The system asked me to chase his wife

"Thank you, eunuch. Please pass the invitation on my behalf. I will go to the palace to see the queen tomorrow."

Normally, one should go to the palace to express gratitude the next day after receiving a reward from the palace. Qiao Yuandong's words were simply to tell Eunuch Hai that she understood what he meant.

Eunuch Hai happily accepted the invitation and returned to the palace.

After returning to the room, Qiao Yuandong thought for a while, wondering what the Queen would say to her tomorrow and how she would respond.

It is understandable that Feng Shi failed to convince her and went to the palace to ask the Empress for advice on this matter.

It’s just that for Qiao Yuandong, it’s more troublesome and he has to explain to more people.

Early the next morning, Qiao Yuandong put on the attire of a first-rank lady, took her people out, got on a carriage and headed for the palace.

The lady-in-waiting was also a lady from outside the imperial court, but she was old, so there was no need for her to go to the palace to express gratitude.

After entering the palace, the maids and servants were stopped outside the palace, and only the Queen's palace servants came to lead Qiao Yuandong into the palace.

The queen lived in Yongshou Palace, walking along the long corridor.

The palace maid who led Qiao Yuandong was replaced by a maid from Yongshou Palace, and they arrived at Yongshou Palace after another quarter of an hour's walk.

The Queen Mother sat upright and accepted Qiao Yuandong's greeting, then she dismissed the servants and asked her to come forward to talk.

Qiao Yuandong walked over to the Queen and sat down next to her. The Queen grabbed her hand, but her eyes started to turn red before she could speak.

"Dong'er, sister has delayed you!"

The word "Dong'er" startled Qiao Yuandong, and she immediately wanted to kneel down to the Queen. However, the Queen was so emotional that she held her hand tightly.

Fortunately, there was no one else in the hall at that time, so there was no need to worry about this matter getting out and being fabricated by someone with ulterior motives.

After about half a cup of tea, the queen stopped crying.

When she looked up, she saw Qiao Yuandong accompanying her with a calm expression. Although there was sadness in his eyes, there were no tears. She felt a little embarrassed for a moment.

The queen opened her mouth but didn't know how to start. It was Qiao Yuandong who broke the silence: "Sister, how are you?"

The queen finally smiled and said, "You still think of me as your sister. I thought you only thought of me as the queen."

Qiao Yuandong had no way of responding to this, so she just lowered her eyebrows and smiled. The queen glanced at her and sighed.

"Time flies. Back then you were a naive little girl, but now you have become so chaste and elegant."

Speaking of old times, the Queen became talkative and took Qiao Yuandong's hand to talk about the past.

The queen also came from the Qiao family and was a cousin of Qiao Yuandong. The two had been good friends since childhood.

They were all little girls at that time. When the queen was young, she was naughty and even dragged the younger Qiao Yuandong into a fight.

The person who was beaten was the little grandson of Minister Zhao. In the end, the child went home crying and complained. In the end, Minister Zhao even brought his own little grandson to the door to apologize.

It’s bad enough that you fight with a girl, but you also lose and then cry and complain after losing. Aren’t you ashamed?
From then on, Minister Zhao’s grandson never fought with anyone again.

Well aware of the principle that a gentleman uses his mouth rather than his fists, he grew up and entered the court to become a powerful censor who was good at speaking ill of everyone.

"Just the other day, Censor Zhao had a big argument with the Loyal and Brave Marquis in the court over the Wu family's servants being too arrogant, and they almost came to blows on the spot."

As Qiao Yuandong listened to the Queen's slow words, he recalled the famous quick temper of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery and felt that he was indeed capable of beating someone up in the court.

The two chatted about some trivial things and finally talked about Feng.

The queen glanced at Qiao Yuandong, thought about it for a while and decided to get straight to the point.

"My uncle and aunt want you to go home. What do you think?"

When Qiao Yuandong heard the Queen address her as such, she knew that she was discussing this matter as a family matter and wanted to be frank with her, so she didn't plan to beat around the bush.

"Father and mother are doing this for my own good, but I don't want to get married again. Besides, the Duke's Mansion is in such a state right now. If I leave right away, they won't even have any support."

"Your Majesty is not such a heartless person. The Duke of Zhenguo has devoted himself to the country of Dajin. No one will bully the Xiang family."

When the Queen said this, she saw that Qiao Yuandong remained silent, then she remembered something and sighed.

"I am your cousin and the Queen of Great Jin, so I can naturally assure you that what happened to the young Duke was not your Majesty's original intention. Don't worry, your Majesty will always give the young Duke justice."

The Queen had said so much, Qiao Yuandong could only express her opinion: "I have never had any resentment, and I have always believed in Your Majesty and Your Majesty."

"Then you can tell me the truth and tell me what you really think. If you are worried about letting down the Xiang family, I can mediate for you."

Qiao Yuandong looked at the Queen with gratitude, knowing full well that it was not easy for her to say this.

She is the queen first, and the daughter of the Qiao family secondarily.

It was unfair to the Xiang family that the Queen came forward to persuade Qiao Yuandong to go home. To be frank, the Queen still protected the Qiao family more.

"Cousin." Qiao Yuandong and the Queen bowed deeply.

