Hua Qiyue knew that the Changlong Emperor had wanted the Stone Gnawing Tiger badly. After all, it was a rare creature and a spirit animal.
"Qiyue pays her respects to Your Majesty."
"Shimo pays his respect to Your Majesty!"
The two of them went up and paid their obeisances. The Changlong Emperor hid the disappointment in his eyes. He asked indifferently, "Prince Nan, Princess Jinghua, so the Stone Gnawing Tiger has gotten away? Are you two hurt?"
The Changlong Emperor"s concern sounded quite feigned. Although Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo were carrying no injuries, their faces looked rather tired.
After Shui Qianruo"s return, the Changlong Emperor had thought that Hua Qiyue and Prince Nan had really gone after the Stone Gnawing Tiger. But he waited for ages and yet they were not back. They only returned after several hours.
Shui Qianruo stood by Queen Liu"s side, a cold smile flashing across his lips.
"Your Majesty, we did not manage to bring it back. After Prince Nan and I fell into the abyss, I was poisoned and then got hurt by the Stone Gnawing Tiger. Therefore... Prince Nan brought me to a quiet place to treat my injury."
Hua Qiyue answered quietly.
Hua Liting saw his daughter so calm and quietly heaved a sigh of relief. Hua Mengshi"s face was unruffled as if she was totally unconcerned.
"So, have you recovered from your injury?" The Changlong Emperor asked.
"Ha, a man and a woman in a secluded place. You two have certainly damaged your reputations!" Suddenly, a strange sneer was heard.
The voice was full of sarcasm, derision, and scorn.
Hua Qiyue lifted her eyebrows. She had recognized the voice to be Liu Shaoming"s.
Liu Mo gave a cough and glared hatefully at Liu Shaoming.
Liu Shaoming turned his face to one side. He hated Hua Qiyue so much. It was she and her boy who had embarra.s.sed him the last time. He would always remember that humiliation!
"Hey, Liu Shaoming, you can eat anything you like, but watch your mouth!" Huangfu Xuan immediately tensed up.
Huangfu Xuan"s att.i.tude made Ouyang Liuer snort coldly. "Your Majesty, a man and a woman in a place by themselves... this will affect the morality of our capital and even our entire country."
Hua Qiyue gave a sneer. She had not expected these people to stab her when she was down. The Emperor was originally quite unhappy with Yun Shimo and her. Now, they sarcastically derided them. Obviously, they would like the Changlong Emperor to cast them off like old shoes.
"Young Master Liu, Miss Ouyang, you two have gotten the wrong idea. Prince Nan is an upright and solemn man. He shouldn"t be subjected to speculations by your likes. We two are innocent. If Your Majesty doesn"t believe me... you can rule that I have acted indecently." Hua Qiyue spoke calmly.
Acted indecently?
Lv Xin and Youshui widened their eyes.
Was Miss mad to have said such a thing?
In Changjing Kingdom, the crime of acting indecently meant that an unmarried woman had tasted the forbidden fruit with a man in a room. In this patriarchal country, the woman would be locked in a cage and immersed to the bottom of a lake. The man, however, would only receive five paddles as punishment.
Hua Qiyue was putting herself open to the charge by saying this!
Queen Liu narrowed her eyes and sipped a mouthful of tea indifferently. Actually, Hua Qiyue"s return had disappointed her very much, but... she would have her chances.
"Outrageous! Prince Nan is the most talented and the most virtuous alchemist of our state. Princess Jinghua is the most understanding infanta of the capital. How dare you two defame them! Do both of you admit to your crime?" The Changlong Emperor cried harshly.
Ouyang Liuer and Liu Shaoming heard him and their countenances changed. They immediately knelt down. "We admit to our crime. Please punish us, sire!"
To offend the Emperor might mean death!
They did not want to die young!
"Since you two are first-time offenders, I will let you off. But if there is a next time, your punishment will be extremely severe! You two have to apologize to Prince Nan and Princess Jinghua."
The Changlong Emperor said quietly.
The corner of Hua Qiyue"s mouth twitched. People like Liu Shaoming were so young and foolish.
They ought to know that Changjing Kingdom valued Qi Artists the most. Yet he had dared to defame her in front of the Emperor!
Ouyang Liuer and Liu Shaoming stared at each other, unwilling to accept this judgment. However, they had no choice but to apologize to Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo.
Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo had spent the entire afternoon in the cave. Therefore, when they returned to the hunting ground, the hunting contest was over.
Shui Qianruo still stood coldly there. Hua Qiyue had reported about her poisoning and the Emperor was outraged. He ordered an investigation to find out who had administered the poison.
Hua Qiyue knew that the Changlong Emperor also valued Shui Qianruo highly. She had no evidence and could not point him out as the poisoner.
This Shui Qianruo was extremely cunning. Even though Chongxiao was injured, it was not the right time to accuse them.
Prince Nan was a smart man. He hadn"t gotten the worse of the deal in the Chongxiao affair. At least, Chongxiao now understood that he, Prince Nan, wasn"t an easy person to deal with.
At noon, everyone had their lunch and was watching the ferocious tigers fight. Then, they enjoyed some song and dance performances. For some reason, Hua Qiyue felt a twinge of uneasiness in her heart.
When the time came for them to depart from the hills, Hua Qiyue kept sensing Hua Mengshi"s cold eyes linger on her body.
Hua Mengshi must have taken Second Madame"s death very much to heart. But now wasn"t the right time to take revenge.
When they reached the bottom of the hills, they saw a luxurious horse carriage park there. At the sound of people approaching, its curtains went up. Hua Qiyue paused for a while. The person inside was Princess Huiya.
