Su Jincheng stared at the white paper and suddenly realized that he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.
From the moment he first met her in the West Hill Paddock, he knew that this girl was fearless, but he could never have imagined that when it came to life and death, she would dare to use a piece of blank paper to fool him and the Queen, and quietly lead everyone into her trap.
The drama had already begun when the eunuch who led the way appeared, but he and the eunuch both foolishly believed her, believing that the brocade bag really contained chips that were enough to make the queen jealous, and he never had any doubts about her from beginning to end.
Now think about it, if the young eunuch did not convey this matter to Wang Lu, or Wang Lu did not tell the Queen in time, or the Queen did not be fooled after hearing it, if any of these links went wrong, the two brothers and sisters might not be able to leave Kunning Palace today.
This girl is so bold!
"This is the first time, and the last time." He warned Xie Nanjia with a dark face, "Remember, no matter what happens in the future, you must not put yourself in danger again."
"Yes, yes, yes, don't do this again in the future. You almost scared me to death." Zhao Jingyu wiped his forehead with his hand and said with lingering fear, "Fortunately, the Queen and the Prince are not very smart, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous."
Xie Nanjia laughed: "It's not that they are not smart, they just can't do anything to me. Don't worry, I know what to do."
"Look, she's still stubborn." Zhao Jingyu helplessly spread her hands to Su Jincheng, "I'm afraid I won't be able to control her in the future."
"Is it your business?" Su Jincheng said coldly.
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
Okay, since you are my brother-in-law, I won’t bother with you.
Seeing him being embarrassed, Xie Nanjia asked him with a smile: "How did you know I entered the palace?"
Zhao Jingyu glanced at Su Jincheng and said cryptically, "Isn't the emperor going to summon the Imperial Observatory and folk sorcerers to re-interpret the horoscope today? I wanted to tell you that Hu Qianshan has returned from southern Xinjiang and has been summoned to the palace. I only found out that you had also entered the palace after I arrived at your house."
He said it lightly, but only Wei Jun, who was driving in front, knew how anxious and out of control he had been since he heard that Xie Nanjia had entered the palace alone. He had already ordered Huangfu to gather people and be prepared to break into the palace at any time.
Xie Nanjia was not aware of this, and was cheered up when she heard that Hu Qianshan had returned.
With Hu Qianshan's reputation in the Great Zhou, there is really nothing to worry about if he is around. Even if he says a few nonsense, people will believe it.
"I feel relieved with Mr. Hu around," she said with a smile.
"Yes, he knows what to do, so you can rest assured." Zhao Jingyu said.
"Yeah." Xie Nanjia smiled and nodded.
Su Jincheng looked at the two of them silently, and always felt that there was a tacit understanding between them that no one else could understand. Just a word or a look could make the other person understand.
This discovery made him feel sour that he couldn't wait to chase Zhao Jingyu away before the carriage even stopped at the door of his house.
Zhao Jingyu was hoping to go in and sit for a while, but faced with his ruthless brother-in-law, he had to leave dejectedly.
Xie Nanjia felt sorry for him, so she chased after him and said, "Pay attention to the situation in the palace. If anything happens, come and tell me. I'll sneak out to see you then."
Zhao Jingyu then became happy and wanted to pull her hand, but he glanced at Su Jincheng who was eyeing her covetously behind her and gave up.
After he left, Xie Nanjia and Su Jincheng returned to the mansion together to report their safety to the family members who were waiting at the old lady's place.
The whole family had been waiting anxiously, and when they heard that the brother and sister had returned, they came out to greet them impatiently.
Sheng Qingyun walked in front and took the lead in pulling Xie Nanjia into his arms, hugging her, and asked repeatedly, "Good children, how are you? Did the Queen not embarrass you?"
"No." Xie Nanjia omitted all the details and said lightly, "The Queen said that she would definitely help us find our father."
When everyone heard this, they all understood that the queen had compromised. As for why she compromised or what conditions she put forward, now was not the time to ask about these things, so everyone tacitly kept silent.
After Sheng Qingyun confirmed that his two children were safe and sound, the whole family returned to the old lady's room. The younger generations were left in the outer hall, and only a few elders and Xie Nanjia entered the inner room together.
Su Jincheng himself didn't understand how his sister and the Queen negotiated, so he didn't follow in. The Su brothers surrounded him and asked him all kinds of questions.
After a while, a servant suddenly came running over breathlessly, shouting loudly, "The Duke is back, the Duke is back..."
