Mo Ye reacted quickly. The moment she saw that Mo Xuetong had reached out, she grabbed her hand. She was a martial artist and had always been on guard, so she was naturally much faster than Feng Yuxuan who had acted angrily. She pulled Mo Xuetong forcefully. Feng Yuxuan didn’t expect that a maidservant had such great strength. Immediately, she pulled Mo Xuetong behind her.
It happened very fast, and they were standing by the side of the road. Mo Xuetong seemed to rush forward and tripped over something. She was about to fall to the ground, but the maidservant beside her hurriedly reached out to hold her. Finally, she stopped when she approached King Chu and was pulled back behind the maidservant.
A maidservant reacted so quickly. Feng Yuxuan was stunned and his expression turned dark. He stretched out his hand and wanted to pull her back. Suddenly, he heard a clear voice behind him. “Greetings, King Chu, Consort Xuan!”
There was someone else here. The two of them involuntarily turned around. Feng Yuxuan’s hand retracted silently and the sinister expression on his face disappeared. He looked as gentle as ever. Following the voice, he saw a young man dressed in a light blue brocade robe with algae patterns, looking elegant and handsome. He was Qin Yufeng, who had just become the Number One Scholar.
He had come from behind Feng Yuxuan. He looked at the two of them with a grin, as if he had not sensed the strange atmosphere between the two of them at all!
Feng Yuxuan turned around subconsciously and walked forward slowly. As he was a few steps away from Mo Xuetong, he asked with a smile. “Yufeng, why are you here?”
“I entered the palace with King Ning just now. King Ning wanted to see the Empress Dowager inside. I went with him and paid my respects. Then, I came back myself,” Qin Yufeng explained with a smile. He looked as if he had just arrived. His eyes drifted over to Mo Xuetong’s pale face with a smile. After a pause, he looked away quietly.
Today’s banquet was held for the top three in the imperial examination, so it was normal for Qin Yufeng to appear in the palace. With Qin Yufeng’s current status and age, it was obvious that he would have a promising future. King Ning, Feng Yuzhen, expressed his goodwill to him, and it was normal for him to invite Qin Yufeng to the palace to visit the Empress Dowager.
“It’s still early for the banquet. Why don’t you have a walk with me?” Feng Yuxuan offered with a smile. Qin Yufeng used to be one of his men. He had never been an official because he was on his side wholeheartedly and gave advice to him. However, Feng Yuxuan could not figure out what he meant now.
Since Qin Yufeng was the new Number One Scholar, many people came to the Qin Manor recently, so it was not convenient for Feng Yuxuan to show up in front of him and they had not had a good talk. Now it was still early, so Feng Yuxuan wanted to have a talk with Qin Yufeng and ask him what he was going to do. No matter whether Qin Yufeng was going to become an official or not, Feng Yuxuan thought that he was on his side.
Qin Yufeng was a talented person, a young and capable person who used to give advice to him. Therefore, Feng Yuxuan felt that he had to collect him and he thought this should not be a problem. The two of them had been getting along well for a long time. Even if Qin Yufeng had changed his mind, he would stop him!
It was rare to have such a good opportunity. Feng Yuxuan thought about it and felt that the opportunity was not bad. He immediately changed his mind to stop Mo Xuetong. There were still chances for him to deal with Mo Xuetong in the future, so there was no rush. However, he had to show his kindness to Qin Yufeng, as well as threaten him with his power as soon as possible, lest Feng Yuzhen got benefit.
Having made up his mind, Feng Yuxuan invited Qin Yufeng with a sincere smile!
“Then Consort Xuan…” Qin Yufeng’s gaze drifted to Mo Xuetong. He seemed to be pondering.
“I was just talking to Consort Xuan about Princess Caifeng from the Southern Barbarian Lands. Since Consort Xuan is ill these days, I will ask Eighth brother later.” Feng Yuxuan waved his hand and smiled elegantly at Mo Xuetong. “Since you want to see the Empress Dowager, you’d better go first, Consort Xuan.”
Then, he moved out of the way naturally and gestured for Mo Xuetong to leave first.
Feng Yuxuan covered it up. Of course, Mo Xuetong would not expose it. She immediately curtsied to Feng Yuxuan gracefully and walked away slowly with Mo Yu. Fortunately, Qin Yufeng had appeared in time. Otherwise, with Feng Yuxuan’s earlier crazed state, it would not be easy to settle the matter today.
Qin Yufeng stood by the side. When Mo Xuetong pa.s.sed him, he did not say anything and cupped his hands as a curtsy.
Mo Xuetong nodded and led Mo Yu forward. They pa.s.sed a small path and headed for the main road. Then, Mo Xuetong asked Mo Yu softly, “Was there anyone around just now?”
She was not worried about what had happened earlier. After all, as long as Feng Yuxuan did not stir up trouble, others could not say anything even if they had seen that they had spoken for a long while, which was unreasonable. Furthermore, Feng Yuxuan had used Princess Caifeng as an excuse earlier, which meant that he had pushed it on Princess Caifeng.
Everyone knew that Princess Caifeng had never been quiet in King Xuan’s Manor recently. Feng Yuxuan was King Chu who wanted to marry Princess Caifeng, so it was normal for him to ask about Princess Caifeng. Then, Mo Xuetong lost her balance and almost fell down, but she did not really b.u.mp into Feng Yuxuan.
