chapter 76

Nangong Ning had been fast asleep when she heard the noise, and she was suddenly awakened and sat up. As she squinted and looked anxiously around, Su Yuan said, “Someone’s coming, be careful. I’ll hide.” Then he leapt down onto the beam and hid himself in the shadow. Nangong Ning rubbed her eyes and was almost awake, when the door was opened. “Is Nangong Ning here?” asked a strange woman anxiously, coming in. Nangong Ning started and looked doubtfully at the middle-aged woman who came in, saying, “I am Nangong Ning, who are you?” The middle-aged woman walked quickly up to her, saluting to her and saying, “Miss Nangong, I am Xun Chun, a housekeeper of Fengyi Palace.”

Fengyi Palace was the queen’s palace. That was to say, the woman was the Queen’s servant. Nangong Ning knew that the queen could not help her, so she became suddenly very alert, asking, “Why do you come now?” While Xun Chun said with a smile, “It’s not safe here. The queen invited you to Fengyi Palace.” Nangong Ning frowned at her words.

First An Qing asked me to come to the palace, and then Lady Anli sent me here, setting a trap to trap me. Now the queen also sent her servant to invite me. Although queen Xun had never troubled me, but the relationship between her son and me was especially acrimonious. Nangong Ning considered, so that’s why she did not believe that the queen would be kind to her. But now she seemed unable to refuse. Even though the emperor was now more partial to his mistress, Lady Anli, and somewhat estranged from the queen, queen Xun was still the only wife of him, the most honorable woman in the country.

At that moment, An Qing rushed in and said anxiously, “Aunt Chun, Lady Anli has arranged for Miss Nangong to copy buddhist scriptures here. You can’t take her away.” Xun Chun looked back at An Qing, with very imposing manner, saying, “The queen heard that someone has set a trap here, and Miss Nangong would not be safe if she lived here. Our queen said that if Lady Anli wants hand-copied sutras, our queen will give her some, for there are many in Fengyi Palace.” Lady Anli was only the emperor’s mistress, even if the queen was not valued, she was still the emperor’s wife. Xun Chun was the queen’s trust maid, so compared to her An Qing got no qualifications and could only bow in front of Xun Chun.

An Qing said, “Even if you want to take Miss Nangong away, you should talk to Lady Anli at first.” Listening to her words, Xun Chun smiled slightly and said, “Our Queen has said that Miss Nangong’s personal safety is more important, there is no need to inform Lady Anli.” “You…” An Qing was not convinced and wanted to argue with Xun Chun again. She and others had already set a trap, and they were about to start attacking Nangong Ning, while Xun Chun suddenly came over and interrupted their plan.

“Miss Nangong, please come here.” Xun Chun ignored An Qing and turned to Nangong Ning, with a gentle look. Nangong Ning didn’t want to stay here either, although for her, Fengyi Palace was not necessarily safe. She had no choices, for there was fire sand in the room, so she replied, “Okay.”

Watching Nangong Ning walking away with Xun Chun, An Qing gnashed her teeth, saying to others, “Clear all the sand from here, I’ll tell Lady Anli what was going on!” Then she also left there quickly.

Nangong Ning followed Xun Chun to Fengyi Palace. Although it was late at night and the surroundings were very dark and could not be seen clearly, as soon as she reached the gate of Fengyi Palace, she still found the beauty of it. Unlike Lihua Palace, the furnishings and decorations here were more grandiose. Before entering the palace, Nangong Ning glanced back. She didn’t know if anyone would be against her in the palace, so she had to make sure that Su Yuan was following her.

Xun Chun said to Nangong Ning, “Miss Nangong, the queen is waiting for you inside.” Unlike going to Lihua Palace, Zun Chun didn’t ask the maids to tell the owner of the palace that she would visit. After entering, Nangong Ning no longer looked around, but silently increased her concentration to guard against possible crises. Xun Chun took her directly to the direction of the rear court room in the palace.

Xun Chun explained as she walked, “Our queen was ready to sleep, but she still got up again after hearing that you may be in trouble. She asked me to take you to see her.” Nangong Ning nodded and expressed gratitude duly. Xun Chun glanced at Nangong Ning, with her expression unchanged. After entering the room, Xun Chun walked forward a few steps, pulled the curtain herself, and let Nangong Ning enter. When Nangong Ning entered, she saw a woman in homely clothes leaning on a cushion embroidered with phoenixes and clouds. The woman was about forty years old, and it seemed that she did not take good care of her skin, but embodying tremendous dignity. Compared with Lady Anli, everyone would know that she was the Queen of Dongli. She narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at Nangong Ning, while Nangong Ning saluted her and said, ” Your majesty.”

“Get up, girl. Come to me and get closer.” Queen Xun raised her hand. Nangong Ning stood up and walked toward the queen frankly. Queen Xun looked at her and nodded, saying, “You look fine, so I guess I can rest assured.” Nangong Ning asked, “Your Majesty, how do you know that I am trapped in Anlian Palace?” Queen Xun said with a smile, “As soon as you enter the gate of the palace, my eyes are on you.”

Her words surprised Nangong Ning. Because if the queen said she didn’t know anything, it would be absolutely a lie. She was the queen and the master of the harem, and that meant she knew all the unusual things happening in the palace. However, the more sincere the queen was, the less Nangong Ning dared to relax.

