"Um."
The old woman sitting in the courtyard is fiddling with a piece of porcelain. The blue and white porcelain exudes a soft luster under natural light, and the delicate glaze shows that what she is holding is a rare and famous antique.
She is tall and thin, with a cold temperament. In addition, her prominent bones and clear outlines give her a special kind of nobility, which easily gives people a feeling of being "unkind".
Although she is old, it does not affect her outstanding temperament. Her graceful demeanor in every gesture is different from that of ordinary people.
Shadow walked up to her, wanting to say something but stopping himself before he could speak.
Nie Qingru raised her eyelids slightly and waved at him: "Come, come and take a look for me."
"Yes." Shadow obediently moved closer.
Nie Qingru raised the porcelain in her hand and asked him with a smile on her face: "What do you think of this vase? Will Qixing like it?"
Shadow didn't dare to look closely. He just glanced at him and then lowered his eyes, retreating respectfully: "Mr. Qi likes to collect antiques. He should like the gift you choose for him."
"Um."
Nie Qingru's eyes fell on the blue and white porcelain. The more she looked at it, the more satisfied she became. She slowly put the porcelain back on the table, and her eyes gradually returned to their usual sharpness.
"Tell me, what's the matter?"
Shadow secretly looked up and saw her wiping her fingertips, then immediately lowered his head again: "Reynard's matter."
Nie Qingru paused while wiping her hands and glanced over: "Hmm?"
Shadow didn't dare to beat around the bush: "Ji Ziyin was taken away by Lei Ting! Her relatives found us and wanted us to help her."
"Humph!" Nie Qingru sneered indifferently: "I thought she did it so cleanly, but she was discovered so quickly?"
She cares a little more.
"How did the Reynard family find her?"
Yingzi knew she would be angry if he told her, but he had to mention the name: "It's...Qiao Nian."
Sure enough. Shadow mentioned Qiao Nian's name.
The sneer on Nie Qingru's lips faded, her eyes became gloomy, and the air around her became much colder: "It's her again."
“…” Shadow didn’t dare to answer.
Nie Qingru had no intention of appreciating the precious blue and white porcelain antique on the table. She threw the silk scarf she used to wipe her hands on the table, her face grim and her eyes cold as she said, "Go and test the Reynard family's attitude."
"…If you can release him, then in my name, let them go with ease and spare Ji Ziyin's life!"
Although Shadow couldn't agree with her way of handling the matter, he knew exactly why Nie Qingru did it: "Yes."
…
Half an hour later.
The shadow is back.
He walked up to Nie Qingru again this time, lowering his head and saying, "Queen, the Reynard family said... this involves their family's private affairs, and they hope you won't interfere."
Nie Qingru was leisurely pruning flower branches. Upon hearing this, she exerted force with the scissors in her hand and cut a blooming peony flower off at the waist. The flower fell to the ground, and its petals scattered.
When Shadow saw the flowers fallen on the ground, he held his breath even more and stood in a humble posture, with his back hunched and his head lowered, not daring to look directly at Nie Qingru.
After a brief pause, Nie Qingru picked up the scissors again and trimmed the branches growing next to her. She said calmly, "If they don't want to, forget it."
"It's just Ji Ziyin. There's no need for me to make plans for her."
"… "
Shadow didn't say anything and didn't interrupt.
In fact, he understood why the Queen had intended to help Ji Zinyin before. It was simply because she wanted to make Qiao Nian unhappy and couldn't bear to see the Ji family's direct descendants being pleased.
(End of this chapter)