The Empress's face was unusually pale, her expression tense, her lips tightly pursed. Without any makeup, she looked a few years older than usual.
Qin Yining lowered her eyes, not daring to look directly at the Empress's face. She asked respectfully, "Niangniang, how have you been these days?"
Her mind spun as she thought of the most tactful way to inform the Empress of the present situation. At the same time, she wanted the Empress to understand her actions and not spread this matter.
"This empress is fine. But this empress will not let other people know that I am trapped on Karma Peak. "The Empress shook her head tiredly, her expression serious.
Qin Yining's eyes widened in shock.
The Empress's request happened to coincide with her idea. Qin Yining immediately understood. Thinking about it, as the mother of a country, it was already a great humiliation for her to be deceived to this extent, not to mention being trapped on the peak with a foreign official. She was worried that Pang Xiao would be discussed and suspected, and the Empress was also worried about being discussed and suspected.
Since both sides were so worried, then the matter was easy to handle.
"Yes, this subject promises that no one will spread this matter. Niangniang sympathizes with the monks of the temple, your benevolence is truly admirable." Qin Yining bowed in admiration.
The Empress blinked when she heard this and curled the corners of her mouth slightly.
It seemed that Qin Yining thought that she was thinking for the monks of Wan Fo Temple and was not willing to let these outsiders bear the crime of not being able to protect them?
But only she knew in her heart what she was most afraid of.
This was an unexpected and beautiful memory for her. It was a secret that she wanted to keep in her heart for the rest of her life. She wanted to slowly reflect on it by herself.
She knew that she should not have such thoughts about Pang Xiao. She also knew that such an immoral action was not tolerated by the world. So she had never thought of telling anyone that she was a prostitute, and could only be a qualified prostitute. She would not leave a stain in her life that could not be washed away. But she treated some feelings as treasures and wanted to keep them for the rest of her life.
Her experience on Karma Peak, these short few days, was enough for her to reflect on for the rest of her life.
"I'm tired." The Empress looked tired.
Qin Yining thought for a moment, then leaned closer and briefly recounted the events of the past few days. In the end, she said, "Your humble wife had no choice but to find someone to wear your clothes, comb your hair, and pretend to be you. If you don't want anyone to know about this when we go back, we have to do it secretly."
The Empress frowned. She was surprised that someone could pretend to be her and fool the guards.
But on second thought, she and Pang Xiao were suddenly trapped. Qin Yining was a woman, so it was not easy for her to suppress this matter. She couldn't be picky.
"Alright." The Empress nodded understandingly. "It's understandable. How about this, we'll do as you say. This consort will treat it as being in seclusion for eighteen days. "
"Niang niang is wise," Qin Yining said with a smile. "Then please rest for a while. I'll find an opportunity to send you back to the palace."
Qin Yining purposely obscured the entire process. She didn't even say when the guards would change shifts to send someone in. This was to reduce the Empress's wariness.
Otherwise, wouldn't the Empress be worried that they would assassinate her if someone could find a gap between shifts to send someone in when the mother of a nation cultivated with so many guards outside?
Even though they didn't have such thoughts, it was better to be cautious.
Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi had already made preparations to welcome Pang Xiao's group at any time. Therefore, they had already sent away the people who should be sent away. Qin Yining and Pang Xiao brought the Empress back to the side courtyard where the meditation room was. Qin Yining then told Sun mama and He Bin that the Empress had safely escaped danger. The two were so happy that they almost jumped three feet high. Naturally, they did their best to cooperate with Qin Yining's arrangements.
That night, the person in Guanyin Hall became the real Empress.
Tang Xiu finally didn't have to sit inside and eat the snacks that she had secretly brought. She also had to maintain her composure and occasionally pinch her throat to speak.
Pang Xiao bathed and changed his clothes. He also shaved his beard clean. After wolfing down a vegetarian meal, he went to bed early.
Qin Yining also slept soundly. He wasn't in a hurry to ask Pang Xiao about what happened on Karma Peak.
The next morning, as usual, Qin Yining brought people to pay respects to the Empress. As usual, he was politely stopped by Sun mama. After returning to the room, he asked Pang Xiao about what happened that day.
Pang Xiao recounted everything in detail. Then, he said with a heavy expression, "I still can't figure out what the person who tricked the Empress to Karma Peak was planning. The Empress wasn't harmed. When I went there, a group of snakes surrounded her and made her unable to move. However, those snakes didn't bite her. The suspension bridge collapsed and I couldn't cross. You couldn't hear me. Therefore, I ate wild fruits with the Empress to pass the day. It wasn't difficult to eat and drink. Because there wasn't any other danger, I was even more suspicious of that person's motive. He tricked the Empress and lured me over. What was his motive? "
Qin Yining pursed his lips and shook his head, "Looking at it this way, it seems like the other party deliberately trapped you and the Empress there. I think it was to dig a hole for me to jump into. "
Qin Yining couldn't help but twitch his mouth, "Tian Jizi has always disliked me. She wanted to get rid of me several times. Although she doesn't want to kill me now, she still wants to kill me. I think she's happy to make things difficult for me. "
"You're already sure that the Shitai is Tian Jizi?"
"Who else could it be other than her?"
