Five years after her death, she awoke on the dragon bed.

Chapter 129 The Truth Behind the Kidnapping

Ji Qing felt that he was in the way, that he was disturbing His Majesty and Consort Hui's love talk.

However, His Majesty remained indifferent, ignoring Consort Hui's coquettish behavior.

He suddenly realized that the Fourth Sister was still the most capable.

His Majesty, a man so cold and aloof from women, was actually seduced into bed by the Fourth Miss.

To be precise, it was His Majesty who took the initiative to seduce the Fourth Sister into bed.

Right now, Consort Hui's flirtatious glances are like trying to fool a blind man; His Majesty remains completely unmoved.

"I still have state affairs to attend to." Murong ignored Liang Wanying and looked at Ji Qing. "You escort Consort Hui out."

Ji Qing was not surprised by this result. Every time Consort Hui came, His Majesty would say that he was busy with important matters, which showed that His Majesty was not very interested in Consort Hui.

If His Majesty is interested in someone, such as the Fourth Miss, he can always find time to spend with her, no matter how busy he is.

It can only be said that Consort Hui's position in His Majesty's heart is not as high as that of the Fourth Miss.

Liang Wanying was annoyed by Murong's lack of romantic understanding. If it were the late emperor, she would have wanted to stick by his side and never leave if she had just acted coquettishly.

But Murong was the opposite. No matter how charming and beautiful she was, Murong seemed unmoved, as if he were a detached and indifferent emperor.

But he inexplicably favored the nun Lou Suyi, and he wasn't as aloof from women as he appeared on the surface.

As Ji Qing saw Liang Wanying off, Liang Wanying couldn't help but ask, "Ji Qing, tell me the truth, does His Majesty really like Abbess Kongchen?"

She wanted to know exactly where she fell short compared to Lou Suyi.

Ji Qing thought about it carefully and felt that His Majesty didn't have much of a special feeling for Lou Suyi. It was probably because of the life-saving grace he received when they were young that His Majesty thought highly of the Fourth Miss.

But at the very least, His Majesty has favored the Fourth Miss a few times, though of course, only a few times.

He vaguely felt that His Majesty's favor towards the Fourth Miss might simply be because he needed a woman to bear him an heir, but he didn't know why His Majesty had taken a special liking to the Fourth Miss's belly rather than the concubines in the harem.

But the Fourth Princess is about to give birth, so it's best for him not to incite Consort Hui's hatred towards her.

“This servant believes that His Majesty’s feelings for Abbess Kongchen are more of sympathy. Consort Hui should also know that Abbess Kongchen once saved His Majesty’s life.” Ji Qing stopped there.

He hoped that Consort Hui would not overthink things and would not try to harm the imperial heir.

What does personal affection mean to His Majesty? As long as the concubines in the harem don't cause him trouble, that's all that matters.

Liang Wanying felt much better after hearing Ji Qing's words.

She understood the deeper meaning in Ji Qing's words: Murong had no romantic feelings for Lou Suyi. It was only because Lou Suyi had saved Murong's life that he remembered this debt of gratitude, making her slightly different from other women.

She looked at Mo Lan, who understood and stepped forward to give Ji Qing a money pouch.

Ji Qing hurriedly declined, saying, "This servant still has to return to the Emperor's service. Consort Hui, please take your time."

Liang Wanying nodded, watching Jiqing walk away. Molan asked her mistress in a low voice, "Does Jiqing's refusal of Her Highness's reward mean he is unwilling to serve Her Highness?"

“He serves in the Imperial Court, and there was the matter of Jinse helping Lord Xie deliver a letter. If he really accepted it, that would be truly audacious. From now on, I will simply maintain a good relationship with Jiqing, and there will be no problem.” Liang Wanying said as she left through the Sun Essence Gate.

Mo Lan glanced back at the Qianqing Palace and then brought up Jinse again: "If Jinse goes to the laundry department, won't she lose her value?"

If Jinse were to serve in the Emperor's court, she might have a chance to serve the Empress. But if she were to go to the laundry department, wouldn't the Empress be wasting her efforts?
Liang Wanying remained noncommittal: "That's not necessarily true. As long as she's in the palace, she'll be useful someday. It's just that Jinse is ambitious but also extremely foolish; such a person is hardly fit for important tasks."

"Then why did Your Highness save Jinse?" Mo Lan asked, puzzled.

"It's just a matter of a word. Jinse might come in handy in the future. In the end, this deal of mine might not be a loss. Anyone who dislikes Lou Suyi is a pawn that I can use in the future." Liang Wanying smiled. "In this harem, no one doesn't hate Lou Suyi. Whether she can give birth to this child smoothly is still unknown."

The two, master and servant, talked as they walked, their voices gradually fading into the distance.

After learning about Jinse's fate, Jili reported the matter to Lou Suyi.

Lou Suyi scoffed after hearing this: "Consort Hui certainly knows how to pick her time to go."

Jili was taken aback: "Does the young lady mean that Consort Hui's chance encounter was intentional?"

"I just think it's too much of a coincidence. Just when His Majesty was about to punish Jinse, Consort Hui arrived and, being so kind, even saved Jinse's life." Lou Suyi felt that many coincidences in this world were deliberately orchestrated.

Just like when she and Lou Suya were kidnapped by kidnappers at the same time, she always felt that this matter was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

However, many years later, Qi Yan killed all the robbers who were present at the time, leaving no witnesses.

She even wondered if Lou Suya had used this ruthless method to kill her back then.

She and Lou Suya had lived under the same roof in the Lou family for many years, so how could she not know that Lou Suya, who appeared to be well-educated and polite on the surface, was actually more ruthless than Madam Yin?

After she returned, Xie Zhijie kept pestering her and insisted on taking her into his household. She became increasingly convinced that Lou Suya might have seen Xie Zhijie's interest in her years ago. In other words, Lou Suya definitely had a motive to poison her back then.

Unfortunately, all of this was just her speculation; she had no evidence whatsoever.

But there's no rush. She's survived and is now pregnant with the imperial heir. If she can rise in status through her son, she'll eventually have a chance to find out the truth about her kidnapping back then.

Furthermore, isn't Lou Suyue also in the harem?

Lou Suyue disliked her, and she disliked Lou Suyue in return. If one day she could control Lou Suyue, wouldn't she be able to catch Lou Suya's fox tail?

"I'll go check and report back to you later," Jili said, then took her leave.

Jili was a man of action, and before long he actually found out that someone had seen Jinse entering and leaving Quanfu Palace, and the time was before His Majesty punished Jinse.

He immediately reported the matter to Lou Suyi and then asked, "Should we report this to His Majesty?"

“His Majesty has already punished Jinse. It’s not like His Majesty would execute Jinse again just because she pleaded with Consort Hui first. His Majesty spared Jinse’s life out of respect for Consort Hui, and that’s the end of it. If I keep bringing this up, what will His Majesty think of me?” Lou Suyi smiled slightly. “I know what I’m doing.”

Jili was still worried: "This servant is concerned that after this battle, Jinse will be used by Consort Hui. What if Jinse turns against you in the future, Miss..."

Lou Suying chuckled: "I have plenty of enemies in the harem. Jinse was hostile to me before. Wasn't her sending a message to Lord Xie just an attempt to kill me?"