Fu Jinxi had only walked three miles along the river with the person in his arms when Old Xue found them.
After all, the old is the wisest. When he saw the black-clad men attacking the pleasure boat on the small boat, he trusted the skills of his own prince and princess. Even if they were surrounded by a group of people, it would take a lot of effort to gain the slightest advantage from them. So when the guards of Prince Li's mansion were buzzing and busy like a group of headless flies, he, Old Xue, had already seen the situation clearly and jumped all the guards onto the pleasure boat to protect their master, and quickly got rid of the empty small boat.
In addition, when Fu Jinxi threw the Ninth Prince onto the driftwood, he made eye contact with him from afar. Just from that glance, Old Xue knew that his own prince was preparing to go on a killing spree. He wanted to make a big move but also act secretly, so the only way was to do it under the river. So he calculated the direction of the water flow, sailed the boat straight ahead, and finally caught up in time.
But Old Xue still felt very guilty and felt ashamed to face his own princess.
When he saw Prince Kang carrying Mu Kaiwei onto the boat, holding him with his back straight and back lifted, as if it was a matter of course, he guessed that his prince must have revealed all his secrets to his princess.
Old Xue was frightened at first, because he saw that Princess Kang was injured and poisoned. Then he was ashamed, because Princess Kang looked at him with a pair of calm and sincere eyes, which made his knees weak immediately. He wanted to kneel down and kowtow to apologize. After all, he was not sincere to her. Princess Kang had come to him to ask about something before, asking about what happened in Sanchuankou that year, but he helped his own prince to deceive her and did not tell her a word of truth.
The feeling he finally felt was actually unhappy, and Old Xue was deeply dissatisfied with his own prince.
"Since you want to be her husband, with her sharpness and intelligence, you know very well. You can't hide your bad deeds for too long. You dragged it on and now you have become enemies." The female elder sneered.
Although Old Xue didn't want to admit it, this time, he was indeed on the same side as this mean-tempered and vicious woman. Listening to her muttering about Prince Kang, he nodded repeatedly in his heart.
Fu Jinxi returned home through a secret passage, carried Mu Kaiwei directly into the secret room, and placed her on the bed.
Mu Kai was still conscious. Although he felt dizzy and had a hot head, he was awake the whole time.
This time, as she walked through secret passages and entered secret rooms, she blinked her eyes, trying to see everything clearly, with a bitter smile growing in her heart... Yeah, since he was Prince Kang and also Mr. Hei San, it was only natural that there was a secret place of this size in the palace.
She heard Fu Jinxi instructing Lao Xue to contact the outside world and send people to meet Prince Li, the Ninth Prince and others, and told them that the assassin had been killed by her at the bottom of the river. However, because Prince Kang fell into the water, she rescued the soaking wet and frightened Prince Kang and immediately brought him back to the palace for resettlement. Therefore, she had no time to take care of other things and asked them to forgive her for not showing up.
After Lao Xue left, a thin female figure came to the bedside. Mu Kai raised his eyelashes slightly to look. The person who entered the secret room was actually... actually...
She was stunned and speechless.
Then, with the help of that person, and with Prince Kang's "service" of bringing her water, changing water, and handing her towels, she quickly cleaned herself up, changed into clean clothes, and even washed and wiped her hair.
Afterwards, Old Xue came back and went into the secret room to report the situation outside. She also said that her two young maids, Xia Xiu and Xia Xiang, had been recalled and were eager to see her, so she had been temporarily appeased.
Then, the thin woman who entered the secret room to help her clean up started scolding Prince Kang.
Mu Kaiwei recognized her.
Not only did she know him, but after she married into Prince Kang's mansion, she had spoken many words and discussed many things with him. Once he started talking, he couldn't stop, and his round brown face was always smiling at her.
"Qing... Grandma Qing..." She finally let out the breath that was stuck in her heart with difficulty.
"It's me." The elder woman still smiled at her with her eyes lowered, but her expression was different from the sincere one that used to grin so wide that wrinkles appeared on her face. Instead, it was a light and restrained warmth.
She squeezed Mu Kaiwei's hand with her skinny fingers and continued, "The princess previously asked who the old woman was who accompanied the young Prince Kang back to the capital. That woman wasn't a mute woman, but me. My surname is Feng, and my name is Qingcheng, which means clear and clear. Feng Qingcheng."
