The little dark guard who travels between two lives

Chapter 46: Each One's Own Plan

Shen Yining covered her face and cried quietly, not daring to speak again. Empress Dowager Shen looked at Shen Yining with a look of disappointment: "You still have the nerve to cry. Your father and I have carefully raised you since you were a child. You are the only legitimate daughter of the Shen family, and you bear the glory of our Shen family. How many times have I told you this? Why don't you listen to it and take it to heart?"

Shen Yining felt wronged when she heard the words "Shen family". She cried and asked the Queen Mother: "Aunt, why can't I marry someone I love and live a peaceful life?"

Queen Mother Shen looked cold: "Because you are the daughter of the Shen family, it is your responsibility to contribute to the glory of the Shen family. Aunt has been very pampering to you. At the beginning, you told Aunt that you liked Qin Mingxuan, and Aunt also wanted you to be happy for the rest of your life. Did Aunt personally risk her old face to make peace with the old stubborn Master Qin, and what was the result?"

Empress Dowager Shen sighed, "Aunt loves you sincerely, so she wants to make your wish come true, but the Qin family doesn't like you. You are a lady from a wealthy family, but you secretly made an appointment with a man from outside the family, and even made an appointment in the palace. If it weren't for me, the Empress Dowager, stepping in, how would this scandal end? You have brought shame to our Shen family, and you don't even think about it. If it wasn't the emperor who walked in that day, but someone else, what would you do?"

Thinking of this, Shen Yining gnashed her teeth again: "It was that bitch Ji Wanran who harmed me. I won't let her go." "Alright," Empress Dowager Shen interrupted her: "The Shen family has raised you for many years, not for you to take advantage of the wind to be jealous and stir up trouble."

Empress Dowager Shen said in a heavy tone: "You have to continue the glory of our Shen family. I, your aunt, am old and may die one day. Now the emperor can still see my kindness in raising him and treat our Shen family well. What if I die? What will happen to you and Jingyu? What will happen to the Shen family?"

Shen Yining cried again: "Aunt, you won't die." Empress Dowager Shen wiped away Shen Yining's tears: "Silly girl, it sounds good to say that you will live forever, but we all know that it is a lie."

"Ning'er, look at what you have done since you came to the palace. What's the point of bothering Ji Wanran all day? You don't take good care of your own son and make plans for him. I think Jingyu is closer to the queen now. He follows the prince to the queen whenever he has nothing to do. Can't you see all this? What are you thinking about all day long!"

Empress Dowager Shen looked at Shen Yining who was still dazed, and angrily pointed her finger at Shen Yining's forehead: "You! You don't even know why the emperor was so furious today. He is taking his anger out on others. Do you know that the emperor is going to take action against our Shen family?"

Shen Yining was so shocked that she forgot to cry. She stared at Empress Dowager Shen blankly: "Aunt, how is it possible?" Empress Dowager Shen sighed: "Your father has been too unrestrained recently. He thinks he has great power in the court, but in fact, your father still underestimated the emperor!"

Empress Dowager Shen asked Shen Yining: "Was it your idea or your father's idea to assassinate Qin Mingxuan?" Speaking of this, Shen Yining still felt wronged and uncomfortable: "Of course it was my father who instigated Suqin to arrange it behind my back. How could I..."

Looking at Empress Dowager Shen's expression, she didn't dare say the rest.

"Your father was too reckless this time. Two important ministers got into trouble one after another. This is a slap in the face of the emperor. How could the emperor not be angry? Otherwise, why would he be so angry today? You are also trying to get in the spotlight. The queen is just right to ban you. During this period of time, our Shen family should not be in the limelight. We should stay dormant for a while and talk about it after this period."

Empress Dowager Shen looked at Shen Yining and said, "You should honestly reflect on your future path in the palace. Let go of Qin Mingxuan completely. If you still insist on your love affairs, I will no longer care about you. Don't forget that your father only has you as his legitimate daughter, but he has several concubines who are waiting for you to get into trouble!"

Shen Yining's heart skipped a beat. Yes, there was never a shortage of beautiful concubines in her father's backyard, and her half-sisters were all racking their brains to become rich and powerful, and they wanted to see her, the legitimate daughter, get into trouble.

Seeing that she remained silent, Empress Dowager Shen ordered a maid beside her to take Shen Yining downstairs to wash up. "Go and wash up, and let the maid take you to your room. From today on, pray for me and the emperor and copy scriptures every day. The scriptures you copy every day must be presented to the emperor to show your repentance, until your house arrest is over." Shen Yining wanted to say something, but was given a cold look by Empress Dowager Shen. She dared not utter a word and followed the maid obediently.

Empress Dowager Shen watched Shen Yining go down reluctantly. She sighed, this child is too spoiled, without any scheming, it's really worrying. She remembered that General Shen said that her friend had cleaned up the mess she had left behind, and she couldn't help wondering who in the court had such great ability to cut off the emperor's clues when he was investigating thoroughly.

