Chapter Fifteen

  As soon as Guan Yi left, the Crown Prince's consort saw that little eunuch-like girl and turned cold as ice: "Wang Lan, tell me the truth, where is the Crown Prince exactly?"

  Wang Lan was still a little afraid of the Crown Prince's consort, and since this wasn't some kind of secret matter, she lowered her eyes and said: "At Shuang Qiu Zhai..."

  The crown princess took a sip of tea and sneered: "You guys are really good at this! How are you still here? Hurry up and go serve him well!"

  Wang Lan accompanied with a smile: "Don't be angry, there's still something to tell you, it's just been heard that Li Ce Fu Jun is really pregnant this time, and the crown prince has also leaked the news."

  Knowing what this group of eunuchs was up to, the crown prince's consort lowered her eyes and pretended to be indifferent: "Don't try any tricks."

  "I dare not! I will withdraw immediately and not disturb Your Highness's rest."

  As soon as Wang Lan left, the Crown Princess's anger was uncontrollable: "Go and investigate for me to see if that woman is really pregnant!" The palace maid hastily responded with a yes.

  The crown princess sat wearily on the couch, never knowing that being a crown princess would be so exhausting and laborious.

  Wu Ruoxi refused to say a word to Nalan Mingyue, and Nalan Mingyue looked innocent but didn't dare to say more to Wu Ruoxi. Until the afternoon, a palace servant called Nalan Mingyue out again, Wu Ruoxi vaguely saw that it seemed to be the little eunuch who came to call her before, and her heart suddenly fell into an ice cellar.

  Nalan Mingyue is the daughter of Guangzhou Xuanhua Prefecture's Tongzhi, and it is rare that her family is a scholarly family with three successful candidates in the imperial examination. Her grandfather was once an official in Guangzhou Prefecture and had some prestige locally.

  The vivacious Nalan Mingyue spoke with a hint of joy: "I'm the second daughter in my family, and my older sister is married to the Pure Prince's estate in the capital. She gave birth to a young master and has a gentle disposition, so she was conferred as the Secondary Princess Consort two years ago!"

  The pure and noble king is the great-grandson of the former emperor and a contemporary of Yongzheng, also with some abilities.

  "Unexpectedly, there's such a relationship," Guan Yue said with a smile: "Can you read and write?"

  "The girls in our family started school at the age of five and can all read and write; occasionally they can even compose a poem or two."

  She looks inexperienced in worldly affairs, speaking whatever comes to mind with a naive and carefree attitude.

  The two girls looked at each other and smiled. After Nalan Mingyue left, Empress De asked with a smile: "How is it? Which one do you like?"

  "Both!" Quan Pei smiled and said.

  The matter of Nalan Mingyue being summoned by Empress Dowager De for questioning somehow spread again, and Wu Ruoxue seemed to have become an even bigger joke.

  "It's definitely not going to work out with her, if I have to choose, it would be next month!"

  At home, she was the apple of everyone's eye, but she never expected to suffer such a great humiliation in the selection. Wu Ruoxue's face was tense and she didn't say another word to anyone. In the room, Nalan Mingyue looked at Wu Ruoxue with fear: "Sister, I didn't expect it to be like this either..."

  Wu Ruoxi smiled mockingly with a hint of disdain: "What's the point of saying these things now? It's too early."

  Nalan Mingyue bit her lip, her eyes showing innocence, but more of it was vigilance.

  Xiao Yue attended to Quan Pei's change of clothes, while whispering: "I'm not clear about what happened with Zhang Taoyi, but it's true that he's on sick leave and hasn't gone to the hospital. What should we do next?"

  There are many ways to deal with Li Yuanzheng, but looking at his arrogant and unscrupulous behavior in manipulating Quan Pei, the best strategy is either to find out who the powerful figure behind him is or to find an even more powerful person to take care of Li Yuanzheng.

  Li Yuanzheng has a family but no children, and his relationship with the people at home is also very general. He hasn't been heard to have climbed up with any powerful figures, so his rapid rise must have a big story behind it.

  In the harem of Emperor Gaozong, there were many hidden affairs, but she saw them all with her own eyes and had a broader perspective on guessing and judging things in the palace.

  The white jasmine flowers emitted a faint fragrance, and the pigeon blood rubies were extremely pure and of high quality. Quan Pei opened it, took a look, and slowly closed it: "Tell Xiaomantou that we have made contact with Wang Lan, the eunuch from the Crown Prince's palace."

  Xiao Mantou is Su Peisheng's little apprentice, always staying by Quan Pei's side to run errands, young but clever and intelligent.

  Xiao Yue didn't know why she was dragged into the Crown Prince's affairs again, but Guan Yu's orders were never wrong, so she agreed and retreated.

  In the scorching summer, Mrs. Li hurried on her journey while pregnant again, and she was not feeling well, always vomiting, and when she returned from the bumpy road, her clothes had become loose due to weight loss.

  Finally sitting safely and stably in the chair at home, Li Shi let out a long sigh. Xiao Yatou came in and said: "Fu Jin said that Gege had traveled far and was tired, so there's no need to rush to pay respects, rest first."

  Li's heartstrings tightened again, and she smiled: "Not too tired, after changing clothes go to pay respects to Fu Jun."

  She was pregnant and didn't know what the word "Fujin" meant, so she didn't dare make any mistakes in etiquette, lest Fujin think she was pregnant and people would be careless.

