Watching the small cubes being eaten up one by one, Li Qishen even licked the crumbs that accidentally got on his fingertips without making a sound. Xie Wangzhi knew that he really liked the taste, so he quietly marked that page in the notebook and put it back in his arms: "The sweetness or saltiness of this filling can be adjusted. Do you like it sweeter or saltier?"
"That's good." Li Qishen licked his teeth with the tip of his tongue, recalling the overflowing milk flavor when he took a bite just now. There seemed to be some finely ground salted egg yolk on his tongue. "But the egg cake outside could be softer. It seems to be too burnt this time."
Xie Wangzhi uttered a small "ah" and was a little embarrassed: "That was too much... Sorry, I was a little distracted when I was doing it this time."
"I don't think the Xue family is someone I can work with. What are your plans for the future?" Li Qishen didn't dwell on why she was distracted. He just asked, "Why don't you come back to Qingsi Palace with me?"
"... Well, that's not it." Xie Wangzhi pondered for a moment and frowned, "Going back and forth, not only troubles you, but the female officials in the food bureau will probably find me annoying. There is no other way. It's not my fault after all, she was the one who talked behind my back... Let's live like this for now. If it doesn't work, I'll talk to the female officials and ask them to move to another place."
"That's fine." She's just a daughter of an official, not from a noble family, so it's easy to deal with. Li Qishen didn't mind and answered without thinking.
However, Xie Wangzhi interrupted his thoughts the next moment: "By the way, you may think that I am just imagining things, but I still have to tell you. Although she is really annoying, you can't interfere behind her back."
"Um?"
"She is proud of her father's position as an official in the court, and she looks down on her roommates. This is her fault, but she hasn't done anything to harm us or the Shangshi Bureau. If you intervene, it would be abuse of power for personal gain, and we would become the bad guys." Xie Wangzhi shook his head and looked at Li Qishen seriously, "I don't want this to happen."
This look was so innocent that Li Qishen found it funny. However, he looked at her with a serious face and nodded seriously: "Okay, I won't do anything. But I have one more question. If she does something wrong next, what will you do?"
"Then I'll be the first one to drag her in front of Dianshan!" Xie Wangzhi also had a temper, and said angrily, "I won't let her go."
Li Qishen couldn't help but smiled. He licked the corner of his mouth before being noticed, and his face remained calm: "Okay. People's minds are unpredictable, so be careful."
"Well, I don't think she would do anything too extreme. I will be careful." After the topic was over, Xie Wangzhi collected the dishes and thought about washing them with hot water later. "Are you full?"
"I'm full."
"Then let's go back." Xie Wangzhi said truthfully, "Everyone in the palace has to work now. I have to hurry back to the kitchen, otherwise the maid will think I'm lazy."
Li Qishen nodded, responded indifferently, and made a move to turn around. As soon as he moved, Xie Wangzhi's shoulders slumped, and he was obviously relieved, as if something was lifted from his heart.
"... I suddenly remembered," Li Qishen stopped moving and slowly turned back. This sound frightened Xie Wangzhi so much that he trembled all over and looked at him like a frightened rabbit. He smiled and moved closer, "I think something is wrong with you."
Suddenly, a face came up to him. It was cold and beautiful, with cold eyes and a perfect smile. The gold in his eyes flickered and moved people's hearts. Xie Wangzhi couldn't tell what he was shocked about. He instinctively tightened his sleeves, his face quickly turned red, his eyelashes trembled, and he held it in for a while before finding an excuse: "No, no... Maybe it was too smokey. I was really close to the fire just now."
"Really?" Li Qishen moved closer.
Xie Wangzhi was even more startled, and took a half step back. Before her other foot could catch up, her cheek was held. The expression of the young man who was controlling her changed in an instant, and his smile faded. Li Qishen looked at her seriously and even gently stroked her cheek with his fingertips.
"Don't hide it from me." He said softly, "I can see that you are hiding something in your heart."
"I… "
"No matter what it is, you can always tell me. It would be best if I can solve it," Li Qishen continued, "or maybe I can't, but it's better than you holding it in."
His fingertips once again stroked his cheek, his fingertips almost touching his eyes, as if wiping away the tears that had not yet flowed. Li Qishen said nothing more, withdrew his hand, and waited quietly for Xie Wangzhi to speak.
