Han Qingqiu had just returned to the mansion when she heard the Regent Princess coming. She was silent for a moment and said, "Please."
Zi'an came in with Xiaosun and Dao Lao Da. When Han Qingqiu saw Zi'an, she bowed politely and said, "I am here to see the Regent Princess."
"Madam, please don't be so polite!" Zi'an looked at her and saw that her face looked a little sad, her face was flushed, and she smelled of alcohol, so she must have drunk some wine.
"Please take a seat, Princess!" Han Qingqiu greeted.
"Madam, do you have any wine? I would like to have a couple of drinks with you." Zi'an asked after sitting down.
Han Qingqiu was startled. "Wine?"
"Yes, I'm a little tired. I'll have a drink so I can sleep well tonight." Zi'an said with a smile.
Han Qingqiu quickly ordered people to prepare wine and snacks, and the housekeeper went to take care of it personally.
The wine is an easy-to-drink osmanthus aged wine, with plenty of fragrance but on the sweet side.
Zi'an drank a cup, and seeing that Han Qingqiu didn't move, he said, "Madam, don't you want to show me your courtesy?"
Han Qingqiu forced a smile and said, "I can't drink much."
"Drink it." Zi'an said calmly.
Han Qingqiu had no choice but to pick up the wine and drink it. She didn't want to drink because she had drunk a few glasses before, and Xia Zian came with bad intentions, so she wanted to stay sober.
"I wonder if the princess will come tonight..."
"Drink!" Zi'an poured her a glass of wine himself. "I wanted to find someone to drink with. I knew that Madam was still awake, so I came to have a drink with Madam."
Han Qingqiu said, "It's an honor for me." However, she seemed very uneasy.
After Zi'an drank several cups in a row, her unnatural feeling disappeared.
Zi'an put down his wine glass and asked casually, "By the way, I heard that Madam went to the Princess's Mansion tonight."
Han Qingqiu looked serious and looked at Zi'an warily, "Yes, the princess knows?"
"I came here just after you left. I wonder what you were doing at the princess's mansion? I heard from Qinzhi that you wanted to talk to the princess, but you said nothing when you saw the princess." Zi'an asked.
Seeing her asking so bluntly, Han Qingqiu couldn't avoid the question, "Yes, I heard that something happened to the princess, and I wanted to go visit her."
"I also heard that the Empress Dowager will summon you to the palace tomorrow." Zi'an asked again.
Han Qingqiu put down the cup and looked at Zi'an, "Princess, why don't you just say what you want to say directly? I can't understand if you beat around the bush."
Zi'an said, "I think you have guessed why the Empress Dowager summoned you to the palace, right?"
Han Qingqiu shook her head, "I dare not speculate rashly."
Zi'an smiled, "The Queen Mother will definitely make you and Xiao Xiao divorce."
Han Qingqiu was surprised. She knew the Empress Dowager's intention, but she was a little surprised that Xia Zian made it so clear.
"Are you willing?" Zi'an looked at her and asked.
Han Qingqiu did not answer, but asked Zi'an, "Princess, your purpose of coming here tonight is to persuade me?"
"No, I just want to ask if you are willing." Zi'an said.
Han Qingqiu said: "Since the princess asked directly, I will answer directly. I don't want to. I love Xiao Xiao deeply. Why should I divorce him? Besides, the princess can't survive. Could it be that I gave up my own happiness just to let Xiao Xiao marry a tablet?"
"You mean, if the princess were alive, you would be willing to give up this marriage that you got through trickery?" Zi'an asked.
Han Qingqiu was silent for a moment, "Princess, you know the whole story, and you must also know that I had no choice."
"You have to? You would kill Yao Zhi if you had to? Do you know why the emperor chose you? He didn't choose anyone else among the four maids, but you. Do you know why?"
Han Qingqiu said stubbornly: "I don't know, maybe it's because Yao Zhi and I went to find Xiao Xiao."
"Then he could also look for Yao Zhi, not necessarily you. The reason the emperor looked for you is because he had long seen that you had improper thoughts about Xiao Xiao, and he knew that you wanted to be the master."
Han Qingqiu said excitedly: "Can't I like Xiao Xiao? Just because I'm a slave, do I have no right to like people? Who doesn't want to be a master? I don't have to be a slave all my life. You are so high up, of course you look down on us."
Zi'an sneered, "Everyone strives to get ahead. If you want to be the master, no one will say anything to you. But in order to become the master, you betrayed the princess who was kind to you and killed Yao Zhi, who was like a sister to you. This is outrageous. What did you have to do? Don't make it sound so innocent, Han Qingqiu. If you have done something wrong, don't even think about building a memorial archway. I still respect you if you admit it frankly, but you did these dirty things and pretended to be an innocent victim and felt wronged. It's disgusting."
Han Qingqiu stood up and said coldly: "It seems that the princess and I have nothing in common. Please go back."
Zi'an sat still, playing with the wine glass in his hand, and said calmly: "Do you feel guilty for going to Zhuangzhuang tonight? Have you ever thought of giving in?"
"No," Han Qingqiu said coldly, "I don't need to give in. Yes, since the princess got into trouble, I really can't sleep at night and I don't know how to eat. I think of many things in the past. The princess is very good to me, but she can't give me what I want, and I have served her wholeheartedly for many years. Tonight, I want to see her. I want to see if I really regret it or feel guilty, but when I saw her wearing her wedding dress, my heart ached. Princess, do you know why it hurts? Because I once wore the same wedding dress and married the person I liked, but on the night of the wedding, he burned my wedding dress and said that I defiled it. So, when I saw the princess, I remembered what happened to me. You all think the princess is innocent, but what about me? Am I not worthy of pity? I have liked Xiao Xiao for more than ten years, and I have never had anyone else in my heart, but he doesn't even want to look at me. Who of you has ever pitied me?"
Once she started talking, she couldn't stop. She said angrily, "Over the years, whether he was at the border or back in the capital, his heart was not with me. I once thought that as long as I protected him silently, he would always know how good I was and he would always forget the princess. I waited so naively for eleven years, but what was the result? They both committed suicide. He would rather die with the princess than be with me. Who will give me fairness? You all blame me and say that I am a bad person. I say with my conscience that the only person I am sorry to is Yao Zhi, but I am not sorry to the princess. If it's not me, it will be someone else. If she has the ability to find the emperor, what can I do to make it difficult for her?"
"In other words, even if the Empress Dowager summons you to the palace tomorrow, you will not back down?" Zi'an asked.
"No, absolutely not. This marriage was arranged by the Empress Dowager herself. She can't force me." Han Qingqiu was a little excited. She stared at Zi'an, "Princess, don't even think about using Yaozhi's death to threaten me to back down. I won't. There is no real evidence for this matter. No one can trace it now. Once it is traced, the Emperor will be implicated. I'm not stupid. I understand. So Princess, don't try to threaten me."
Zi'an's expression did not change at all, and he remained calm and composed. She stood up and said, "You are right, we really have nothing in common. Just pretend that I am not here today."
After saying that, she strode away, and Xiaosun and Dao Lao Da hurriedly followed.
After leaving the general's residence, Zi'an told Dao Lao Da, "You stay on the roof tonight and keep a close eye on her. If an assassin comes in, don't save her. Let her die."
"Miss, do you know there will be a killer tonight?" Boss Dao was shocked.
"The noble concubine will not let her enter the palace. She is afraid that Han Qingqiu will compromise, so the best way is to kill her, so that she will always be the general's wife. I came here just to see if she is worth saving. Obviously, she is not worth it."
(End of this chapter)