The Qu family's water business was well-known in southern Fujian. They became wealthy after Emperor Taizu opened up the sea, and several generations of their family had been kings on the water. The Qu family's shipbuilding skills were far ahead of their peers, and even the palace had to invite craftsmen from the Qu family to build ships.
Qu Hongying's father gave birth to three sons and one daughter. After her father passed away, no one expected that the eldest lady of the Qu family, who had been unknown all this time, would actually participate in the power struggle and win. Since she came to power, no one, whether it was people in the officialdom or bandits in the underworld, could get away with it in the Qu family, and no accident has happened so far.
She has at her disposal the best sailors, the best shipbuilders, and the best predictors of wind and waves, and all of them are convinced by her.
Qi Pei and her first met when they delivered grain to Dengzhou last year. The route chosen by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was indeed the most likely route to deliver the grain, but it was also risky in the continuous heavy rain, so only Qu Hongying dared to take it.
In fact, Qu Hongying had originally rejected Hua Taoyi, but he came forward to persuade her later.
Qu Hongying was 25 years old at the time, several years older than him. She looked at him with a burning gaze, and he knew what she was thinking.
Qi Pei: "Don't you despise my imperfect body, Boss?"
"If I disliked you, I wouldn't have expressed my feelings to you today." Qu Hongying couldn't help but move closer.
The red lips were within reach. She didn't have the fragrance of most girls, but instead had a damp smell of sea breeze, which was not pungent. Qi Pei didn't dodge, but connected his breath with hers, staring at her for an unknown amount of time before he held her lips: "As you wish."
He agreed, he agreed!
Qu Hongying's heart began to beat rapidly, but she quickly stepped back, stood up straight, and faced Qi Pei sideways: "For your master, can you sell yourself?"
Qu Hongying knew who Qi Pei was loyal to, the most noble woman in the world. When Dengzhou was releasing water, she sneaked into Dengzhou and saw her from afar. Only then did she realize that there was such a beauty in the world.
Ever since she could remember, she had been following her parents on the ship, welcoming and seeing off merchant ships. Qu was the first choice of dignitaries and had met countless girls from wealthy families and famous families. Some of them were as beautiful as the Crown Princess, or even better.
But in the eyes of Qu Hongying, who had seen many kinds of beauty, those people were just empty shells, whose beauty would only last for a dozen years and fade away in the blink of an eye.
The Crown Princess was different. She had an aura that made everyone want to worship her. This aura was not because she was the Crown Princess, but it came from her bones. Qu Hongying, who had not read many books, didn't know how to describe it.
Qi Pei's soft and dense eyelashes drooped slightly. "My master, as long as she wants, there is nothing in the world that she cannot do. There is no need for me to sell my body."
For a moment, Qu Hongying felt both happy and sad. She was happy that he accepted her feelings for no other reason, but she was sad that there was such a woman in his heart. Although it had nothing to do with love, she had left a heavy mark that could never be erased.
She was open-minded, and for some reason, she cared so much. She really wanted to ask him, if one day she and the Crown Princess were both in a life-threatening situation, who would he choose to save? Thinking this in her heart, she couldn't help but blurt it out.
After saying this, Qu Hongying heard his low laughter and felt very annoyed.