Although Fu Xuesong was more useful, personnel changes were a trivial matter. You Yuji didn't want anyone to play sad music in the yard on a winter day after the snow.
She always felt very sympathetic towards Si Que.
She always tried her best to satisfy what he wanted.
You Yuji has always handled things neatly and efficiently. After saying this, she said no more and changed the subject, talking about piano music with Si Que.
"Is the piece you just played also a new composition? It's a pity that the "Collection of Picked Sounds" is not with me."
"Yeah." Si Que responded casually. He walked over and sat down next to You Yuji. He naturally took the hairpin from her hand, then held her hand, pinching here and rubbing there with interest.
You Yuji tried to pull her hand back, but failed.
"Sister, your hands are so beautiful." Si Que leaned over and kissed the back of You Yuzhi's fingers.
"Is Madam busy?" Madam Jing asked outside the door.
You Yuji pushed Si Que's hand away, sat up straighter, and said, "Come in."
Si Que looked at his empty palms, feeling a little bored.
After hearing this, Madam Jing pushed the door open and came in. She quickly glanced at Si Que before turning to You Yuji and said respectfully, "Madam, Prince Kang Jing is here to inquire about the gift from the Queen Mother Dong."
You Yuji frowned and asked, "You want me to receive them?"
"The little princess is still in her boudoir and it's not convenient for her. The princess has been unwell for the past few days, so Madam has to come to receive her."
The day after tomorrow is the birthday celebration of the Eastern Empress Dowager. Normally, You Yuji should wear a formal palace dress to attend the banquet in the palace. However, she no longer considers herself a member of the Jinnan Palace and is unwilling to bother with this matter. She has already informed the princess that she caught a cold during the night tour of Lianshui and will not attend the banquet in the palace the day after tomorrow.
As for the gift, it was also handed over to Chen Lingyan. When You Yuji heard that Chen Lingyan had prepared a birthday painting, she did not ask much.
"The prince is not at home either?" You Yuzhi asked.
Madam Jing shook her head.
As for the King of Southern Jin, he was naturally not at home. He was out every day drinking tea, playing chess, playing birds and fishing with his friends.
You Yuji then asked Madam Jing to open the doors and windows of the flower hall, and did not go to the front yard, but met King Kang Jing in the flower hall. When Madam Jing went to invite King Kang Jing, You Yuji asked a few questions about Chen Lingyan's paintings so that she could deal with it.
Qi Mingcheng followed the palace steward into the courtyard of Tan Xiang Ying Yue. He walked into the flower hall and found Si Que was also there. He paused as he was about to step over the threshold.
This... is a pleasant surprise.
You Yuji sat upright in the armchair and did not stand up to greet him. She just asked Qi Mingcheng to take a seat.
Qi Mingcheng glanced at Si Que who was sitting by the window in the distance, wiping the strings of his zither. He retracted his gaze and sat down on the chair, saying, "The Queen Mother's birthday banquet is coming soon. I have come to each mansion today to inquire about the gifts to ensure that the process on that day is foolproof."
The program for the tribute had already been reported. You Yuji didn't quite understand why Qi Mingcheng had to make the trip in person. She didn't ask much, and simply said, "Lingyan prepared a birthday painting that she painted herself. Does the prince want to personally review it?"
"No need." Qi Mingcheng's eyes swept over You Yuji lightly, "Just know that there is no mistake."
You Yuji didn't understand why Qi Mingcheng had to make the trip in person.
She lowered her eyes, held the lid of the teacup in her hand and gently moved a leaf floating on the tea surface.
Qi Mingcheng's eyes fell on You Yuji's hand.
If you hold such white and tender fingers in your hand and apply a little force, you can easily pinch them red. Not only will the delicate and tender hands turn red, but the charming thing in front of you will also look at you with red eyes, seducing your soul.
His gaze was too blatant, and You Yuji could sense it. She paused in stirring the tea leaves and placed the teacup on the table.
The sound of the teacup hitting the table brought Qi Mingcheng back to his senses. He suppressed the greed in his eyes and looked away. When he looked away, he couldn't help but look at Princess Que under the window.
