The warm sunshine in winter is soft and low-key.
Xu Zhihuai's snow-white skin was pink and transparent under the sunlight, as delicate as a porcelain doll.
She raised her face and looked at Wei Li, her eyes as black as ink filled with affection: "Master Marquis, can you leave Xie Wuyou to me?"
Wei Li said coldly: "What do you want her for?"
Xu Zhihuai begged in a low voice: "Your Highness is very upset about the theft of 30,000 taels of silver. I want to help His Highness find out whether the 30,000 taels of silver were stolen by the Xie family."
Wei Li snorted a sneer from her nose, and the cool breath of mint brushed against her cheeks, stinging more than the cold wind of the twelfth lunar month.
"What ability do you have to find out the truth? Are you just waiting to reap the benefits?"
Xu Zhihuai listened to his sarcasm and still smiled slightly: "Being able to rely on Lord Marquis is my greatest ability."
Wei Li had no interest in her flattery. Seeing him turn around to leave, Xu Zhihuai boldly grabbed his sleeve and begged: "Master Marquis, I must sit on the position of crown princess!"
Wei Li waved his arms and sleeves, almost pushing her to the ground, with a tone that was between three parts contempt and one part mockery: "My dear, please respect yourself!"
"Master Hou!"
As if he was not afraid of death, Xu Zhihuai grabbed his cuffs tightly again and said in a trembling voice: "If we can't take the position of Crown Princess, both the Marquis and I will be in danger..."
"What?"
Wei Li raised his eyebrows.
"The eldest princess has always wanted me to be the Marquis's spy. She wants me to monitor every move of the Marquis, even intimate matters...I am so scared. I don't want to betray the Marquis, and I will have to suffer every day."
Xu Zhihuai bit his lip in grievance, with a sad look on his face.
Compared to Wei Li, what the eldest princess did was more terrifying to her.
She couldn't see through her, nor could she guess her, so she could only let her plot her to the bitter end. Now she felt that every word she said was a trap.
Although Wei Li is cruel, he has greater power in his hands. The eldest princess is in a deep palace. Even if she has connections, she cannot interfere in the government affairs casually.
Xu Zhihuai looked pitiful and begged him with tears in his eyes: "I don't want to betray the Marquis, but I am powerless. How can I deal with the eldest princess?"
When Wei Li heard this, his expression was calm and he didn't even blink.
Seeing that he didn't let her go anymore, Xu Zhihuai held his hand more boldly. His hand was as cold as his heart.
Wei Li turned away from looking at her and said in a deep voice, "Xie Wuyou, I can keep it for you to grieve. It's just nonsense. You don't have to say it again in the future."
"But……"
Xu Zhihuai didn't believe that he would be indifferent.
"No buts."
Wei Li leaned closer and said in an almost commanding tone: "You are asking for death if you lie in front of the eldest princess."
Xu Zhihuai's pupils trembled and he looked at him blankly and asked, "Why?"
Wei Li breathed a sigh of relief, half-smiling but not smiling: "The only person the eldest princess cares about in her heart is the prince. Neither you nor I are important, and no one else is important."
Because it wasn't important, she would acquiesce to their unclear relationship and tolerate their frequent little actions.
Both kindness and indifference.
"Don't be too smart. Xie Wuyou may not be able to dig out any secrets. You just have to accept it as soon as you can, Concubine Huai."
This warning sounds more like advice.
Xu Zhihuai was unwilling and disappointed. He looked at Wei Li's decisive figure and thought about what to do.
If Wei Li had no intention of helping her, the only person she could count on was the prince.
Zhu Xiuxing's deep love for her is pure and beautiful. If she asks him face to face, he will naturally agree. It's just that Xu Zhihuai doesn't want to expose his ambition so early. He had always liked her desire-free nature the most, but if her true nature was revealed now, wouldn't it spoil his elegance?
On this day, Mu Xiuwan personally inserted a vase of flowers to give to Xu Zhihuai. When she saw her smiling slightly and looking a little absent-minded, she bit her lip and said, "The queen doesn't like it?"
Xu Zhihuai shook his head hurriedly and explained with a smile: "How could it be? What beautiful flowers. Like you, I'm just a little tired."
Mu Xiuwan looked at her and lowered her head quietly.
"How can I enjoy such a beautiful flower by myself?"
Xu Zhihuai told Jinhua to put the vase of flowers on the table and arrange them carefully: "When His Highness the Crown Prince comes back, we will be able to see them."
Mu Xiuwan whispered: "My queen always treats me like a child."
The soft tone, the gentle complaint, seemed to be coquettish.
"The princess is just a child."
Xu Zhihuai joked with her, but Mu Xiuwan suddenly stretched out his hand, held her hand and said, "You have always treated me very well, so I don't want to lie to you."
As soon as these words came out, Xu Zhihuai was full of surprise: "What's wrong with the princess?"
Mu Xiuwan pursed her lips cautiously: "The eldest princess once asked me, what did I see in you?"
Xu Zhihuai's heart tightened and he pretended to be puzzled: "Why?"
Mu Xiuwan said cautiously: "Those things that I can see cannot be seen by others, so they will always come to ask me... It has always been like this."
Xu Zhihuai was inexplicably nervous.
Does the eldest princess want to make a fuss about her yin and yang eyes?
This is too childish.
How long had Xie Wuyou left the palace and she couldn't wait to get rid of her too?
Xu Zhihuai took a deep breath: "Princess... Princess it would be better not to tell these things to the eldest princess. After all, she just lost her child not long ago."
Mu Xiuwan bit her lip: "The eldest princess misses her child very much. She misses her very much."
Xu Zhihuai continued: "So, let's not bring up her sad things again, and I don't want to think about those sad things in the past anymore."
"I only told the eldest princess that there are shadows behind you, but I didn't say there were so many... I have never seen so many."
Xu Zhihuai's heart jumped nervously into his throat.
She couldn't help but think about what she looked like to her at this moment.
Those immortal undead spirits accompany her all day long, densely packed and crowded together, so strange and spectacular.
"Thank you, Princess, for being kind enough to help me cover up."
Xu Zhihuai calmed his tone and held Mu Xiuwan's little hand.
Mu Xiuwan's fair little face blushed slightly: "Everyone has secrets, don't they?"
Xu Zhihuai took a long breath and sighed helplessly: "Yes, everyone has secrets."
The more the eldest princess doubts her, the more troublesome her situation becomes. Fortunately, Mu Xiuwan was simple and kind-hearted and did not take this opportunity to stab her in the back.
A few days later, Jinhua checked her savings and found that the box that contained the silver had been opened, and a fifty-tael silver note was missing.
She was startled and thought there was a thief. She hurriedly showed Xu Zhihuai the money box and was so anxious that she almost cried.
Xu Zhihuai knew it well, and seeing that the twenty or so large gold ingots were still there, he guessed that Aunt Nan sent them out, and they must be for Xie Wuyou.
Fifty taels of silver were used to extract the dots and oil, but probably less than half of it would be left.
One can imagine how much Xie Wuyou is worth.
The dignified former crown princess was not worth fifty taels, and the Xie family's decades of dignity and respect were worth nothing.