After a slight pause, she glanced at Fu Jinxi casually, and then said, "It's not that I want to hide it from you, it's someone who wants us to help him hide it from you. Every grievance has its perpetrator, and if the princess is unhappy, you can be angry at the culprit. I will always support you."
Upon hearing this, Prince Kang, who was the "instigator", had his eyelids twitching, and his already ugly face became even uglier. Old Xue, who was standing aside, wanted to say a few words to help, but he could only rub his hands and scratch his ears, unable to think of anything nice to say.
In the end, Prince Kang chose to ignore Feng Qingcheng's words and asked directly, "She's fine, right?"
Feng Qingcheng snorted twice. "They've all swallowed my elixir antidote, so how could anything happen?"
Fu Jinxi was still very nervous. "But her condition seems to be fluctuating. Her skin temperature is fluctuating between hot and cold, and she is drowsy. Although she is not unconscious, she is not fully clear."
Feng Qingcheng snorted even louder. "That's because someone gave her too little antidote. They let her fight even after the poison took effect, and the poison spread through her meridians even faster. If they could have prevented this, how could we be in this situation now?"
So after all the blame, it was all Prince Kang's fault for not confessing to his princess earlier.
Mu Kaiwei couldn't help but look at Prince Kang who was standing a few steps away, and recalled his anxious look when he carried her to the wild grass on the river bank to beg her to take the antidote. It wasn't that he fed her too much antidote, not entirely, but she was shocked at the time. In fact, she knew that he could not harm her, but she refused to swallow the medicine out of spite.
Suddenly, those affectionate eyes met hers. Her face flushed and her heart beat fast. She turned away without thinking, and naturally did not notice that his expression turned disappointed.
"I was wrong." As a result, the prince confessed his guilt without any explanation.
Feng Qingcheng ignored him and picked up the damp clothes Mu Kaiwei had changed out of and sniffed them. "This smell..."
Seeing this, Mu Kaiwei pushed himself up and sat up. Old Xue quickly elbowed his own prince and gave him a strong hint with his eyes.
Fu Jin came to his senses and promptly went to his wife's side to help her sit up, using his chest as her backrest.
In front of the old loyal servant and the elder woman, although his wife's body was a little tense, she did not refuse his closeness and help. This slightly comforted Prince Kang's lost heart.
Mu Kaiwei took a deep breath and focused his attention on Feng Qingcheng. He tried to keep his voice level and asked, "Grandma, do you also smell that sweet and sour aroma?"
"Can the princess smell it?" Feng Qingcheng raised her eyebrows. "The scent clung to your coat. After falling into the water, it faded. Ordinary people wouldn't be able to detect it."
Mu Kaiwei said, "I can't smell it much now, but it was on the pleasure boat earlier. The smell was very distinct and suddenly came over me."
Feng Qingcheng's brows tightened slightly. "Really? Covering your head? And it looks like it's about to pounce on you? Hmm...it looks like someone is deliberately marking you and locking you down."
Her words stunned Prince Kang and Mu Kaiwei.
After thinking for a while, Mu Kaiwei pursed his lips slightly and said, "I thought my nose was good enough, my sense of smell was extremely sensitive and amazing, but now compared to the senior... I am nothing."
"Haha, so you have a good nose..." Feng Qingcheng nodded thoughtfully, as if thinking of something, and then asked with a smile, "The princess is snooping around in Prince Kang's mansion. One is to find out what happened at Sanchuankou, and the other is to find a certain black-clad guest. Of course, you already know who you are looking for, but I don't know why the princess knew that the black-clad guest she was looking for was in Prince Kang's mansion. Could it be that the black-clad guest's Qinggong skills were not well-trained and his martial arts were inferior to others, so he was followed and discovered by the princess, while he himself is still unaware and complacent?"
Feng Qingcheng was very roundabout in his insults. Fu Jinxi didn't know whether to speak or not. He opened his mouth but was still speechless. In the past, Lao Ci would have protected his master and would have most likely fought with Feng Qingcheng, but the situation today was different.
Thinking about how all his overt and covert inquiries over the past few months had been seen by others, the two blushes on Mu Kaiwei's face deepened.
