Chapter 84 Return Visit Return Visit

On September 20th, the Crown Princess and her husband entered the palace to pay respects to the Empress Dowager and the Empress.

“Why haven’t my elder brother and Qiu Daren arrived yet?”

Having arrived early at Qingning Palace to pay respects, actually to take the opportunity to see Qiu Shuzhi, the young Empress Qin Zhengya twisted the silk handkerchief in his hand while softly coughing. His eyes kept looking towards the door, wishing that the next second, the person he had been thinking of would walk in from outside.

“Empress, don’t be anxious. The palace servants have already reported that the Crown Princess and her party have arrived at the Imperial Garden,” Yu Ye said calmly, trying to reassure him.

“It seems that Guanyi is very much liked by Qiu Niang after marriage, to the point of forgetting such an important event as the return visit,” Qin Qing sat in the main seat, his tone sinister.

“By the way, why aren’t you staying in Kunning Palace to recuperate since you’ve caught a cold? Why come all this way? If your cold worsens, it won’t be good.”

“Today is my elder brother’s return visit day. As the Empress, I should naturally be present. Besides, a cold is a small matter,” Qin Zhengya smiled with a hint of bitterness.

Unlike Qin Qing who held great power and often met with officials from the previous dynasty, he was just a little bird imprisoned in the back palace, finding it difficult to even see Qiu Daren once.

Since the last time he saw her, it had been a long time since he had seen Qiu Daren again. He really missed her… When he was recuperating in Kunning Palace, his eyes were full of her phantom.

Thinking that if he missed today’s return visit, who knows when he would see her next, he forced himself to get up despite his illness.

He just wanted to see her once… If he could be lucky enough to exchange a few words with her, that would be even better.

Just as Qin Zhengya was thinking this, he suddenly noticed that his cousin’s attire today was quite different from usual.

“Cousin, your attire today…”

Qin Qing raised an eyebrow: “How does this grieving one look today?”

Today, Qin Qing wore a cloud-mountain blue robe embroidered with gold-threaded pomegranate flowers, tightly cinched at the waist with a moon-white butterfly-patterned belt. Over it, he wore a bamboo-moon colored evening haze jacket. On his wrist was a purple sandalwood crystal jade bracelet, and on his head, he wore a white jade lotus hairpin. The room was filled with the scent of cloud-moon purple sandalwood incense, wreathing around his gentle brows and eyes.

Qin Zheng had always been mindful of the Empress Dowager’s status and dressed mainly in dark colors. Today was the first time he wore light-colored clothes, which made Qin Zhengya realize that his cousin was still so young. At first glance, he didn’t look like a man approaching thirty, as if the number one young master who once filled the capital had returned.

Qin Zhengya smiled faintly: “Cough, cousin looks so handsome today, cough cough, even those beautiful men gathered from all over the country in the back palace pale in comparison to cousin.”

Hearing this, the corners of Qin Qing’s lips curled up slightly. This was exactly what he wanted to hear.

Today, Yue Guanyi would bring Qiu Shuzhi on the return visit, and he wanted to show Qiu Shuzhi that he was no less than that brothel-born man.

Seeing Qin Qing’s unintentional smile, revealing his extraordinary charm, Qin Zhengya felt inferior from the bottom of his heart.

It was one thing that his own appearance couldn’t compare to Yue Guanyi who was in the prime of youth, but even his half-old cousin far surpassed him. When Qiu Daren came later, her gaze would only linger on the exquisitely beautiful and handsome Qin Qing and Yue Guanyi.

With his sickly appearance, he feared it would be difficult to attract her attention.

“Your child has arrived late, please forgive us, Father Empress and Empress.” The voice came through before the person entered.

Yue Guanyi wore a tea-white robe today, embroidered with scattered branches of bright moon camellia patterns. A touch of ember red at the waist made the otherwise plain colored clothes look gorgeous and bright. The simple and elegant embroidery made Yue Guanyi, whose beauty already crowned the capital, even more stunning.