Xie Wangzhi was stunned, and for no reason she raised her hand and touched her eyes, as if she was holding hands with him briefly there. She also looked at Li Qishen, and was silent for a long time, then suddenly lowered her eyes: "... Yes, I was thinking about something, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to make this cake properly."
Just tell me, Li Qishen smiled slightly: "What is it?"
Xie Wangzhi was silent again. He rehearsed in his mind, considering how to ask. After a moment, he spoke again: "You didn't tell me last time, and I thought you didn't know, but now I think it's hard for you to tell me. There's actually only one thing I want to know. Yu Pan..."
She paused and looked up at Li Qishen, "How did she die?"
…coming.
This was a difficult question to answer. Li Qishen was speechless for a moment and said, "I know, but it was hard to say at the time."
"Yeah." Xie Wangzhi responded and exhaled, "Then tell me now, what happened to her?"
“… She was strangled to death.”
"Who?" It was true. Xie Wangzhi felt her heart beat faster. She licked her lips and said, "Do you know who it is?"
"I asked Le Yan to ask. The one who bit her to death in Hanxiang Hall was hanged, but the marks on her neck are wrong. They were able to conceal it. Think about the Taoist priests recently." Li Qishen laughed with a hint of sarcasm, his voice light, "If I'm not mistaken, it was my father. And I'm afraid she was not just strangled to death before she died."
There was no need to say more in between. Xie Wangzhi was not stupid and could probably guess what was going on. She was speechless for a moment and did not dare to continue looking at Li Qishen. She took a step back and held onto the stove behind her. She felt a little dizzy, so she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before she managed to stabilize her heartbeat.
… So that’s how it is. So this is how Yao Yupan died.
Shame, disgust, and no peace until death.
Years ago, she was still a living person, smiling sweetly, thinking of saving money to send back home so that her younger brothers and sisters would not be sad; but she never lived to see that day. In just a dozen days, her beauty turned into dry bones, with a roll of tattered straw mat as a coffin, and even after her death she was ridiculed by Xue Geshu.
Time has passed, and the sadness when he first heard the bad news has been diluted by time. Now that he knows the truth, resentment and anger rush out from the bottom of his heart. This feeling is more obvious than when the Crown Princess made him kneel under the pretext of punishment. It rushed up with blood and anger, making Xie Wangzhi dizzy and unconsciously tightening his hands, and his well-trimmed nails pinched deep red marks on his palms.
Is this what a ruler is? A ruler is a human being, but others are not? Why...
… Why!
Xie Wangzhi lowered her head tightly, her hair hanging down, and her face hidden in the shadows, so she couldn't be seen clearly, but Li Qishen could guess what she was thinking. He had experienced this feeling countless times, even more deeply than hers, and it made him grit his teeth whenever he thought about it.
"That's why I rushed here and asked you to go to Qingsi Palace and wait until you survive the selection. The lives of the palace maids in this selection are probably hanging by a thread. Even if they can escape from my father, it will be too harmful to their bodies to take the things used for alchemy." But Li Qishen just continued, his tone calm, "I don't have that ability, I can't save them, I can only protect you. As long as you are in Qingsi Palace, you will never encounter such a thing."
"... I understand." Xie Wangzhi felt bitter in her mouth. She knew that Li Qishen had no other options. She didn't blame him. She just felt uncomfortable. "What about the prince? He... can't do it either?"
"Which prince had such great power before the emperor could walk? Moreover, he..." Li Qishen did not intend to say anything about Li Taoqi in front of Xie Wangzhi, so he changed his words, "If he was really that bold, he would not have been unable to protect his fiancée."
Xie Wangzhi was stunned: "What?"
Li Qishen had not intended to speak of this matter, but since it was mentioned, he did not shy away from it. However, walls have ears, so he could not say it directly.
"Excuse me." He took a step forward and suddenly stretched out his hand to hold Xie Wangzhi loosely, with his chin on her shoulder. If someone had seen this, they would probably think that this was a boy and a girl whispering in each other's ears, but Li Qishen whispered to Xie Wangzhi's ear, "Noble Concubine Xiao was born in the Lanling Xiao family, and was originally the Crown Princess."
Xie Wangzhi opened his eyes wide in surprise, his shoulders stiffened, and his lips trembled: "This..."