"...No, that man in black was a highly skilled martial artist, skilled in light-weight martial arts. I'm not as skilled as him." She spoke slowly and quietly, and suddenly felt the man behind her lower his head, caressing her hair, intentionally or unintentionally. Her face flushed even more, and she tried to remain calm before continuing, "It's a smell, a pungent, cool, refreshing smell. I recognize that smell... Back then, my mother was robbed at Sanchuankou, and a benefactor who had some connection with my ancestors returned her ashes and belongings. That small urn was very special, with a very special smell that I've always remembered... Then, many years later, I smelled it again. I followed that scent all the way to the high walls of Prince Kang's mansion, where I had to stop..."
Upon hearing this, Lao Xue was stunned.
Fu Jinxi couldn't help but ask, "How could there be a smell? When my senior detoxified me when I was little, he said the toxins penetrated deep into my limbs and bones, into my bloodstream. After the cure, my physique changed, not only did the blood color disappear, but there was no smell at all, right?"
Detoxification? !
Mu Kaiwei's heart was suddenly shaken. Just as he was thinking about the reason, Feng Qingcheng said to King Kang -
"You're odorless, but that thin mask is made from the juice of the Ice Purity Grass. Someone with a mediocre sense of smell like you wouldn't be able to tell." He added a touch of sarcasm, "But you, Princess..." His round face beamed with a smile, each line clearly etched across it, as if he'd finally found a rare treasure after a long journey and countless hardships. "You're excellent, very, very good. Become my disciple. I'll teach you all my lifelong skills in making and refining medicines and poisons, cultivating herbs and raising poisons. How do you do that?"
"Senior!" Fu Jinxi's pale face turned black.
Feng Qingcheng taught him many skills, but never accepted him as an apprentice, and often showed him lust. Now he actually wants to kidnap his princess. Is he really too fond of his wife?!
He instinctively closed his arms, as if afraid that the person in his arms would be snatched away.
Feng Qingcheng naturally saw Prince Kang's worry. He was worried that if his wife really followed her as a master to learn skills, she would have to leave the capital sooner or later. At that time, it would be hard to say whether Princess Kang would leave or stay.
Feng Qingcheng snorted coldly at Prince Kang as if she had a stuffy nose.
Mu Kaiwei then said in a hoarse voice, "The reason I want to find that man in black is mainly to find out where that smell comes from, and then find the benefactor who saved my mother and returned her belongings to the Mu family in the Imperial Capital. Mother-in-law...you are the person I have been looking for, right?"
Feng Qingcheng stared at her for a moment, her expression slightly dazed. When she spoke again, regret lingered in her voice. "Your mother is a very kind person. I knew her when she was still a little girl. It's a pity I arrived too late to save her."
Tears streamed from Mu Kaiwei's eyes. She broke free from Prince Kang's embrace and forced herself to get off the bed.
She knelt on her knees and kowtowed to Feng Qingcheng. "Senior, I have no way to repay your kindness." Just as she was about to kowtow once more, Feng Qingcheng held her arms.
Feng Qingcheng smiled at her and said, "How can I not repay you? You become my disciple and take me as your teacher. If there is anything I can do, I will do the hard work for you. And you can also learn all my unique medical and poison skills. That will be your way of repaying my great kindness. How do you think?"
"Yes." He responded without hesitation, "Master, please accept my disciple's bow." The force on his forearm loosened, and Mu Kaiwei bowed solemnly again.
Seeing this, Old Xue was helpless and could only shed tears of sympathy for his own prince. As for Prince Kang who was "abandoned" aside, his lips trembled, his eyes were watery, and he was at a loss.
Mu Kaiwei was indeed too arrogant.
Her emotions were so fluctuating that she could hardly stop crying. After she had paid her respects, her breathing became unstable and she could hardly stand up.
This time, there was no need for Old Xue to make any gestures. Fu Jinxi quietly walked forward and carried his wife back to the couch to place her there.
Feng Qingcheng carefully instructed him not to be restless or angry, and to have a good sleep. After a good sleep, the remaining poison would be eliminated. If he still had any questions in his mind, it would not be too late to resolve them after he woke up.
But the answers to all the questions were right in front of him, so Mu Kaiwei was reluctant to fall asleep.
Several night-pearl lamps placed in the four corners of the secret room were emitting a faint glow.
At this moment, Prince Kang was the only one by her side in the secret room. She lay down, her eyes moving around lightly, and finally her gaze stopped on the man's pale and handsome face.
