That smile was clearly charming, but it also seemed so sinister and scary that it made Princess Zhenguo's heart skip a beat.
"It's you, it's really you, right?"
"Tell me, what did you do to Gu's daughter?"
Mu Qingchao suddenly changed his expression, shook his head and said, "What on earth is the princess talking about? The Ai family can't understand."
What doesn't she understand?
"Stop pretending to be here with Gu. If it weren't for you, who else would frame Gu's daughter? Who would dare to frame Gu's daughter? If it weren't for you, why would you come here to show off your power?
Tell me, what did you do to Rong'er? Just speak!"
Mu Qingchao did not answer.
She looked up at the sky. At this moment, the morning light was breaking and the sun was just rising.
"The weather is getting hotter day by day. It can make people sweat all over their bodies in the morning alone. It's really uncomfortable." It took a long time for Mu Qingchao to slowly utter such an insignificant sentence.
Princess Zhenguo was stunned: "What are you talking about? Gu Zai is asking you about Rong'er, you..."
"Princess!"
Mu Qingchao turned his head and interrupted her, his eyes clear: "The weather is too hot, and staying in the Ai family is getting more and more uncomfortable day by day, so I thought I should go up to the mountains to escape the heat.
Where should we go? Princess, can you recommend any good places?"
Princess Zhenguo was holding back a ball of anger in her heart. She was so impatient that she wished she could break in with a knife to see her daughter.
She, Mu Qingchao, wanted to talk nonsense here.
"What do you want to do?" she asked.
"I don't want to do anything. I just heard that the princess respects the Buddha and goes to the mountain to worship the Buddha every year at this time. So I want to ask the princess which mountain has the better scenery and which temple has the more spiritual Bodhisattvas?"
Everyone in the Southern Ming Dynasty advocates Buddhism. It’s not really about being pure-minded and devoted to Buddhism. It’s just a trend, and some of them are just trying to gain a good reputation.
But where is Princess Zhenguo still in the mood to listen to this?
But Mu Qingchao said again: "How about the princess and the Ai family go up the mountain together?
Speaking of which, the Ai family still calls the princess sister-in-law. In ordinary families, the sister-in-law and sister-in-law have close contact with each other, but unlike us, we rarely see each other more than once throughout the year.
It's quite interesting, wouldn't it be nice to take this opportunity to walk around?"
"Who wants to follow you?" Princess Zhenguo blocked her.
She didn't even look at her identity. She was a wild girl with unknown origins. She thought that when Gaozu was around, none of the princes were as favored as her.
Standing in the same place and talking to her is a loss of status, but if you have to walk around with her, who is she?
Unexpectedly, Mu Qingchao leaned slightly towards her ear.
"The Ai family believes that you will come for the sake of their daughter."
One sentence shocked Princess Zhenguo and turned her head suddenly: "What do you mean?"
But he saw that Mu Qingchao had already withdrawn.
"Princess, although Aijia has never been a mother, she knows how much a mother can do for her children. In three days, Aijia will be waiting for you at Ximen."
After saying that, he turned around and walked away.
Mu Qingchao was sure that Princess Zhenguo would definitely come.
So I wasn't surprised when I saw her at Ximen three days later.
He just smiled and walked towards her.
"The Ai family has heard that the monks in Wenyin Temple are good. Where can the princess go with the Ai family to worship the Buddha?"
Princess Zhenguo really didn't like Mu Qingchao's smile. It was like declaring her incompetence and reminding her, "Look, you still have to bow to the Ai family."
So, she tilted her head and said, "It's up to you."
However, Mu Qingchao looked sideways and saw the long guard of honor behind her, and frowned: "Does His Highness bring so many attendants?"
The princess of Zhenguo was upset.
"What? It's always been like this. The Queen Mother also has an opinion?"
"But the princess went up the mountain with the Ai family and made such a big show. Isn't it too arrogant?"
When Princess Zhenguo heard this, she grabbed the hem of her clothes with one hand.
It was Emperor Gaozu who loved her and not only gave her military power, but also allowed her to have soldiers far beyond her own status. She always supported her wherever she went.
It is indeed somewhat inconsistent with my identity, but no one has ever said "no".
But he still heard Mu Qingchao say: "And he seems to be disrespectful to the Buddha."
"Then according to the Queen Mother, what should we do?"
Princess Zhenguo asked, enduring her good temper.
"Just reduce the number of people according to the number of people in the Ai family." When Mu Qingchao said this, it was not in a discussion tone.
"The Ai family has four personal maids, eight rough servants, and thirty-two bodyguards. If we follow the rules, the princess can reduce the amount by half."
"you……"
Princess Zhenguo felt a breath stuck in her chest.
She originally brought few people, and if she reduced the number by half, how many people would be left?
Can you call me here?
She had never been so wronged before.
She just wanted to refuse, but turned her head and thought about everything she had already arranged.
For Rong'er, what could she not tolerate?
After thinking for a while, he just said: "Okay."
"Reduced or exempted." After saying that, he waved his hand and said to the girl beside him: "Only Yanxin and Guiqing are left, and the rest will go back.
As for the attendants, just leave a few people behind and remove all those who need to be withdrawn."
"yes!"
But when the maids were about to leave, Princess Zhenguo took one of her hands and whispered in her ear: "If I can't come back, I must find a way to send this thing to the palace."
After saying that, he thrust a letter into the maid's hand.
Mu Qingchao didn't see Princess Zhenguo's movements, turned around and got on the sedan.
She is the Queen Mother, so the sedan chair should naturally go in front.
The sedan chair of Princess Zhenguo followed closely behind.
Although most of the entourage has been reduced, the grandeur of the Queen Mother and Princess Zhenguo's trip still attracted the attention of many people.
With everyone watching, the team slowly headed up the mountain.
Naturally, someone had spread the word on the mountain and the temple had been cleared early just to welcome the Queen Mother and the Princess.
The abbot of the temple was also waiting early.
Naturally, you won’t be staying on the mountain for just one or two days, so the abbot first showed two people where to stay.
Mu Qingchao lived in the main courtyard, while Princess Zhenguo lived in the side courtyard.
Although the courtyard of this temple is not big, it is clean, and there are not many things in the Zen room. The wooden fish scriptures on display make people meditate a lot just by looking at them.
The abbot breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the two nobles had no objections to the Zen room.
He gave an instruction: "You must have had a hard time traveling all the way, noble man. You can take a short rest in the Zen room. After dinner, close the temple to meditate. If you two are interested, you can come and practice."
Mu Qingchao responded politely: "Okay, I'm here to thank you, abbot."
After taking the abbot away, Lu Li climbed in from behind the window.
"Queen Mother, there are experts in this temple." This was the first thing Lu Li said when he saw Mu Qingchao.