Beside him, Qiu Shuzhi wore a water-colored robe, simple and elegant yet not lacking in refinement, like a beauty in the misty dampness under continuous drizzle. Just a glance from afar was enough to lose one’s heart.

As soon as they entered Qingning Palace, it was as if a night pearl suddenly illuminated the dark and secluded inner chamber, dazzling with a thousand rays of light.

Qin Zhengya’s hand tightened on the silk handkerchief, his heart clenching along with it. His already low self-esteem plummeted even further.

His elder brother and Qiu Daren were truly a perfect match!

At this moment, he felt an indescribable envy in his heart, envying how Yue Guanyi could marry such a good person despite his background. But hidden within this envy was an unknown amount of sourness, so sour it was almost rotten, filling his mouth with a bitter taste.

“Guanyi is newly married, how could this grieving one bear to blame you?” Qin Qing leisurely took a sip of tea and said carelessly, his kind tone not revealing a trace of blame.

But from the moment Yue Guanyi stepped into Qingning Palace with Qiu Shuzhi, he had already thoroughly examined Yue Guanyi from head to toe.

Not much to look at!

Qin Qing sneered coldly in his heart.

Qiu Shuzhi knelt before Qin Qing, holding up her skirt: “Daughter-in-law Qiu Shuzhi greets Father Empress and Empress.”

“Cough cough cough—” Qin Qing suddenly coughed violently, his fair face flushed with a thin layer of red due to the coughing. More than half of the tea in his hand spilled out in an instant.

Qiu Shuzhi was closest to him, and the slightly hot tea almost splashed onto her face.

“Empress Dowager!”

“Qiu Daren!”

Two startled cries were uttered almost simultaneously. Yu Ye kept patting Qin Qing’s back, helping him to ease his breathing.

Qin Zhengya rushed out almost immediately, even beating Yue Guanyi to Qiu Shuzhi’s side.

“Qiu Daren, are you alright? Did the tea scald you?” Qin Zhengya carefully wiped Qiu Shuzhi’s face with the handkerchief in his hand.

Yue Guanyi’s brows furrowed slightly, watching Qin Zhengya rush up disregarding the occasion, carefully touching Qiu Niang’s face, with a look of concern as if he were Qiu Niang’s husband… Yue Guanyi’s eyes darkened.

“I’m fine, thank you for your concern, Empress.” Qiu Shuzhi shook her head, the crystal-clear dewdrops hanging on her thick, butterfly-wing-like eyelashes falling onto the back of Qin Zhengya’s hand.

“Thank you, brother-in-law, for shielding my wife-master from the water.” Yue Guanyi unobtrusively pushed away Qin Zhengya’s hand, deliberately emphasizing the words ‘brother-in-law’, hoping he would recognize his own status and not have any improper thoughts.

“No… no need to thank me.” Qin Zhengya said, controlling his nervous tongue.

The term ‘brother-in-law’ instantly pulled Qin Zhengya’s rationality back.

He reacted as if scalded by boiling water, his face flushing red. His fingers anxiously twisted the slightly damp handkerchief as he sat back in his seat, flustered.

“Is the Empress Dowager feeling better?” Yu Ye asked worriedly, patting Qin Qing’s back.

Qin Qing glared fiercely at Qiu Shuzhi’s lowered head. From his angle, he could see the occasional glimpse of soft, fair skin on the back of her neck beneath her waterfall-like cascading hair, a patch as crystalline and white as frozen snow, making him want to pounce and bite it to vent his anger.

She actually called him ‘Father Empress’

When Qin Qing heard this form of address, the tea uncontrollably gushed into his nasal cavity, directly choking into his lungs. Each cough nearly took half his life.

Father Empress, Father Empress, he didn’t want to be her Father Empress!

Qin Qing gnashed his teeth at this form of address in his heart, detesting it deeply.