She once asked Captain Shen, but her brother refused to tell her who this friend was. He just told her not to worry and that they would not go wrong if they worked together.

Empress Dowager Shen always had a vague sense of uneasiness in her heart. This intuition had accompanied her through many risks in the deep palace to reach her current position. In fact, she was also very tired, but her brother was right. Their Shen family was now the target of public criticism. If the Shen family did not fight, countless noble families would come up and step on them, causing the Shen family to fall into the abyss completely. Empress Dowager Shen did not dare to think of such an outcome.

After entering the palace at an ignorant age, she experienced ups and downs many times in the palace. She had no choice but to learn to be scheming and even to sacrifice the lives of others for her own benefit and that of the Shen family.

She didn't dare to think about how many lives she had taken, as she sat at the top of the imperial harem until now. Thinking about the ups and downs of the past few decades, Empress Dowager Shen fell into a deep sleep.

Xibin returned to her palace, took out a pen and paper and wrote a line of words: "The emperor and the imperial concubine have a rift, and the imperial concubine is forbidden to enter the empress dowager's palace." Then she sealed the note with wax, called Bao Ling, the senior palace maid beside her, and whispered to her to deliver the secret letter to the old place. Bao Ling asked Xibin softly: "Madam, should we inform the second prince about our contact with the outside world?"

Xipin responded firmly: "No, this matter can only be known by you and me, Jinglin must not know it. The fewer people who know it, the safer it is. Besides, we can't completely trust that person now. We have to be prepared for both situations. As long as it is good for Jinglin, we have to do it. You go, and be careful." Bao Ling nodded and left.

Xibin looked out the window and fell into deep thought, thinking of the message that person had sent. That person wanted her to follow his arrangements and try to sow discord between the emperor and the queen mother and the imperial concubine in the palace. At first, she was still hesitant, as she had originally wanted to rely on the queen mother Shen and the imperial concubine Shen to plan for her son.

The man pointed out: The Shen family has the fourth prince, what reason is there to plan for your son? Your son can only be a yes-man following the fourth prince, and he will never be able to make a name for himself. The man asked her if she was willing to let the mother and son follow others like this for the rest of their lives.

Of course she was unwilling to accept this. Not only had she lived a cowardly life, she also didn't want her son to be like her. As he was also the emperor's son, why should her child only be able to listen to other people's orders in a submissive manner?

Xibin remembered the man's promise, that man asked Xibin to follow his instructions in the palace, and he would ensure that her wish would be fulfilled. She and her son did not have a strong backing from their natal family, and now someone handed them a ladder to help them rise to the top, so they might as well give it a try.

Moreover, Xipin had already seen that the emperor was going to attack the Shen family, which further proved that what that person said was true. If the emperor wanted to deal with the Shen family, her support in the palace would fall. She and her son were isolated and helpless, so they had to rely on that person's power. However, the emperor and the Shen family were fighting, and the outcome was still unknown. She couldn't put all her bets on that person. She had to keep a backup plan to be prepared.

Outside the palace, in Fuxin Dim Sum Shop, Su Peiyun was taken to a room with a nervous mood. She received a message from Suqin, asking her to go to the Dim Sum Shop today, as a distinguished person wanted to see her.

Ever since Qin Mingxuan searched the entire mansion, Su Peiyun has been cautious and did not dare to move. She stayed in her yard every day waiting for news.

Today she received a message asking her to come out to meet a distinguished person. This had never happened before, and she had only met Suqin. A lady in the palace could not leave the palace casually, so who was the distinguished person today?

Su Peiyun entered the room. There was a screen in the middle of the room, and there was a figure behind the screen. She was just wondering how to start talking when the person behind the screen said, "Ms. Su, please sit down!"

There was a round table in front of the screen, with a cup of hot tea on it. She had no choice but to sit down and hold up the cup to hide her fear. Was she going to punish herself for not doing things right last time?

Thinking of this, Su Peiyun couldn't help but tremble in his heart. He had done so much, would he be silenced? Looking at the tea in his hand, Su Peiyun's heart shuddered and he almost threw the cup to the ground.

A man chuckled: "Miss Su has the guts to poison Master Qin, but she doesn't have the guts to drink my cup of tea?"

Su Peiyun suddenly stood up: "Sir...Sir, I am just following your orders, I..." "Miss Su, just sit down peacefully, I am not here to take your life, don't worry." Su Peiyun could only sit down slowly again.

"I heard that it was your idea to steal Madam Qin's child instead of killing her on the spot?" Su Peiyun was shocked to the point of almost standing up when she heard the man's question from behind the screen. She calmed herself down and said, "Yes, it was my idea."

"Oh, can you tell me why Miss Su did this?" The man continued to ask slowly, as if he was chatting with Su Peiyun.

