On the third day of the letter from the mountain village, the Empress Dowager left the palace and arrived at the Zhongyong Marquis's Mansion, with a palace maid by her side in addition to Aunt Ping. The palace maid hung her head, cautious all the way, and did not raise her head when she arrived at the Hou Mansion.

The palace maid still carried a burden in her hand, and she didn't know what was in it.

The Empress Dowager naturally had to wait well when she came to the door, Hua Yaozong led the family to welcome people in respectfully, this is the first time the Empress Dowager has come to the Zhongyong Marquis's Mansion, so she can't wait well.

After receiving the tea served by Hua Qingyan herself, the Empress Dowager glanced at her and said, "What's the matter, this wall has been thought about, can it be effective?" ”

Hua Qingyan hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, I will never be so reckless!" Hua Qingyan smiled, remembered the little prince who was abducted by herself, and asked thoughtfully, "Grandma, how is the little prince?" ”

"Fortunately, your girl still has a conscience, remember him." The Empress Dowager wrote lightly, "I was grounded by his father." ”

Hua Qingyan lowered her head in shame, she didn't expect the little prince to do anything, she was dragged by her and ran away, and finally was grounded. She's really harmful.

"I'll find an opportunity to enter the palace to apologize to the little prince, and find the emperor to explain it well." Hua Qingyan scratched her head, very unhappy.

The Empress Dowager waved her hand and said, "Don't be, now someone doesn't want to see anyone, especially someone from your Hua family, don't stimulate him." ”

Hua Qingyan didn't understand what the Empress Dowager meant, and subconsciously glanced at Hua Yaozong, seeing that he frowned and had a constipated expression, she intuitively felt that her father was hiding something from her. But Hua Qingyan didn't ask, who doesn't have a secret.

The Empress Dowager glanced at Hua Yaozong, and then at the palace maid beside Pinggu, with an unclear meaning flashing in her eyes.

The Empress Dowager drank tea, put down the cup and said quietly: "I heard that the girl is going back to the mountain village?" ”

Hua Qingyan was not surprised at all that the Empress Dowager knew about this, and nodded: "Yes, the harvest in the field has been made, and it was ordered by Ah Yi to be used in the army, so it is more important, and we want to go there in person." ”

The Empress Dowager nodded, pointed to the palace maid beside Aunt Ping and said, "Take this girl, and there will be someone to take care of you along the way."

Because they went into battle in a light car, they didn't plan to bring many salutes and people, just Wei Xiao and Yu Jiamin, who could protect their safety and take care of their food. The Empress Dowager suddenly stuffed a palace maid in, which made Hua Qingyan a little confused, and I didn't know what the Empress Dowager meant.

Hua Qingyan looked at the palace maid for a while, the palace maid kept her head down, and her sense of presence was very low. Hua Qingyan couldn't see her face clearly, but she felt a little kind for no reason.

"Why, don't agree?" Seeing that Hua Qingyan didn't speak for a long time, the Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows, and the volume was also raised.

Hua Qingyan hurriedly shook her head: "There is nothing that I don't agree." My aunt's person is naturally good, and I can feel at ease with her, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to take care of Ah Yi. Hua Qingyan felt that she was a little cowardly, but it really didn't matter if she coaxed her in front of the Queen Mother, this is an elder and a future mother-in-law, can she not please her? Besides, the Empress Dowager cares about them from the bottom of her heart, and she just brings a person, there is no problem!

The Empress Dowager smiled, stood up and walked out, "Okay, I'm leaving, you guys go early and come back early." ”

The empress dowager came suddenly, and she left suddenly, as if she was just to send a palace maid to Hua Qingyan. Hua Qingyan originally wanted to ask the Empress Dowager when she would get Mei Yu and them out of the palace, but she didn't find a chance.

Hua Qingyan asked the housekeeper to arrange the palace maids left by the Empress Dowager in her own courtyard, so that it was convenient to find someone when she left. Hua Qingyan was surprised to find that this palace maid seemed to be very familiar with the Hou Mansion, and she could find the kitchen by herself without being taken by others, and she could also take a walk in the Hou Mansion.

As soon as Hua Qingyan came out of the study of the main courtyard, she met the palace maid on the way. She obviously also saw Hua Qingyan, and the head that was originally raised hung down quickly, standing aside and not speaking.

Hua Qingyan tilted her head and looked at her curiously, "By the way, I don't know what your name is." ”

After a long while, Hua Qingyan heard a weak voice, "The girl just calls me Sister Mei." ”

"Oh, Sister Mei." Hua Qingyan pulled her and dragged her with her, "Why haven't I seen you in the Qingxuan Palace before?" "It's not that Hua Qingyan suspects anything, but she feels that this palace maid is really a little mismatched with the Qingxuan Palace, after all, she has seen it, and the palace maids in the Qingxuan Palace are very lively.

"I'm new here."

Hua Qingyan was waiting for her to continue, but the palace maid closed her mouth again at this sentence. Hua Qingyan couldn't cry or laugh, so she simply didn't ask, and the two walked quietly to the yard. At the gate of her small courtyard, Hua Qingyan suddenly said: "You give me a very familiar feeling, we must have met before."

The palace maid was stunned for a moment, and her head hung lower.

Hua Qingyan glanced at her deeply, didn't say anything else, and walked into the courtyard. When Hua Qingyan's figure disappeared into the embroidery building, the palace maid raised her head and breathed a sigh of relief.

