Chapter 28: The emperor’s mind is hard to predict. Did he have a husband?
After a while, he just said, "Back off."
Hearing these three words, Ji Qingwu's eyes suddenly lit up.
She's alive!
She suppressed her joy, hunched her shoulders, bent her waist, and quickly left the Qinzheng Hall.
What the emperor behind her didn’t know was that when he saw her green figure disappear, his expression suddenly changed.
His brows and eyes were frozen, making those who looked at him feel cold. There was no trace of the gentle demeanor he had just had.
When Ji Qingwu walked out of the palace, he felt like he was reborn. Even the air seemed to be filled with sweetness.
Li Yuzong and Xiao Dongzi, who were outside the door, immediately smiled at her like flowers when they saw her come out.
"Miss Ji, you came out so soon. Please take care."
Ji Qingwu thought about how he almost lost his life, but he could not hit someone who smiled at him, so he could only grit his teeth and say, "Thank you so much, both eunuchs."
It was almost time to get out of school, so she went to the study and waited for a while. Then she was the first to run out of the door, chirping happily.
Ji Qingwu quickly held the baby in his arms and rubbed him for a long time before he felt completely at ease.
"Mother, you smell so good."
Jiujiu had a very sensitive nose and he lay on her shoulder and sniffed.
Perhaps it was because they were in the Qinzheng Hall just now and were too close, and the man's incense was stained on their clothes.
"It smells so good. I want it to smell good too."
Ji Qingwu sighed inwardly, this ambergris that is exclusively used by the emperor is not worth having...even if he sacrificed his mother's life, he couldn't get it in exchange.
The warm and joyful scene of mother and daughter hugging each other also pierced one person's eyes.
The door of the Qinzheng Hall was still ajar.
The light and shadows flickered, but the tall figure was no longer on the desk.
Emperor Wu Su stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, looking at the door of the upper study not far away, and ordered: "Come here."
A figure in black rushed in from the door, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty."
"Sanchuan, go check where the fifth daughter of the Ji family has lived and who she has met in recent years."
Emperor Wu Su narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "And whether she has ever had a husband."
"Yes, I'll do it right away." After receiving the order, the secret guard Sanchuan disappeared in the hall.
Even though he knew that the secret guard was highly skilled in martial arts, Li Yuzong still felt dizzy when he saw the black shadow disappearing in front of him in an instant.
The secret guards are the emperor's secret agents, and they are always ruthless in their actions. Now he is actually using the secret guards to investigate Ji Qingwu.
But that statement is very strange. If Miss Ji didn’t have a husband, how could she have a child? Isn’t this statement very contradictory?
Instead of asking who your husband is, you ask if you have had one? Could it be that His Majesty already has some guess in his mind?
Li Yuzong was confused, not sure whether Emperor Wu Su liked this girl from the Ji family or disliked her very much...
But what is certain is that I care about it.
*
From then on, Jiujiu started to go to school every day.
In order to reduce the chances of meeting Emperor Wu Su, who might discover her identity at any time, Ji Qingwu entrusted the pick-up and drop-off work to her elder brother Ji Changlin.
She thought it would be a lot easier.
But unexpectedly, Qiao hired several famous teachers at home to teach her the six arts that a noble lady from an aristocratic family should know, including etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics.
For the last item, numbers, she solved it easily after just flipping through "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art". It's obvious who Jiujiu inherited her talent from.
Music and dance need to be taught from a young age. If she learns them now, she can only learn the basics.
Therefore, Qiao did not force her and invited the top dancer to demonstrate in front of her several times so that she could judge the quality of the dance.
Ji Qingwu was actually somewhat interested in archery and horse riding. He had practiced them before in the military camp in order to chase people, and now he was more adept at them.
She learned these two courses quickly and received a lot of praise from the teachers, but the courses also ended very quickly.
The Qiao family was the most knowledgeable in literature, and the whole family was full of civil officials. Under Qiao's guidance, she continued to learn the methods of recognizing and creating characters based on ideographic, phono-semantic, transliteration, and loan characters, and she could also recognize a few simple pieces of ancient Chinese texts.
While Jiujiu went to school, she was attending classes miserably at home.
Ji Qingwu kept complaining, but Mrs. Qiao did not show any mercy and found an embroiderer from the Jiaofang Bureau to teach her women's work.
Half a month later, she had lost a lot of weight and her eyes looked more lively and bright.
She tried to blink her big, watery eyes and said in a tender voice, "Mom, I don't have to be so outstanding."
Mrs. Qiao showed her how to make incense, raising and lowering her hands gracefully, and said seriously, "I know it's not easy for you, but nowadays, noble families all value this. A woman must be both virtuous and talented in order to have a good marriage."
"Mom, I'm not in a hurry. You see, my elder brother hasn't started a family yet. I don't want to get married. I just want to stay with you for a few more years."
"Your elder brother is..." Qiao hesitated and didn't say anything else.
Then he said, "Don't compare yourself with him. A woman's future must be earned by herself. It's not like men are born with advantages. If they give birth to a noble family and inherit the title of marquis, everything will be fine."
Ji Qingwu was silent.
What Qiao said was right. For women of this era, their future was to choose a reliable husband and raise their children. If their husband and son were promising and she was given the title of a noble lady, then their life would be worth it.
But she is still trapped in this small world, being a woman in the inner chamber.
"Xiaowu, mother has found someone for you these days."
Ji Qingwu let out a long sigh and said helplessly, "Mom, you are too impatient."
"It's not that I'm anxious, it's that this person is too outstanding. Although her family background is not prominent, she is already a Jinshi. I heard from your grandfather that she is also a top scholar. She is just waiting to be selected in the palace examination. Her mother asked someone to find a suitable girl for her, and she contacted me. You were the first person she thought of."
Ji Qingwu didn't know that Qiao liked to be a matchmaker, so he smiled and said, "Mom, how handsome can this man be that you fell in love with him at first sight."
Mrs. Qiao tapped her forehead and said, "Just wait and see."
After a few days, Qiao took Ji Qingwu back to her parents' home.
The Qiao family had many retainers, all gathered in the front hall to discuss matters. Ji Qingwu accompanied Mrs. Qiao and chatted in Old Madam Qiao's courtyard.
Old Madam Qiao was a lively old lady. When she saw Ji Qingwu, she hugged her and asked her to sit next to her.
The old man's face wrinkled with smile, "My granddaughter really looks like me when I was young, with fair skin and bright eyes. She can dazzle a group of people with just a blink of an eye."
Ji Qingwu couldn't help laughing, but he didn't dare to make a joke.
Mrs. Qiao stroked her forehead and said, "Mom, what are you talking about in front of Xiaowu?"
Whenever there is a mother who is too lively and free-spirited, there will be a daughter who is mature, introverted and worrying.
When Old Madam Qiao saw the young girl, she began to recall the past and said, "When I was young, I had many achievements in battle. The old man from the Li family is now a cabinet minister. I remember that he jumped over the West Pond for me."
Ji Qingwu opened his eyes wide and asked, "Grandma, is it true? At the time, it would have shocked the whole city."
Qiao curled her lips and said, "It's more than a commotion, it's a riot. The shore is full of people, and a group of government soldiers have also arrived."
Thinking of this scene, Ji Qingwu burst out laughing with a bright smile.
At this time, a servant came through the window and said in a hurry, "The old man asks Miss Fifth to come over quickly."
Old Madam Qiao raised her voice and said, "Why are you so anxious? I haven't even said I'm done yet."
"Miss Jiujiu is in the study, fighting with someone!"
Ji Qingwu stood up suddenly and ran out.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
