After the Count of Bei Lu was dragged out of Kui Yuan Palace, the He brothers all lowered their heads to drink tea, listening to their wives speak. If the three brothers didn't have to speak, they definitely wouldn't say a word.
The conflict between He Yuan and He Qi was practically laid out in the open. Recently, lao si and Wei Wen Guang had been ordered to personally investigate the case in Jiang Nan. Who knew that just a few days after they left Jing City, they encountered an assassination attempt. Wei Wen Guang and lao si were both wounded and had to rest locally. Many taiyi from the Imperial Hospital had been sent out. They barely managed to keep their lives, but there was a turbulent undercurrent in the court.
Who would be so daring as to assassinate an imperial envoy? The person who dared to do such a thing was either a rebel or someone of high status and power. The Da Long Dynasty had existed for more than a hundred years. There were no so-called rebels against the court. The assassin would only be sent by someone of high status and power. Then why would this person do such a thing?
There were already people at court who speculated that this matter was connected to Rui Wang. But the matter had been handed over to Ning Wang to investigate. Ning Wang's mouth was tight this time and didn't leak any information. Rui Wang didn't seem to be any different because of this matter so everyone felt that Rui Wang wouldn't be so daring. This kind of action was basically going against the Emperor. No matter how much Rui Wang was favored or arrogant, he wouldn't do such a thing.
The Empress was clear of the grievances between the three brothers. Seeing that it was almost noon, she said: "It's rare that you three brothers can gather together. Ben gong is happy to see you, let's go eat together."
The three couples followed the Empress to the dining table. A short while later, someone brought the princess and the two children over. The elder, He Cheng, was about seven or eight years old. He was wearing a red brocade robe, a longevity lock hanging on his body. He looked very cute. The younger, He Xuan, was about five years old. Her eyes were large, her smiling face extremely cute. When the two children were put together, it really did feel like a golden boy and jade girl.
"Greetings to Imperial Grandmother, greetings to jiujiu and jiumu," The two children obediently bowed. It could be seen that Jin An Princess had raised them well. Even Qu Qing Ju, who felt that children were noisy, liked them very much.
"Cheng'er, Xuan'er has grown up so much," Wei Qing E, who had seen the two before, smiled as she gave the two a greeting gift. She smiled as she said to Jin An Princess, "The last time I saw the two children, Xuan'er still couldn't walk. Now she has become a sensible girl."
A warm smile appeared on Jin An Princess' face: "Just a naughty child, not as good as you say."
Qu Qing Ju had long prepared a greeting gift. Hearing Jin An Princess say this, she said: "Zhangjie, you can't insult the two children like this. I like the two nephews very much." As she spoke, she beckoned to the two children, "Cheng'er and Xuan'er, come over and let er jiumu take a look."
He Cheng and He Xuan obediently walked in front of Qu Qing Ju and carefully examined this er jiumu. Their faces became flushed. He Xuan carefully pulled on Qu Qing Ju's sleeve, "Hello, er jiumu."
"Hello, Xuan'er," Qu Qing Ju bent to lift He Xuan onto her knees. She took a pendant from Mu Jin's hands and hung it around Xuan'er's neck, "This is er jiumu giving you to play with."
He Xuan buried her head to take a look at the pendant. It was a blossoming lotus, carved vividly. The entire piece of jade was as transparent as ice, extremely beautiful. It was very suitable for females to wear.
Jin An Princess found that this pendant was carved from ice type jade. This kind of jade was extremely hard to find and was even more beautiful than glass. It was extremely precious. She hadn't thought that er dimei would give such a good thing to a child as a greeting gift.
"Er dimei, she's just a child, she doesn't need to wear such a precious jade," Jin An Princess' words were half polite and half sincere.
"The daughters of our Imperial Family, nothing can be called precious," Qu Qing Ju smiled as she rubbed He Xuan's head, "Our Xuan'er is carved from jade. I was afraid that this jade would be too tacky for our guniang." Finishing, she took another jade pendant from Mu Jin's hands, "Come, Cheng'er, this is for you."
He Cheng looked at Jin An Princess. Seeing that the princess didn't stop him, he took it and bowed: "Thank you er jiumu." He opened his palm. It was a bat carved from black jade. The bat symbolized good fortune and was very suitable to give to a child.
Jin An Princess could see that er dimei had put effort into this greeting gift. The craftsmanship of these two pieces of jade was very good. The quality of the jade was very rare and couldn't be found in normal places. She said to He Xuan, "Xuan'er, quickly get off er jiumu. Don't press down on your er jiumu. Sit here with mother to wash your hands and prepare to eat."
He Xuan jumped off Qu Qing Ju's knees and smiled as she ran next to Jin An Princess, sitting down next to her. He Cheng also obediently sat down next to his sister. Seeing this, Qu Qing Ju sighed. Those naughty children in her previous life really should have learned from them. The difference was too great.
Wei Qing E had seen the two children before so it didn't matter if the gift was lighter. It was Qin Bai Lu who felt slightly awkward. She and Qu Qing Ju were both newly married. It was the first time they saw the two children. Qu Qing Ju had given a gift before her so the greeting gift she had prepared wasn't very presentable.