Qin Yining shook his head. Mu Jinghu was Pang Xiao's brother. Qin Yining didn't want to make things difficult for Pang Xiao. Therefore, he didn't continue on this topic and changed the topic, "Although the matter has been resolved, it still caused quite a commotion. That day, when the guards tried to force their way in, there was already an argument. In addition, the Empress's guards aren't simple people. They also know that you weren't in the temple these few days. Even if they didn't think that you and the Empress were trapped on Karma Peak, they would still think that you took advantage of this time to secretly do something. "
Pang Xiao couldn't help but laugh, "Your Majesty might have already received the information about what you said and know that I've been 'restless' these few days. Pang Zhixi, this brat, instead of praying to the gods and Buddha to pray for the prosperity of the country and the safety of the people, he ran off alone to plot against me!"
Pang Xiao imitated Li Qitian's tone to 80%, and Qin Yining couldn't help but laugh.
"Alright, alright. It's good to be able to go back safely. Not only did we avoid the harassment of the Tatan during this period of time when we left, I think that Zhong Yibo has already thought about how to move the treasure when we return. "
Pang Xiao snorted softly, "He's a smart person, but sometimes, it's useless to only be smart if you want to get things done. You also need to cooperate with the real situation. Si Qin is also resourceful. He also participated in the fight for the treasure and knows about this. If Lu Heng reveals too many flaws, Si Qin will also be vigilant. "
At this point, Qin Yining was a bit worried for Lu Heng.
"He'll have to work harder. Otherwise, you'll have to trouble yourself. "
Qin Yining was originally a bit unhappy when talking about Lu Heng, but seeing that Qin Yining was wholeheartedly thinking about him and didn't care about how difficult it was for Lu Heng, Pang Xiao felt very carefree. He smiled and said, "You also have to believe in him. Sooner or later, he'll think of a way. In any case, Her Majesty the Empress will be in seclusion for a while. Let's stay here for the time being and help Wanfo Temple fix the suspension bridge. It can be considered doing a good deed. "
Qin Yining nodded. That suspension bridge was broken because of us, so we naturally have to fix it.
In the next few days, the Empress really did go into seclusion with peace of mind.
Pang Xiao and Qin Yining also brought people to help Wanfo Temple deal with the matter of the suspension bridge.
Pang Xiao's sudden return naturally caused Xing Baoshan to send a secret letter to Li Qitian. However, Pang Xiao didn't care about it at all. He chose the lesser of two evils. Being suspected by Li Qitian was better than being suspected by Li Qitian. In any case, even if he didn't do anything, Li Qitian would still be suspicious of him.
In the blink of an eye, it was the 20th of July. It was the day the Empress finished her seclusion.
Pang Xiao and Qin Yining personally led people to welcome the Empress. Abbot Xuan Yun was naturally among them.
"Her Majesty the Empress has lost a lot of weight." Qin Yining went up to support the Empress who had lost a lot of weight and was extremely tired. He sighed and said, "Her Majesty the Empress prayed for the people. Heaven and earth can bear witness to her sincerity. The Bodhisattva will definitely bless Her Majesty the Empress's wishes to come true and be safe and smooth."
The Empress smiled and said, "I'll count on your auspicious words."
Her voice was faint. Clearly, she was extremely tired. Only she knew that she was only sighing at Qin Yining's stupidity.
If she followed Qin Yining's words and "her wishes came true," there was an eighty percent chance that Qin Yining would cry, right?
The Empress rested on the mountain for another two days before bringing up the matter of going down the mountain with Pang Xiao.
At this time, the suspension bridge had been rebuilt. Not only did Pang Xiao not take a single cent from Wanfo Temple, he also gave a large sum of money and food. Since the matter was done, naturally the Empress said to go down the mountain, so they went down the mountain.
What surprised Pang Xiao was that when they went down the mountain, the Empress didn't yell about "Her body is precious and cannot be touched by imperial bodyguards."
Pang Xiao didn't take the initiative to ask, and the Empress didn't make any requests. Pang Xiao just took Qin Yining and waited for a long time at the foot of the mountain. The imperial bodyguards took turns to carry the Empress down safely.
"Niangniang, the carriage is ready. We can set off at any time. "
When everyone was ready, Sun momo came forward to ask.
The Empress sat in the luxurious carriage covered with brocade curtains. She lifted the curtains slightly and looked back at the steep Juhuang Mountain. Then she looked at Pang Xiao's group and smiled, "Go ask Prince Zhongshun when we will set off. We will travel together."
"Yes."
Sun momo immediately went to carry out the order.
Pang Xiao and Qin Yining didn't plan to continue sightseeing. They couldn't really leave the Empress behind. Naturally, they would agree to whatever the Empress asked. The two carriages went to Huichuan County. The journey was peaceful.
But halfway through the journey, the group met a man and a horse coming from the direction of Huichuan County.
The young rider on the horse was wearing an iron-gray round-collared sunflower gown. He was obviously a lieutenant. When he saw Pang Xiao's group, he immediately slowed down and pulled on the reins. The yellow horse reared and neighed.
"Is that Prince Zhongshun's group in front?"
"Yes." Tang Xiu went forward to answer.
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