"What does it mean that misfortune is the root of good fortune and good fortune is the root of misfortune?" The Queen's face was cold.
"Yes... that's what you mean! Qiya is from the Northern Frontier, and she's not very clear about this topic. There was a woman there before, who was originally said to have a very good fate. She could bless everyone around her, and her whole family would be happy. But later, not only did her family not get any benefits, but people kept dying. First, it was relatives, then people close to her, and then people who were related to her. There's no definitive answer to this, and it's possible that people who were slightly related to her had an accident first... We asked the Great Witch to take a look, and then we realized we were wrong."
"In fact, the time of birth was not much different, but just changing these few hours immediately changed a very auspicious fate into a very bad one, bringing misfortune to relatives, friends and everyone... Qiya heard that the Princess of England... The Princess of England..."
Princess Qiya couldn't continue her words and shook her hands hurriedly: "Queen... This is not true. This has nothing to do with the Princess of England. It was the rumors outside that hurt Qiya and made Qiya think of these bad rumors for a while. I..."
Princess Qia knelt down at this point and said, "Please forgive me, Queen, I just made all this up."
The Queen's face was as gloomy as water, her brows were tightly furrowed, her eyes fell on the portrait in front of her, and her expression was very ugly.
Although she was a little distant from the King of England, as long as the King of England was still of royal blood, this matter had something to do with her. She was not worried that it would really bring bad luck to her, after all, it was Princess Qiya who said this. Who was Princess Qiya? A princess of the Northern Frontier, the Northern Frontier had always been at odds with the Great Zhou Dynasty.
How could the Queen believe everything the princess of the enemy side said
Apart from the words "Great Witch Sacrifice" that concerned the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother actually did not believe what Princess Qia said. The fact that she could sit on the throne of the Emperor showed that she was not simple.
He stretched out his hand and shook it, "Princess Qiya, please stand up."
"Your Majesty... Qiya is really young and naive. I just said nonsense. Please forgive me, Your Majesty, or I won't get up." Princess Qiya was obviously scared. Her eyes were red. She knelt there trembling, looking extremely pitiful.
"You can get up!" The Queen sighed, "Since this matter is your Northern Frontier's business, it naturally has nothing to do with the Central Plains. It's just a casual conversation."
This is a conclusion to Princess Qia's words, a conclusion that is insignificant.
After hearing what the Queen said, Princess Qia felt relieved. She stood up with the help of the palace maid and timidly glanced at the Queen's face. Seeing that her face was still gloomy, she was not angry, she breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and a smile appeared on her face again.
"Empress, this painting... can it be given to Qiya?" Princess Qiya stood up again, calmed down a little, and looked at the painting again, "This painting... is really good, I wonder which painter painted it."
The Queen's heart skipped a beat, because among the princes, Prince Wei was the best painter.
"Since this painting belongs to the Princess of England, it should be returned to her," the Queen refused.
"Yes!" Princess Qia seemed frightened by what had just happened. She didn't dare to say anything more. She bit her lip and sat down aside.
The whole person looked a little less lively than before.
He spoke less and more cautiously than before.
After talking for a few words, the Queen Mother felt bored and sent the person back. This time, she did not ask anyone to accompany her for a walk, but asked the palace servants to escort her out of the palace directly.
"Empress, this portrait?" The hall fell silent. The nanny beside the Queen saw the Queen looking at the painting on the table, pondering in silence, and said.
"Take the portrait with you, I'm going to see the Emperor." The Queen stood up.
"Your Majesty, do you really believe... what Princess Qia said?"
Mammy asked.
"So what if it is, so what if it isn't? Since there is such a saying, and since this painting appeared in the palace, there must be a reason." The Queen took a deep breath.
Just now in front of Princess Qia, she spoke magnanimously and acted as if she didn't care at all about Princess Qia's words, but now she felt heavy in her heart.
Things were pushed in front of her and she had to take over...
"Madam..." the nanny said hurriedly, "You originally..."
The Empress shook her hand, signaling her not to say anything more, and took a deep breath, "No matter what, this matter must be reported to the Emperor, and he will make the final decision."
Princess Qia saw many people along the way. Judging from her previous behavior and appearance, she might have been asking about Princess Ying on the way. Even if she didn't report it now, the matter would come to the emperor, which would only arouse the emperor's suspicion. She couldn't let the emperor suspect her at this time.
Even though the portrait incident frightened her.
Who was behind this? Concubine He? Concubine He also summoned Princess Qia before. Could there be some hidden agenda behind this
This bitch has been fighting with me for so many years, and now she is taking advantage of me.
She gritted her teeth and felt a dull pain in her head. There were some things she really didn't want to mention, and she didn't want to mention them in her entire life...
But she had to report it.
He led his men to the emperor's study and stopped at the door.
"Empress." The eunuchs on both sides saluted hurriedly.
"Who's in there?" asked the Queen.
