Chapter 192 Suspicion
Xue Quan personally brought the imperial gifts to the Yongqing Earl's residence.
The members of the Earl's household knelt to receive the imperial edict, their feelings extremely complicated.
The Sixth Miss has received another reward from the Emperor!
The old lady was already somewhat numb: including the current wave, this is the fourth wave today...
"Your Excellency is truly blessed," Xue Quan said, patting the Earl of Yongqing's arm.
Yongqing Earl forced a smile: "Eunuch Xue is too kind. Children just love to cause trouble."
Why is it that the sixth daughter always receives the Emperor's rewards so easily? It seems that the future of the Earl's family still depends on her.
After drinking heavily for days, Uncle Yongqing felt even more aggrieved.
Treating his grandfather like a monkey, not only can't be done with, but we'll also have to coax him in the future. Where is justice?
Xue Quan walked up to Qiu Heng and said, "Congratulations, Princess Suiyun, on receiving another reward from His Majesty."
"Thank you, Eunuch Xue."
"Wasn't the county princess afraid at the time?" Xue Quan looked at the girl in front of him with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Of course I'd be scared if someone threatened me with a dagger."
Xue Quan smiled and said, "I think the county princess has extraordinary courage."
"You flatter me, Eunuch Xue."
Xue Quan said nothing more and left with his men.
Qiu Xuan and the others gathered around.
"Sixth Sister, you were kidnapped by villains while you were at the hot springs?" Qiu Ying pulled Qiu Heng up and down, looking her over. "If it weren't for the rewards from the palace, we wouldn't have known."
"Is Sixth Sister alright?" Qiu Xuan asked.
The old lady coughed heavily: "Stop asking Heng'er so many questions. Go back to your own rooms. Heng'er, take the reward back to Lengxiang Residence and keep it safe."
After the old lady spoke, everyone dispersed with varying feelings.
Yongqingbo did not move.
The old lady pretended not to see it and turned to go inside.
The Earl of Yongqing followed him in and gestured for the servants to leave.
The old lady barely spared him a glance: "Is there something you need, sir?"
"I think Heng'er will listen to you."
"What does Your Excellency mean by this?"
"We've been married for decades, so I'll be frank. Since Heng'er listens to you, you should teach her more and remind her to keep the future of the Marquis's family in mind, instead of just thinking about herself. Only when the family prospers will she have someone to rely on in the future."
"OK."
The old lady readily agreed, but the Earl of Yongqing looked suspicious: "You really would do that?"
The old lady smiled and said, "It's not a bad thing."
If the old man puts his mind to pampering his sixth daughter, it will be much better than him having wicked thoughts outside.
"I knew you were reasonable."
"Lord, please go back. I need to rest." Seeing that Lord Yongqing seemed intent on continuing the conversation, the old lady directly urged him to leave.
Yongqing Earl left with a dark expression.
Xue Quan returned to the palace, and by the time he finished his work, it was already evening.
It was the fifteenth of the month, and the lonely moon hung in the cold sky, with a kind of bleakness that seemed ready to dissipate at any moment.
Normally, Xue Han would have dinner with Xue Quan on the night of the fifteenth, but today Xue Han was busy interrogating and searching for spies, so he naturally didn't have time.
Xue Quan stepped into the house through the chilly ground. The heat that greeted him made him frown uncomfortably, and he quickly took off his thick clothes.
A chessboard was placed on the couch by the window inside the room. Xue Quan walked over and sat down, casually picking up a chess piece to play with.
Knowing that his adopted son was using the Qiu family's girl to keep an eye on Fang Xiang, he felt much more at ease. But even the spies believed that Han'er and Miss Qiu were lovers; was he perhaps blinded by his own involvement?
Xue Quan had to carefully consider the matter of the two young people.
Qiu Heng was granted the title of Princess of Suiyun County. In a way, she and Han'er were a good match, so why did he feel uncomfortable?
