412: Cao Qing's Unexpected Surprise
Yan Qiongsi didn't expect that the shadow of Su Xinyi suddenly popped up in his mind, but he subconsciously denied it.
Su Xinyi is just the Crown Princess of the East Palace now. How could His Majesty leave such a matter to her?
It was neither Concubine Li nor Concubine Su Xinyi, but only Concubine Ruan Ming and Concubine Qi Xian. After King Jing and King Wu got married, the relationship between the two concubines and the queen gradually became closer. If they wanted to please the queen, it was reasonable to sell the queen a favor.
The princess of Guangping County looked very ugly and wanted to say something. Yan Qiongsi reached out and pulled her mother and said softly: "Mom, let's get out of the palace."
"Just leave like this?" The princess of Guangping County felt that the marriage was canceled like this. If the marriage with the Jiang family was canceled again, it would be extremely difficult for her daughter to choose a better family in the future.
She still wanted to beg the Queen for help.
Even if Mr. Jiang files a complaint to His Majesty, the Queen and Your Majesty have been married for so many years, don’t they still have this little affection?
She didn't believe it.
It's just that the queen refuses to help.
The more she thought about it, the angrier Princess Guangping became. After leaving the palace and getting on her carriage, she said to her daughter: "I think your aunt is not as protective of us as she used to be. After all, In her heart, King Rong is more important."
Yan Qiongsi turned to look at the slightly swaying car curtain, still thinking about what to do next, and was too lazy to tell her mother for a while.
Isn't it right for an aunt to protect her son more?
She had long understood how a niece could compare to her biological son.
The princess of Guangping County didn't notice anything strange about her daughter, and was still chattering, "Your father's errand has not been settled yet, and I see that the queen is unwilling to do her best. What should I do if it continues like this? I should mention it today. In the end, I was so angry that I forgot about the divorce."
Hearing this, Yan Qiongsi thought that back then, her aunt was favored and His Majesty valued her, so her aunt asked for a job for her father.
For so many years, my father's job has been fruitless, and he has stayed where he is. I'm afraid that His Majesty has long wanted my father to make room for him, but he just didn't have the right opportunity.
Last time, His Majesty took advantage of Shang Junyan's incident to get her father's official position, which happened to kill two birds with one stone.
There is no need to think about reinstating her father's official position. With her father's temperament, if she gives him a job with a low official position and no real power, she will refuse to do it even if she is afraid of being embarrassed. In the end, she will just hold the title of a county king. .
In this case, why bother with aunt again because of this matter?
Thinking of this, Yan Qiongsi looked at his mother and said, "Mom, now you and your aunt are not just sisters. You are also the princess of Guangping County, and your aunt is the queen. After all, it is different."
The princess of Guangping County was stunned when her daughter said this, "What do you mean by this? When will the queen and I also be biological sisters? How can this be any different?"
"Of course it's different. Mom, if what happened today happened to my cousin, what would my aunt do?"
"How to do it? Of course it's for Prince Rong's sake..." The princess of Guangping County was stunned when she said this. She looked at her daughter again and seemed to understand a little, and then her face became even worse.
Yan Qiongsi didn't seem to care much and said slowly: "People's hearts are the same. In my mother's heart, my brother and I are more important."
The Princess of Guangping County opened her mouth and finally sneered, "Yes, you are right. If it is the same as before, the Queen will not force us to agree to cancel the engagement with the Jiang family. Do we really want to cancel the engagement?"
"Retreat." Yan Qiongsi said casually, "This marriage is not what I want. It was just a temporary measure at the beginning. It's just that my aunt said that I should divorce the engagement with dignity. It's okay to be dignified, but I can't do anything that the Jiang family did to make me lose face. That’s it.”
The princess of Guangping County knew that her daughter had always had her own ideas, but things were different now. She hurriedly said: "Don't be ridiculous. Since you are willing to break off the engagement, then break off the engagement in a friendly manner. In the future, my mother will choose another one for you." It’s a matter of marriage.”
Yan Qiongsi smiled and said, "I know what's going on. You just go and talk to the Jiang family about breaking off the engagement. My aunt is worried that we will cause trouble to King Rong. Besides, my cousin is really good to me. Let's do this for my cousin's sake."
The princess of Guangping County was silent when she thought of Prince Rong's nephew. She really cared about her daughter, "Then let's do this for now. I'll go to Jiang's house tomorrow."
