"How do you know that?" Li Yue Shu asked Hong Dai, eating her food.
Hong Dai raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Royal temples are not easy places to enter. You've been twice, and now everyone in Chongzhou who matters knows about it."
She tapped her bowl. "During this time, quite a few people have been inquiring about you in Tong Mu County, but they've all been blocked by the Regent."
Li Yue Shu knew about this, but what did it have to do with her visiting the royal temple?
Perhaps her confusion was too obvious, as even Zhou Chen, who was burying his head in his rice, noticed.
He quickly swallowed his mouthful. "Young lady, don't you know that only imperial family members and their close attendants are allowed into the royal temple?"
She looked puzzled. "Qin Mo Yuan is the Emperor's own brother. He took me, so it should be fine, right?"
"It's precisely because he took you that there's a problem," Hong Dai explained kindly. "Anyone brought by the Regent is either an attendant or the Regent's consort."
Upon hearing this, Li Yue Shu suddenly remembered her earlier suggestion of disguising herself as an attendant to go to the royal temple, which Qin Mo Yuan had rejected.
Her cheeks felt a little hot, and she instinctively picked up her water cup and took a sip.
"We had important business at the royal temple, so we had to go," she said stiffly, changing the subject. "Oh, there's something I wanted to ask you."
Li Yue Shu quickly searched her mind and indeed thought of a question.
"Qin Mo Yuan's birthday is supposedly on the sixth of November, but I heard he never celebrates it. What's that about?"
Hong Dai, her mouth full, paused upon hearing this, but didn't answer directly.
Only after swallowing everything in her mouth and taking a sip of water did she say, "This involves a royal secret. I don't know the exact truth, only that it's related to the Regent's background."
"Background?" Li Yue Shu was confused. "Isn't he the Emperor's own brother?"
Since he never celebrated his birthday, why would he arrange for two people to deliberately "gossip" in front of her and tell her the date of his birthday?
Hong Dai pouted. "I can't say too much about this. It's best if you ask the Regent yourself."
Ming Yue Tower was an intelligence organization and naturally could find some clues to this royal secret.
If it were anyone else, she would have told them directly, but given the relationship between Qin Mo Yuan and Li Yue Shu, she felt it was better for Qin Mo Yuan to tell her in person.
As if sensing her thoughts, Li Yue Shu's eyes showed a flicker of curiosity.
She sized up Hong Dai and asked, "Why do I feel like your attitude towards Qin Mo Yuan has changed?"
Even when she knew Qin Mo Yuan's identity before, Hong Dai always seemed to dislike him, and he her. How was it that now she addressed him as 'Regent' so often and always spoke in his favor?
Hong Dai didn't hide it and smiled, "Thanks to you, Ming Yue Tower has received the assistance of the Regent of Chen Nan Kingdom. Our status in the martial world is now second only to Chi Yun Tower."
Li Yue Shu had not expected this at all.
In the original novel, Hong Dai's Ming Yue Tower rose in status in the martial world with the help of the male lead, Qin Ye Xiu. But now, Ming Yue Tower had gained prominence in the martial world ahead of time, and the one who had helped was Qin Mo Yuan. This was a big change!
This news made Li Yue Shu very happy. When she went back that day, she specifically packed some of her homemade pastries for Qin Mo Yuan.
Qin Mo Yuan, completely unaware of what had happened, was flattered and ate both boxes of pastries by himself. The result was that he was so full he couldn't sleep that night and had to drag Xing He to practice sword with him.
Xing • Tool Man • He: "..."
...
Because Li Yue Shu had entered the royal temple twice, almost all the prominent figures in Chongzhou were inquiring about her. For ordinary people, their main focus was the engagement between the Gu family's daughter and the Crown Prince.
In many people's eyes, the Gu family's daughter was clearly meant to be with the Second Prince, yet she turned around and got engaged to the Crown Prince. There were even rumors that the Crown Prince and Empress had used their power to separate the couple and force the engagement to gain the Gu family's support.
However, soon new rumors emerged that negated this claim. Some storytellers even turned it into a tale:
"It is said that when the Second Prince was injured and rescued by the Gu family's daughter, who was living among the common folk, he became infatuated with Miss Gu's beauty and repaid kindness with malevolence, attempting to take her into his harem. Miss Gu, being spirited, naturally refused. After being forcibly brought to Chongzhou by the Second Prince, she was confined to a courtyard outside the palace."
"Later, upon learning that Miss Gu was the long-lost daughter of the General Who Guards the North, the Second Prince dared not use force. However, he was unwilling to let go of the Gu family's influence and spread rumors everywhere, hoping to ruin Miss Gu's reputation and force her to be with him."
"Who would have thought that Miss Gu, with her strong will, would rather become a nun than be coerced by the Second Prince? In a fit of rage, the Second Prince planned to force the issue while Miss Gu was visiting her adoptive parents."
"Fortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince intervened, preventing the Second Prince from succeeding."
"The Crown Prince heroically saved the beauty, and they fell in love. Coincidentally, the late Emperor had arranged a child betrothal between the Gu family and the Crown Prince, so these two were fated to be together."
"His Highness the Crown Prince and the Gu family's daughter are truly a match made in heaven..."
The storyteller continued to recount their love story, the truth and falsehood indistinguishable to the listeners.
In a private room in the furthest corner of the tea house, a woman in lavish attire with a beautiful face listened to the sounds from downstairs, a satisfied smile on her face. She glanced at the person beside her. "Huai'er, remember to arrange for this storyteller to leave Chongzhou later and warn him to keep his mouth shut."
"Yes." The maidservant beside her replied respectfully. "Miss, Madam said the cloth she ordered for the bridal veil will arrive today and instructed you to go back early to take a look."
Mentioning this, Li Xiang Ru's eyes showed a hint of shyness. "Mother is truly something, making a bridal veil and sending people to buy over a hundred bolts of cloth. Doesn't she find it troublesome?"
Though she said so, Li Xiang Ru still got up and happily returned to the General Who Guards the North's manor.
When she arrived home, the person delivering the cloth was just there. A woman dressed in magnificent brocade, with an elegant and noble demeanor, was selecting fabrics. The woman had a slightly plump face, but her eyebrows carried a hint of heroism. Despite wearing the attire of a noble lady, her every move had a freedom that most women from high-ranking families lacked. This person was the mistress of the General Who Guards the North's manor - Meng Hong Qu.
Seeing Li Xiang Ru arrive, Meng Hong Qu's face lit up, and she hurried over. "Ru'er, come quickly and see if there's anything you like."
Looking at the bolts of bright red cloth, Li Xiang Ru smiled helplessly. "Mother's taste has always been excellent. Ru'er doesn't know which one to choose." httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Meng Hong Qu patted her hand. "You, you always know how to coax your mother into happiness."
She waved to the servants. "Put them all in the storeroom. Miss can take her time choosing when she's free."
Saying this, she pulled Li Xiang Ru towards the house. "It's getting cold recently. You're already betrothed to His Highness the Crown Prince, so you don't need to be out and about so much. What if you catch a cold?"
"Mother, I'm not that fragile," Li Xiang Ru said, holding her hand. "His Highness has been busy recently, and he doesn't have much time to see me."
Mentioning this, Meng Hong Qu couldn't help but frown and sigh softly. "Once the Regent returns, His Highness's situation becomes awkward again. As the future Crown Princess, you will likely be targeted for this in the future."