Xue Quan remained silent for a long time, then suddenly placed the chess piece on the chessboard with a crisp snap.
He knew where the discomfort lay: Qiu Heng's position as county magistrate was obtained through Fang Yuanzhi's downfall.
He first heard of this girl because of Han Wu's spoiled son, who had taken him to court.
And then things didn't stop; first it was the Prince Kang's residence, then it was Yuan Chenghai's concubine—
etc!
Xue Quan's expression suddenly changed. He sat motionless at the chessboard, a thousand thoughts flashing through his mind.
It's good that Princess Consort Kang has adopted Qiu Heng as her goddaughter, but why does everything that's related to this girl and detrimental to her seem to go wrong?
Han Wu, Yuan Chenghai, Fang Yuanzhi—
Xue Quan gasped for breath, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his body.
There's definitely something wrong with this Qiu Liu girl!
"Someone come here!"
Soon a eunuch approached: "What are your orders, Your Excellency?"
"Have someone inquire about Qiu Liu, oh, Princess Suiyun, and why she ended up living in the Fang family's house. Remember, don't let anyone else know."
"yes."
The next day, a eunuch quietly reported: "Your Excellency, it is said that the Fang family proposed to take the fourth daughter of the Yongqing Earl's Mansion as a concubine to bring good fortune to the third young master of the Fang family. The Earl's Mansion declined on the grounds that the fourth daughter had fallen seriously ill, thus offending the Fang family. Fearing retaliation from the Fang family, Princess Suiyun took the initiative to visit and comfort Madam Yang, the eldest wife of the Fang family who had lost her son..."
I went there on my own initiative.
Xue Quan raised an eyebrow, as if he had known it all along.
"I remember Yang died after hitting a wall."
When Fang Xiang fell from power, the fate of his female relatives was not something that Xue Quan and his ilk cared about. However, since Yang's son had not yet been buried when the Fang family was destroyed, and Yang died in front of her son's coffin, it was inevitable that people would bring it up, and Xue Quan thus had some recollection of it.
"Go and find out where Yang's trusted confidants are now."
The banks of the Xiangsha River are quiet and deserted during the day, with the air filled with the fragrance of cosmetics.
In a small building by the river, two girls, around eleven or twelve years old, huddled together, staring in terror at the woman before them.
"We were wrong, we'll never be lazy again. Mom, please don't prick us..."
"Not slacking off? That's what you two little sluts said last time!" Granny Su sneered, grabbing a little girl and stabbing her arm with a long needle.
The girl screamed in pain, but quickly covered her mouth halfway through, her eyes pleading as she backed away.
The other girl turned pale with fright and tears streamed down her face.
Granny Su looked at the two terrified girls with a twisted sense of pleasure.
She was the trusted nanny of the Prime Minister's wife, a person of high standing in the Prime Minister's mansion, yet she ended up in a brothel to train these lowly maids.
She was filled with hatred; only seeing these lowly maids crying and begging for mercy made her feel a little better.
"Keep standing there." Granny Su put away her long needles and walked out of the small building.
When she had nothing to do, she didn't want to stay in this filthy place at all, but the Xiangsha River had been filled with sewage mixed with rouge and perfume for years, and it was also filled with foul odors.
Granny Su slowly walked towards a quiet place.
Her identity and whereabouts are all recorded by the government, so she can't run away, but she still has the freedom to go out and about.
"Granny Su." A soft voice called from behind.
Granny Su immediately turned around: "Who is it!"
What came into view was a silver ingot.
Granny Su stared in disbelief.
She used to be indifferent to all the gold and silver in the world, but things are different now.
Granny Su glanced at the person quickly and asked nervously, "Who are you?"
The man was plain-looking and unremarkable. He lowered his voice and said, "I have something to ask you. This silver ingot is yours."
"What's up?"
"How did Qiuheng, the sixth daughter of the Yongqing Marquis's Mansion, win the favor of the First Madam of the Prime Minister's Mansion? What is so special about her?"
(End of this chapter)
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