Yan Qiongsi nodded slightly, then chuckled, "Mom, you don't have to worry, your daughter can always get married."
The princess of Guangping County felt very uncomfortable when she heard what her daughter said. After a while, she said, "Of course, my daughter's marriage must go as she wishes."
Before the carriage arrived at Guangping County Prince's Mansion, Yan Qiongsi got out of the carriage halfway, looked around calmly, and then quickly walked into a small alley.
The alley was narrow and long. Walking on the bluestone road, you walked all the way to the end, then opened a wooden door and stepped in.
Cao Qing was sitting in the restaurant opposite. His eyes flickered and he was stunned for a moment. Then he reached out to the person beside him and whispered: "You continue to stare here, I will go out."
"Brother Cao, where are you going?"
Cao Qing wasn't sure if he was wrong, so he said softly: "It's a bit urgent. Remember, when the people from Master Zeng of Youchu come back, you follow them. You know what they say and do when you go there, right?"
"I know, don't worry."
Cao Qing patted him on the shoulder and said, "Do a good job. You came from Master Zeng. It's not easy to find an upright background. This is a good opportunity. Don't miss it."
Cao Qing dropped these words and walked away, keeping his eyes on the alley. When he got off the restaurant, he didn't follow the same path, but took a detour and passed from the other end of the alley. He bought four or five palm-sized sesame cakes at the street corner, wrapped in oil paper and held in his hand. He smeared some plaster on the corner of the wall, rubbed his hands on his face, and his eyes changed, like that of an ordinary man.
Not far along the alley, I saw a house with a half-open door. An old woman was cursing and scolding her grandson. There were broken tiles scattered on the ground not far from her feet.
Cao Qing put on a simple and honest smile, stretched out his hand and knocked on the door twice. The old lady who was cursing raised her head and looked over with half-squinted eyes. When she saw it was a strange face, she didn't recognize it, so she shouted and asked: "Who are you and where are you from? Why haven't I seen you in this alley?"
Cao Qing saw the little grandson of this family staring at the sesame cake in his hand, with drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. He hurriedly opened the oil paper bag and took out one and handed it over. The child took it and stuffed it into his mouth.
The old lady wanted to snatch it back as soon as she saw it. She scolded her as she grabbed it, "I haven't eaten anything good in eight lifetimes. One sesame seed cake will make your greedy eyes fall to the ground. It's such a worthless thing..."
"Auntie, I just want to ask for directions. A sesame seed cake is not worth anything. I gave it to you. Please stop scolding the child." Cao Qing scratched his head and said with an embarrassed look on his face.
When the old lady heard this, her face became brighter and she asked, "What directions do you want to ask? Which house are you looking for? No wonder you look so strange, are you here to visit relatives? I mean, your relatives are not reliable, why? You still can’t touch the door?”
"A few years ago, our family suffered a disaster and we moved to another place. We also lost the letters from our relatives, so we could only rely on our memories to find someone. However, when we arrived at the door and saw people who were not my relatives living there, I I muttered that I was looking for the wrong door, so I asked you. You must know a lot at your age. "
"That's true. I have lived here all my life, and there is no one in this area that I don't know. Which one do you want to ask?"
Cao Qing heard that the old lady was very happy, so he hurriedly stuffed the other sesame seed cakes in his hands to the child. The old lady was about to stop her, but Cao Qing said: "Mom, I can't ask you in vain. Take out some sesame seed cakes for the children, please accept them."
"Just one sentence, how can it be worth so many sesame cakes? You have grown up to be a kind person, so you can ask." The old lady said with a smile.
Cao Qing rubbed his hands and pointed to the other end of the alley, "It's the house five or six houses away from your house. I followed my father there once when I was a child, but the alleys here are similar in length, and there are no differences between them. I didn't know if I was going to the right door, so I took a look through the door. The people in the yard looked very unfamiliar, and they looked nothing like our parents. I felt timid, so I didn't dare to go and ask. Was it because I was afraid of finding the wrong door? We country people are afraid of getting into trouble when we go to the city.”
The old lady looked at Cao Qing's honest and honest look, and thought about it. How knowledgeable could a farmer in the countryside be? He was not afraid of causing trouble when he entered the city, so she thought for a moment and said, "The house you are talking about is really not what it used to be." The family that originally lived in this house was named Sun. Is your relative’s surname Sun?”