"His Royal Highness the King of England is inside." The eunuch reported with a smile.
The Queen's brows furrowed even more deeply. The person she least wanted to see at this moment was Pei Yuanjun. "It's already this late, and the King of England hasn't left yet?"
In the past, Pei Yuanjun had already left at this time. It was said that he went to the farm outside the city to visit Princess Ying every day.
"The Emperor has something to do, so he has kept His Royal Highness the King of England." The eunuch whispered.
The Queen Mother rubbed her brows with her hand. Now that she was here, it was obviously impossible for her to go back.
"Go and report it!"
The eunuch took the order and went in to report. After a while, he came out and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the emperor summons you to come in."
The Queen Mother straightened her clothes a little and went into the imperial study with a palace maid who was holding a painting in her hand.
"Your Majesty, I have seen you!"
"No need!" The emperor shook his hand, put down the memorial in his hand, and asked, "What is the matter that the queen came here for?"
"There are indeed some things I want to ask the King of England." The Queen smiled and said softly.
"What happened in the Prince of England's palace?" the emperor asked unhappily.
"Actually, it's not a matter of the King of England's palace. It's just a matter concerning the King of England. When I came here, I heard that the King of England was still there. What a coincidence. I was supposed to tell the King of England about this matter." The Queen smiled.
"Your Majesty, please speak." Pei Yuanjun stood up and bowed, then stretched out his hand lazily, motioning for the Queen to continue.
"Your Majesty, please look." The Queen took the scroll from the hand of the palace maid behind her and brought it to the Emperor's desk. Li Quan hurriedly stepped back, making room to the side, and stood behind the Emperor.
The painting was slowly spread out on the table. The emperor's face darkened and he looked up at Pei Yuanjun, "Come and take a look."
Pei Yuanjun took two steps forward, his handsome eyes fell on the scroll on the desk. After seeing the person on the scroll clearly, he raised his eyes to look at the Queen Mother, and his gaze swept across the Queen Mother's face almost as if it were real.
The Queen's heart tightened involuntarily, and she subconsciously clenched the handkerchief in her hand.
"Excuse me, Madam, where did this scroll come from?"
"Princess Qiya found it in the palace. There was a strong wind before today, and the painting was blown out from a hall at that time and fell into the hands of a palace maid. The palace maid was accompanied by Princess Qiya at the time. Princess Qiya took the painting to me and asked me if the person in the painting was Princess Ying, and then asked about some things about Princess Ying."
The Queen said with a smile.
"It was rolled out from a palace? I wonder which palace it was from?" Pei Yuanjun suddenly chuckled, his voice pleasant but with a hint of coldness, "I didn't know there were people in the palace who collected such paintings."
"This..." the Queen said in embarrassment.
"Please explain clearly, Madam!"
“Your Majesty…” The Queen looked at the Emperor, who nodded with a serious face.
"This is where the King of Wei rests in the palace." The Queen Mother had to say, and she comforted Pei Yuanjun softly, "King Ying, this portrait doesn't mean anything. The King of Wei is in poor health, but he likes quietness and elegance. It's just a painting, and it doesn't mean anything. King Ying must not blame the King of Wei for this portrait."
Painting a picture, and doing it secretly, actually explains a lot of problems. Regardless of whether Pei Yuanjun cares about his princess or not, such a thing is almost a slap in his face.
Pei Yuanjun has always been an arrogant person. He has been spoiled by the emperor since he was a child and has never suffered any loss. He will not suffer such a loss now.
The more sincere the Queen's advice was, the more it proved that the matter was true.
The emperor's face turned almost black, and he stared at the queen coldly: "Is this true?"
The Queen nodded calmly, "Princess Qiya came to tell me about this matter. I was afraid that she was ignorant and would make fun of me if she told others, so I reprimanded her. When she left just now, she looked unhappy. I wonder if Princess Qiya will think that I was too strict in the past."
The two countries are in peace talks, and any little thing could affect the talks. The Queen's words now make people feel that she really wants to keep this matter secret and really doesn't want this matter to spread. She even reprimanded Lord Chiya, who is very important in the talks.
The emperor's previous intention was to ask her to take good care of Princess Qia.
"Don't worry about it." The emperor said coldly, looking at Pei Yuanjun with a sullen face, and said: "After such a thing happened, you can't keep this princess. Demote her to a concubine. I will let the queen explain this to the wife of the Duke of Yu. If this kind of thing gets out, it will be a loss of your face."
"Your Majesty, this... isn't good, is it?" The Queen exclaimed, "The Princess of England is the one who wants to recognize her ancestry and return to her roots."
"There's nothing wrong with it. This is her fault. If she hadn't provoked... others, how could the portrait be left out there?" The emperor snorted coldly.
No matter how sickly the King of Wei was, he was still his son, and he had always admired this son of his, because he was not competitive and was indifferent to the world. However, his health was really too poor.