The Duke's Daughter is Reborn

Chapter 472 Cloak

After the flower-viewing banquet, all the noble ladies left the palace one after another, led by the palace maids and eunuchs.

Instead, Yang Qi followed Rong Pei to the Queen's palace after the banquet.

The late spring sunset, wrapped in the last bit of warmth, slanted in through the carved window lattices of the bedroom, leaving an orange-red tide on the floor tiles.

Yang Qi sat in front of the soft couch, with the jade beads on her wrist gently resting on the Queen's wrist - they were forced into her hands by the Queen when she took her pulse just now, saying that they were "for regulating the pulse and breathing".

Princess Yuan Yi stood aside, staring at Yang Qi, not daring to relax at all. She was extremely nervous, as if she could hear the sound of her own heartbeat.

Princess Yuan Yi carefully observed Yang Qi's every expression, afraid of missing any subtle change.

Finally, Princess Yuan Yi couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

Her voice was no longer as clear and pleasant as it was at the banquet, but instead revealed a hint of obvious uneasiness.

When she first learned that her mother had been drugged by Nian, her anger was instantly ignited. She even wanted to immediately take people to Concubine Hua's palace to find out the truth.

However, with the persuasion of Rong Pei and other palace servants, she was able to suppress her anger.

Even though she already knew that the poison from her mother had been removed, Yuan Yi still couldn't help but feel nervous as she watched Yang Qi taking her mother's pulse.

The queen heard Yuan Yi's concerned words, looked at Yang Qi's drooping black hair, and saw a strand of hair stuck behind her ear. She suddenly reached out to help her tidy it up, and said with a smile: "Don't act like those little girls, pretend to be mature, tell me after you've taken her pulse."

Yang Qi paused for a moment. The queen's health was better than she expected: "Your Majesty's health is much better than I expected."

"Really?" The queen smiled, with a faint sweetness in the fine lines at the corners of her eyes.

Yuan Yi couldn't help but hold the Queen's wrist and said with a smile: "Mother, this is really great."

Yang Qi looked at the jade-inlaid pearl hairpin on the queen's temples. At this moment, the hairpin was glowing with a warm light in the sunset, which was very similar to the queen's complexion at the moment. "The queen has a strong physique. In addition, she drinks dew and ginseng soup every day..." She paused, "and the fresh cherries that Princess Yuanyi sends every day, the fruit is beneficial to the queen's recovery."

Hearing this, the Queen seemed to remember something and reached out to take out a candied cherry from her makeup box. She handed the cherry to Yang Qi's lips and said, "Try it too. I see that you have lost a lot of weight compared to a few days ago."

A report came from the palace maid outside the palace: "Miss Yang Qi's car is ready."

The Queen Mother saw that Yang Qi's cloak was stained with a few water stains and said softly, "Rong Pei, go and get my moon-white embroidered golden pheasant robe and give it to Yang Qi to change into."

Just as Yang Qi was about to speak, the Queen immediately said, "Keep it."

After the Queen said this, Yang Qi had no choice but to respond with "Okay".

As the carriage rolled over the bluestone slabs of the imperial road, the setting sun had dyed the palace walls honey-colored.

Yang Qi leaned on the soft pillow of the carriage. She touched the cloak on her body, and then touched the candied cherries in her palms. The sweet juice seeped into her fingers and was warmer than any medicine.

When the late spring breeze penetrated into the hanging flower gate of Duke Song's Mansion, Yang Qi was getting out of the car, holding on to Nanny Zhu's arm.

"Third girl," the old lady looked at Yang Qi as she entered the room. She leaned forward, her silver hairpin swaying slightly at her temples.

She just stretched out her hand to ask Yang Qi to come closer, but her eyes fell on the cloak. This cloak was not what Yang Qi wore when she went out in the morning. Judging from the material and workmanship, it must be made in the palace. "This dress...was it a gift from the Queen?"

It must be said that the old lady had experienced many generations of dukes, and her eyes were indeed sharp. She could tell at a glance that this was the work of the palace's clothing bureau.

Yang Qi lowered her eyes and said "yes". She saw the old lady's fingers pause on the cloak, as if she wanted to touch it but was afraid of getting it dirty. She quickly took off the cloak and handed it over: "The Queen said that this dress suits me, so she asked Aunt Rong Pei to send it to me."

Seeing Yang Qi's calm expression, the old lady couldn't help but sigh. The granddaughter she had neglected since she was young had now grown up step by step. She just stretched out her hand to take Yang Qi's cloak, but it landed on her wrist first, and her fingertips gently rubbed her frozen white skin, "Why are your hands so cold?"

There was an urgency in her voice that the old lady herself was not aware of, "There should be a hand warmer in the car, and a gilded one should be sent to the third young lady's courtyard tomorrow."

Before Yang Qi could answer, Song Hongwen hurried in. He didn't even have time to change into his official uniform before he went straight to the upper room.

"Did everything go well in the palace today?" Song Hongwen asked anxiously.

His mind was constantly on various things that might happen in the palace today, and he was completely unable to concentrate on handling official business.

After all, at this moment, the Duke of Song's Mansion was in a difficult situation surrounded by enemies on all sides.

For some reasons, Yang Lan can only stay indoors in the mansion.

Song Hongwen couldn't help but worry about Yang Qi's situation in the palace. He felt that Yang Qi might suffer a lot of cold treatment and contempt in the palace.

After all, the Duke's Mansion today is no longer as glorious as it used to be, and can even be said to be a bit down and out.

Yang Qi only felt that Song Hongwen's gaze today was like a fine sieve, sweeping from the ends of her hair to the hem of her skirt, and she was afraid that loneliness and sadness would appear on her face.

Seeing this, the old lady smiled and said, "Duke, don't worry. Today, the Queen gave the third girl a cloak, saying that this cloak suits the third girl very well."

Having said that, the old lady asked Mother Rong to show the cloak to Song Hongwen.

Song Hongwen's eyes fell on the cloak, and his heart couldn't help but move.

"Really?" Song Hongwen's voice was a little anxious.

The Queen Mother could actually give such a personal item to the third girl, which shows that the third girl must be extremely loved by the Queen Mother!

He picked up the teacup and wanted to drink some tea to calm his nerves, but he found that his hands had unconsciously tightened, so that the tea in the teacup caused ripples due to the tiny vibration.

"It is your blessing to be favored by the Queen!" Song Hongwen calmed himself down and said slowly.

Yang Qi smiled softly: "It's all thanks to my grandmother and father's years of hard teaching."

Handing the cloak back to Nanny Zhu, the old lady smiled and patted the soft pillow under her hand: "I got good news today. Dinner has been prepared in the warm room. My Lord, you can stay here and have dinner with me."

Seeing that things ended so perfectly, how could Song Hongwen refuse?

It was the first time that Yang Qi was dragged by the old lady to the warm room. The lanterns in the corridor lit up one after another, stretching her shadow very long. When it overlapped with the old lady's and Song Hongwen's shadows, she looked like an old osmanthus tree swaying in the wind.