When You Yuji looked over, she happened to see Qi Mingcheng looking at Si Que. You Yuji followed his gaze and said in a low voice, "Does the prince have anything else to say?"
"I have two words I want to say to the Crown Princess alone. I wonder if it's convenient." Qi Mingcheng turned around and said with a smile.
"I'm afraid that's not necessary." You Yuji said.
Qi Mingcheng licked his teeth slowly and said, "A few days ago, the king accidentally discovered a crazy woman. The crazy woman had the face of an old woman in her seventies or eighties, but she insisted that she was not even twenty years old. The Crown Prince's wife said this was ridiculous."
You Yuji looked at Qi Mingcheng's smiling face and suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
It turns out that Yi Yuhuan, whose whereabouts she could never find, has fallen into Qi Mingcheng's hands!
She stared at Qi Mingcheng in front of her and didn't speak for the time being.
Si Que, who was standing under the window, was holding You Yuji's light purple silk handkerchief and wiping the last string of the zither. He raised his eyes and glanced at Qi Mingcheng expressionlessly.
"Just two sentences." Qi Mingcheng put his hands on the back of the chair and sat in a lazy posture.
After a while, You Yuji spoke: "Everyone go down."
This is the Jinnan Palace, You Yuji is not worried about what Qi Mingcheng will do. As for whether talking to him alone will cause gossip, she doesn't care much. Anyway, there is already a lot of gossip about her in this Jinnan Palace and in the capital.
The servants in the flower hall gradually left and waited in the courtyard.
When You Yuji turned to look at Si Que, Si Que had already stood up holding his zither. He did not leave the flower hall, but went to a small rest room on the side of the flower hall.
This little room isn't very soundproof.
You Yuji stared at Qi Mingcheng coldly.
"I heard that last time Prince An tried to exchange concubines for horses, it didn't work out in the end because the indentures of the concubines were in the hands of the prince's wife. The princess wouldn't let them go." Qi Mingcheng smiled playfully, "Concubines are traded. Prince An has so many concubines around him, so it's no big deal to give them away."
Qi Mingcheng stopped here and You Yuzhi did not respond.
Qi Mingcheng waited for a while, but You Yuji didn't ask anxiously. He felt bored and continued, "The Crown Prince's wife is unwilling to let her go because she thinks the concubine is more valuable than a good horse. If we use a concubine to exchange the secret of the Crown Prince's wife and the owner of the Poison Tower, is it worth it?"
"How dare you! This is the Jinnan Prince's Palace. How can you talk nonsense?" You Yuji's face turned cold.
Qi Mingcheng laughed even more happily.
"Whether the Crown Prince's Concubine has an affair with the owner of the Poison Tower, I cannot be sure. But it is a fact that the Crown Prince's Concubine and the owner of the Poison Tower are closely involved and ride on the same horse together. It is also a fact that the owner of the Poison Tower poisoned the innocent girl from the Yi family to vent the Crown Prince's Concubine's anger. It is even more of a fact that Your Majesty is determined to eradicate the Poison Tower." Qi Mingcheng put his arm on the small table and leaned his upper body slightly towards You Yujie.
"Your Madam is seriously ill, and your brother is young. Your Madam would not want me to take her away and torture her in prison, would I? Your Madam is so delicate, I'm afraid she can't adapt to a place like a prison cell."
You Yuji slowly recovered from her anger. She said calmly, "Your Majesty, did you mobilize so many troops just to get a concubine from the prince?"
Qi Mingcheng did not respond, but looked in the direction of the small room.
Only then did You Yuji realize that the concubine Qi Mingcheng wanted was actually Si Que!
"This prince also knows that Chen Anzhi loves this concubine very much. This prince will not make things difficult for Madam. I just hope that Madam will be able to give this prince a chance to be alone with her when the time is right."
Qi Mingcheng knew that this Princess Que was Chen Anzhi's favorite, so it might be difficult to snatch her away. If he couldn't snatch her away, he could just try her once. That was fine.