“I heard it clearly just now. King Chu didn’t come alone. There were about two people hiding on trees, but some people saw it in the distance. Two people pa.s.sed by in the direction where I stood just now and they stopped later. But in that position, it was too far to hear what you said. Even when King Chu pulled you, they couldn’t see it clearly. They would only think that you tripped on something accidentally.”
Mo Ye said clearly. She had been paying attention to the surroundings earlier. The two secret guards were hidden in the tree and she did not pay much attention to them. Since they were in the palace, no matter how out of control King Chu was, he would not order his secret guards to whisk Mo Xuetong away. However, the two people on the other side of the road were standing in different directions, so they did not seem to be together.
“My Lady, do you want me to investigate it?” Mo Ye asked worriedly.
“There’s no need. Even if they suspect something, there is no evidence. However, if we mess up, others will easily find clues.” Mo Xuetong smiled leisurely when she sensed Mo Ye’s nervousness. Other than the fact that she had been a little fl.u.s.tered by Feng Yuxuan’s wild behavior earlier, she had been very calm.
But this incident also made her secretly alert. She must not be careless in the future!
“Yes, My Lady. The Number One Scholar Qin came suddenly. He seemed to have headed forward earlier and was far away from us. I wonder if he came because he saw King Chu. Fortunately, he came; otherwise, it would have been troublesome,” Mo Ye commented fearfully. If they were to fight, even though Mo Ye was good at martial arts, she would not be able to hold back the two secret guards. What was more, Feng Yuxuan’s martial art was also extraordinary.
Mo Xuetong was a weak woman, even weaker than an ordinary woman. If Feng Yuxuan really went out of control and took her away, Mo Xuetong would not be able to block him at all. Thus, Qin Yufeng had indeed come in time. It was so coincidental that Mo Xuetong almost thought he was pa.s.sing through.
If she had not seen the paperweight in Qin Yufeng’s hand, she would have thought that he was really pa.s.sing through.
The paperweight was made of metal and stone, engraved with a lifelike golden dragon. Such a paperweight could not be given to him by the palace. So the only possibility was that he was delivering the paperweight. He just came from the Empress Dowager’s palace, so this reason could not be hidden. Then, the paperweight was going to be sent to the Emperor, ordered by the Empress Dowager.
The reason why the Empress Dowager did not ask a little eunuch to send it was because King Ning, Feng Yuzhen had made such a suggestion. This made it seem more casual between he and Qin Yufeng, making the two of them close. Although Qin Yufeng had not gotten any official position yet, judging from the Emperor’s high regard for him, one could tell that he would have a promising future. No matter who it was, these princes all felt that it was a good thing to build a relationship with him first.
It was indeed a sign of their close relationship for him to ask Qin Yufeng to send the golden dragon paperweight to the Emperor for the Empress Dowager.
The road where she and Feng Yuxuan were earlier was not the way to Emperor Zongwen’s Qianqing Palace from the Empress Dowager’s palace. It meant that Qin Yufeng had gone there intentionally. It was when Feng Yuxuan had pulled her. Qin Yufeng had come from behind Feng Yuxuan when Mo Xuetong was standing by the side of the road and was not blocked by Feng Yuxuan. That was to say, Qin Yufeng should have been able to clearly see Feng Yuxuan try to pull her from where he was.
But he didn’t say a word about it, which only indicated that he had seen it all, and kept it in mind even though he didn’t show it on his face.
In her second life, Qin Yufeng often gave Mo Xuetong a feeling that she could not see through him. In the past, even though she was clear that Qin Yufeng was on Feng Yuxuan’s side and that he was giving Feng Yuxuan private advice, Mo Xuetong still felt that he was shrouded in a layer of fog. He, who had always been in the fog, had always been partly hidden and partly visible.
Just like this time, he should have done it for Feng Yuxuan as well. Even though it would not end well for Mo Xuetong if someone said that she had something to do with Feng Yuxuan, Feng Yuxuan himself would also give others a handle, and might anger Emperor Zongwen. Then he was probably unable to bear the consequences. Was that the reason why Qin Yufeng had intentionally come over and helped them out of the predicament?
Mo Xuetong could not figure it out. She felt that there were other meanings behind his behavior. Qin Yufeng was too hard to understand!
Even though Mo Xuetong could not figure it out for the moment, she did not think too much about it. In this life, Mo Xuetong always felt that Qin Yufeng could not provoke her hostility. Although she was on guard against him, she had a vague feeling that he would not really hurt her. It was a strange feeling. Sometimes, Mo Xuetong also doubted it, but this feeling always came to her heart inadvertently.
Just like now, now that she could not understand, she did not want to think about it anymore. She might as well discuss it with Feng Yuran and listen to his ideas.
The Empress Dowager’s Cining Palace was ahead. Mo Xuetong gathered her thoughts, lifted her pale face and walked ahead. The situation in the harem had changed drastically. Consort Yu, who had been used as the last chess piece, was useless, and the male fetus who had taken shape had died as well. It had disrupted the Empress Dowager and Feng Yuzhen’s plans and forced Feng Yuzhen to b.u.t.ter up to Princess Caifeng. It was rare for Feng Yuzhen to enter the palace. The Empress Dowager had to discuss matters with King Ning and was not in the mood to pay attention to Mo Xuetong.
As expected, the eunuch led Mo Xuetong into the main hall. The Empress Dowager only asked about her health and then asked her to go back as she was weak. The old woman looked completely listless and seemed to have suddenly aged. It had only been a few days since they last met, but she seemed to have aged a few years. It seemed that Consort Yu’s incident had dealt a great blow to the Empress Dowager and King Ning.
Maybe King Ning was going to mess up!
