Chapter 355: Sacrificing the Pawn to Save the Chariot (4)

Qingfeng realized that those were not contraceptive pills at all, but rather pills to make her conceive faster. Damn it!

"Fuling, don't tell anyone about this." She hadn't thought about having children again. This child came too suddenly, and her heart was very chaotic.

The Mistress's palms were sweating as she grabbed her hand. Fuling just wanted to ask what was wrong with her, but when her eyes swept over the warm jade that Qingfeng carried with her at her waist, she understood a little why the Mistress was panicking. Gently helping her to the side of the bed, Fuling replied in a low voice: "Yes, this servant will not tell."

Yan Han, who was lying on the bed alone, had been neglected for too long and was babbling. Fuling walked over, held him in her arms, and coaxed him. Yan Han was almost one year old, shrinking in Fuling's arms and looking around. For Qingfeng, whom he would see every few days, he was still very familiar. Seeing Qingfeng still in a daze, Yan Han stretched out his little hand and wiped it toward Qingfeng's face.

Qingfeng was feeling uneasy at the moment. Suddenly, her face felt warm. A small, white, soft hand touched her face and even mischievously pinched it. Qingfeng felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her heart was grabbed by this little hand, no longer panicked, but blank.

Fuling didn't notice it for a moment, and the little guy in her arms was making trouble. Seeing Qingfeng's face was very stiff, Fuling hurriedly held this little ancestor further away. The Mistress had never liked to get close to this child, usually not even holding him. Now like this... would she be angry?

Fuling looked at Qingfeng with trepidation, only to see her stay in a daze for a while. After coming to her senses, she didn't get angry, just waved her hand at her and said: "You take him back first."

"Yes." Fuling let out a sigh of relief and exited the room holding Yan Han. Standing outside the door, Fuling felt very worried for the Mistress. The arrival of this child should be a good thing, but it was not necessarily a good thing.

"Sister Fuling, looking at the sky, I'm afraid it's going to rain. This servant will get you an umbrella."

Fuling came back to her senses. A little palace maid was standing obediently on the side. She hadn't seen her before; she might have been chosen by Ruyi later. Ruyi did things quite efficiently, managing the Qingfeng Palace in an orderly manner, and the people she chose were also very discerning, careful, and very likable.

Fuling looked up at the sky. It was indeed covered with dark clouds. It looked like there was going to be a heavy rain. Fuling nodded gently and replied: "Okay."

Before long, the little palace maid brought a large ink-black umbrella and handed it to Fuling, smiling softly: "This umbrella is bigger."

Fuling took it, handed the umbrella to the old nanny who was following her, and turned to leave the Qingfeng Palace.

Summer rain comes as soon as it says it will. Fortunately, there was an umbrella. Returning to the Yongle Palace in a somewhat embarrassed manner, Fuling changed the child's clothes, handed him to the nanny to hold, and was about to return to her room to change her own clothes. When passing through the corridor, she found that the umbrella leaning against the side of the door looked familiar, very much like the umbrella that had been placed in the Mistress's room for a long time.

Fuling opened the umbrella, and sure enough, she found two small characters on the handle. Fuling smiled slightly. It must have been that the little palace maid saw that this umbrella was big and took it. Fuling picked up a dry cloth and carefully wiped the umbrella surface, intending to put it away after it dried, and bring it back next time she went to the Qingfeng Palace. After all, the Mistress had treasured this umbrella very much at the time.

When wiping the handle, Fuling inadvertently looked at the two characters on it twice more.

"Qiyu?" Why was it so familiar?

Qiyu...

Qiyu! Isn't it... Ming Ze's courtesy name? Why would the umbrella the Mistress cared about have Ming Ze's courtesy name engraved on it? Outside, thunder rumbled, Fuling froze in place, her mind blank, and she didn't even notice the umbrella in her hand falling to the ground.

This night, the rain was pouring down, as if it were being poured from the sky. Ming Ze could only stand on the corridor to guard the night, leaning against the pillar of the corridor in boredom, his eyes fixed on the courtyard, the rain hitting the bluestone slabs and splashing up mist.

At this time, the tightly closed door suddenly opened. It was past midnight, and it should be time to rest at this time. Ming Ze stood up alertly, staring at the door. Fuling's thin figure walked out. Ming Ze's tense nerves relaxed a little. Sometimes when on duty at night, Fuling would often make something for him to eat, just not as late as today.

Ming Ze just wanted to look away, but found that today's Fuling was a bit different from usual. The heavy rain splashed on the stone steps by the corridor, splashing her skirt, but she didn't seem to feel it at all, standing at the door of the room, her eyes slightly red, staring at him with a strange look.

Ming Ze frowned slightly, didn't walk over, and looked back at her coldly.

"You and the Mistress have known each other for a long time, right?"

The rain was very heavy, and Fuling's voice was almost drowned out by the sound of the rain. Ming Ze was a person skilled in martial arts, so naturally he heard her words. A flash of surprise flashed in his cold eyes. Ming Ze walked slowly toward her, but didn't answer her question.

Fuling stared at those eyes that were still indifferent, her voice trembling, not knowing if it was because of panic or anger, "That rainy night, it was you who gave the umbrella to the Mistress, so you two have known each other for a long time. That day in the inner chamber, you rushed in, you held her..."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ming Ze shouted in a low voice, his face gray and dark, interrupting Fuling's words.