"Go to sleep, don't hold on any longer." Fu Jinxi reached out to check her forehead temperature, with something faintly suppressed between his brows.
Mu Kai pursed his lips and asked in a low voice, "You didn't get a strange disease back then, but were poisoned, right?"
If she didn't get a satisfactory answer, she wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully. Fu Jinxi sighed. "Yes."
"...poisoning a child who is only eight years old?" She murmured to herself, and had already boldly figured out an answer in her mind.
"When my mother-in-law returned my mother's belongings, she enclosed a letter. However, the letter only briefly mentioned that my mother died at Sanchuankou from excessive blood loss and poisoning. She probably didn't want the Mu family to delve into the matter further, so she didn't elaborate further. It wasn't until the Empress Dowager arranged the marriage that my father shared the full results of his secret investigation into the incident. Only then did I learn that my mother had inadvertently obstructed the Emperor's hidden chess plan, leading to her own death... and the mastermind behind your attack was none other than the current Emperor, correct?"
"...Yes." Fu Jinxi raised the corner of her lips. "The princess is indeed the top leader in the Six Gates. She can see the big picture from the small details and easily connect the clues to a conclusion. She is much more capable than those officials from the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice."
His attempt to avoid the harsh reality with jokes and laughter did not win the favor of his own princess. Seeing his wife's tender face with a solemn expression and a deep gaze, his spine shuddered, and the feeling of being seen through made his ears hot.
He straightened his expression, feeling a sense of depression in his chest. Suddenly, he let out a fierce cry, "Just because my father and he were twins, just because of a star deduction at the Sitianjian Observatory, just because of his guilty conscience and suspicion, he wanted to destroy everyone in the Kangwang Mansion. My father, mother, and a group of guards and maids who were as close to us as family all died at his hands. You should understand that I hate him, a hatred that cannot be further. But why did you still take action? And you still saved Prince Li? That man is his heir. Anyone else can kill him if they want, why did you save him?"
Mu Kaiwei stared at Wu Yi, whose face was slightly twisted by hatred. Her mind wasn't working properly at the moment, her heart was in a mess, and she could only listen to him say again through her buzzing ears -
"You said you smelled that sweet-yet-sour scent on the pleasure boat, and Senior Feng just said it was likely someone spread that scent on you, making you the target of those men in black. Even with my poor eyesight, I can tell that those assassins who appeared out of nowhere were targeting you. It was you, not Prince Li, not Fu Jinyi, and certainly not me. It was you, Mu Kaiwei."
When her full name was called out repeatedly, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, and her bloodshot eyes did not blink for a moment.
After a long while, she asked slowly and quietly, "The Emperor is despicable. Prince Li shouldn't have been saved. But what about the Ninth Prince, Fu Jinyi? When we were surrounded, I pushed him towards you. Afterwards, you secretly used your internal energy to crack the bottom of the boat. Did you let him sink into the river?"
Fu Jinxi's already ugly expression became even uglier.
Mu Kaiwei said, "...You didn't. The prince likes the ninth prince. Even though he is the emperor's heir, you have never thought of hurting or harming him."
"So what? The imperial family is the most ruthless. They put profit and power first, even their closest relatives can kill each other. Who has true feelings for whom?"
"Where's your Queen Mother? At least... at least she treats you well."
As a result, Mu Kaiwei heard a sneer, and the handsome Cang Yan in front of him showed a mocking expression, and his anger became even stronger.
"Does Princess Wang think the Empress Dowager really doesn't know who ordered me to poison her? Doesn't she know who was behind the robbery and murder at Sanchuankou?" Her lips twitched coldly. "Her son, the Emperor, wants to wipe out her other son's family, and as a mother, she just kept silent, pretending to know nothing, and then continued to be her Empress Dowager, the most noble woman in the Celestial Empire. When I returned to the Imperial Capital, she acted like she had found something she had lost, and she was filled with pity and love for me. Maybe she was feeling guilty, or she was trying to make amends, but she had to keep up the show and play along with her, didn't she?"
Mu Kaiwei didn't expect things to turn out like this.
She had meant to make him understand that in her heart, she didn't think he would put innocent people in danger for his own hatred, but she seemed to have messed it up.
Fu Jinxi also felt annoyed at this time. The dark side of his heart was suddenly revealed in front of her, and all his secrets were exposed. He didn't know what she would think of him like this, but... it was obviously not the word "like".