The whole family was surprised and happy, and rushed out to greet him, but the young Duke Su Xian had already arrived in the yard.
"My son!" The old lady came out tremblingly, supported by her two daughters-in-law, and stretched out her hands to her eldest son with tears in her eyes.
Su Xian hurried forward, knelt down at his mother's feet, and kowtowed, saying, "Mother, I am an unfilial son and I frightened you."
The old lady waved her hands and choked up: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."
Su Xian kowtowed to the old Duke again: "Father, I made you worry."
The old Duke was a man after all, and he was able to control his emotions fairly well. He bent down to help him up, and patted him on the shoulder: "You're glad to be back. Come into the house!"
Su Xian agreed, holding his mother in his left hand and his father in his right hand, he walked into the house. When he reached the door, he found that his wife was leaning against the door frame wiping her tears with a handkerchief, and his daughter was obediently beside her.
"Madam!" Su Xian's eyes instantly turned red. He let go of his parents and excitedly took his wife's hand. "It's my fault for making you worry about me."
Sheng Qingyun shook her head with tears in her eyes: "Husband, don't say that. We are a family. You can come back thanks to Xiu'er. This child is so capable. It really makes me feel relieved and worried."
Su Xian looked at Xie Nanjia lovingly, stroking her hair and apologetically said, "My dear child, your father cannot protect you and instead asks you to take risks for him. Your father is sorry for you."
"Father, you're too kind. It's because of me that I'm in danger. I should do anything for you," said Xie Nanjia.
The whole family sighed as they entered the hall. They filled the room and listened to the young Duke explain the whole story in detail.
It turned out that after he finished talking with the emperor, he did not have time to leave the palace, so he was intercepted by the empress's people and taken to Kunning Palace. The empress wanted him to take the initiative to propose to marry Xie Nanjia into the Eastern Palace, but he said that he could not make the final decision on this matter and had to wait for the Imperial Observatory to give the final result before handing it over to the emperor to decide.
The negotiations between the two sides failed, and the Empress turned hostile. She ordered her people to take off his court clothes, and had her confidant pretend to be him and leave the palace, and imprison him in a side hall, waiting for the Su family to take the initiative to seek peace and for Xie Nanjia to come to her door herself.
When Xie Nanjia met the queen, he was in a secret door on the side of the hall, gagged and tied to a chair, guarded by two eunuchs. He heard every word Xie Nanjia and the queen said clearly.
"I really didn't expect that my daughter would be so courageous, knowledgeable, brave and resourceful. Even my father feels ashamed of himself. If I were half as smart as Xiu'er, I wouldn't end up in such a passive situation." The young duke said ashamedly.
"That's right. My dear granddaughter is just strong. Otherwise, how could she be the daughter of the Phoenix?" the old Duke blurted out proudly.
“…” There was silence in the hall.
The old lady rolled her eyes at him and said, "You are really talking about something that is not relevant to the topic!"
Xie Nanjia tried to smooth things over: "Father, don't blame yourself. You are an adult and an official in the court, so you can't just go head-to-head with the Queen. I am a child and not under the control of the court. I can say whatever I want. Besides, the Queen is counting on me, the daughter of the Phoenix, to help her son succeed to the throne. That's why I am fearless in front of her. This doesn't mean I am smarter than father, it just means I am more scoundrel than father."
The whole family was amused by her, and the haze in their hearts dissipated.
The Duke and his wife looked at their daughter with great pride.
With such an outstanding daughter, it’s no wonder that the Queen is determined to get her.
The Queen lost this round, and she doesn’t know what tricks she will come up with next. It’s really a headache.
After talking about this matter, the old lady simply told her eldest son about the matter of Zheng and Princess Jinping and asked him what he thought.
Su Xian was also shocked when he heard that the two men were going to poison his daughter. He hurriedly asked if Xie Nanjia was okay. When he was sure that the two men's plan had not succeeded, he breathed a sigh of relief and said indignantly: "What's the point of keeping such a vicious person? Either beat him to death or hand him over to the government for punishment."
The second master and his three sons all hung their heads sadly.
The old lady sighed, "After all, she is your sister-in-law, so she can be spared the death penalty!"
Su Xian then thought of his second brother and three nephews, and realized that he had spoken too harshly, so he suppressed his anger and said, "In that case, let's send them to the authorities!"
"So do you think it's better to send it now, or wait until the results from the Imperial Observatory come out?" asked the old lady.
Su Xian subconsciously looked at Xie Nanjia: "What do you think, Xiu'er?"
