A group of people came out from behind the rockery, and the first one to come out was actually King Wei Pei Qingmin.
Qu Moying hadn't seen the King of Wei for a long time. When he got married, he heard that the King of Wei had always been sick and weak. He was not feeling well and had difficulty even getting up. He was very ill and had been recuperating outside the city.
He still looked sicker than most people, his face was still pale, and one could tell at a glance that he had some deficiencies, but he was in good spirits.
He was wearing a light blue brocade robe, which made his face as handsome as jade. He was the most gentle and harmless prince among the royal family members.
With a body like his, his brothers really had nothing to be wary of him. Over the years, the King of Wei was the most friendly and respectful among the princes, and they were all sincere in their love.
No one would care to have one more brother to show his kindness.
King Jing and the Crown Prince were fighting like two black-eyed chickens, but everyone was very friendly to the King of Wei, an idle king with little fighting power. It would be no mistake for anyone to make friends with him, and nothing could possibly happen. It would not make people doubt whether he was on the right side or not.
Qu Moying was also surprised that this person was in the palace today.
When he heard the question, he smiled slightly and was not flustered.
Yuxiu heard the footsteps just now and had already secretly reminded her. Naturally, she was not afraid that Pei Qingmin would hear what she had just said.
After the two sides exchanged greetings, Pei Qingmin smiled and bowed to her, saying, "I was not feeling well before and did not attend my uncle's wedding. I hope Princess Ying will forgive me."
"You're too polite, King Wei." Qu Moying responded generously.
"I heard Princess Ying mention Master Shangshan. Could she be the master in the palace?" Pei Qingmin was not in a hurry to leave. He looked up at Qu Moying and asked curiously.
"It is indeed this nun." Qu Moying said.
"This nun is well versed in Buddhism and is extremely talented, but she has always been cold to people in the palace. I didn't expect that she would look at Princess Ying differently!" Pei Qingmin said in surprise.
"I didn't look at him differently. The Crown Princess and Miss Liu were here just now." Qu Moying shook his head and said.
"What happened?" Pei Qingmin knew something was wrong as soon as he heard it.
Qu Moying smiled and said, "It's nothing, just some things in the backyard."
Regardless of whether the King of Wei really didn't know or was pretending not to know, this kind of thing should not be told to him.
"What happened in the backyard? Is it about the missing maid from the prince's mansion outside?" Pei Qingmin thought for a while and asked. It can be seen that he is also paying attention to such things outside.
Qu Moying smiled slightly and did not answer.
Pei Qingmin didn't wait for her to respond, and smiled again: "I heard that Princess Ying is also involved? Who is this maid, and how did she attract so many princesses to bow down to her?"
"It has nothing to do with me. This is just other people's gossip. The Queen has just examined it clearly." Qu Moying fluttered her long eyelashes twice, then raised her eyes, smiling gently and shallowly, yet with a hint of alienation. She didn't think that her friendship with the King of Wei was enough for them to gossip about this kind of thing.
"The Queen has already investigated everything, which is a good thing. There are many maids in each mansion, and there are all kinds of people. We really need to investigate more." Pei Qingmin smiled and looked up at Yuxiu who was following behind Qu Moying. "This maid looks new. Is she the new maid of Princess Ying?"
Those who follow their masters into the palace, especially those like Yuxiu, are generally senior maids.
Pei Qingmin had seen the maid that Qu Moying followed before. She was a capable one, but not the one in front of him. She looked unfamiliar, so he couldn't help but ask another question.
"She is indeed a newly accepted maid." Qu Moying said softly.
Pei Qingmin made way and looked Yuxiu up and down again: "She looks capable, but we need to investigate her background. The Prince's Mansion has had a lot of trouble. If something like this happens again, it won't be good."
"Thank you, King Wei." Qu Moying said, smiled at Wei Qingmin, and then took Yuxiu and left along the path that Wei Qingmin had made way for.
Yuxiu followed closely and walked past Pei Qingmin for a while. She could still feel the King of Wei's gaze on her.
After turning a few corners, the feeling of being scrutinized finally disappeared, and Yuxiu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Outside the palace gate, the carriage was already parked and waiting.
Qu Moying had just helped Yuxiu into the carriage when a slender hand stretched out from the carriage and pulled Qu Moying into the carriage. Pei Yuanjun was actually waiting in the carriage.
Qu Moying was pulled to sit next to Pei Yuanjun.
"Is there anything wrong?" Pei Yuanjun saw her sit down, reached out and poured a cup of tea on the small table, and handed it to her with an elegant and calm movement.
"The Crown Princess was punished to kneel for half an hour, and Miss Liu was punished to kneel for an hour. There was nothing else to do." Qu Moying concluded.
Pei Yuanjun raised his handsome eyebrows and said with a bit of disapproval: "30 lashes each, it has always been so 'fair'."
The reason why the Crown Prince and King Jing could fight so fiercely was because the palace had always been so "fair". It seemed impartial, but in fact it was so biased that it was hard to tell.