“I originally thought that in the palace, Lady Anli would not be so aggressive, and she fascinated the emperor, so generally, as long as she didn’t trouble me, I would hardly care about what she wanted to do.” To understand the meaning of the Queen, Nangong Ning said, “I understand, my queen.” The queen looked at her with satisfaction, saying, “You are a smart girl. It’s too late now, live in my palace tonight, and tomorrow we can continue our chat.” Nangong Ning understood that it was unrealistic to ask the queen to send her out of the palace now. So she just thought for a while, then nodded and said, “Thank you, my Majesty.”

Queen Xun glanced at Xun Chun who understood the meaning of the look and then took Nangong Ning to a side room and arranged for her to live there temporarily.

After lying on bed, Nangong Ning listened to the sound outdoor carefully. After confirming that Xun Chun had left, Nangong Ning still waited for a few minutes before asking in a low voice, “Su Yuan?” Su Yuan gave am answer also in low voice, “Uh.” Nangong Ning felt relieved at once, and the drowsiness also followed. She whispered, “I will sleep, you can help yourself.” Su Yuan was speechless. Nangong Ning slept soundly this night because she knew Su Yuan was there, and so she was not afraid that someone would come in and assassinate her in the middle of the night.

When she woke up the next morning, a young and beautiful maid came to her. The maid called herself Xun Xia. Xun Xia said, “Miss Nangong, our queen asked me to serve you.” Nangong Ning said, “Thank you, aunt Xia.” She looked sweet, and when she wanted to show herself well, almost nobody can resist. Xun Xia smiled and said, “The clothes you wore yesterday were dirty. These are the clothes that the queen has prepared for you. They are all brand new.” Hearing that, Nangong Ning nodded and said, “Our queen is so kind.”

Xun Xia combed her hair while smiling and said, “Miss Nangong, in fact, our queen has long wanted you to invite you and have a chat with you, but she is very thoughtful and think that you may be afraid and worried that she might have some intention.”

The queen thought I may be afraid? Afraid that I might think she had a special intention? Did she mean that I might think the queen wanted to talk with me something about the prince who was originally engaged to her but married her cousin? Nangong Ning considered Xun Xia’s words.

“Yesterday as soon as you entered the palace, our queen got your news. But Lady Anli had always been presumptuous and even refused to show some respect before our queen, so our queen could only send someone to secretly protect you. If Lady Anli had not set a trap and wanted to hurt you, our queen would not have sent someone to take you to Fengyi Palace in the middle of the night.” Xun Xia continued.

Nangong Ning smiled slightly, with a grateful look on her face. The queen had told her last night, and now Xun Xia said again, just to tell her that the queen was not malicious to her and always wanted to be good to her, but there were many objective reasons, so she could only think about it in her heart, not shown by actual actions.

Why did the queen so eagerly express her kindness to me, wanting me to be grateful to her? Nangong Ning suddenly felt that things in the harem were too complicated and she was still too naive. However, now she had been passively involved, so she could only be more cautious and act by chance.

After helping her dress up, Xun Xia arranged for her to have breakfast in the room. Xun Xia said that because the queen’s breakfast was generally very light, and Nangong Ning might not be used to eating. Mangong Ning raised her eyebrows and agreed. Of course she would not refuse, because she was not interested in eating with the queen, and she was afraid she would not be able to eat because of embarrassment. After breakfast, she followed Xun Xia to the main hall and saw the queen.

In the small garden behind the main hall, the queen was holding a snow-white kitten and enjoying the flowers, saying to Nangong Ning, “Ning, come, sit next to me.” Hearing the intimate title, Nangong Ning’s mouth twitched, but still sat down next to the queen. As soon as she sat down, the queen said, “Lady Anli came here today to ask me why I took you from her to Fengyi Palace last night.” Hearing it, Nangong Ning was surprised at first, but then she wanted to understand. The queen is the leader of the harem, and every morning, the other concubines of the emperor will definitely visit her, so it is normal for Lady Anli to come in the morning. “I told her that I heard there was fire sand in Anlian Palace, so I took you to Fengyi Palace. She understood that I know what she had done, so she finally had to stop mentioning it.” The queen said with a smile. Nangong Ning knew what the queen wanted her to do what, so she simply knelt down and bowed, saying, “Thank you for saving my life, my Majesty.”

The queen put the kitten in her arms on the square stool beside her, helping Nangong Ning up, looking at her face, sighing, and said, “You would have been my daughter-in-law, it was a pity it didn’t turn out that way. My son was not so lucky.” Nangong Ning almost couldn’t keep her expression. She was now engaged to Jun Qianye who was the uncle of the crowned prince. The queen said this now, how could she reply? “My Majesty, your son is the future monarch of Dongli, and naturally he is a blessed person.”

The queen was very satisfied with what Nangong Ning said, and she nodded, saying, “I will hold a party in the Royal Garden in three days and invite the nobles to come and admire the beautiful flower.” Nangong Ning blinked and looked at the queen. Queen Xun said with a smile, “You are now engaged to Qianye, so your previous engagement with my son is invalid. I’m just worried that someone will make a fuss. So I decide to hold a party for you and Qianye. This is also what the emperor means.”

Nangong Ning was no longer as calm as before, and she couldn’t help thinking. The queen’s meaning was that she was going to hold a party and tell everyone that Nangong Ning was now the fiancee of the Regent, and everyone had to forget her past engagement. And the emperor also agreed.