Fuling also knew what the consequences would be if this was heard by others, so she secretly took a deep breath and didn't continue. Seeing that she seemed to have calmed down, Ming Ze didn't want to explain anything to her anymore and turned to leave. Unexpectedly, Fuling suddenly stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve.

"Actually, what you did before wasn't helping me at all, it was helping her, wasn't it?" She could not ask about other things, but this matter, she wanted to know, wanted an answer.

Ming Ze's brows knitted again. He indeed didn't want to help Fuling at the beginning, but she was Qingfeng's personal female official, so he paid a little more attention to her. Later... later he found that this person was quite good, worked seriously, was very sincere to others, and he paid a little more attention to her.

But... what was there to answer to this question?! Ming Ze felt inexplicably irritable in his heart.

Ming Ze's silence, in Fuling's view, was an admission. No wonder he always helped her out of trouble, but was very cold to her. She used to comfort herself that his nature was originally this cold, and it was precisely because he was cold but helped her and reminded her several times that if there were no other feelings, how could he do this.

It turned out that everything was her own wishful thinking.

Fuling felt that she was so stupid, having been self-indulgent for so long. Fuling thought self-deprecatingly, he must think she was very ridiculous.

Letting go of the sleeve she was pulling, Fuling turned and ran into the room.

Ming Ze was still thinking about how to answer Fuling's question. The next moment, his sleeve loosened, and the door slammed shut in front of him.

This night, Ming Ze stared at the tightly closed door, listening to the rumbling thunder outside, feeling inexplicable, and his heart couldn't calm down.

"Ah—"

In the rainy night, under the bursts of thunder, a scream suddenly rang out. In the darkness, Qingfeng sat on the bed, her face pale, her forehead full of thin sweat, and her long hair damply stuck to her neck. Because of fear, she gasped for breath, her throat dry enough to catch fire.

"Mistress?! What's wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare?" Ruyi walked into the inner chamber while buttoning her outer shirt. Seeing Qingfeng still looking terrified, she hurriedly poured a cup of water and brought it to the bed, "Mistress, drink some water."

Qingfeng's hands were still trembling. She took the teacup and drank the water hurriedly. After drinking two cups, she felt her dry throat feel better, and her heart slowly calmed down. Handing the empty cup to Ruyi, Qingfeng said in a low voice: "It's nothing, you... you go down."

Ever since Prince Zhi passed away, the Mistress hadn't let anyone stay in the study next door to serve at night. Ruyi had no choice but to exit the room.

Qingfeng lay on the bed, unable to sleep anymore. She just dreamed that she seemed to have returned to that dark prison again. It was cold and dark all around, and one cold hand after another grabbed her hands and feet, tearing at her. When she was unable to struggle, a foot suddenly kicked her stomach fiercely—

Qingfeng gasped, her hands tightly pressed against her stomach, unwilling to recall everything in the dream. Why did she dream of the prison again? Was it because Fuling told her today that she was pregnant, and she was afraid, so she had this nightmare? Would this nightmare not come true?

A blurry shadow flashed through her mind. It was the woman in the prison. Who... on earth was she? And why had she been locked up in there for so many years? Qingfeng suddenly became interested in her. Perhaps she should go and see her.

Ever since he got drunk last time, Yan Hongtian hadn't come to the Qingfeng Palace for more than half a month. Tonight, past the hour of Hai, Ruyi came to say that Qingfeng invited him over. Worried that something had happened to her, Yan Hongtian hurried over. Pushing open the palace door, he actually saw Qingfeng sitting alone on the swing under the tree, her skirt fluttering, her ink-black hair lingering.

Yan Hongtian was a bit dazed for a moment, as if he saw her from a year ago. At that time, she was also sitting on the swing quietly like this, with a faint smile blooming at the corner of her mouth.

Qingfeng saw him, raised her hand slightly to summon him over, and laughed: "The stars tonight are very beautiful, accompany me for a while."

He hadn't seen Qingfeng smile like this for a long time. Yan Hongtian seemed to be bewitched, walked to Qingfeng's side, and sat down. Qingfeng raised her head, looking at the sky with some obsession. After a long time, she asked in a low voice: "I heard that when people die, they all turn into stars in the sky. You say there are so many stars in the sky, is there one that is Zhi'er?"

Yan Hongtian's heart twitched violently, and at the same time, he deeply knew that now, after all, was not a year ago.

"Is there?" Qingfeng asked persistently.

"Maybe." Yan Hongtian answered coldly.

"Which one?"

Yan Hongtian's hand holding the swing hemp rope tightened slightly. This time Qingfeng didn't wait for him to answer and said softly: "That one is the brightest, it should be that one. I don't know if I will turn into a star when I die. If I could be near Zhi'er's star, that would be good."

"You talk too much tonight." In the past, she never mentioned Zhi'er in front of him, and he was unwilling to mention it in front of her. Zhi'er was like a forbidden zone for both of them. Only by not touching it could they maintain the surface calm. Qingfeng was very strange tonight.

Qingfeng really didn't speak anymore. The swing swayed slightly until her neck was sore, and then Qingfeng slowly lowered her head. After a long while, she said: "There is one thing I want to tell you."

There really was something. Yan Hongtian was silent, waiting for her to speak.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 356 =====