"The Queen Mother can't do anything to Concubine He?" Qu Moying thought about it for a moment and understood the reason.
Today she faced such a fight directly.
The Queen seemed much more impulsive, but Concubine He seemed even more powerful.
"Noble Concubine He, she entered the palace with the help of Empress Yuan. For so many years, she has been using Empress Yuan as an excuse to lure the emperor to her. Do you remember her cat? Now she has another similar one."
A hint of surprise appeared on Qu Moying's charming face. Of course she remembered the incident with the cat. It had killed a beauty in the palace, and the cat was actually fine at that time.
"The white cat from last time?"
"The Empress Yuan once raised a white cat like this one, just like that one. After the Empress Yuan died, the cat disappeared somehow. Concubine He found a similar one from somewhere and told the Emperor that it was the same cat. He actually believed it."
Pei Yuanjun said in a light tone.
There wasn't much respect for the Emperor in his words.
"Now there's another one, you can't still say it's the same one from that time, right?" Qu Moying asked softly, her eyes gentle under her long eyelashes.
Pei Yuanjun reached out and held Qu Moying's hand, gently rubbing it twice before saying, "The current one doesn't mention the previous one. It only said that he sent her a dream, asking her to adopt another one, saying that the cat will come back to life. If the cat can come back to life, so can this person."
Qu Moying's heart moved, and her watery eyes were shocked for a moment: "Resurrection?"
"Have you seen the small Buddhist temple?" Pei Yuanjun chuckled. His voice was pleasant but carried a hint of coldness. "It was set up during the time of the Queen Mother. It is still there and is still highly respected."
Qu Moying's long eyelashes tremble
He shuddered twice: "This... Could it be the emperor's intention?"
She just thought that it was the influence of the Queen Mother, plus the means of Master Shangshan, that such a small Buddhist temple was still preserved in the palace. It seemed that even the Queen Mother cared about it, otherwise she would not have punished Liu Jingyu and Liu Lanxin by sending them to the small Buddhist temple.
Now it seems that I have underestimated this seemingly harmless and kind Master Shangshan.
"Of course it's the emperor's intention. Otherwise, how could a nun live in the palace all the time? Now that the empress dowager is gone, this place has been abandoned." Pei Yuanjun's face was as sarcastic as ever, mocking the emperor's behavior.
Qu Moying looked at him, was silent for a moment, and held Pei Yuanjun's hand with her backhand. Looking at his delicate and handsome face, Pei Yuanjun could guess what kind of stunningly beautiful woman his biological mother was at the time, but it was a pity that she ended up like that...
"The past... is the past, how can it come back?" Qu Moying said softly.
"Some people just deceive themselves. Otherwise, how could Concubine He be the favorite concubine for so many years? She was just relying on the influence of the former Empress Yuan." Pei Yuanjun's expression became better, with a smile on the corner of his lips. He gently pinched Qu Moying's palm and then pulled her into his arms. "It seems that the prince also wants to lean in that direction."
These words made the smile on Qu Moying's face freeze.
She understood, and looked up at Pei Yuanjun in horror. She opened her mouth and said, "The Crown Prince... also... also wants to use the matter of the former Crown Princess to gain the Emperor's pity?"
"It should be. Otherwise, why should we keep building up this affectionate character? We do it for others to see, but it is not as important as doing it for the emperor. The current Concubine Ji is the same as the former Imperial Concubine He. They are just walking the same path." Pei Yuanjun said disapprovingly.
Ji Hanyue is like Empress Yuan, and Ji Youran is like Concubine He.
History will repeat itself. Although the process is different, the ending is the same. Her extremely long eyelashes cast uneven shadows on her almost transparent face. With Pei Yuanjun's force, she slowly leaned towards him. She felt her heart beating. At this moment, there was a tinnitus in her ears, buzzing...
"Okay, let's take a break first. This matter... will always have a result. No matter who it is, if they borrow someone else's name and gain someone else's benefits, they will never really get everything."
Sensing the shock in Qu Moying's heart, Pei Yuanjun held her in his arms, gently stroked her back with his big hands, and soothed her softly.
In a place where Qu Moying couldn't see, Pei Yuanjun could sense Qu Moying's tension at this moment. His body was tense, and a hint of darkness flashed in his eyes, and then slowly disappeared behind his gentle eyes.
The woman in front of him had her own secrets, but he didn't care.
What she cared about was what he cared about, and there was no need to ask too much. He could sense her helplessness and weakness, which was unlike her decisiveness and sharpness in the past.
At this moment, she was just a helpless little girl...
"I just met the King of Wei. He kept asking about the maids in the East Palace. He also said that such maid incidents should not happen again. It's very strange." After a long while, Qu Moying leaned in Pei Yuanjun's arms and murmured.
This is what she said subconsciously, and only after she said it did she realize that it was boring. It was just a casual remark.
There was a gentle touch on his back, and Pei Yuanjun's lazy voice was in his ears: "Then let's go back to the mansion and check it out!"