Xiao Yichen stood up and walked to Ji Lingxue. He raised his hand to fix the hairpin that was about to fall off Ji Lingxue's bun. Looking at Ji Lingxue's slightly red cheeks, he couldn't help but feel amused. "Did you run here? It's okay for me to wait for you a little longer."
Ji Lingxue frowned. She was not waiting because she was afraid of Xiao Yichen. She just wanted to come and see the scholar who was going to be a cook. Unfortunately, she was a step too late. There was nothing more to say.
Xiao Yichen took Ji Lingxue's hand and walked out, while telling the housekeeper to take care of it. As for what to take care of? Of course, it was about whether the blue-shirted scholar who worked in the kitchen should stay or go.
The butler was an old man in the palace. He understood the meaning of Xiao Yichen's words best. He nodded and respectfully saw Xiao Yichen and Ji Lingxue out.
In the carriage, Ji Lingxue yawned, and Xiao Yichen said, "Why do you still look very tired?"
Ji Lingxue said: "I feel sleepy in spring, tired in autumn and hibernating in winter, so I feel sleepy and want to sleep."
Xiao Yichen twitched recently, "I have only heard of snakes hibernating, you are just lazy. I have a lot of things to do recently. After the New Year and the cooking competition is over, I will take you out to relax."
Ji Lingxue's eyes lit up, "Where are we going to relax?"
Xiao Yichen smiled and said, "Dayan." He was determined to go to Dayan, but he couldn't go in a ostentatious and high-profile manner.
Ji Lingxue smiled mischievously, "Are you going to seek revenge on that pervert Yuchi Gongru?"
Xiao Yichen looked at Ji Lingxue calmly, "He kidnapped you twice, so naturally I will settle the score with interest." Xiao Yichen raised his eyebrows, looking domineering, as if he was backing you up.
Ji Lingxue pulled Xiao Yichen's sleeve and said, "Your Majesty, tell me what specific plans you have."
Xiao Yichen held Ji Lingxue's hand and said, "I haven't thought of a plan yet. I'll tell you when I have one."
Ji Lingxue nodded, and soon they arrived at the palace. Xiao Yichen had to attend the morning court, so he asked the eunuch in the palace to take Ji Lingxue to the Empress Dowager's palace.
Halfway through the journey, a nanny came up to Ji Lingxue and bowed, saying, "This servant greets Princess Chen. The Queen heard that Princess Chen had entered the palace, so she asked this servant to bring her over for a cup of tea and to reminisce about the past."
Ji Lingxue smiled with a fake smile, "What should I do? I have to go and pay my respects to the Queen Mother now."
The nanny smiled and said, "The Queen Mother has not been feeling well recently and has not gotten up so early. Princess Chen might as well go sit with the Queen Mother for a while to avoid waiting in vain. Besides, the Queen will also go to the Queen Mother to pay her respects, so she won't delay you, Princess Chen."
The nanny kept talking and insisted that Ji Lingxue go to the Queen's place. Ji Lingxue couldn't refuse, so she had to follow the nanny.
Nanny was leading the way, one step faster than Ji Lingxue. Her steps were neither big nor small, just enough for Ji Lingxue to keep up.
In the Queen's Fengyi Palace, Ji Lingxue was standing at the door waiting. After the nanny went in to report, Ji Lingxue was invited in.
It was the first time that Ji Lingxue had a one-on-one contact with the Queen Mother. Since she had some involvement with the Queen Mother some time ago, she was extremely cautious when meeting the Queen.
Ji Lingxue bowed her head and greeted the queen, "I greet the queen. May your majesty be well."
The queen hummed, but had no intention of letting Ji Lingxue get up. She tapped the back of the chair with her long nails painted with red nail polish and said with a smile, "Princess Chen is such a blessed person."
Ji Lingxue was upset. Was the real queen really praising her? She and the uncle had a lot of grievances. Was it possible that the queen wanted to kill her
The Queen continued, "I have also heard about the faceless female corpse case that caused a stir in the Imperial City some time ago. I heard that the second serial faceless female corpse wore the same clothes as yours, Princess. I was sad that your princess died at such a young age. Fortunately, your princess was lucky enough to have you back, so it can be considered a happy ending."
Ji Lingxue smiled awkwardly, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. I was able to return to the imperial city safely, thanks to the emperor's great blessings and your concern." After being praised like this, the queen couldn't get angry with Ji Lingxue even if she wanted to.
The Queen said, "Haha, Princess Chen, you are really good at talking. By the way, why are you still kneeling on the ground? The ground is cold in this cold weather. You will hurt yourself if you kneel down. Your princess and prince must obey me. Someone, please give Princess Chen a seat."
Ji Lingxue almost rolled her eyes. The women in this palace were probably all blind. She had been kneeling for so long before she saw it.
The Queen changed her mind and asked, "Princess Chen, I am very curious about what happened to you after you were kidnapped by that murderer?"
Ji Lingxue thought to herself: Queen, are your gossip cells so strong
Ji Lingxue made up a story about her kidnapping and told it to the Queen. Of course, she also exaggerated it and described Yuchi Gongru as a pervert who would go crazy like a beast if he didn't suck human blood.
The queen was very interested at first, but when she heard the weird scene of Yuchi Gongru sucking human blood in front of Ji Lingxue, she felt a chill on her back. However, she couldn't resist her curiosity and continued to ask Ji Lingxue about the next plot.