Princess Huiya gave her an indifferent glance. Hua Qiyue instantly felt very baffled, because Princess Huiya used to like her very much. Yet now her eyes were looking so strange and distant.
In other words, she appeared not to have known Hua Qiyue.
With a florid face, Princess Huiya dashed over to Shui Qianruo by the Queen"s side. Hua Qiyue had heard that they were about to wed. The corner of her lips sank down slightly and in the end, she said nothing.
Hua Qiyue found Queen Liu gazing deeply at her, the expression in her eyes inscrutable. Hua Qiyue returned her gaze with a sarcastic glance. That glance const.i.tuted a direct challenge.
If no one offends me, I will not offend anyone!
I will repay the person who did me harm ten times over!
Queen Liu paused for a while, her jade-like hand in her robe sleeves clenching into a fist. Her sharp nail wrap almost stabbed into her own palm!
A cheap woman daring to squawk at her. Good, very good!
Hua Qiyue, just you wait. Seems that I won"t be able to kill you unless I come up with a spectacular scheme! I"ve underestimated you!
Iciness reigned in the Queen"s heart.
—
Outside the palace, upon sighting Hua Qiyue"s carriage, Qiuyun threw herself anxiously forward. "Miss, Miss... Big trouble, big trouble!"
Qiuyun"s anxious cries were accompanied by sobs. Hua Qiyue"s heart tensed and she lifted the curtains at once. "What happened?"
Qiuyun"s eyes were all red and swollen from tears. She had been left behind in the mansion to take care of Tianci. Tianci was not feeling well today. He had contracted a slight cold.
Also, Hua Qiyue made Caining and Caiqing stay behind to look after the boy. But they were nowhere to be found.
"It"s like this... Little Master wanted to look for you. We couldn"t stop him and let him out of the mansion. Unfortunately, a mysterious person abducted him on the street. They went in the direction of the Magic Beasts Forest. Young masters Caining and Caiqing had gone after them... but it"s been two hours and they"re still not back!" Qiuyun sobbed.
She regretted herself for not holding Tianci back by force. If she hadn"t let him out, such a thing would never have happened.
After all, Hua Qiyue had treated her quite well, even though she was formerly Hua Mengshi"s servant. She was now loyal to Hua Qiyue and had received many rewards.
Since Tianci was in trouble, she had failed in her job as a maidservant.
The color of Hua Qiyue"s countenance changed. Behind her was Prince Nan"s carriage. Yun Shimo lifted his curtain, sweeping his calm eyes onto the weeping Qiuyun. He stared in the direction of the Magic Beasts Forest, his eyes instantly a.s.suming a malicious, murderous air.
"How audacious for them to have touched my boy!" Hua Qiyue"s face changed color and she quickly got the carriage driver to dismount. She climbed up the horse and left furiously for the Magic Beasts Forest.
Behind her, Yun Shimo also got his carriage driver to speed up, trailing closely behind Hua Qiyue.
Huangfu Xuan was very angry, clenching his teeth and watching the silhouettes of Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo. Finally, he made up his mind to follow.
Although the people behind did not hear the exact conversation between Hua Qiyue and Qiuyun, they heard the other servants report their words.
The Old Madame was very worried. However, since Yun Shimo and Huangfu Xuan were both with her, there shouldn"t be too much of a problem.
In another carriage of the Hua"s Mansion, Hua Mengshi was listening to Surou"s report. She hurled the teacup in her hands angrily onto the ground. "That s.l.u.t! So many people are helping her!"
Surou said in a whisper, "Second Miss, lower your voice... walls have ears!"
Hua Mengshi was so angry that her face blanched. When she remembered Second Madame"s death, she felt a terrible hatred in her heart.
"Tomorrow... I will go and see Her Majesty personally!"
She gripped the jade in her hand tightly. It had been given to her by Second Madame before they entered the palace.
This was the proof.
—
Hua Qiyue drove the carriage onward, racing all the way.
Later, she found the horse too slow. She simply executed Mourning Steps and headed for the Magic Beasts Forest, leaving the others behind outside the palace gate.
Yun Shimo and Huangfu Xuan followed suit. Huangfu Xuan was the slowest of the three. He watched helplessly as the other two streaked ahead and was hopping mad.
For the first time, he was vexed that he wasn"t highly cultivated in Qi Art. For the first time, he regretted not putting enough effort in the past.
Yun Shimo soon caught up with Hua Qiyue, the two racing side by side.
Hua Qiyue could not be bothered with him. She headed straight for the Magic Beasts Forest.
At this moment, Tianci was sleeping under a towering ancient tree in the Magic Beasts Forest.
Countless ancient trees soared into the sky in the forest. Sunlight could not shine in and the place was extremely dim. One could just about make out the scene before one"s eyes.
All kinds of odors permeated the forest. There was a torrential downpour two days ago. The smell of the soil had become stronger.
Tianci slowly opened his eyes. He had been awakened by a series of strange, hoa.r.s.e roars.
"Eh, where is this place?"
The fair and chubby Tianci rubbed his pretty, big eyes.
He thought he was dreaming since he was always dreaming about strange places.
But everything before his eyes was clearly no dream.
The light was exceedingly dim, but Tianci could still see a strange beast staring at him!
This monster was like a wolf, yet not one. It also resembled a dog, and yet it wasn"t one. Its pupils were gleaming with an astonishing red light.
The strange beast widened its eyes, staring into his. Tianci had a great fright. Dense, cold sweat oozed out of the pores on his forehead.
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