Cao Qing looked surprised, "Old lady, how do you know, our family name is Sun."
"You guys are really good. If they were all named Sun, you would have found the right family. But you are not very lucky. The family named Sun is also unlucky this year. Your son, who is good at reading, got into gambling. You think we are raising children like this?" How much money can ordinary people have to gamble? It’s hard to support a scholar. He owes a lot of debt. The gambling shop came to him and took over the house. Not long ago, someone bought the house. "
When Cao Qing heard this, his heart trembled. Zhan Qiao mentioned it to him, saying that the Crown Princess suspected that King Yi was behind the Shi family's involvement in gambling, and that the family that moved out now also lost their house because of gambling. That's it. skillful?
Moreover, he looked at the person who entered the door as Princess Runyi. If he was not mistaken, what was Princess Runyi doing in a place like this?
This is not a place where noble people like her would come.
Cao Qing's thoughts changed, a look of shock appeared on his face, and he stammered, "Gambling? How can a family like ours gamble? This is incredible, incredible. Auntie, are my relatives who have moved away okay? Bar?"
When the old lady heard that Cao Qing was concerned about the safety of her relatives, her face became a little better, "It's okay, it's just the student who caused such a thing. He might feel shameless in public and wanted to hang himself with a rope, but he is a It happened that his mother couldn't sleep and looked at him that night, so she was saved. What a sin, you've always said hello to me when you saw her before. "
Cao Qing patted his chest, "That's good, that's good. I'm still alive, and I can earn back the rest slowly. Madam, do you know where they moved?"
"I don't know about that. I was in such a hurry when I left. We old neighbors saw that the door was empty when we woke up in the morning." The old lady shook her head as she spoke.
Cao Qing's heart sank, and then he said with a melancholy expression, "Auntie, do you know where the person who bought the house is from? Is it easy to deal with? I want to come and ask about the whereabouts of my relatives. I don't know if they know. Since They are in trouble. We have houses in the countryside and there is always a place for them to stay. I am worried that they don’t even have a place to live now. "
The old lady looked at Cao Qing in surprise. It's rare to see such a kind person these days. There are many country people who care about others, but few who help others.
Thinking of this, she found Cao Qing more and more pleasing to the eye. This young man had given her several large pancakes before. After thinking for a while, she said, "Young man, I advise you not to come here. The family that moved here is not easy to deal with. No one in our alley has any dealings with them. Although they live in a small courtyard, there are five or six people in it, all of whom are big and strong. They don't look like good people. You should go home quickly. It doesn't matter if you can't find them, but don't really cause trouble."
Cao Qing looked worried, "Auntie, although I am afraid, I still want to go over and ask. My relative's family also has several people."
"That family You don't look like a native of Beijing. I can't tell where your accent is. It sounds weird. I advise you to go home quickly. "
Cao Qing nodded helplessly, "Auntie, since you said so, if I don't listen to you, I will fail your kindness. I will go home first and discuss with my father what to do. "
"Yes, go home and discuss with your father. This kind of thing is still decided by the elders in the family. Young people have good intentions, but don't do bad things. Go back quickly. "
"Hey, I'm leaving the city now. Thank you, Auntie. Without your words, I might have really rushed forward. "
The old lady waved her hand, and Cao Qing said goodbye and left her house.
However, Cao Qing did not really turn around and leave. Instead, he pulled his collar and bent slightly. With his face, he looked like a depressed person who was not satisfied with his life.
He walked along the long alley with his head down and his hands behind his back, leaning against the wall. When he passed the door, he glanced at it from the corner of his eyes. The two wooden doors were half-closed, and he could not see the situation in the courtyard clearly. He could only hear the faint sound of men talking and laughing in the courtyard.
It was indeed as the old lady said. It was not the accent of a local in Beijing. The old lady did not hear it, but Cao Qing could hear it at one ear. It was the accent of Suizhou.
He slightly quickened his pace and did not dare to stay for long. He slipped out of the alley along the wall.
After leaving the alley, Cao Qing did not change his appearance immediately. He still maintained his original posture and appearance and walked along the busy street for a long distance until he really disappeared into the crowd and felt that the sight of people staring at him disappeared. Then his figure flashed and turned the corner and disappeared.