shameful secret, so I don't care about losing face anymore. In all these years in the palace, I have never let go of Lin Chengfeng... We are mutually in love and always thought we would get married and grow old together. Who knew that the Emperor would suddenly fill the harem with so many people, and I just happened to be of marriageable age. My grandfather forced me to enter the palace, and my desperate resistance was to no avail..."
Qiu Heng listened quietly as Qiu Meiren recounted that painful past.
"Goodbye at the hunting grounds. He is a promising young imperial guard, while I am a concubine who has long been confined to the deep palace and deprived of my freedom. No matter how much I cannot let go of him, I cannot give him a wooden doll carved in my likeness... I cannot harm him because of love..." As she finished speaking, Qiu Meiren burst into tears, her hands tightly gripping her handkerchief.
Qiu Heng pursed her lips, offering no pointless words of comfort.
What are you saying?
So, after all these years, Lin Chengfeng still has feelings for you, and he truly hasn't misplaced his affections?
Since you've entered the palace, you should let go of any thoughts you shouldn't have and let bygones be bygones.
It's cruel no matter what you say.
"Sixth Sister looks down on me, doesn't she?" Qiu Meiren cried and then laughed.
It was a lifeless laugh.
"No."
Qiu Meiren had always been in love with Lin Chengfeng, but the deadly wooden doll wasn't something she had given him. This woman trapped in the deep palace wasn't a wooden doll; she was a person of flesh and blood, capable of feeling pain and suffering.
It would be too harsh to blame her.
"I don't look down on my sister." Qiu Heng looked at the woman who seemed like she could break at any moment.
She was only in her early twenties, yet she was like a flower about to wither.
Qiu Heng said, word by word, "I despise my grandfather."
Qiu Meiren trembled and embraced Qiu Heng, suppressing her sobs.
After Qiu Meiren finished crying, Qiu Heng said in a low voice, "Since the wooden doll wasn't a gift from my sister, I need to go see Lin Chengfeng again. Is there anything my sister needs me to tell him?"
Qiu Meiren remained silent for a long time, and finally shook her head: "No need, I have nothing to say to him."
She had long since lost the right to say anything to him, and she shouldn't have even looked up at him that day.
"I understand." Qiu Heng put away the wooden doll and walked out of the palace gate.
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