  Although there was no ice bucket in the house, it was still cool. The madam's belly was obviously big, but she didn't look bloated at all. With a few strands of post-lunch languor, her cheeks were delicate and pink, and between her eyebrows, a few hints of comfortable relaxation seeped through, as if there was nothing in the world that could be annoying. The madam's days seemed to have always passed so leisurely and carefree.

  "If nothing's wrong, then go back and rest; it's not easy having a child and being jostled around for so long."

  The tone of the imperial concubine was accompanied by her usual carelessness and randomness, but Li Shi didn't feel random: "......I think it's because I got pregnant at home, after following the master, I felt uncomfortable, later checked out, not long after the master sent me back, now counting the days is less than two months."

  Li emphasized that he didn't gain anything from this trip, but rather suffered for it, all just so that Quan Pei could feel a little better.

  Quan Ai smiled and looked at the thin Li Shi: "Go down..."

  Li felt a tightening of his scalp and didn't dare say more, slowly backing away.

  Xiao Rong followed her out and said to Li Shi, "You're overthinking, just focus on taking care of your pregnancy." Li Shi forced a smile, but in front of Fu Jun, even if she was being cautious, it depended on whether Fu Jun wanted to pay attention to this play. Perhaps Fu Jun had never taken her seriously from the start.

  Yan's daughter-in-law waited on Mrs. Li with extreme politeness, rubbing her back and pinching her legs: "You've suffered!"

  Li leaned against the bed with her eyes closed, but she was too tired and couldn't fall asleep for a while: "Is there anything going on after I leave?"

  Yan's eyes rolled over: "Is there anything else? It's just that I heard Fu Jin was looking at the beautiful girl."

  Li opened her eyes and glanced at the kneeling Yan Niang, whose hair was pressed down, then closed them again. After all, Fu Jin was high up in the clouds, and her threats came more from people of equal status. She was only pregnant, and it would take almost a year before she could attend to Master, and who knew what would happen in that year...

  In the courtyard, a large blue-and-white fishbowl in the middle of the yard was raising several red carp, and on top of it was a half-open lotus flower. Next to the lotus flower was a woman with a high bun, revealing her slender neck, and a golden tassel hanging down from her face, slightly swaying, setting off her dark, flowing eyes that were absolutely stunning. A touch of red lips, just right in thickness, could reveal a smile that would turn people's heads upside down when the corners of her mouth rose.

  Li Yuanzheng bowed his head and paid respects.

  Quan Pei glanced around and entered the house, Xiao Yue invited Li Yuanzheng to enter the house. There was only one maid serving in the house, so Li Yuanzheng raised his peach-blossom-filled eyes and looked at Quan Pei: "Madam is beautiful!"

  Xiao Yue turned her head away in disgust.

  Quan Pei used her slender fingers to support her smooth forehead, and glanced at Li Yuanzheng: "Now that you've seen it, what do you plan to do? Are you going to report it?"

  "If Madam Fu trusts me, I naturally won't betray her!" He almost patted his chest in guarantee.

  Wei Ting raised the corner of her lips: "But I'm afraid of being tainted, don't you fear it? You want to use this kind of thing to threaten me, aren't you afraid that I'll bite back? After all, my status is more noble."

  Li Yuanzheng, who was laughing at Quan Pei, almost fell over, and he brazenly leaned in closer to Quan Pei: "How do you know I wasn't involved in this matter? If not, how would I have seen Furen, and how would I be so fearless?"

  Wei Ting stretched out her slender fingers and poked Li Yuanzheng's cheek, softening her voice: "So what do you want me to do again?"

  The charming woman in front of him almost made Li Yuanzheng lose his composure. He reached out to pinch Quan Pei's fingers, but ended up empty-handed. He only felt that the place where Quan Pei had touched his face was scorching hot and his heart was racing, almost fainting: "My dear, you're so beautiful, how could I bear to make you do anything? Just lie down and enjoy!"

  Xiao Yue couldn't bear it anymore and spat at Li Yuanzheng: "Shameless thing!" Li Yuanzheng didn't care about Xiao Yue, just as he was about to approach Quan Pei, Quan Pei suddenly stood up: "Guards, take away Li Yuanzheng!"

  Li Yuanzhen was taken aback: "Indeed ruthless, but I have limited patience."

  "Let me think for a moment."

  Qian Wan carefully and slowly washed her fingers, Xiao Yue almost with a sob: "This is too much! What can be done about it?"

  Wei's smile carried a hint of indifference as she stretched out her hand, pointing at Xiaoyue to cut off her own onion-like fingernails: "Take your time..."

  Xiao Mantou took a big gulp of tea: "Wang Lan and I entered the palace together, we know each other. I knew his father was seriously ill, their family was so poor they almost sold his sister, he had no choice but to enter the palace as a eunuch, just wanting to cure his father's illness. Now that he has become wealthy, with lots of money outside buying several mansions, his sister also became a rich young lady, only his father's illness never got better, he is anxious!"

  How did a little eunuch get so much wealth?

  Xiao Yue then asked: "Didn't you ask him where he got so much money from?"

  Xiao Mantou said with difficulty: "He is unwilling to say it, but just looking at him, his heart doesn't seem very happy either."

  Quan Ai handed a silver ingot to Xiao Mantou: "Take it and make friends with Wang Lan, or I can save his father's life."

  A woman's soft moans came from within the crimson bed curtains, but were suddenly interrupted by a man's low, angry roar: "Get out!" The woman was almost kicked off the bed, and hastily grabbed her clothes to cover herself as she fled in panic. Behind her, the man's incredulous voice echoed: "What's going on? How could I possibly..."