On the second day, Yun Shumo picked up Hua Qingyan from the Zhongyong Marquis Mansion and left Yongjing City. The carriage was large enough to accommodate four people comfortably lying in it. However, one carriage they originally planned for this trip turned into two, in addition to those from Prince Rui's mansion, and Lou Zhiqin's. Lou Zhiqin brought two people by herself, one drove and the other served her.

When converging at the city gate tower, Hua Qingyan found that Lou Zhiqin was obviously carefully dressed today, the clothes were the latest style of Yongjing City, and the color and embroidery were also compared to Hua Qingyan's.

Seeing the carriage of Prince Rui's mansion, Lou Zhiqin, who was waiting outside the carriage, immediately smiled and greeted him: "See the prince."

Yun Shumo was reading a book in the carriage, Hua Qingyan was sitting next to him dozing off, Lou Zhiqin's voice was obviously noisy to Hua Qingyan, seeing her frowning, Yun Shumo said coldly: "Let's go."

Wei Xiao, who was driving, received the order, bared his teeth and raised his whip at Lou Zhiqin, and the carriage started to get on the road again, but he didn't mean to stop and wait for Lou Zhiqin.

Yun Shumo's attitude made Lou Zhiqin feel aggrieved, she waited here early, but she didn't see the prince at all, and the prince was so unkind, which made Lou Zhiqin a little uncertain about this way.

"Miss, the prince is gone, are we going to chase them?" Lou Zhiqin's maid reminded in a whisper.

Lou Zhiqin turned around and looked at the carriage that had already left the city, gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go, let's follow."

Returning to the mountain village is not as leisurely as when you came, so it is a fast journey along the way, and there is no intention of stopping in a small place. Running around like this, Hua Qingyan is used to it, and she enjoys the feeling of being in the sky all the way, and the meat grilled by Yun Shumo makes her eat happily.

But Lou Zhiqin is not doing well. She is the lady of the palace, and the farthest place she has walked is from the Northeast Wangfu to Yongjing City, and she has never been in such a hurry along the way. After only one-fifth of the way, Lou Zhiqin felt that her body was about to fall apart.

Lou Zhiqin got out of the carriage with the help of the maid, and saw Hua Qingyan and Yun Shumo leaning together, the two didn't know what they were talking about, Yun Shumo's face showed a faint smile, and the already good-looking face was set off by the orange firelight.

Lou Zhiqin suddenly felt that her grandmother's decision was too correct, and Prince Rui was the best husband no matter how she looked at it. Lou Zhiqin didn't expect to squeeze Hua Qingyan away, she only needed to have her place in the prince, in this way, it would be the best for her and the palace side by side.

Lou Zhiqin's eyes are so warm that it is difficult for people to ignore them. Hua Qingyan was still joking with Yun Shumo, but suddenly pulled Yun Shumo's arm fiercely, and said angrily: "I regret it!"

Yun Shumo pinched Hua Qingyan's fingers and played, and asked knowingly, "What do you regret?"

Hua Qingyan puffed out her cheeks and glared at Yun Shumo fiercely: "It's all your fault for attracting bees and butterflies!"

Yun Shumo, who attracted bees and butterflies, was helpless, "Isn't this what you provoked, why do you blame me?" ”

"It's your fault, it's you, it's you!"

"Okay, it's all my fault."

As soon as Lou Zhiqin walked in, she heard Yun Shumo's series of apologies. Surprise flashed in her eyes, there were many rumors about Prince Rui, but the most correct thing was that he was not smiling and was very indifferent to people. But now Lou Zhiqin looks at Yun Shumo's attitude, but he feels that the prince is just indifferent to people who don't care. This also proves Hua Qingyan's status in the eyes of the prince. Thinking of this, Lou Zhiqin's heart was sour, and jealousy flashed in her eyes.

Sister Mei, the palace maid, just raised her head, and saw Lou Zhiqin's expression in full view, she frowned without a trace, and looked at Hua Qingyan and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, she was preempted by Lou Zhiqin.

"Lord Wang, county lord." Lou Zhiqin smiled gently, and her knowledgeable appearance was in stark contrast to Hua Qingyan's fangs and claws.

Yun Shumo just nodded lightly at her, but Hua Qingyan beckoned to her and motioned for her to sit down, "Is Miss Lou still used to it?" Today we are going to spend the night in the carriage. I don't know if Miss Lou can adapt. Oh, by the way, General Wei is going hunting, and we'll have to cook our own food in a while. ”

As soon as he heard that he was going to spend the night in this wilderness, Lou Zhiqin's face turned pale, as if he was frightened. She was very reluctant to such an arrangement, but she couldn't say it, after all, it wasn't her turn to call the shots here! Lou Zhiqin glanced at Yun Shumo, saw him staring at the fire with his eyes down, his face was cold, he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm fine, I'm used to it." Why don't you taste my craftsmanship for a while? ”

Hua Qingyan smiled with crooked eyebrows: "Okay, I didn't know that Miss Lou could cook, so Ah Yi and I will wait to taste Miss Lou's craftsmanship."

Ah Yi!

Such an intimate title made Lou Zhiqin's heart tremble again, she quickly lowered her eyes to restrain her almost crazy jealousy, and forced a smile: "It's just a small fight, not as good as the county lord."

"Be humble, be humble." Hua Qingyan waved her hand and said, "I just got a few recipes by mistake, otherwise I wouldn't be able to enter the kitchen." And when I look at the girl Lou, she is virtuous, and this skill must be good. ”

Being praised like this, Lou Zhiqin also subconsciously straightened his chest, and glanced at Yun Shumo lightly. But from beginning to end, the prince didn't look at her.