0p0 Chapter 425 The Princess's Maid (29)
Chapter 425 The Princess's Maid (29)
"Don't panic, I know more than one handwriting style," Qi Ning said to the system.
Yue Zeyuan saw that Qi Ning took the brush but did not immediately start writing.
He observed her expression: "Why aren't you writing?"
Qi Ning looked up at him, her face full of confusion, and said, "Why do you want me to write?"
Yue Zeyuan remained expressionless: "Never seen it before, I'd like to take a look."
Qi Ning glared at him slightly before saying, "Alright then."
After saying that, she picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and copied a few lines of the poem that Yue Zeyuan had just written.
"How was it? My writing wasn't bad, was it?"
She looked up at him, seemingly quite satisfied with what she had written.
Yue Zeyuan lowered his eyes and looked at those few lines of text.
The letter was clearly not addressed to her, and the tone of the reply didn't sound like her either. After all, Chu Hanfeng and the others couldn't possibly write to Consort Ning herself to ask if her favor with the emperor was real or not.
But for some reason, Yue Zeyuan just wanted to confirm it.
It wasn't until he saw the handwriting she had written, which was completely different from the handwriting on the reply, that Yue Zeyuan's doubts dissipated.
He nodded slightly: "It is indeed well written."
"Of course," Qi Ning said with a smug smile. "I've practiced it too."
Yue Zeyuan looked at her lively eyes and wanted to lower his head to kiss her, but Qi Ning stopped him with quick reflexes.
"No." Qi Ning asked him, "Are you so free today? Did you come to Yaohua Palace just to have me practice calligraphy with you?"
Now that his suspicions about Qi Ning had been dispelled, Yue Zeyuan no longer hid the truth from her.
“The patrolling guards intercepted a carrier pigeon in the palace,” he said calmly.
"Carrier pigeon? What carrier pigeon?" Qi Ning asked, feigning ignorance.
"The letter must have been sent from the State of Chu. It inquired whether the matter of Princess Pingning being favored by the emperor was true or false."
"A letter from Chu..." Qi Ning frowned slightly, "You suspect me?"
"Wait, let me finish."
Yue Zeyuan held one of her hands and kneaded her slender, soft fingers: "I had the carrier pigeon released and let it deliver the message. The pigeon flew into Yaohua Palace, and just this afternoon, it carried another message out."
"No wonder you made me write. You didn't just want to see my handwriting, did you?" Qi Ning's face turned cold, and she immediately tried to get up from Yue Zeyuan.
"No." Yue Zeyuan hugged her tightly. "I was just testing it out, and now I know it's not you."
"Hmph, that's true. A letter from Chu flew into Yaohua Palace, so it's normal for you to suspect me."
Despite this, her expression remained unchanged, and her tone still carried a hint of defiance.
Yue Zeyuan quickly softened his tone and coaxed, "Don't be angry. I misunderstood you. It seems that the person who communicated with the Chu Kingdom must be your maid Yu Tao. She replied to the letter while you were asleep. You even spoke up for her before."
Upon hearing this, Qi Ning slammed his hand on the desk: "No wonder, it seems you were right before. Yu Tao really was arranged by Chu Xiyue and Chu Hanfeng to monitor me."
She also unceremoniously pinned the blame on Yun Jing.
Immediately afterward, anger flashed across her face, and she crumpled the paper in her hand into a ball: "The Chu Hanfeng siblings are really going too far! It's one thing for them to send me here for a marriage alliance, but they even sent people to watch me! What do they take me for!"
Seeing that Qi Ning had turned her anger towards him onto Chu Hanfeng, Yue Zeyuan quickly chimed in, "Now you know, right? Chu Hanfeng is a despicable person. Not only did he send his designated future crown princess to marry into the royal family, but he also did such a thing. It shows how despicable and shameless he is."
Qi Ning feigned a slightly sad expression: "I never expected him to treat me like this."
"This is called knowing a person's face but not their heart," Yue Zeyuan said quietly.
Qi Ning sniffed and then asked Yue Zeyuan, "Now that this has been discovered, what do you plan to do with Yu Tao?"
“This isn’t the first time Yu Tao has betrayed her master. On the very first day you arrived in Yue, she ran away without permission. Now that she’s done something like this again, we certainly can’t let her off easily.”
Yue Zeyuan's intention was clearly to execute Yun Jing.
But Qi Ning still had a use for Yun Jing's life, so naturally she didn't want her to die so soon.
She paused, seemingly considering the matter.
After a while, Qi Ning said, "Let's spare her life."
Yue Zeyuan's expression changed slightly: "You still can't bear to punish her? What's so good about that maid?"
"No, it's not that I'm reluctant to deal with her."
Qi Ning said, "I just think that since she hasn't done anything else but is just monitoring me, I'll spare her life for now and not alert her. Let's see what she and Chu Hanfeng are up to."
Upon hearing this, Yue Zeyuan felt that Qi Ning's words were not without merit.
"Then I'll do as you say. Let her live for now, and have Yulan arrange for people to keep a close eye on her."
After finishing this story, Yue Zeyuan noticed that Qi Ning still looked somewhat downcast, guessing that she was influenced by Chu Hanfeng.
Not wanting her to think about Chu Hanfeng, he said, "Alright, now that this matter has been clarified, let's not think about it anymore. Let me take you out for a walk."
"where to?"
Qi Ning looked at Yue Zeyuan and saw that he had completely dispelled his doubts about her, so she felt relieved.
"How about I take you horseback riding at the horse farm?"
“Okay,” Qi Ning readily agreed.
"Then let's go."
Yue Zeyuan took Qi Ning's hand and helped her up. The two left Yaohua Palace and rode in a palanquin to the horse farm.
The two rode horses at the horse farm for an entire afternoon before returning to Yaohua Palace.
After going out, Qi Ning seemed to be in a better mood and forgot about Chu Hanfeng's incident. She muttered to herself, complaining to Yue Zeyuan, "Are you so free today? Why did you come to Yaohua Palace with me again?"
Yue Zeyuan followed her into the palace step by step: "What's wrong? I've spent the whole afternoon with you, and now you find me annoying and want to send me away?"
"No, I was afraid of delaying His Majesty's important business."
"It's already dark, what business is there to discuss?"
Just then, Yulan walked over.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, everything is ready. You may take your bath now."
The two rode horses at the horse farm all afternoon and worked up a sweat.
Upon hearing this, Qi Ning pushed Yue Zeyuan away, saying, "I'm going to take a bath."
Yue Zeyuan took her hand: "Let me go with you."
"No."
Qi Ning broke free from his hand, looking at him with embarrassment and anger: "I'm not going to bathe with you."
Yue Zeyuan was just teasing her, and seeing how frightened she was, he let her go.
Fearing that Yue Zeyuan would get entangled with her, Qi Ning quickly followed Yulan to the clean room.
Yue Zeyuan then went to another clean room in the side hall.
However, men usually bathe faster than women.
When Yue Zeyuan returned to his bedchamber, Qi Ning had not yet come out.
Yue Zeyuan, seeing that Qi Ning had nothing to do and didn't want to go to bed first, decided to sit at his desk.
He had only taken a few steps when he inadvertently caught sight of Qi Ning's dressing table.
The hairpins she had just taken off were scattered on the dressing table, and she hadn't had time to tidy them up yet.
Upon seeing this, Yue Zeyuan went to the dressing table.
He picked up the hairpin on the table, examined it, and wanted to put it back in the makeup box for Qi Ning.
But as soon as he casually opened a small drawer, he stopped in his tracks.
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