Chapter 43 Calculation
"You made such a big noise all night, why do you think I should go to the palace too?"
Su Qingqing ignored Rong Que's sarcastic voice and smiled to herself, "Your Highness, why do you always send people to keep an eye on me? I won't harm Your Highness anyway. Instead of sending people to keep an eye on me, it's better to free up people to do real work."
Rong Que looked at Su Qingqing.
This woman is still as sharp-tongued as ever and won't suffer any loss. It's hard to imagine what she looked like when she cried last night.
"You are controlling Su Jinghe and asking to see the rebels in prison. You even took time out in the middle of the night to go to the Broken Red Tower to have a private meeting with Su Xiang... You have been in the Great Yan Kingdom for just a few days and you have caused so much trouble. How can I rest assured and not keep an eye on you?"
Su Qingqing smiled and said, "Your Highness, what have you found out by staring at me like that?"
Her almond-shaped eyes flashed with cunning. Rong Que felt dazed for a moment, then he twisted his fingers, turned his head and looked out the window without saying a word.
Su Qingqing didn't know what he was thinking, so she just continued her topic, "More than a dozen deaths have occurred in the Xishan Camp one after another, but the news has been kept secret. I will go to the palace today to help His Highness solve his urgent problem."
Rong Que suddenly clenched his hands on his knees into fists and turned to look at Su Qingqing.
Su Qingqing smiled very casually, "Not only did I help Your Highness clean up the inner house, I also paved the way for you. Your Highness, please don't forget what you promised me..."
Without waiting for Su Qingqing to finish her words, Rong Que grabbed her wrist. Su Qingqing was suddenly pulled closer to him. She looked up at him, with a sly smile in her eyes.
"Why, Your Highness is suddenly moved?"
Rong Que stared at Su Qingqing, "How do you know?"
Su Qingqing tilted her head and smiled, as if nothing had happened. "What do you know? Do you know that someone died in the Xishan camp or do you know that Your Highness wanted to investigate this matter but couldn't find a way?"
Rong Que couldn't help but put more strength in the hand that was holding Su Qingqing's wrist.
It is true that he had been investigating the affairs of the Xishan Camp, and had discovered many problems, but he had no chance to enter the Xishan Camp.
He is the crown prince, and it is a taboo for him to have contact with the military camp.
However, the several court officials who followed him tried their best but could not find a breakthrough.
They knew that someone had died in the Xishan camp, but as long as the Xishan camp refused to cover it up, even the impeachment of the censor would be of no avail. The last official sent by the emperor to investigate the matter had just submitted a report saying that it was all nonsense and rumors.
Not many officials knew that there were problems in the Xishan camp . Rong Que never expected that Su Qingqing, the Princess of Zhao who had just arrived in the Great Yan Dynasty, not only knew about it, but also seemed to have a solution.
He stared at her with a pair of cold eyes, and asked solemnly and seriously, "What do you want to do?"
Su Qingqing blinked and smiled, "We are here, Your Highness."
As the words fell, the carriage came to an abrupt stop.
Rong Que was startled and let go of Su Qingqing's wrist. The fair wrist was pinched red, and he couldn't take his eyes off the red. This reaction made Rong Que feel a little annoyed. He threw his robe and got out of the car.
The Empress Dowager held a flower-viewing banquet in the Imperial Garden, and all the guests were invited, including famous ladies and noblewomen from Kyoto.
Su Qingqing had been fighting in the battlefields for many years during his lifetime, so he didn't know many of the young ladies in Kyoto. However, Su Qingqing spotted Su Yunyun's biological mother, Zhou, the concubine of the general's mansion, in the crowd at a glance.
Obviously Rong Que saw it too.
"You met with Su Xiang in private yesterday and promised him that you would release Su Yunyun?"
Rong Que put his arm around Su Qingqing's waist and spoke to her in a low voice, and they looked very affectionate.
"What do you mean by private meeting? Don't put it in such a harsh way," Su Qingqing asked instead of answering, "Isn't it worth it to exchange Su Yunyun for a chance to join the Xishan Camp?"