When she heard that Ji Lingxue had lied to Yuchi Gongru that she could detoxify him, her heart skipped a beat. She summoned Ji Lingxue today, on the one hand to set a warning, and on the other hand to avenge her brother. She heard that Ji Lingxue was very naughty and had great luck winning a large sum of money in her brother's underground gambling house, and then had a few words with someone in the gambling house. The Prince of Chen protected his wife and directly brought people to raid the underground gambling house. This was not enough, what was even more infuriating was that Ji Lingxue smashed the Deqing Building that his brother had just taken over.
Originally, she had instructed the nanny beside her to put some poison in the tea. It wouldn't kill her, but it would be enough to torment Ji Lingxue for a while so that she would be more restrained. You have to know how high the sky is, and it's best not to offend her people.
Just now, she heard Ji Lingxue say that she could detoxify. So the lesson of poisoning could not be carried out. If she told Prince Chen and the emperor, her life would be hard. Recently, the emperor has been talking about Ji Lingxue in front of her. I don't know what magic Ji Lingxue has that makes the emperor miss her so much.
Thinking of this, the queen clenched her hands hanging by her side, took a deep breath, and continued to ask: "What happened next, Princess Chen, how did you escape?"
Ji Lingxue continued to tell the story, talking about the brutal scene of wolves fighting in the mountains, and the perverted Yuchi Gongru chopping off the leader of the wolves. The queen's face turned pale. Princess Chen really did it on purpose. Did she have to describe the scene in such detail, making her nervous and excited
"The Prince of Chen found you?" The Queen's eyes lit up. She had heard the scene where Ji Lingxue was attacked by a wolf but was stabbed to death with a branch by a man in white who fell from the sky. The Prince of Chen's crime of leaving the capital without permission was even more serious. She had a handle on him.
Ji Lingxue smiled and said, "Queen, I didn't say it was the prince. I was talking about the prince's friend. He was wearing the same white clothes as the prince, so I thought it was the prince himself. It turned out that I had recognized the wrong person." Queen, you want to catch me but there is no way.
The queen felt lost and rubbed her temples. She was no longer in the mood to listen to Ji Lingxue's stories. She waved her hands and said, "I am tired. It is getting late. Princess Chen should go to pay her respects to the Queen Mother. She has been thinking about you all the time. I will not see you off."
Ji Lingxue stood up, bowed respectfully, and left quickly.
As soon as Ji Lingxue left, the nanny who brought Ji Lingxue here couldn't help but ask: "Queen, didn't you say you would teach her a lesson? Why did you let her go so easily?"
The queen snorted coldly, "This woman is very clever. She knew that I was going to attack her, so she made up a long and exciting story to arouse my curiosity and prevent me from having the chance to attack her. Well, poisoning her is useless. I will try another trick tomorrow to deal with her."
In the Empress Dowager's Palace, the Empress Dowager leaned leisurely on a chair. Ji Lingxue massaged her legs with just the right strength. The Empress Dowager squinted her eyes comfortably.
The Queen Mother asked, "Xue'er, did you go to the Queen just now?"
Ji Lingxue hummed. She was not surprised why the Queen Mother asked this. The palace was so small and there were spies everywhere. If someone sneezed, the other side would know.
The Queen Mother nodded and said, "Did the Queen give you tea?" She had known the Queen's tricks for a long time. Last time, the Emperor took a fancy to a Zhaoyi in the palace, and the jealous Queen poisoned her to death with a bowl of tea.
Ji Lingxue shook her head. "No, I was very interested in how Queen Xue'er was kidnapped, so I asked Xue'er to tell her the story."
The Queen Mother exclaimed, opened her eyes and looked at Ji Lingxue. This girl was also very lucky to escape the disaster.
The Queen Mother said, "Xue'er, you are such a blessed person. Over the years, I have never seen the Prince of Chen care so much about anyone as you do. You didn't know because you were not in the Imperial City. At that time, even the Emperor thought something had happened to you, so he granted her a marriage to comfort the Prince of Chen. Now that you are back, the Prince of Chen has two more concubines. You won't be unhappy, will you?"
Ji Lingxue shook her head, "I think it's good to have one more person to take care of the prince."
The Queen Mother smiled knowingly and changed the subject, "The cooking competition will be held in a few days. I am also looking forward to it. The Imperial City hasn't been so lively for a long time. I heard that chefs from all over the country have rushed to the capital. Xue'er, it's a pity that you don't participate in the competition."
Ji Lingxue smiled and said, "There are many talented people in the world. Queen Mother, please take a look at who is the most outstanding chef."
The Queen Mother smiled and thought so.
Not long after, Prince Xiao Yichen, who had just finished his morning court session, went directly to the Queen Mother's Palace to pick up Ji Lingxue. The two of them walked out of the palace side by side. After getting on the carriage, Xiao Yichen asked, "Has anyone in the palace made things difficult for you?"
Ji Lingxue shook her head. Her identity was not made of paper. If someone wanted to make things difficult for her, she would just do it for her.
Ji Lingxue asked: "Prince, is there a shortage of cooks in the palace? Why are you hiring so many cooks?"
Xiao Yichen smiled and said, "It's not that my mansion is short of a cook, but that my Wangshan Tower is short of one."
Ji Lingxue looked at Xiao Yichen speechlessly: "My Qingfeng Yashe is also in need of a cook, why don't you help me choose one, Your Majesty?"
Xiao Yichen nodded and said, "Yes, go to the kitchen later and take a look. If you like the chef, I will give him to you." He said this in a generous manner, as if these chefs were all insignificant.
Suddenly the carriage came to a stop...
(End of this chapter)