flstandardbreds Chapter 173 The Opera Begins
Chapter 173 The Opera Begins
Finally, the day of the Grand Princess’ birthday banquet arrived.
Mu Qingyan got up early and packed up, and asked someone to pick up Qin Sangbai and set off with them.
The villa is outside the city and it takes time to get there.
Qin Sangbai hasn't seen Mu Qingyan for a long time since she lived in Prince Ling's mansion to help Prince Ling detoxify him.
After packing up and getting on the carriage, he began to hold her hand and greet her, "You've lost a lot of weight! Have you had a hard time these days?"
Poisoning is no joke! What's more, it's a deadly poison!
She held Mu Qingyan's face and turned it left and right to look at it again and again. After a long time, she nodded with relief, "You are too bold. Fortunately, there is no scar on your face! Otherwise, you would have no place to cry!"
Mu Qingyan pulled her white hands off her face and tried to comfort her, "Okay, okay, I'm fine now. Why would I do something I'm not sure of? I just suffered for a few days, it's no big deal!"
After she finished speaking, her expression became serious. She looked at Qin Sangbai, then at Mu Yingyu, and said solemnly, "Today, after entering the Grand Princess's villa, the two of you should not separate. No matter what happens, you must stay together so that you can take care of each other. If others intend to lead your maid away, just refuse directly."
"In short, once you get in there, you have to be extremely alert and be careful with what you eat and drink, so as not to give others a chance to take advantage of you."
She took out the detoxification pills and the poison prevention pills and gave them to them to keep with them in case of emergency.
Qin Sangbai sorted his purse, "Then you gave us all the medicine, what will you do? Won't you stay with us later?"
Of course Mu Qingyan wanted to be with them, but this banquet was aimed at her, and she would become the target of public criticism, and she could not implicate them.
"You will be with the Gu family in a while. Don't move around for no reason, or you may fall into someone else's trap."
Mu Yingyu was already traumatized by the last incident when she was forcibly taken to the Wenchang Marquis Mansion. This time, she did not dare to take it lightly.
When she goes in later, she will definitely not touch even a sip of tea or a piece of snack inside.
The carriage moved slowly forward, passed through the long main street, and after exiting the city gate, it entered the official road.
In Prince Ling's mansion, Ah Shu hurried from the outer courtyard to Prince Ling's study, "Your Highness, the princess has already left, and the Gu family's carriage is following closely behind."
Prince Ling was already dressed and ready to go out. "Have someone keep a close eye on us. If there is any unusual movement, make sure the princess is safe!"
"Yes!"
Ever since Mu Qingyan detoxified Prince Ling last time, everyone in the palace has changed their address to a new one.
Although the formal ceremony has not yet taken place, the status has been firmly established.
Emperor Jianning also issued a special decree to reward a lot of gold, silver and jade artifacts, which were directly sent to Prince Ling's mansion.
Before Mu Qingyan officially entered the palace, her dowry had already arrived.
In the imperial study, Emperor Jianning was dealing with a mountain of memorials.
Wang Quan walked in quietly without even looking up. "The Grand Princess's villa has started the opera?"
Wang Quan bowed and smiled, "The play hasn't started yet. After all, the audience hasn't arrived yet. Princess Yunxi left the palace early in the morning, and she brought Princess Ningsheng with her... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still in the East Palace, and His Royal Highness Prince Chong has already left the city."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jianning continued to review the manuscript, but chuckled softly, "He is quite proactive! I just wonder if the Grand Princess will definitely bet on him for this treasure?"
Wang Quan did not dare to discuss state affairs. He lowered his head and said nothing. After a while, he said, "I am stupid and don't understand some things..."
Emperor Jianning raised his eyelids, then lowered them again. "What's there to not understand? Although all the guests at the birthday banquet were high-ranking officials, they brought quite a few servants with them. If someone with ulterior motives mixed in among the servants and suddenly stabbed them, would it be considered an accident or deliberate? How should we judge it?"
Wang Quan entered the palace as a castrated child at a young age, and to have reached her current status, she certainly did not come from scratch.
He knows all the twists and turns in the palace!
"Then, aren't the prince and the eldest girl in danger?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jianning paused, thought for a while, and nodded, "It is very dangerous, but you can't get a tiger cub without risking it. That's why the Queen always says that Prince Ling and Miss Mu are a perfect match! As for danger, it's hard to say who is in danger! Just wait and see!"
Emperor Jianning smiled, looking confident.
In the court, he has been constrained by the Queen Mother and Prince Yong for a long time.
Now, there is another Prince Chong, whose status as the heir to the throne is in doubt, and he has intervened.
He doesn't have many princes, but the crown prince is good enough.
Prince Chong, even if he is really his flesh and blood, he is not suitable to sit on his throne, not to mention, he is the flesh and blood of Prince Yong!
Now, he was just wondering, where was Concubine Xian's child sent to back then? Is he still alive now?
Wang Quan knew that today's birthday banquet was destined not to be peaceful.
Many people around His Majesty were also secretly sent out.
On the surface, there seemed to be no movement at Shouxiang Palace, but in fact, everything was being secretly arranged.
When Mu Qingyan and her group arrived, Prince Chong's carriage also stopped at the gate of the Grand Princess's villa.
This garden was named Fuyuan, and was originally given to the eldest princess by the late Emperor Zhaojing, the father of the eldest princess. The late Emperor Zhaojing loved his daughter very much, and not only granted her fiefdoms, land and property, but also specially left her a group of elite soldiers. After his death, there was still a will to keep her wealth and glory.
It’s all due to debt.
The structure of Fuyuan was inspired by the architecture of Jiangnan gardens, with pavilions and waterside terraces, and a beautiful scene at every step.
Surrounded by mountains and rivers, it not only has pleasant scenery, but is also warm in winter and cool in summer.
The area is large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people.
Even though the Grand Princess does not live here, there are still hundreds of servants who keep the place in order.
This shows that the Grand Princess lived an extremely extravagant life.
As soon as Mu Qingyan got out of the car, she looked up and met King Chong's eyes.
His eyes were full of teasing and regret. He looked into her eyes with a meaningful smile, as if to say: It's not too late for you to regret now.
But how could Mu Qingyan regret it?
She ignored the gaze from King Chong and looked away in a flash.
After Qin Sangbai and Mu Yingyu got off the car, she led them to the Gu family and said, "Grandmother, aunt, two cousins, and my two sisters, I'm going to trouble you to take care of us today..."
Madam Gu, leaning on her cane, patted her shoulder with a look of distress in her eyes, "Child, you must be more careful today..."