He knew that ever since Qiu Shuzhi married Yue Guanyi, the relationship between them would no longer be as simple and pure as before. Not only was there the distinction between monarch and subject between them, but now there was also the sky-high mountain of ethics that had appeared out of nowhere, pushing the distance between Qiu Shuzhi and him further and further.

Qin Qing’s fingers, hidden in his sleeve, tightly gripped the soft flesh of his palm. His well-manicured, delicate nails dug deeply into the flesh. The pain in his palm constantly transmitted to his heart. The more painfully unbearable it was, the more intense and suppressed the emotions hidden in the depths of his heart became. These emotions were squeezed into a dark place, constantly tearing and pulling, just waiting for a time to completely explode.

“This grieving one is fine…” Qin Qing covered his mouth with a handkerchief, forcefully suppressing the trembling in his voice, and said calmly and steadily: “Son-in-law, please rise. A seat is granted.”

“Thank you, Father Empress!”

Another ‘Father Empress’, and Qin Qing’s heart, which had just calmed down, was instantly thrown into turmoil again. The handkerchief in his hand was so tight it was nearly torn, and the tightly sewn Shu embroidery threads were almost scratched apart by his tightly gripping nails.

Qiu Shuzhi finally took her seat. Qin Qing looked at the person sitting below, only two steps away from him. So close, yet it felt like they were separated by a vast distance, never to be touched again.

But the more untouchable she was, the more the suppressed, inexpressible emotions in his heart tormented him almost desperately, driving him to constantly move closer to her, closer and closer, until there was no distance between them.

Qin Qing closed his eyes slightly and took a deep breath.

“Guanyi and the son-in-law have just had their grand wedding. Is there anything you’re not accustomed to?” Qin Qing put down his teacup and asked in a steady voice.

Yue Guanyi smiled softly, his phoenix eyes slightly raised, full of happiness: “Thank you for your concern, Father Empress. Since marrying Qiu Niang, your child has not had any difficulties adapting.”

Qin Qing gave him a cold glance.

Coming from a brothel and still able to marry the person of his heart, it was truly a blessing accumulated by the Yue family’s ancestors. Of course he was satisfied, even being pleasant when meeting his mortal enemy.

His eyes occasionally glanced towards Qiu Shuzhi, full of tenderness and revealing a charm that could only come from being well-loved and nurtured by a woman.

But such changes were thorns in the flesh and nails in the eyes of certain people, constantly displeasing to look at.

Qin Qing’s gentle eyes turned, and he deliberately asked: “Why haven’t I seen the trial marriage prince Liangchun come back to pay respects to this grieving one today? What position has you, the primary husband, given him?”

The smile on Yue Guanyi’s face instantly faded.

Seeing Yue Guanyi’s uncomfortable expression, Qin Qing felt a sense of satisfaction in venting his anger, but it wasn’t enough.

That wretched Yue Guanyi actually snatched away his Shuzhi. He wished he could viciously trample him on the ground and torture him to death. This little verbal attack was just scratching the surface.

“Liangchun has been unwell these past few days, so I didn’t have him come to pay respects to Father Empress. As for his position, we’ll discuss it after he recovers,” Qiu Shuzhi said with a smile, smoothing things over.

Qin Qing smiled slowly: “That’s fine then. Although Liangchun is a trial marriage, the ancient custom has always been for trial marriage princes to be side husbands. When it comes to Guanyi, don’t break the rules passed down by the ancestors.”

Yue Guanyi narrowed his phoenix eyes tightly and answered through gritted teeth: “…Yes.”

“By the way, this grieving one has a gift for you,” Qin Qing clapped his hands.

Several young and beautiful men emerged from behind the screen in response. Weak and innocent, clear and graceful, seductive and alluring, lively and vivacious, even vigorous and heroic – each had their own charm. They all knelt before Qiu Shuzhi, no less impressive than the emperor selecting consorts.