Rong Que frowned, "When you attacked Su Yunyun yesterday, did you already plan for this?"
Su Qingqing laughed, "Your Highness is too kind."
She came up with the idea of getting Su Xiang drunk after she met Mother Du yesterday and learned about some things about the Xishan Camp.
One is to ask some questions, and the other is to make arrangements for today.
As they talked, the two of them walked towards the Queen Mother.
Yu Liang had been following behind them, and seeing how loving the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess were, his eyes were filled with disbelief.
Could it be that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has really let go of the Third Miss of the Rong'an Marquis' Mansion?
Otherwise, being so close to the Crown Princess in front of the Third Miss of Rong'an Marquis's Mansion...
The third young lady of Rong'an Marquis's Mansion, who was being plotted by Yu Liang, was now standing in the crowd. She looked at the people approaching the Empress Dowager with a pale face, and twisted the handkerchief in her hand into a knot.
The empress dowager glanced at the third young lady of the Rong'an Marquis's Mansion, and greeted the person who came forward to greet her with a smiling look.
"Grandson pays his respects to the Empress Dowager." Rong Que saluted with his fists clasped together, his voice gentle, as if nothing had happened yesterday.
Su Qingqing bowed to Rong Que and said, "Qingqing pays respects to the Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother."
Unlike Rong Que's indifference, Su Qingqing's face showed obvious displeasure.
The Queen Mother was no longer as ferocious as she was yesterday. She was as kind as if she were just an ordinary old lady. "I am sorry for making you feel wronged yesterday. Today, I specially organized this flower-viewing banquet for you to come and have fun. It was just a bit hasty and I didn't inform you in advance. You are not angry, right?"
Just like an ordinary grandmother trying to make her granddaughter happy.
Su Qingqing pouted and said proudly, "If the Royal Grandmother had notified me in advance, Qingqing would have been able to make a new dress in time. But now, everyone else is dressed up, but Qingqing is the only one who came here with a gloomy face."
The Queen immediately smiled and said, "The Crown Princess is extremely beautiful..."
As she spoke, the Queen frowned, "Huh? Yu Liang? Did I see it wrong?"
Her eyes were drawn to the person standing behind Su Qingqing with his head down. When the Queen said this, the Queen Mother was also stunned for a moment, as if she had just seen this person. She asked in surprise, "Yu Liang?"
Su Qingqing rolled her eyes in her heart.
Aren’t you tired of acting like this? Didn’t anyone inform us when we entered the palace?
She could guess with her feet that as soon as she and Yu Liang left the Prince's Mansion, someone would report what happened in the mansion to the palace.
Yu Liang immediately knelt down and greeted, "I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager and the Empress, and wish both of you good health and good fortune."
The Queen Mother wondered, "Why are you here?"
Yu Liang's eyes turned red, and he immediately choked up and said, "I haven't seen you for a long time, and I miss you so much. The Crown Princess is kind-hearted and knows what I'm thinking, so she brought me here specially."
"What happened to Steward Yu's arm?" The Third Young Lady of the Rong'an Marquisate asked in a puzzled voice, "I came to the palace specially to pay my respects, but how come the sleeve of my clothes looks like it was torn in two?"
Yu Liang immediately glanced at Su Qingqing with a guilty look, "To answer Miss Third, I accidentally scratched the door with the tip of a nail early this morning. The Crown Princess left in a hurry, so I didn't have time to change it."
The Queen Mother smiled and said, "It's not a big deal. The Crown Princess was kind-hearted and wanted you to come to the palace with her, but she forgot about your clothes."
As she spoke, the Queen Mother turned around and ordered the eunuch behind her, "Take him to change his clothes!"
The Queen joked, "Yu Liang has been rewarded by the Queen Mother again after entering the palace! I think he came here wearing ragged clothes on purpose just to ask for a reward."
This immediately caused everyone to laugh.
Su Qingqing and Rong Que looked at each other, and the expression in their eyes was the same: Such a sufficient foreplay, when will we get down to business? I can’t wait!