Thinking that Qu Qing Ju was purposefully making life difficult for her, Qin Bai Lu silently noted it down for Qu Qing Ju. She forced herself to give the gift. Jin An Princess' attitude was normal as she gave her thanks. But she felt that Jin An Princess was clearly closer to Qu Qing Ju.
The palace maids carried teacups, copper basins and handkerchiefs to wipe their hands as they filed in. Qu Qing Ju and He Heng sat together. After washing their hands and rinsing their mouths, many more palace maids and taijian filed in. Dishes of steamed, fried and fried delicacies were laid out like water. The palace maids carrying the plates all had white fingers. Holding the thin white bowls and plates, they looked extremely beautiful and made people's appetites grow.
This made her think of a memoir written by the last emperor in her previous life. The scene right now was probably about the same as that memoir. Maybe it had to be more particular. After all, this was the golden age of the Da Long Dynasty.
Actually, the nobility eating was good in every aspect but the rule of not talking while eating and not talking while sleeping. Qu Qing Ju wasn't used to it. In her previous life, she ate as she made phone calls or arranged schedules for artists. Coming here, it was almost the rhythm of retirement. There weren't any cell phones or computers, so she could only read, practice writing and draw. Originally, she had some interest in chess, but after He Heng played with her a few times, he wasn't willing. Her life instantly became lonely and boring.
After the noon meal, the Empress didn't keep the three brothers. The three brothers took their wives and left Kui Yuan Palace.
Once they came out of the gates of Kui Yuan Palace, He Yuan took Qin Bai Lu and separated from the other two brothers. He Qi and He Heng didn't care. When they couldn't see He Yuan's back, He Qi said: "This morning, news came from outside Jing City. Si di's wounds have gotten better, but there might be some problems left on his arm. When winter comes, it will ache faintly."
He Heng sighed and raised his hands towards the sky: "Luckily, the Heavens have blessed that nothing major has happened to si di. Otherwise, us brothers would have one less person to play with in the future."
"Exactly," He Qi's voice carried anger, "This scoundrel is too daring. He even dared to assassinate an imperial son and a prime minister. That was the imperial envoy representing fuhuang!"
Qu Qing Ju's eyebrow twitched as she walked beside He Heng before her expression returned to normal.
"Da ge has to find the mastermind behind this, and get justice for si di and Right Minister Wei." He Heng raised his hands towards He Qi, "Da ge has worked hard."
"I already have a lead on this matter," He Qi returned the greeting, "It's not hard, this is what I should do."
Hearing this, He Heng smiled and didn't respond.
He Qi didn't care if he responded or not. He raised his hands, declaring: "Ge ge, I still have some matters to attend to and will leave first." Finishing, he strode towards another path. Wei Qing E bowed slightly to He Heng before quickly following.
Qu Qing Ju and He Heng returned the greeting. Looking at the backs of the Ning Wang couple, the two continued to walk at a steady pace towards the outside of the palace.
"Da bo's face seems to be glowing these days," Qu Qing Ju said with a smile that wasn't a smile, "You look even more imposing than usual."
He Heng heard the meaning behind Qu Qing Ju's words and smiled, replying: "Maybe it's because of the New Year's Day, he ate too much meat and wine."
Normal people looked forward to eating meat and fish during the New Year's Day. He, a member of the Imperial Family, when didn't he eat and drink well? Qu Qing Ju chuckled: "Wang ye is right."
After the two got on the carriage, He Heng said: "Wei Wen Guang and the old taitai's paternal family of Chang De Gong Fu are of the same lineage. But Wei Wen Guang was born of a shu and received a lot of cold treatment from the Wei Family when he was young. Now, he is at odds with the Wei Family and the Wei Family is slowly declining."
Qu Qing Ju hadn't thought that there would be such a connection. She thought about the conduct of the old taitai of Chang De Gong Fu and had to admit that He Heng's words were reasonable: "Old taitai has always been cold to me. In the early years, when the Wei Family came to the fu, they would always flatter san mei and didi Wang Zhi. At that time, the Wei Family must have declined."
He Heng knew that his wang fei was actually a very intelligent woman. From the way she treated people, it could be seen that she was a woman who knew what was important and what was not. She wouldn't lower the status of Duan Wang Fu because Rui Wang Fu was favoured. She wouldn't slight Jin An zhang jie because she came back to Jing alone with her child. When it was time to be strong, she never retreated. When it was time to be gentle, she was never willful. This kind of woman probably took after Tian shi to be so intelligent.
It was clear that in the heart of the great Duan Wang Fu, Chang De Gong Fu was just a bunch of idiots. His wang fei was the only white lotus that was untainted by the mud.
"In the future, the gifts that our fu will give to Xiang Qing Hou Fu will increase," He Heng's tone was serious, "The Tian Clan's conduct is strict. It's fine for you to interact with them more."
What was with this tone that implied joy?
Qu Qing Ju jerked her lips and nodded: "Alright."
He Heng smiled and then sternly said: "In the future, stay away from the people of Ning Wang Fu." He knew that Qu Qing Ju and the people of Rui Wang Fu weren't on good terms and didn't need his reminder.
Qu Qing Ju slightly stilled and silently nodded.
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