C126

The autumn sun in the afternoon shone down through the square of glass onto the ground, like a pale golden cloud floating on the ground. Dongfang Back sat behind his desk, quietly reading a note that recorded the affairs of the elite battalion; in reality, he had already been reading this note for a very long time, yet he hadn't even finished reading the first few lines. On the contrary, he raised his eyes from time to time to look at the tightly shut door.

"Creak!" Dongfang Wenshui looked up at the sound, and he finally saw the silhouette of the man he had been waiting for. He quickly walked up and asked, "Are you alright?"

Facing his nervous gaze, Mu Qianxue said in a low voice, "It's alright for the time being."

This answer caused Dongfang Zhi's heart to sink. Then, he saw traces of worry in Mu Qianxue's eyes, and he calmly said, "Come in and we'll talk."

After the door to the study was closed, Dongfang Bing asked again, "What matter does Imperial Mother have to bring you into the palace? Did it make things difficult for you?"

Mu Qianxue said with a wry smile, "It's not that it's difficult for me, but …" For a moment, she didn't know how to say it.

Xia Yue quickly took over. "The empress dowager said that she was taking the princess to Ning Xi Palace for the Double Sun Festival, but the truth is that she wants to give the princess a marriage!"

"Married?" Dongfang Qin repeated with a face full of surprise, and then his face was surrounded by layers of nervousness. He asked, "Who does Imperial Mother want to refer you to?"

"Wei Wenbin, the new vice minister of the Ministry of Justice. He's here at the Palace today."

"I know him, he is the Queen Mother's nephew. After the incident with Yu Sanzhong, Royal Brother specially transferred him to the capital to be the right-hand man. When he becomes familiar with the Ministry of Justice, he should be promoted to the first rank." After saying all that he knew in a single breath, Dongfang Zhi looked at Mu Qianxue and asked, "What do you think?"

Mu Qianxue shook her head and said, "You know that I'm not thinking about this right now. Not to mention that I've only met Wei Wenbin once, I don't know his temperament. Even if everything is as the empress dowager said, I'm not in the mood to marry him."

Dongfang Zi slowly loosened his clenched fists. "So, you've already refused your Imperial Mother?"

"Not yet." Mu Qianxue said seriously, "Didn't Your Highness feel that this matter is too abnormal?"

Hearing her words, Dongfang Qing also realized that something wasn't right. Apart from the time of her birthday, Empress Dowager Wei had never summoned Mu Qianxue, nor had she even mentioned her. For her to suddenly propose a marriage for her was indeed strange, but she couldn't think of any other motive.

When Mu Qianxue saw the puzzlement in his eyes, she enunciated every single word that she said after thinking about it along the way. "I suspect that Empress Dowager Wei already knows of the matter regarding Xi Chu."

Dongfang Zhi was startled, and then his face paled. He blurted out, "You said that Imperial Mother knew that Xiao Ruo Ao was a position that you helped ascend to the throne? "How is this possible!?"

Xia Yue was also shocked. When she saw Dongfang Shan's gaze looking over, she thought he was suspicious of her, so she quickly waved her hand and said, "Your servant has never mentioned the princess to anyone, not a single word. If there are any empty words, then I will be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"

"This King isn't doubting you. I'm letting you think about it. Have you encountered anything unusual recently?" Although Xia Yue acted impulsively sometimes, she was absolutely loyal to Mu Qianxue and her mouth was very tight as well.

"Unusual?" "The princess has been in the manor all this time and has not taken a single step outside. All day long, other than reading books and reading the information they have sent over, or else discussing matters with the prince and King Mu, there's nothing else."

Dongfang Shou lightly grasped the table, his brows tightly knitted together. "That's strange, how did the Queen Mother suddenly find out about the princess' matter?"

As the sun's shadow shifted, a ray of light landed on Mu Qianxue's moon-white shoes which were exposed outside of her dress. The peony which was densely intertwined with embroidery looked extremely lifelike under the light.

"When I was in the West Chu, although I had never stood in front of anyone, as long as I wanted to ask around, I would still be able to find out a thing or two. It seems like I wasn't hiding anything from them."

Xia Yue doubtfully said, "Even if Empress Dowager Wei really does know of the princess' capabilities, what does it have to do with this arranged marriage?"

Mu Qianxue cast a sidelong glance at her and said faintly, "Wei Wenbin is a member of the Wei clan. Once I marry him, it's the same as being firmly tied to the Wei clan's carriage.

"So that's how it is." Xia Yue suddenly realized something and frowned. "This Empress Dowager Wei is really scheming, she's actually planning something like that." Then, she asked again, "Since the princess had already guessed her plan, why didn't she just turn it down when they were at Ning Xi Palace?"

Mu Qianxue sighed and said with difficulty, "If I reject them just like that, wouldn't it mean that I would lose all decorum with Empress Dowager Wei? At that time, not only will they not tolerate me, they might even implicate Your Highness."

Xia Yue said with difficulty: "I can't refuse, do I really have to agree?"

"No way!" Dongfang Zhi stared at Mu Qianxue, his eyes radiating with an abnormally resolute light. "This marriage isn't something you want, you definitely can't agree to it!"

At this moment, his eyes looked very deep, causing Mu Qianxue to avoid his eyes with a little fear. Not daring to look him in the eye, she was so flustered that she didn't notice the painful feeling that flashed past Dongfang Qing's eyes.

Dongfang Yi secretly sucked in a breath of air and said, "It's really inconvenient for you to reject me. How about I go to the palace and speak to Imperial Mother?"

"No." "Since the empress dowager knows about my matters, she's probably suspicious of you as well. What you need to do now is to stay out of this matter as much as possible and not get involved with it."

Staring at that pair of bright eyes, Dongfang Yi enunciated each word, "Even if you really are suspected by Imperial Mother, I won't allow you to marry Wei Wenbin. I definitely won't!"

That glimpse he had five years ago was something he would never be able to let go of for the rest of his life!

Mu Qianxue tightly gripped the handkerchief as layers and layers of ripples appeared in her quiet heart because of his words. It was unknown when it started, but the weight that Dongfang Shou had occupied in her heart grew larger and larger.

Xia Yue was very quick-witted this time. Afraid that she would be in the middle and make things inconvenient for them, she casually found an excuse to leave, and when they were the only ones left in the study room, Mu Qianxue softly said, "Then what about Grand Concubine Chen, do you also not care about her anymore?"

"If that time really comes, I'll have Sixteen escort mufei away."

Mu Qianxue calmly looked at him, as if she wanted to see into his heart. After a long time, she asked, "Why are you being so good to me?" She didn't wait for Dongfang Nian's words before saying, "Don't say it again because of third brother, I don't believe it!"

Dongfang Shou silently gazed at her slender fingers that were exposed outside her sleeves. They were the hands he had wanted to hold the most in this life, but he had never been able to grasp them. "Then what answer do you wish to hear?"