With a toss of his head, he spoke gruffly, "In short, even though those people are my blood, I would never hurt myself saving them." He paused, then spoke more emphatically, "You should have kicked King Li away right then and there. It was only because he was limp there, getting in the way, that you still cared about him, that you deserved to be stabbed."
After saying that, Fu Jinxi wanted to punch himself a few more times.
He wailed silently in his heart. He clearly wanted to speak nicely, but it was really... really... completely out of heartache and indignation, coupled with hopeless jealousy!
Whenever he thought of the way his princess protected Prince Li, he became furious, as if his position had been taken away. When he cracked the planks of the pleasure boat, the internal force he exerted was definitely filled with rage.
However, these feelings could not be expressed in words, and the words that came out seemed to be blaming her and expressing dissatisfaction with her.
On the other side, Mu Kaiwei's face turned cold. "If I hadn't taken that damn knife today, how would I have known Prince Kang's true identity? I don't know how long I would have been kept in the dark, and how long would the prince have been laughing at me?"
It was his fault from the beginning, and it was even more wrong for him to have caused their relationship to become like this. Fu Jinxi not only wanted to hit himself, but also wanted to cut himself a few times.
Seeing the face on the pillow surrounded by a lot of black hair, looking so small and so pale, his heart ached and he couldn't help but reach out again, this time not to check her forehead temperature, but to gently cover her red eyes.
"It's all my fault," he sighed. "You can punish me however you want, but now go to sleep. We can talk after you've had enough sleep, okay?"
Mu Kaiwei was indeed tired. Although there were still countless questions to be answered, he lacked energy and spirit, and continuing to talk would only make him more confused.
She did not push his hand away, but brushed her long eyelashes against his palm, then closed her eyelashes and fell asleep.
Only after the person fell asleep and his breathing became slow and steady did Fu Jinxi let out a long breath.
He took his hand away, leaned forward and stared at the woman's sleeping face, wanting to get close but not daring to. Finally, he lowered his head and rubbed his handsome face into her half-thick hair, his voice muffled as he escaped -
"Weiwei, just beat me up three times a day until your anger subsides and you feel better. Then you can make peace with me, okay?"
After Mu Kaiwei had a good sleep, he felt refreshed and all the toxins in his body were gone.
When she awoke, Prince Kang was still by her side, as was Feng Qingcheng. He had Feng Qingcheng examine her carefully once more, and she nodded with satisfaction. She was then led out of the secret room through a hidden passageway, only to discover that there were two exits: one leading to Prince Kang's study, and the other to his bedroom in the main courtyard.
"On the eve of our wedding, I asked Old Xue to temporarily seal the secret passageway to the inner chambers." Fu Jinxi lowered his head, looking as if repenting. "...The princess is very perceptive and intelligent. If I hadn't discovered the secret passageway, she would have figured it out in no time."
From the secret passage to the library, and from the library back to the inner bedroom, Mu Kaiwei looked around again, and finally stood in front of the antique shelf, pondering, "So the exit is here." Before, she had installed mechanisms in the new house according to her previous habit, hiding weapons and hidden weapons in several hidden places. She felt that this antique shelf was a little unusual. She didn't think much about it at the time, but now she checked it carefully again and soon realized the mystery.
Unconsciously, she displayed the aura of a lord in charge of investigating a case, and easily solved the "mystery in the bedroom" in a few moves, which made Prince Kang, who was already full of passion for her, feel his heart pounding. But he knew that she was still angry about his deception. Even though her face did not show it, her gesture was very obvious, as if a long distance had suddenly appeared between them. She no longer smiled at him, and her expression was indifferent, which really made his passion full of bitterness and melancholy.
After waking up and stepping out of the secret room, Mu Kaiwei had to deal with people and things one after another, so many that she had no time to think about the matter between herself and Prince Kang.
The first ones to face are Aunt Lan, Xia Xiu and Xia Xiang.
The two maidservants witnessed with their own eyes the surprise attack on the pleasure boat by the black-clad men at the bank of Luoyu River. Before they could row their boat closer, the pleasure boat had already sunk into the river. As they could not find Mu Kaiwei and saw Prince Li's men shouting loudly on the river looking for someone, the two sisters followed the direction of the current to search until someone from Prince Kang's Mansion came to inform them.
