Thinking that she had to leave the palace to see that person anyway, she found an excuse to leave the East Palace. Just after leaving the palace gate, a carriage came from a distance. The driver stopped the horse when he saw her alone and said, "Miss, please get in the carriage."
Qinglan stared at the driver for a long while, then got on the carriage without saying anything. She recognized the driver, who was from the Seventh Prince's Palace.
After less than an incense stick of time, the carriage stopped. The driver lifted the curtain and said with a smile: "Miss, we are here." Qinglan looked out and found that the carriage stopped in front of a restaurant. She was suspicious. She frowned and looked at the driver, and heard him say: "Miss, my master is waiting for you inside."
Someone immediately led her up to the second floor and into a private room. There was already a person waiting in the room, but Qinglan knew at a glance that person's back that he was not Xiao Yi.
The man turned around when he heard the voice, then stood up and bowed to her: "Miss, I am honored."
He was not tall but graceful, wearing a red shirt with an intricate pattern of lotus twigs embroidered in gold thread on the collar. One could tell at a glance that he was from the royal family. His face was bright and his eyes were bright and sparkling under the jade crown. Qinglan was slightly stunned, then realized that this person was "she" and not "he".
"He" dismissed everyone and politely invited Qinglan to take a seat.
"Miss Qinglan, it's not easy to invite you here." The man in red sat down in front of her and poured her a cup of tea with a smile.
Qinglan's face showed no emotion, but he leaned forward slightly and said, "Qinglan really can't stand it if the princess does this."
She was not surprised when she heard this and sighed, "Miss Qinglan is really smart."
"What's the matter that the princess went to so much trouble to summon Qinglan to meet her?" Qinglan went straight to the point, "Qinglan rarely leaves the palace and has important matters to attend to." She spoke in a low but impolite tone.
Zhao Pei was not annoyed and said, "I will only take up a little of your time. I just want to ask you what happened to your Highness the Crown Prince?"
"His Highness is ill and is recuperating." Qinglan answered simply, but his heart ached.
"That's all?" Zhao Pei asked, and then added, "What disease?"
Qinglan raised her eyes and looked at her. After a long time, she said, "This seems to have nothing to do with the Seventh Princess." She always spoke with such a sense of distance, indifference and inexplicable resentment.
Zhao Pei was a little impatient: "Qinglan, you must tell me. Otherwise, you will have no good life!" The last sentence was extremely firm, and the voice lingered in the room for a long time.
"Qinglan... has never been well." Qinglan silently said this in his heart, and then said: "Your Highness is sick, but... because of poisoning."
"Poison?!" With a cry of surprise, the woman in red suddenly knocked over the teacup beside her but didn't have time to pay attention. She hurriedly asked, "What kind of poison? How is your highness now?"
"I don't know." Qing Lan bowed her head. "The Third Prince has been staying by your side, and now his health is gradually getting better."
Zhao Pei's heartstrings relaxed slightly, and she suddenly remembered the conversation between Qinglan and Xiao Yi in the house. "You said that person wouldn't hurt him, but now he..."
His heart sank, and his eyes darkened: "Did Xiao Yi ask you to do this?"
Qinglan didn't say anything, which was considered as his consent.
Zhao Pei's mind went blank. Is this really the case? Did Xiao Yi poison Xiao Tong through Qing Lan? With a sneer, Xiao Yi... This is what you hid from me. You... You even plotted against your own brother
But Qinglan said, "Princess, the prince did not want to poison His Highness. Qinglan was just excited at first, but after calming down and checking carefully, she found that it was not the prince's doing." She wanted to hide it from her and lie to her. But for some reason, she still told her the truth.
Zhao Pei looked at her coldly: "You are someone close to the prince, so you should naturally speak for him."
Qinglan continued, "Princess, please believe me. The prince gave me some tranquilizers, which can make me feel dizzy and listless, but not dead. The poison was not done by the prince." She was unwilling to tell Zhaopei who had poisoned her. Because Qinglan herself was still unwilling to believe it.
"What's the difference?" Zhao Pei scolded coldly: "Qinglan, you have been with the Crown Prince for many years. How could you have the heart to poison him?" She looked at Qinglan sternly, no longer with her usual charming demeanor, and her whole body exuded a cold and intimidating look.
Qing Lan was stunned at first, and then annoyed: "Princess, why do you care about these things? Princess, who are you to the Crown Prince?"