"Four... No, it's been five years. Five years ago, the palace held a banquet and invited noble ladies from various families. In fact, the situation in the court was changing, and the Cui family of Qinghe had long wanted to welcome Xiao Tang as the Crown Princess." Li Qishen suddenly changed his words and called her by her name. "That day, I was wandering in the palace and met the Xiao sisters in the Begonia Forest near the Changsheng Palace. Xiao Xuan came up to ask for directions. She asked for the East Palace."
"I was not prepared at the time, so I pointed the way. But not long after, Le Yan heard the news that my father met a noble lady from the Xiao family in the Begonia Forest and they got along quite well. Then the prince married Xiao Tang, the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, and Xiao Xuan went to the Taoist temple to practice and then entered the palace."
"... Xiao Tang?" Li Qishen's words sounded quite normal, except that it was a bit uncomfortable for a father and son to marry a sister. However, Xie Wangzhi always felt it was weird. "Are you referring to the Crown Princess?"
"No," Li Qishen said, "This is Concubine Xiao's maiden name. It's ridiculous for a father to force his son's fiancée to marry him. In order to cover up the truth, he had to let them change their identities."
Xie Wangzhi was shocked, his past memories came flooding back to him, and he understood the cause and effect in an instant. He immediately understood why Concubine Xiao was afraid of Haitang.
Because she is not Xiao Xuan, she is the real Xiao Tang; and she was supposed to marry the prince, but was forced to give herself to her future husband's father in the Begonia forest. For a woman, this is such a shame and pain, and even the Begonia has become her nightmare.
Xie Wangzhi was trembling all over, and he didn't pay attention to the tip of his teeth pressing on his lip. When he exerted too much force, a small cut was made, and a drop of blood oozed out, like a red bean on paper.
The author has something to say: In the last chapter, some people were worried about torturing the cat... No, Coal Ball is so cool, most people can't catch it (spreading hands) Some people also think that torturing Changsheng is not enough, hehe...
Let me add a little more about the Xiao sisters. The prince was not free to marry. At that time, Cui and Xiao had already decided to make Concubine Xiao (Xiao Tang) the crown princess. Concubine Xiao, the crown princess (Xiao Xuan) and others all knew it very well. It was a semi-open secret. But the crown princess was jealous of Concubine Xiao for being able to enter the East Palace as the principal concubine. She also wanted to be in the position. So she took the opportunity to ask Changsheng for directions (of course, when she asked for directions, she didn't know that Changsheng, who was wearing eunuch clothes, was the prince). She let Changsheng take the blame and deliberately took Concubine Xiao in the opposite direction. The original intention was to avoid Concubine Xiao and the prince, but Concubine Xiao, who was left there, was unlucky and was picked... So...
This incident was really embarrassing (…) But the marriage had to go on. It didn’t matter who married the crown prince. What mattered was the title of “the eldest daughter of the Lanling Xiao family”. By the way, in order to keep everyone silent, the crown princess and Concubine Xiao exchanged their identities. After all, noble ladies from high-ranking families rarely met people, so even if someone saw it, they wouldn’t dare to say it. It was purely a last resort to whitewash the situation. From this perspective, Concubine Xiao was a victim. However, in order to save herself, she also did a lot of wrong things in the later period (such as sending a little palace maid like Yu Pan to die in her place). She changed her identity and became a perpetrator. It can only be said that all living beings suffer, and in fact, no one has an easy life.
The Crown Princess has always been targeting Changsheng. On one hand, Changsheng is a prince after all. Although he is basically impossible to compete with the Crown Prince, he is still a bit threatening. On the other hand, Changsheng knows that the road he pointed to is correct. It is easy to guess that the Crown Princess deliberately led him the wrong way. Including her previous fear of miscarriage, she saw a boy in a big-sleeved formal dress in her dream instead of a boy in eunuch clothes, which was also because of her fear of Changsheng.
Changsheng felt humiliated and disgusted by the incident, or felt that his worldview was shattered (…) Although he did not have strong moral values, he could not imagine that his father could do such a thing. With his character that would not give his things to others even if they were crushed in his hands, he could not imagine that the prince would actually endure it and really marry the crown princess according to the arrangement of Cui and Xiao. This is also a source of conflict between the father and his three sons (.)