As soon as Xia Xiu and Xia Xiang returned to the mansion, they told Aunt Lan the whole story. They were close to Mu Kaiwei, and knowing that Mu Kaiwei had brought Prince Kang back safely, how could they not be anxious to see him? In the end, it was all thanks to Old Xue who worked so hard to calm them down.
Thanks to Mu Kaiwei's good foundation and strong physique, when he appeared in front of everyone the next day, his complexion had returned to its original sweetness.
However, when faced with the endless stream of questions from Aunt Lan and the two maids, she had some difficulty answering and was still trying to decide. After all, Prince Kang's "true face" was a secret that could not be told. The fewer people knew it, the safer it was. So everything had to be put on hold for the time being. Even though Aunt Lan found her statement "Although I returned to the mansion but was nowhere to be seen, it was because I was busy helping Prince Kang exercise?" strange, she could only pretend not to see it and tried to change the subject.
Fortunately, topics are easy to find——
In just two days, the news of the attack on the princes on the Luoyu River spread throughout the imperial capital. Emperor Xingyu was furious. Since the matter involved two princes and Prince Kang and his wife, he ordered the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to jointly investigate the case. Naturally, the "Six Gates" of the Three Judicial Departments were severely punished.
After listening to what Prince Li and the Ninth Prince Fu Jinyi said, Emperor Xingyu learned that Princess Kang, Mu Kaiwei, had once again bravely fought against the enemy and had performed meritorious service in protecting the prince. He also heard that Prince Fu Jinxi had fallen into the water and was rescued by Princess Kang and sent back to the palace. The emperor immediately sent three imperial physicians to consult.
This time, Fu Jinxi did not pretend to be sick, he just looked weak and lay in bed. The results of the consultation by the imperial physicians were quite good. They just said that he just needed to take a few more tonics to recuperate for a few days. After that, the palace sent a batch of precious medicinal materials for replenishing qi and nourishing the body. The emperor even rewarded gold and silver, and bestowed several treasures on Princess Kang. Even Concubine Qi, the mother of the emperor and Prince Li, and Concubine Yan Shu, the mother of the ninth prince, sent precious gifts.
The princes were the apple of the Empress Dowager's eye, and Prince Kang was even more of a favorite in the eyes of the Empress Dowager. In addition, Princess Kang, the "treasure to ward off evil spirits" who had made great contributions, the Empress Dowager rewarded him with even more things.
According to Prince Kang's principle of "if you're going to act, you have to do it fully", in order not to let the old man worry too much, he had to bring his wife to the palace to pay a visit to the Queen Mother and let the old ancestor see him after he recovered.
This time, she went to the inner court to have lunch with the Empress Dowager. Lady Qi, Concubine Yan, and several concubines of a slightly lower rank were also present, making the Empress Dowager's living room, Kangxianju, lively and bustling.
There were many people cheering, and they were all women. Prince Kang Fu Jinxi, a little green among the red, was still the same gentle and weak person, enjoying the favor of the old ancestor.
As for Mu Kaiwei, although she was much more familiar with the imperial court than the inner court, when facing the powerful royal ladies, she could really cheer herself up and make the scene harmonious and polite, and she could even chat with the emperor's concubines about maintenance while smiling.
"So, Princess Kang usually only uses water to clean her face and doesn't apply any perfume?" Prince Li's biological mother, Concubine Qi, took Mu Kaiwei's hand and looked at her face carefully with her eyes wide open.
Hearing this, the concubines next to them naturally looked over. Mu Kaiwei was suddenly embarrassed. After all, although she was a girl, she liked to wield swords and guns since she was a child. She didn't really study rouge, powder, balm and ointment for girls. When asked, she could only tell the truth.
She glanced around at her colleagues and continued with a smile, "It's not that I haven't applied it. When I was working for the Six Gates, during the heavy winter snows and when I was out investigating, I would always apply ointment on my face and lips to prevent frostbite."
She was just speaking the truth. She didn't think what she said was funny, but miraculously, it succeeded in making all the women present laugh. Even the Queen Mother laughed so hard that she pointed a finger at her. Prince Kang, who was sitting next to the Queen Mother, lowered his head, frowned, and raised his lips slightly, as if he was thinking about something and seemed to be amused.
Concubine Yan Shu, standing by, wiped the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and said softly, "It seems that Princess Kang is truly blessed with natural beauty. Just by washing with water, her skin has become so smooth and shiny, like sweet honey. It makes people so envious."