Zhao Pei was choked by these words, and was speechless. It hit the pain point in her heart. Why should she care about him... Because she was still unwilling and undecided? She forced herself to harden her heart and forget him thousands of times, but found that it was just a joke to deceive herself. As long as there was a slight disturbance, the fortress that she had worked so hard to build would collapse, right
"Princess, you still love the Crown Prince, right?" Qing Lan sighed softly as if talking to herself, "Yes, what woman wouldn't be moved by a man like that?"
The subtle sigh was meaningful, and Zhao Pei suddenly understood her thoughts. He raised his eyes with a bitter smile and looked at the hidden sorrow on Qinglan's beautiful face: "Why, if you also love him, why did you have the heart to do that? The prince treated you well, why are you willing to pretend to be mute and let Xiao Yi manipulate you?"
"Princess, there are some things you don't understand." Qing Lan stared at her, "You don't understand how painful it is for me to live in the cracks." Her eyes gradually turned red, and she said slowly: "Princess, you should understand me. In fact, we are the same kind of people in some things."
Zhao Pei felt like she was falling into a fog, a mess on both sides.
Qinglan smiled suddenly: "Princess, don't you want to know what the relationship between Qinglan and the prince is?"
Zhao Pei wanted to know, she really wanted to know.
She lowered her eyes and said softly: "Qinglan, once the prince's woman." Once the prince's woman, once the prince's woman... Those words were like a spell, disturbing Zhao Pei's nerves layer by layer. He took a deep breath and restrained himself from losing his composure. He waited for her to continue: "Qinglan, once loved the prince so deeply. Even though she knew that she was just a chess piece in his hand, she was willing to pretend to be dumb. However, by chance, she was lucky enough to stay with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. At that time, Qinglan began to waver. After three years, Qinglan found that she deeply loved His Royal Highness the Crown Prince but could not forget the prince." She smiled slyly and looked at the wooden Zhao Pei: "Princess, do you think Qinglan is a stupid woman? She wavered and finally forced herself into a dead end and could never get out?"
Zhao Pei sorted out their relationship and suddenly found it hard to accept. Is this the cruel truth... what she wanted to know
"Princess, you and Qinglan are actually the same. You both clearly love Xiao Yi, but you can't forget Xiao Tong, right?" Her eyes were cold and sharp, reaching straight into Zhao Pei's heart.
"That's not the case." Zhao Pei denied, "I don't love Xiao Yi. I don't."
"Will your princess be heartbroken and angry after hearing about Qinglan and Xiao Yi's relationship? Will you hate Xiao Yi? Will your princess be angry that he hid something from you? Princess, if you hate him, you will naturally love him." Qinglan said. Zhao Pei was stunned for a long time. She hated him, hated him for hiding it from her. Hated him for having had many women before, hated him for being affectionate with other women in front of her. Was all this because of love
"In fact, the princess and Qinglan are the same. They are both foolish women who are trapped in their own webs." Qinglan's words lingered in his ears for a long time.
At that moment, Zhao Pei was somewhat panicked to find that she was really the same as Qinglan. And she was also panicked to find that she really had Xiao Yi in her heart. Even though at this moment, she hated him.
"Princess, Qinglan knows that these words should not be said by Qinglan." Qinglan glanced at the pale woman, "The prince also had his own reasons, please don't hate him. No matter who you care about in your heart, after all, the prince is the one you want to spend your life with. Besides, 60% of what he did was because of you."
"Me?" Zhao Pei chuckled.
"Because the prince loves the princess. If the princess didn't care so much about the prince, the prince wouldn't be so impatient. The prince is jealous. As long as the princess stops thinking about the prince, the prince will not do anything extreme." Qinglan said, no matter what she was thinking, whether it was sincere or selfish. But the ending was told to Zhao Pei by everyone and everything, stay away from Xiao Tong, otherwise no one will have a good result.
"I understand." Zhao Pei said softly, and then remained silent.
It turns out that after all these twists and turns, I can only stay by Xiao Yi's side. Xiao Yi, is it because I owed you a lot of love affairs in my previous life that God can't bear it
She thought so and forgot about other factors. She just believed what Qinglan said, that Xiao Yi was jealous. This way she felt more at ease.
Zhao Pei had such a feeling for the first time at that time. Sometimes stubbornness is not a good thing, and sometimes the truth is not necessarily pleasing. But Zhao Pei learned one thing at that time, to endure. (To be continued)