"When I married Xiu Kai, I did have expectations for my future husband, but after he passed away, I suddenly realized that marriage was just like this. I am really satisfied with my life now."

Qiao Yuandong kept these words to herself for three years and never told anyone. When the bad news came that year, she stood at the city gate and looked at Xiang Xiukai covered in white cloth, and she sighed more than she felt sad.

Her marriage with Xiang Xiukai was arranged by her parents. There might be affection between them, but it was still in its infancy. She had always admired the young master's achievements at a young age.

When I first met him, I regarded him as a friend in my heart, and after we got engaged, I regarded him as a friend with whom I could live together.

As for the love between husband and wife, they have never even had sex, so how can there be such an unforgettable feeling of being connected by fate?

However, Qiao Yuandong does not plan to experience it in the future.

The Queen was moved by what she said and thought about the earth-shaking changes that had taken place in her cousin in the past few years.

Waiting for leisure to change but the old people's mind, but the old people's mind is easy to change.

Perhaps thinking of her own situation in the palace, the queen could not help but sigh: "Forget it, I will not force you. Perhaps living like this is also a kind of freedom and happiness."

The two talked to each other for a long time. When Qiao Yuandong saw that the time was up, he said goodbye and left.

Only after she had left did the queen come to her senses from her sadness. She patted her forehead and said, "Oh, I forgot to tell her something!"

The senior palace maid who was serving her hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, is there something urgent? The Madam has not gone far yet. If I run faster, I can catch up with her."

The queen opened her mouth for a while and then closed it again. Finally, she waved her hand and said, "Forget it. She doesn't mean that anymore. It doesn't matter if they meet."

What the Queen forgot to mention was that when Qiao Yuandong entered the palace to express her gratitude, His Majesty also happened to summon Yun Xingqing, the son of the Grand Tutor.

Judging from the time when the two left the palace, there was a high probability that they bumped into each other at this time.

Just as the Queen expected, Qiao Yuandong happened to meet the young master of the Yun family who was also leaving the palace in the corridor on his way out of the palace.

What was even more coincidental was that the little palace maid who was leading Qiao Yuandong suddenly had a stomachache and had to find a toilet, and the little palace maid who was leading Yun Xingqing suddenly remembered that they had important things to do.

Anyway, the palace gate is right in front of us and we can see it at a glance, so we won't get lost no matter how we walk. So I had to trouble the two nobles to leave the palace by their own.

Qiao Yuandong silently looked at Yun Xingqing who was also alone.

It stands to reason that when women meet men from other families, they should avoid them.

However, Qiao Yuandong was a lady of the first rank, and Yun Xingqing was a companion to the crown prince who graduated from the Imperial College. Although they had a promising future, they did not have an official rank.

In terms of seniority, he should take the initiative to give way to the First-Rank Lady.

When Yun Xingqing saw Qiao Yuandong, he was stunned for a moment, flexed his fingers, and finally walked over.

The Yun family has a long tradition of scholarship, and every generation has produced officials who are both clean and noble.

Yun Xingqing is the eldest son that Taifu Yun is most proud of. He has been raised and educated since he was young, and has developed a refined and gentle temperament.

He was handsome, and he looked as beautiful as the breeze and the bright moon in his moon-white Confucian robe. He attracted attention wherever he went.

It was because of this good boy from such a family background that the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Lord Qiao, intended to marry his daughter to the Yun family.

After all, the two families have always been on good terms. Qiao Yuandong and Yun Xingqing have known each other since childhood and can be considered childhood sweethearts.

But for some unknown reason, the marriage did not take place, and Qiao Yuandong eventually became the daughter-in-law of the Duke's Mansion.

In this matter, Qiao Yuandong just felt that it was her parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, and it was basically the same to her whether she married into the Yun family or the Xiang family.

However, she vaguely heard that Yun Xingqing was very sad about this matter, and he even boldly found Xiang Xiukai and expressed his desire for fair competition.

Therefore, gardenias were particularly popular in the capital that year.

The Grand Tutor even placed Yun Xingqing under house arrest for a while, and only released him after the marriage between the Qiao and Xiang families was completed.

Come to think of it, Qiao Yuandong hasn't seen Yun Xingqing for many years.

Yun Xingqing probably felt the same way. When he was three steps away from Qiao Yuandong, he stopped, glanced at her and said with a smile, "Long time no see."

Qiao Yuandong returned his greeting and said calmly, "I hope you are well."

It was almost noon, and there was no one else on the palace road except Qiao Yuandong and Yun Xingqing, so Yun Xingqing dared to look at her carefully.

Qiao Yuandong, dressed in the attire of a noble lady, was like a flower wrapped in solemnity, blooming beautifully amidst the prosperity, more silent than lively.

She is still the Dong Niang in my memory, but not completely.

"You've changed a lot." Yun Xingqing said with a sigh.

Seeing that there was no one around, he added: "If I had known earlier, I should have climbed over the wall to break Xiang Xiukai's legs, so that he wouldn't die outside."

Qiao Yuandong glared at him unhappily and taunted him unceremoniously, "After all these years, your mouth still deserves a beating."

Everyone in the capital praised the Taifu for raising a good son, a handsome young man who was well-read, gentle and elegant.

But only when you get to know him closely will you understand how despicable this guy is in private!

(End of this chapter)