"But no matter how beautiful you are, you still have to know how to take care of yourself." Concubine Qi patted Mu Kaiwei's hand, and intentionally or unintentionally stroked her knuckles which were used to holding swords.
Due to years of martial arts training, Mu Kaiwei's hands are slender and not rough, but they are definitely not delicate.
Concubine Qi smiled again and said, "I have a few boxes of perfume that Prince Li sent over. The old ancestor used it and said it was good. When you leave the palace later, Princess Kang should take a couple of boxes back with her."
A concubine exclaimed softly. "My dear Consort, your ointment is incredibly effective! I heard that Prince Li commissioned a skilled sorcerer called... Master Liu to create it. I received a small box of it from you last time. In just a few days, all the small spots on my skin have been removed. It's truly miraculous!"
Mu Kaiwei glanced calmly at Prince Kang who was a few steps away. The latter also raised his eyebrows slightly and his eyes met hers for an instant. Both of them smelled something strange.
"So it's Master Liu." Mu Kai slightly shifted his gaze and nodded at Concubine Qi. "The day His Royal Highness Prince Li was attacked on the Luoyu River, Master Liu was there. I met him once."
"Yes, yes, that's right. It's him. He's a very capable divine being." Concubine Qi's face lit up, her eyes sparkling. "Before, my left shoulder blade had been aching for no reason, so much so that I wanted to roll on the ground. I've changed several imperial physicians, but none of them could prescribe the right remedy. Then Prince Li felt sorry for me and knelt before the Emperor to ask for permission to have that Master Liu come into the palace to take a look. I had given up hope, but unexpectedly, Master Liu was actually quite magical. He simply set up an altar, burned incense, and purified my residence, and my shoulder blade pain immediately stopped."
"And there's the little Snowball raised by our ancestors, sister. I was there that day and saw it with all my heart. He's truly a deity!" The speaker was Lipin, who was very close to Concubine Qi. Her eyes also sparkled and she was extremely excited.
Concubine Qi smiled and said, "Isn't it? It happened to be that day. Our ancestor's little Snowball fell into the lake. I heard that when he was fished out, he refused to move. Master Liu was walking along the flower window corridor with my fifth son, just as he was about to leave the palace. He happened to see him and without saying a word, he took Snowball in his hand, gently stroked its fur, and muttered something to himself. Within a quarter of an hour, Snowball came back to life."
"Yes, that's true!" Lipin nodded vigorously. "Sister, I heard that the Emperor plans to summon this Master Liu to the palace for an audience soon. If possible, please let me meet him and ask him to explain his Zen and Taoism."
Lipin's words made the other concubines blink their eyes wide and look at Qi Guifei with hope.
"Woof, woof - woof -" Suddenly, a very small, fluffy white puppy rushed into the open Kangxianju from the garden outside and jumped directly onto the empress dowager's knees.
The two maids looked panicked and were about to go forward to take little Snowball away, but the empress dowager waved her hand good-naturedly and asked them to step aside.
Mu Kaiwei, who was quietly listening to everyone's idle chatter, raised her eyelashes and looked again. Prince Kang did not exchange glances with her secretly as he did just now, but reached out and touched the little snowball in the old ancestor's arms, with his handsome face smiling warmly.
"Grandma Queen Mother, so that means that Master Liu is truly Snowball's savior. Fortunately, Snowball is fine. His ability to bring the dead back to life is truly admirable."
The Queen Mother patted Prince Kang's hand, her eyes full of love as she said, "How about asking Master Liu to come to Prince Kang's mansion tomorrow and help you take a look?"
Prince Kang smiled brightly. "That's not urgent. Let's first have Master Liu come to the palace to work for my uncle and the other ladies." He paused, his smile becoming even more harmless. "Besides, hasn't the Empress Dowager already gifted me with a magical treasure? It's one-of-a-kind, capable of warding off evil spirits. I truly adore it. Everything is fine. No need to ask anyone else to look at it."
Prince Kang expressed his love in a roundabout way on the spot. The nobles heard it very clearly and all of them covered their lips with handkerchiefs and laughed so hard that they leaned forward and backward.
The person who was the Princess of Kang and the "baby who could smother evil spirits" still didn't find it funny. She only felt her forehead tighten and veins faintly appear.
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