"I think the sooner the better." Xie Nanjia said, "If the result shows that I am not the daughter of Phoenix, the queen will definitely keep the previous engagement in order to pull my family to her side. By then, we will have no way to deal with that liar."
"But we have already fallen out with her, why is she still trying to win us over?" The Fourth Lady couldn't help asking.
"Our falling out with her is a private matter, no one knows about it. As long as the marriage between the two families exists, others will automatically put us in her camp. She doesn't need us to do anything for her. What she wants is that we can no longer stand in another camp." Xie Nanjia explained.
"Oh, it's so complicated?" The fourth lady almost couldn't understand it, and then asked, "What if the result of the test shows that you are still the daughter of Phoenix?"
"Then we can't let that liar take my name." Xie Nanjia said, "Anyway, whether I am the Princess of Jinping County or not, the Queen will not let me go, so why bother to lie again."
"Oh, oh, oh..." The fourth lady nodded as if she understood, and suddenly said, "A girl with the Phoenix destiny should marry a dragon son. Why should we go against the Queen?"
“…” The hall was silent again.
The fourth master scolded his wife: "If you don't have enough brains, then talk less and listen more, and don't say anything you shouldn't say."
After being scolded, the fourth lady shut up angrily.
The old lady sighed and ordered the third master to take people to send Zheng and the fake county lady to the Kyoto government office.
The second master and his three sons turned their backs and shed tears in secret.
Su Xian felt sorry for his second brother. Although he had suffered even more since losing his daughter for twelve years, he still said to the second master generously, "Don't worry, second brother. I will ask the government to give your sister-in-law a light sentence. I will then arrange for her to be taken out of prison and sent to the farm. When the time comes, you and the children can go to the farm to see her."
"..." Sheng Qingyun disagreed with her husband's approach and was about to express her opposition, but Xie Nanjia stopped her in time, telling her to think about it later.
The second master and his three sons were so grateful to Su Xian that they knelt on the ground and bowed to him. The old lady felt a little comforted and stroked her chest and chanted "Amitabha".
The Third Master had just left with his carriage when a servant came to report that the Second Young Master Zhao had arrived with a letter.
Xie Nanjia's heart skipped a beat, thinking, didn't they agree to meet secretly? Why did they come in such a high profile
Zhao Jingyu was also very depressed. He wanted to secretly inform his people at the gatehouse and ask him to quietly call Xie Nanjia out. However, Su Jincheng deliberately made trouble for him and sent people outside to guard against him early. When he arrived, the man came forward to greet him with loud shouts and enthusiastically brought him to the old lady.
At this point, there was nothing he could do. Faced with a room full of eager Su family members, he had to greet them politely and tell them the latest news from the palace.
"I don't know whether this result is good or bad." Zhao Jingyu sat down and took a sip of tea before slowly saying, "The Queen was afraid that someone would tamper with it, so after consulting with the Emperor, she mixed the birth charts of five men and five women together and asked the Imperial Observatory and folk sorcerers to do divination. No names were marked on them. As a result, the twelve sorcerers, including the Imperial Observatory's director and Hu Qianshan, all predicted the same girl to be born under the Phoenix Fate."
"Who is it?" The impatient Fourth Lady asked first.
Zhao Jingyu raised his eyebrows and looked at Xie Nanjia silently.
The Su family members all breathed a sigh of relief, with mixed feelings.
"So, our Xiu'er can't escape after all?" said the Fourth Lady.
Xie Nanjia blinked and looked at Zhao Jingyu carefully. Seeing that he did not look too anxious, she asked thoughtfully, "Is there a prince among the five men?"
Zhao Jingyu couldn't help laughing.
His wife is smart. She hit the nail on the head when she asked.
"Yes." He nodded, took another sip of tea, and said leisurely under everyone's anxious gaze, "Unfortunately, the prince and the girl with the Phoenix destiny are not compatible at all."
"ah?"
"how so?"
The Su family was stunned and couldn't believe their ears. Isn't it said that a girl with a phoenix destiny can only marry a dragon son? The prince is the emperor's only son, why is he incompatible with a girl with a phoenix destiny
"Well, are there any suitable ones among the other four?" the fourth lady asked first.
"Yes." Zhao Jingyu's smile gradually widened, and his peach blossom eyes sparkled. "But in order to prevent that person from being implicated innocently, the twelve warlocks unanimously decided not to disclose his name."
Xie Nanjia: “…”
Seeing you smile like that, even a fool would know it’s you!
(End of this chapter)