Su Peiyun calmed down. After all, this person knew what she had done. This person should be the descendant of the imperial concubine. No, it should be said that this person is more powerful than the imperial concubine. It is useless to be afraid. Just say whatever you want to say.

She took a sip of water and said slowly, "The order from the palace was to kill the child, but I thought it was easy to kill the child, and the death of the child would only make Ji Wanran sad for a while. And I stole the child and raised him by my side, so the child will naturally be loyal to me. In the future, if I have the chance, I will return the child to Ji Wanran, and I think it will be much more useful."

"Pa pa!" Two slaps were heard from behind the screen, and the man's voice of approval came out: "Good, you are ruthless, scheming and calculating. You are much more powerful than Shen Yining."

Su Peiyun stood up in fear. She didn't know how to respond to the compliment. "Sit down!" The voice behind the screen was not loud, but it was very intimidating. With just one word, Su Peiyun immediately sat down again.

"Where did you place the child?" "I bought a small house and hired a wet nurse to take care of the child. I gave her a name called Qingyan. I would often find opportunities to visit her. The child always thinks that I am her real mother."

"Then when are you going to return the child to Madam Qin?" This question left Su Peiyun unable to answer. She replied in panic, "I don't know. During the Lantern Festival, I received an order from the palace to get rid of Miss Qin. I originally thought that after Miss Qin disappeared, I would send Qingyan back to the Qin Mansion to serve the masters after a while, pretending to be Miss Xinhe who was found."

At this point, she looked up behind the screen and said, "But, but I didn't do a good job in getting that girl back home safely. Now I don't know what to do."

"Shen Yining is a brainless idiot who only knows how to do stupid things. I had no choice but to silence Zhang Gan. He was a capable general under my command, but he is gone before he can play a role. How stupid!"

Su Peiyun was secretly shocked. She originally thought that Zhang Gan was the concubine's man in the palace, or a member of the Shen family. She didn't expect that there was such a person outside the Shen family.

As the person behind the screen got angry, Su Peiyun stood up again. After all, it was she who arranged the Lantern Festival, and she was also responsible for doing it so poorly and damaging Zhang Gan.

The voice behind the screen paused for a moment, and then returned to the lazy voice from before: "Why did Miss Su stand up again? Miss Su has never seen me before, why are you so afraid of me?"

Su Peiyun lowered her head and replied: "I have failed to do my job well and have harmed your capable men. I am terrified!" Another chuckle came out: "Very good, ruthless, but also knows when to advance and retreat, very good."

The man continued, "In fact, your father was also an official of the imperial court. You are being modest when you call yourself a commoner." Speaking of her father, Su Peiyun choked up a little: "My father has passed away. I am just living under someone else's roof. It's good enough to have a place to stay. How dare I call myself the child of an official?"

The man slowly stood up behind the screen. Su Peiyun suddenly became nervous, but saw that the man did not come out. He just paced back and forth and said, "You know you won't stay in the Qin Mansion for long. It is not appropriate for you, a newly widowed woman, to stay in the Qin Mansion. Qin Mingxuan and his wife will marry you off sooner or later. Are you willing to let them decide where you go?"

Willing? Of course I am not willing. Seeing Ji Wanran's wife become rich because of her husband, and soon she will have a son and a daughter, how can I suppress my unwillingness?

Su Peiyun immediately knelt down and pleaded: "I am willing to be loyal to my master and serve him like a dog or a horse. Please show me a way forward."

The man laughed again: "Hey, your master is not me, your master is the queen in the palace." Su Peiyun finally understood that this man was more capable and scheming than the royal concubine. Moreover, this noble man should be willing to recruit her, otherwise he would not have rashly met her when he had been hiding behind the scenes.

Su Peiyun touched the ground with her forehead again in a respectful manner: "I am willing to follow you to find a way out. I have been living in Qin's house in a state of anxiety all day long, I beg you to give me a way to live."

She had harmed Master Qin. Although no one had discovered it now, the truth would eventually come out, and when that day came, Qin Mingxuan would have to skin herself alive.

The man was silent for a long time, and then said to her: "You go back, be patient, and wait for my news. I will send someone to contact you. As for what Suqin in the palace ordered, just follow it and do whatever you are told to do."

Su Peiyun sighed secretly: "This is to please both sides and deal with both sides." The man seemed to see through Su Peiyun's thoughts and sneered: "Just remember, I never keep disloyal people under my command. I have plenty of ways to make you disappear from the world silently."

Su Peiyun kowtowed quickly: "I dare not, I will definitely be loyal to you." The man continued: "Also, I will send a nanny to your Qingyan girl to take care of the child, you go and make the arrangements. After a while, when the child is brought up to my liking, I will arrange a place for the child. Go ahead!"

After saying that, the figure behind the screen flashed and disappeared immediately, leaving Su Peiyun staring coldly at the empty room in a daze.