Quick Wear Dream Qiqi

Chapter 435: Training the Prodigal Son 5

The servant looked at his master's expression and couldn't help but mutter, "Did the young master really drink too much today? He's so happy to be scolded by the young mistress..."

When Zhao Chengye heard this, he slapped the boy on the head: "What do you know! She scolded me, which means she has me in her heart!"

This confused the servant, but the more Zhao Chengye thought about it, the more he felt it made sense.

At night, he tossed and turned on the couch, unable to sleep. His mind was full of the way Meng Qiqi scolded him. The more he thought about it, the more interesting he felt that this daughter-in-law was - unlike the concubines in the mansion, who would only act coquettishly and please him when they saw him.

Meanwhile, Meng Qiqi was complaining to Chuntao, "This Zhao Chengye has definitely been acting strangely lately! He keeps picking fights with me every few days, and he's like a dog-skin plaster that I can't get rid of."

Chun Tao covered her mouth and laughed: "Miss, do you think it could be..."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Meng Qiqi glared at her. "He's just bored! If you dare to come again, I'll just use a broom to chase him out!"

I said this, but I was also worried in my heart.

She had been wandering the world for a hundred years in the previous world and had seen all kinds of people, but this was the first time she had seen someone as awkward as Zhao Chengye.

----

royal palace.

The palace lanterns were as bright as day, and the sound of stringed instruments rose from the Golden Throne Hall.

Meng Qiqi leaned against Zhao Chengye's side, pinching a peeled lychee with her fingertips. She parted her red lips and was about to put it into her mouth when she suddenly heard the jingling of rings and pendants coming from outside the hall.

She looked up and saw Meng Wanqing wearing a wide-sleeved dance dress decorated with silver scales. She walked into the hall with a swaying waist. The pearls on her temples trembled with her steps, and she really looked like a mermaid walking on the waves under the moon.

"Your humble servant would like to present a piece of 'Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Robe' to wish Your Majesty a long life." Meng Wanqing bowed gracefully, but her eyes glanced subtly at the seat where the prince was sitting.

The drum beats suddenly quickened, Meng Wanqing's sleeves fluttered, and her dance was as light as a swallow.

All the civil and military officials in the hall watched with bated breath, except Meng Qiqi, who took a leisurely sip of warm wine and sneered in her heart - in the original book, Meng Wanqing had won the prince's heart with this dance, but things were different now. She had deliberately embellished her dance dress with too many silver ornaments, which jingled as she spun, ruining the mood.

When the song ended, the prince looked indifferent and only clapped politely.

Meng Wanqing's face turned pale. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a deep laugh from the seat above her: "Great! As expected of the Prime Minister's daughter, her reputation is well-deserved."

Meng Qiqi's hand trembled and she almost knocked over the wine glass.

The emperor was seen stroking his beard and staring at Meng Wanqing with burning eyes, his admiration fully revealed.

She subconsciously turned her head to look at Zhao Chengye, only to see him playing with the jade pendant around his waist with a gloomy expression.

"Your Majesty, thank you for your kind words." Meng Wanqing bowed, but her heart was filled with joy.

The prince ignored her and she was already disheartened, but she never expected to catch the emperor's eye.

As long as she can become a concubine, she will still be honored as a mother because of her son in the future.

"My harem is in need of a good dancer." The emperor stroked the armrest of the dragon throne. "Tomorrow I will announce the decree and confer you the title..."

"Your Majesty!" Zhao Chengxuan suddenly stood up. "I dare to make a suggestion. Miss Meng has not yet married. According to etiquette, she should be selected as a concubine first, and then canonized..."

Meng Qiqi secretly cursed Zhao Chengxuan for being nosy.

She was still waiting to see Meng Wanqing marry the old emperor. If they went through the selection process, there would be many more variables.

But on second thought, Zhao Chengxuan's move might also be for the face of the Duke's Mansion - after all, if Meng Wanqing was directly made a concubine, it would inevitably cause criticism.

After the banquet, the carriage was on the way back home.

Zhao Chengye suddenly said, "Do you really want to see Meng Wanqing make a fool of herself?"

Meng Qiqi turned to look at him. The moonlight shone through the car window onto his angular face, making him seem a little gentle. "Husband, what are you talking about? I'm just a spectator."

She chuckled, "It's Meng Wanqing, who left the young and handsome Crown Prince behind and devoted herself entirely to His Majesty. She truly is..." She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, "quite discerning."

Zhao Chengye snorted coldly: "Women's opinions. How can you understand the affairs of the royal family?"

Having said that, he couldn't help but think of Meng Qiqi trying hard to suppress her smile at the banquet, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

The carriage suddenly jolted, and Meng Qiqi lost her balance and leaned forward.

Zhao Chengye subconsciously put his arm around her waist, and their eyes met, and the atmosphere suddenly became subtle.

Meng Qiqi reacted and hurriedly pushed him away: "Zhao Chengye, what are you crazy about again!"

Zhao Chengye looked at her red ears, feeling inexplicably proud: "I was afraid you would fall, so I took your kindness for granted."

He turned his face away, but secretly held the hand that he had just held her in the dark, and the soft touch seemed to still remain on his palm.

At this moment in the Prime Minister's residence, Meng Wanqing was combing her makeup in front of a bronze mirror.

She stroked the jade bracelet given to her by the emperor, her eyes gleaming with ambition.

