Chapter 384: Is This Something They Should Be Hearing?

Chapter 384: Is This Something They Should Be Hearing?

Her brother loved her and had always protected her since she was a child.

Xiaoyue didn’t want to disturb her brother, who was in the middle of a battle, so she agreed to Consort Jin’s arrangements and went to tell the emperor that she liked Shangguan Jinghong.

The entire court was in shock.

The empress was so furious that she spat blood.

However, Xiaoyue insisted that she liked Shangguan Jinghong, even when her brother sent a letter from the battlefield, telling her that even if she never married, he would always protect her.

But she went ahead and married him.

"That day, you were at the banquet, but you left before dawn to aid my brother!" Xiaoyue said.

"Yes, I left before daybreak!" Ci Xin nodded.

"Did you leave straight from my bed?" Xiaoyue asked.

"..." Hongmei and Dongju froze like statues, only their eyes moving.

Was this something maids like them should be hearing?

Would there be serious consequences for hearing this?

"I..." Ci Xin clenched his teeth, about to speak, but then he pressed his lips together.

"Yue'er!"

Xiao Yin approached from a distance, cutting into the conversation.

Xiaoyue pulled her wrist back and slipped the dagger into her pocket.

Xiao Yin walked over and said, "What are you doing here? It's late. Wrap things up and get some rest."

"Your Majesty, are you concerned about us? About me?" Ci Xin asked.

"Get out of here!" Xiao Yin said, then turned and put his arm around his sister’s shoulder. "Let's go. Mother’s waiting. She had Nanny Gui whip up some tasty osmanthus cakes for you."

"Ah, something delicious! Is Xiao Xi'er around? I’ve got to see her—it’s been ages, and I miss her!" Ci Xin ignored Xiao Yin’s disdain and tagged along.

Hongmei and Dongju trailed behind, and the usually chatty Dongju stayed quiet.

She was still in shock.

All these years, while serving the princess at the general’s estate, she had always known that the general couldn’t stay in the princess’s room at night.

After all, the princess was royalty, and Shangguan Jinghong couldn’t cross that line.

And ever since that palace banquet where she’d been drugged, the princess had always been very cautious. It was just that the colorless, odorless poison from the Western Regions was too strong, and she couldn’t detect it, which led to her being poisoned.

But ordinary poisons had no effect on her at all.

Having suffered from the effects of the drug, later, when Shangguan Jinghong tried to enter her room twice, she saw through his attempts and drove him out.

In short, Shangguan Jinghong had never laid a hand on the princess.

But...

Where’s the little princess?!

As Dong Ju and Hongmei walked into Fu Shou Palace, they exchanged glances, looking at each other.

They could see the confusion in each other’s eyes.

After thinking for a moment, they remembered that Xiao Xi'er had been in the princess’s belly for ten months, and now the little princess was already over eight months old, almost nine months.

That was nearly twenty months ago...

"At that time, Imperial Tutor Ci Xin had just come back from Dongxia Country, and then for some reason, he went to Beiling again, and later..." Dong Ju muttered softly in the small kitchen.

"That time, I saw Imperial Tutor!" Hongmei said.

"Ah? Where?" Dong Ju asked.

"At the general’s house, the day before Imperial Tutor went to Beiling," Hongmei replied.

"You! Why didn’t you tell me about this?" Dong Ju sighed.

"That day, you were protecting the little lord, and that scoundrel Shangguan Jinghong locked you in the woodshed. He knew your skills, so he locked you up and lured me out. As I was leaving, I saw Imperial Tutor Ci Xin, but by the time I returned, it was already the next afternoon!"

Hongmei was so upset about that incident that she punished herself severely, even piercing her own palm.

Looking at her palm, Hongmei smiled.

"If the little princess is really Imperial Tutor’s child, then it’s worth it. I didn’t suffer in vain!" Hongmei said.

"You fool!" Dong Ju shook her head and chuckled bitterly.

The Empress Dowager had pastries made for Xiaoyue.

"I knew you’d come for the food, so I had the kitchen prepare a roasted chicken for you," the Empress Dowager said to Ci Xin.

"Empress Dowager, you’re just like my own mother. I really like you!" Ci Xin reached out, almost hugging the Empress Dowager, but was stopped by Nurse Jin beside her.

"Imperial Tutor, be more composed. There are so many people here!" Nurse Jin chided.

Ruo Xi Baby woke up from their chatter. The Empress Dowager looked at Ci Xin and said, "Xier, Imperial Tutor woke you up. Cry to him!"

"Hmm, forget it. This baby doesn’t cry. How do you even cry?" Ruo Xi Baby thought to herself, realizing she didn’t like to cry and had even forgotten how.

Everyone ate, drank, and made Fu Shou Palace lively until midnight.

Only Lin Rou, in the cold palace, stood under the moonlight, pointing at the sky: "Look, there’s my son, my daughter, my mother, and my father. We are a happy family... By the way, where is my husband? Who is my husband?"

Lin Rou had lost her mind. The nurses came out and scolded her, but seeing her unresponsive, they dragged her away.

"Mermaids! Hmph!" the Suanni beast sneered.

"Those are all your underlings, oh great deity!" Qiongqi, standing nearby, said with a grin.

"So, I’ll make sure they know their master is back!" the Suanni beast declared.

At that time, four-year-old Baby Lingyue was leaning against the window, looking outside.

"It stinks so bad!" Baby Lingyue sniffed and said, "There's someone in the carriage!"

"Tsk tsk!"

A sharp object descended from the top of the carriage, nearly hitting Baby Lingyue.

"Looking to die!" This angered the person inside the carriage.

Jun Qingcang was the first to leap out, directly grabbing the person on top of the carriage and pulling them down.

"Merman, who sent you?" The Suanni beast immediately lunged forward with a roar.

"I don't know!" The moment the other party saw the Suanni beast, their entire body trembled.

The pressure from the bloodline forced him to vomit blood.

"Thud!"

The Suanni beast grabbed the person and slammed them hard onto the ground, angrily saying, "Head south and warn them: if the mermen in Chenzhou don’t retreat, I’ll grind them into pulp!"

"That’s fish paste!" Baby Lingyue corrected.

The Suanni beast gave the little girl a speechless look, snorted, and strode into Chenzhou city.

The people of Chenzhou were struggling. Continuous floods had ruined their harvests. Despite the court’s generous funding, the people saw little benefit.

"How much of the court’s funds did you get?" Jun Qingcang asked.

"Great lord, we get three hundred coins a year!" the people answered.

"Three hundred coins a year?" Baby Lingyue clenched her teeth in frustration.

She’d had the Ministry of Personnel calculate that each person here should get three taels of silver yearly, based on the Ministry of Revenue’s list. The difference between three taels and three hundred coins was huge!

"Where is the city lord!"

"Seriously, what are you howling about in the middle of the night,"