"I must go to the palace to see Prince Jin immediately."
When Qin Linglong made this decision, Xiao Huan and Xiao Jia took a long time to recover. "Go to the palace to see Prince Jin?"
This...
This was too sudden.
Moreover, Prince Jin had not sent anyone to inform them, nor had he said he wanted to see Miss. If Miss went to the palace to see Prince Jin, wouldn't it become a topic of gossip?
Also, Prince Jin was clearly more attentive to Princess Ning De now. Whether he would see Miss was another matter.
Qin Linglong saw their worries, but she bit her lip, her eyes filled with tears, and said, "I must move forward. You have followed me all these years and seen what kind of life I've lived. Now that there's finally a change, do you think I can still endure it like before? If Prince Jin doesn't want me, what kind of marriage will Madam arrange for me? At that time, I might only have death as a way out."
The two maids shivered upon hearing this.
They hadn't considered the consequences before Miss mentioned them. Now that Miss had spoken, they realized how terrifying the consequences were.
Life before?
Before...
Let alone Miss not wanting to go back, they didn't want to either.
"But, if Miss goes and Prince Jin doesn't see her, what will Miss do?" Xiao Huan asked with great concern.
Qin Linglong straightened her back, her eyes filled with determination. "There are no 'ifs.' If I don't go to see Prince Jin today, perhaps in a couple of days, someone will find every way to ruin my engagement to Prince Jin."
Therefore, she had no way back, only forward, ever forward.
"Miss... Heaven will surely not treat Miss poorly again. It will definitely let Miss achieve her wish!" Xiao Huan's face was full of tears. She truly felt too much pity for Miss.
Miss was truly too pitiful.
In the entire capital, how many young ladies were treated harshly by their stepmothers since childhood like their Miss?
Miss truly had nothing.
Really, it seemed that apart from Prince Jin, Miss still had nothing. Without Prince Jin, where would Miss go in the future?
Xiao Jia cried even harder, "This servant believes that Prince Jin has Miss in his heart!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Linglong lost her former pride and confidence. Her heart was even trembling.
Thinking of what the woman had said that night, she suddenly, for some reason, felt even more scared.
She even saw flashes in her mind of her horse being startled, about to fall, and Prince Jin, who could have saved her, watched with cold eyes, devoid of any anxiety or affection.
Even after she fell from the horse, he was not worried, nor did he approach. He actually let those guards help her up.
That scene was like someone holding a knife and carving deeply into her heart, so forcefully, so profoundly. She truly wanted to forget, but that scene kept reappearing, constantly reappearing.
She gritted her teeth tightly. "You two go prepare. I have to go to the palace tomorrow morning."
"Okay, this servant will go prepare now."
Xiao Huan and Xiao Jia immediately went out.
Once outside, the two could no longer hold back. Large drops of tears rolled down.
"Why is Miss's life so bitter?" Xiao Jia cried.
Xiao Huan covered her mouth and sobbed, "I hope Prince Jin will see Miss tomorrow, and truly have Miss in his heart."
"Let's pray together."
...
The next day.
The sky was clear, a rare good weather after several days.
After breakfast, Zhen Lin sent someone to fetch them.
Yun Shu and Qin Yiqing had already tidied themselves up and left the mansion with Zhen Lin's people.
They met Zhen Lin and Princess Ning De at the entrance of the mansion.
Upon reaching the mansion's entrance, they realized that quite a lot of things had been prepared. Two carriages were for people, and one carriage was loaded with various foods and other items.
After getting into the carriage, Qin Yiqing clicked her tongue and sighed, "We're just going for a lake outing, why is it so grand?"
"If you want to enjoy yourself, you naturally need to prepare more," Yun Shu said with a smile.
"I thought we were going to the lake, and if I saw fish in the lake, I'd catch a couple and then have grilled fish for lunch. Tsk tsk, fresh grilled fish is simply heavenly!" Qin Yiqing's eyes lit up at the mention of food.
Truly, she actually disliked those elegant pastimes very much.
If there were no people, she could have swum a few laps in the lake.
"That's right, grilled fish is indeed more delicious. In a few days, I'll take the three children, Xiao Li and the others, and we'll find a secluded spot to catch fish and grill them." Yun Shu also liked such unrestrained days.
When they were in the village before, they often did this.
Unrestrained, playing to their heart's content.
Qin Yiqing nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, we must make plans for it!"
"Of course."
At the same time, Qin Linglong also departed from the Minister's mansion.
Sitting in the carriage, Qin Linglong was tense.
She was about to reach the palace.
Could she see Prince Jin?
Feeling very uneasy, Qin Linglong got out of the carriage at the palace gate and stated her purpose. Upon hearing that she was Prince Jin's future secondary consort, the guards let them in.
They even had someone guide them to Prince Jin's palace.
She never expected it to be so smooth. The guards at the palace gate did not stop them and instead led them to Prince Jin's palace.
Qin Linglong knew very well that the guards let her in because she was, in name, Prince Jin's soon-to-be secondary consort. For the sake of this title, they naturally wouldn't stop her, and might even assume she had made arrangements with Prince Jin to come to the palace.
A moment later.
A palace attendant announced loudly outside Zhan Tianye's chambers, "Your Highness, Miss Qin requests an audience."
Inside the room, Zhan Tianye was reading. Today, he had flipped through several books and found them all to be ones he had read before. Some memories were even triggered, so he continued reading.
Just as he was engrossed, he heard the report from outside.
Zhan Tianye raised his cold eyes and glanced towards the door. "Miss Qin?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Miss Qin said she has something important to discuss, and it's related to what happened at the palace banquet that day." the palace attendant continued.
Actually, after saying that, the attendant was puzzled. What was there to discuss about what happened at the palace banquet that day? Moreover, seeing Miss Qin looking a bit nervous, the attendant found it very strange.
Why did Miss Qin still look as if she could be startled at any moment?
What happened at the palace banquet?
Zhan Tianye's eyes suddenly brightened. Was it her?
He immediately gave an order, "Please invite her in."
"Yes, Your Highness." After hearing Zhan Tianye's response, the palace attendant was surprised. Listening to His Highness's voice, he seemed a little happy?
It was different from his usual cold demeanor.
It seemed His Highness was indeed different towards this Miss Qin.
Now everyone said that His Highness liked Princess Ning De, but it seemed that wasn't entirely true. His Highness might actually prefer this Miss Qin.