Little did she know that a bigger storm was quietly approaching as she stepped into the palace...

…………

The candlelight in the east courtyard of the Duke's Mansion flickered in the night. Liu Yihuan's fingertips, clutching the handkerchief, turned pale. She stared at Zhao Chengxuan's cold, hard profile, the jealousy surging in her chest nearly bursting through her throat. "Alright, speaking up for Meng Wanqing in front of the entire court, afraid that His Majesty wouldn't know you're a womanizer!"

Zhao Chengxuan was already troubled by the affairs of the court, and now being questioned by his wife, the veins between his eyebrows throbbed. "Ridiculous! I'm just following the etiquette!"

He slammed the table and stood up, causing the tea in the cup to spill out. "As the eldest daughter-in-law of the Duke's Mansion, you spend all day focusing on these dirty things?"

"Dirty things?" Liu Yihuan's eyes instantly flushed red, and her jewels jingled with her vigorous movements. "Meng Wanqing was swaying her hips and waist in front of His Majesty, and you're still trying to excuse her! Could it be that she's been bewitched by that vixen all along?"

She grabbed the rouge box on the dressing table and threw it hard on the ground. Her red fingertips trembled as she pointed to the door. "If you have the guts, go marry her and save me from being an eyesore!"

Zhao Chengxuan felt his temples throbbing. His wife, who was always dignified and virtuous, was now so unreasonable.

He turned around with a flick of his sleeves, his skirt sweeping the memorial off the table: "That's unreasonable!"

Before he finished speaking, he strode out of the room. The sound of his boots stepping on the blue bricks startled the night owl perched under the eaves.

When the footsteps completely faded away, Liu Yihuan slumped in front of the dressing table, looking at herself in the bronze mirror with her makeup smudged, and tears finally burst out.

She was the legitimate daughter of the Liu family. After marrying into the Duke's Mansion, she had always fulfilled her duties and had never made any mistakes in managing the household. However, she did not expect that she would be scolded by her husband like this because of a Meng Wanqing.

Meng Qiqi in the West Courtyard leaned on the beauty couch, listening to Chuntao's vivid retelling of the quarrel in the East Courtyard, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the book in her hand.

The candlelight cast her shadow on the window frame, swaying gently in the night breeze. "It's just an ordinary quarrel between husband and wife. There's no need to make a fuss."

She casually turned a page of the book, but a hint of sarcasm appeared at the corner of her mouth - in this deep backyard, no matter how loving a couple is, they cannot resist the erosion of suspicion and ambition.

As the night deepened, Zhao Chengxuan did not return to the main courtyard.

He stood in front of the concubine's courtyard gate, looking at the warm light coming from the house, and a wave of irritation surged in his heart.

During the day, the ministers' discussions about Meng Wanqing in the court, the emperor's meaningful look, and his wife's shrewish questioning, intertwined into an impenetrable web that trapped him.

"Master, why are you standing here?" The concubine Rou'er spoke softly, her voice as sweet as honey. "Come in quickly, I've warmed up the osmanthus wine..."

Zhao Chengxuan walked into the house silently and let Rouer take over his outer robe.

The wine went down his throat, but he couldn't taste any sweetness. Instead, it turned into a ball of fire, burning his internal organs.

He suddenly remembered the way Meng Wanqing danced during the day. Her fluttering sleeves overlapped with a vague figure in his memory - that was a dancer he had seen in Jiangnan when he was young.

At this moment in the west courtyard, Meng Qiqi blew out the candle and fell into deep thought in the darkness.

The emperor's favor for Meng Wanqing, Zhao Chengxuan's abnormal protection, Liu Yihuan's loss of control... these seemingly unrelated fragments may be quietly piecing together into an intricate network.

A sneer appeared on Meng Qiqi's lips - this good show has just begun.

The night watchman's drum struck three times, and the night in the west courtyard was so quiet that one could hear the chirping of insects outside the window.

Meng Qiqi was lying on the couch on her side wrapped in a thin blanket. She seemed to be fast asleep, but in fact her ears were alert. Ever since her last confrontation with Zhao Chengye, she had developed the habit of light sleep.

Sure enough, at midnight, the door hinge made a very slight "creaking" sound, and the familiar smell of alcohol rushed into the room with a cold wind.

She held her breath and counted the footsteps coming closer and closer, until a warm body pressed against her back and strong arms wrapped her in his arms.

"Pretending to be asleep?" Zhao Chengye's voice was shrouded in drunkenness, his hot breath spraying on her neck. "You called me a playboy during the day, and now you're a coward?"

Meng Qiqi turned over suddenly and met the pair of eyes that were glowing in the moonlight in the darkness.

"Zhao Chengye!" She reached out to push him, but he grabbed her wrist and pressed her against the pillow. "Let go! How disgraceful..."

"Property?" Zhao Chengye chuckled, and the smell of alcohol mixed with a faint medicinal aroma hit his face.

As he leaned over, Meng Qiqi could clearly feel his chest rising and falling violently. "Since Madam has accused me of being a playboy, if I don't do something, wouldn't I be letting her down?"

Before he finished speaking, an aggressive kiss fell upon him.

The gauze curtains in the room trembled slightly, and the flames on the candlesticks suddenly shot up, casting the entangled figures on the carved screen.

While struggling, Meng Qiqi knocked over the teacup on the table. The sound of the celadon shattering startled the swallows on the beam, who flew away in panic.