vstars Chapter 37 Unexpected Discovery
Chapter 37 Unexpected Discovery
This is?
Could it be that her unintentional action had accidentally discovered the Queen Mother's secret?
She suddenly became nervous and was torn between the choice of watching and not watching.
However, she did not have much time to worry, as the Empress Dowager was about to finish her dinner and Erxi was still standing guard for her at the door.
Her palms were hot due to nervousness, and beads of sweat appeared on them. Her nostrils opened and closed, and her breathing became rapid. Everything around her fell still, leaving only a few strands of black hair hanging down from her ears, which kept trembling.
It was as if there was not a secret compartment under the base of the white rabbit in front of her, but a Pandora's box containing the palace's privacy. Once it was opened, she would be swept up in the secrets and there would be no escape.
Finally, she made up her mind and reached her slender hand into the secret compartment.
There was nothing inside except a dozen opened letters.
However, the word "Zhao" was clearly written on the cover of each letter.
Zhao?
Zhao family!
Zhao Ning!
That night when Lu Qingqing was on duty, she witnessed the affair between Zhao Ning and the Queen Mother with her own eyes.
If the two of them need to keep in touch, they can just meet in Mingjing Hall.
These letters...
Could it be that, in addition to sexual intercourse, they had other activities?
Lu Qingqing carefully opened the top letter, trying not to leave any signs of having read it. Based on the condition of the letter cover, she roughly judged that this letter should have been delivered recently.
"Please write to me personally. If the emperor insists on taking back the pure gold statue of the two immortals of harmony and unity that I gave you, you can just replace it with a gilded fake. - Zhao Ning"
She was right.
The letters stored in this secret compartment were indeed the evidence of their secret collusion!
It's just the replacement statue mentioned in the letter...
Presumably, the Zhao family and the Queen Mother will take action next!
Lu Qingqing deftly sorted all the letters into their original order and put them back in place. She pressed the emerald green right eye of the white jade rabbit again, and the secret compartment "clicked" and it disappeared into the base again.
When she completed this series of actions, she was about to breathe a sigh of relief.
At this time, Ruoqing's voice came from outside the door.
"Mr. Lu, the Queen Mother has finished her dinner. You may go and report back."
Lu Qingqing responded, then went to the main hall again with the copied palace rules.
In the main hall.
The Queen Mother looked relaxed, sitting upright on the chaise longue and sipping tea.
"I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. I have copied the palace rules that you asked me to copy. Please have a look at them."
Lu Qingqing presented it with both hands.
Ruoqing, the maid beside the empress dowager, took it and placed the palace rules on the square rosewood low table on the chaise longue for the empress dowager to read.
Lu Qingqing originally thought that the Queen Mother would be extremely dissatisfied with her handwriting. After all, she had traveled through time and space and was not good at calligraphy. So she had already prepared herself to copy it again after being ridiculed and mocked.
The Queen Mother glanced at the palace rules on the table, then lazily flipped through a few pages.
The font sizes are inconsistent and the strokes are chaotic and distorted.
Although handwriting reflects the person, the empress dowager looked at the unsightly handwritten palace rules and then glanced at the beautiful Lu Qingqing kneeling on the ground. It was really difficult for her to connect the two things together.
She said with a hint of sneer and teasing, "I forgot that you were originally a maid in the flower room. It would be difficult for you to copy the palace rules."
Lu Qingqing felt a little angry.
She was summoned here for no reason to copy the palace rules three times. Even if she had no credit, she had worked hard. If her writing was not good, it would have been fine if she had just said so. In the end, her background as a servant in the flower room had to be implicated.
She bowed, and her calm tone concealed the anger in her heart.
"I am not talented, and my handwriting is a little sloppy. I will practice diligently in the future."
"That's all."
The Queen Mother waved her hand, took a sip of tea, and did not pursue the matter of the handwriting of the palace rules any further.
She pointed at the scattered papers on the table and signaled Erxi with her eyes.
"Just use this one. Take it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and ask them to bind it into a book for me."
In the past few days, Lu Qingqing copied the palace rules on a single piece of rice paper, and when she took it to show the empress dowager, it had not yet been bound into a book.
At this moment, when she heard the Queen Mother's order, she was still secretly happy that the copying of the palace rules was over.
Erxi was ordered to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and now only Lu Qingqing was left in the Cining Palace to continue chatting with the Empress Dowager.
The empress dowager chatted about a few topics in a bland manner, which were nothing more than some clichéd formalities in the harem, such as asking Lu Qingqing to serve the emperor wholeheartedly and work hard to have an heir.
As the night deepened, the conversation showed no sign of ending.
Lu Qingqing was tired after copying palace rules for a whole day, and was forced to stay with the Queen Mother and chat with her.
She was a little exhausted, and even though she tried hard to hold back her yawns, she couldn't help but yawn several times.
Her desire to leave and return to the palace was clearly shown in her yawn. If the Queen Mother didn't let her go, it would be too inhumane.
The Queen Mother saw Lu Qingqing's performance clearly.
The Queen Mother was supported by Ruoqing and slowly stood up from the chaise longue.
She rubbed her temple with her slender white fingers. The gorgeous armor flickered in the candlelight, dazzling Lu Qingqing's eyes.
"I was so enjoying chatting with you that I didn't notice it was already so late. Lady Lu, please go back to the palace and rest."
"Yes, the concubine is retiring."
Lu Qingqing left the Cining Palace quickly as if relieved. When she walked out of the palace gate, she suddenly found that Erxi, who had gone to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to deliver the hand-copied palace rules, had not returned.
Oh no! That’s not good!
At that moment, a strong sense of uneasiness spread over her heart.
Erxi has always been inseparable from her. This time she went to the Imperial Household Department alone and didn't come back for such a long time. She must have encountered some trouble.
Lu Qingqing didn't care that it was getting late and walked quickly towards the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Inside Cining Palace.
The Queen Mother changed her friendly expression when she was chatting with Lu Qingqing to a gloomy face, and even her tone became cold.
She turned to Ruoqing beside her and asked, "Have you arranged everything next?"
Ruoqing lowered her head and whispered to the Queen Mother's ear, "Don't worry, Queen Mother. Everything is ready."
At this time, Lu Qingqing was on her way to the Imperial Household Department.
If you want to go from the Cining Palace to the Imperial Household Department, you must pass through the Imperial Garden.
Although Lu Qingqing has always been a firm believer in materialism and never believed in ghosts and gods, when she passed through the Imperial Garden late at night, she couldn't help feeling a slight chill on her back.
During the day, the lush flowers and plants in the imperial garden seemed full of vitality to Lu Qingqing.
But in the darkness, a slight breeze blew, and the branches and leaves of the flowers and plants trembled in the wind. Lu Qingqing looked at it carefully, and the more she looked, the more she felt that there was something hidden behind the lush flowers.
Because the harem wanted to save money, the original lighting station in the Imperial Garden was cancelled. The Imperial Garden was rarely visited at night, so Lu Qingqing could only explore the way in the dim night.
Many familiar scenes have changed.
Especially the Shoushan stone rockery, which looks even more eerie under the deep night, with its outline looming and its twisted shape baring its fangs and claws. Every crack and every bulge looks like the eyes of a ghost.
Goblins go away!
Lu Qingqing muttered to herself and quickly quickened her pace.
Just when she thought she was about to walk out of the imperial garden, suddenly, a pair of strong hands grabbed her arms swiftly and accurately.
At this moment, her heartbeat accelerated instantly, and a strong sense of fear surged into her heart like a tide.
"what--"