The door of the small room on the side of the flower hall was closed, and Si Que inside could not see Qi Mingcheng's gaze. But after listening to a few words, he could guess that the person Qi Mingcheng was talking about was him.
Si Que stopped flipping through You Yuji's book. He raised his expressionless face and looked toward the door.
After a moment, he pulled the corner of his mouth, and a strange smile appeared on his cold and handsome face.
When he was not in front of You Yuzhi, he didn't need to wear that smiling mask.
He always had a blank expression on his face. If he smiled, it must be because he had some funny and bloody idea.
"Madam, please think about it." Qi Mingcheng said no more, stood up and strode out, his heart filled with joy.
No matter how kind and benevolent a mistress is in this world, she will never truly treat a concubine well. Concubines are just a toy, and he is sure that You Yuji will offer him the spotless Princess Que in order to protect herself.
Qi Mingcheng walked out of the flower hall and left with his men. He glanced at the palace servants in the courtyard, and felt happy again.
—He deliberately sent others away to talk to You Yuji alone today. The servants of Jinnan Palace will definitely tell Chen Anzhi about this matter. With Chen Anzhi's petty character, he will definitely have wild thoughts and guess that You Yuji has a dirty relationship with him that cannot be revealed. This Chen Anzhi will definitely make himself unhappy.
Qi Mingcheng was delighted with his clever move of killing two birds with one stone.
The servants standing in the courtyard looked at each other secretly, wondering what had happened to King Kang Jing.
Madam Jing walked quickly into the flower hall. She glanced at You Yuji's face and immediately saw that You Yuji was really angry.
"Madam, what's wrong?" She walked quickly to You Yuzhi and asked in a low voice.
You Yuji didn't respond immediately. She remained silent for a long time before she spoke: "Go to the princess and tell her that my cold has healed. I will go to the palace to present gifts with Lingyan at the birthday banquet the day after tomorrow."
Madam Jing didn't know why You Yuji suddenly changed her mind. She looked at You Yuji's expression and didn't dare to ask any more questions. She just said yes and turned around to do it.
You Yuji listened to Madam Jing's footsteps gradually fading away and recalled what Qi Mingcheng had just said.
The owner of the poison building.
Since that day, You Yuzhi hardly thought about this person again.
When Qi Mingcheng suddenly mentioned him today, You Yuji suddenly saw the tall black figure and the terrifying blood-red mask that she could never forget.
That was a person that made people instinctively fear him.
However, some accidents happened, which added an layer of embarrassment to You Yuji's fear of the owner of the Poison Tower.
After a long time, You Yuji turned his head and looked at the small room on the side of the flower hall.
She usually stayed in the small room and knew very well that it was not very soundproof. Qi Mingcheng did not deliberately lower the volume, Si Que should have heard it.
You Yuji stood up, went to the small room on the side of the flower hall, and gently pushed open the door.
Si Que sat on the narrow bed under the window, head lowered. The sunlight from outside seeped through the window paper and shone on him.
"Aque." You Yuji walked towards him and put her hand on his shoulder.
Si Que slowly raised his face, raised his long eyelashes, revealing a pair of slightly red eyes.
“A Que…” You Yuji’s heart suddenly tightened.
She knew that the feeling in her heart at this moment was heartache.
"Sister, why do they treat me like this?" Si Que looked at You Yuji with red eyes, "I am useless, will sister dislike me..."
He raised his hands, hugged You Yuji's waist tightly, and buried his face in front of her.
"No, no..." You Yuji's hand on his shoulder slid down, gently patted his back, and coaxed him in the most gentle tone, "It's okay, don't be afraid. With your sister here, no one can bully you."
"Sister is so nice to me." Si Que buried his head in front of You Yuzhi. His voice was muffled and a little fragile.
You Yuji patted Si Que's back tenderly to comfort her. She didn't want to see him with red eyes due to grievance.
But she didn't know that Si Que, who was buried in her arms, gently raised the corners of his lips and smiled.
It was the most evil smile she had ever seen from him.
The author has something to say: Question: Who is more petty between Chen Anzhi and Qi Mingcheng