Chapter 1 The Ice-Cold Gaze

Gazing wistfully at the four carriages displaying imperial authority as they gradually moved away, Gao Minyue's brocade handkerchief tightened in her hand, her beautiful eyes filled with a venomous coldness.

Even from miles away, Yu Qingwu could sense such jealousy.

Sometimes, Yu Qingwu still felt sympathy for Gao Minyue.

Sympathy for her similar background to her own, and also sympathy for her unrequited love.

Once upon a time, she had envied her, envied her for having a good older brother like Xie Jin Yan.

You should know that in this world, especially in the royal family, the relationship between siblings is often more reliable than that between husband and wife.

If Gao Minyue hadn't reached the point of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, whether she could get revenge or not was another matter, but relying on her friendship with Xie Jin Yan, she would have been able to live freely.

Unlike herself, who needed to scheme and prove herself at all times to maintain favor.

A hint of sarcasm rose in her eyes, and Qingwu pulled herself out of her thoughts.

She lightly lifted the curtain and instructed the maid outside, "Hurry, after we go to the Jingzhao Prefecture, I still have to go shopping on the street."

"The Crown Princess still wants to go to the street?" Hearing this, the maid sitting outside the carriage was slightly stunned, her expression first worried, then embarrassed, and she whispered a reminder, "Crown Princess, now you... you just got away from the murder case, and now you have some lawsuits with the Rongguo Duke's mansion and the Qiu Marquis's mansion and some officials. Not to mention anything else, that favored concubine Madam Liang of the Rongguo Duke's mansion is not a kind person. If you go shopping on the street so openly, I'm afraid..."

"Afraid of what? Afraid of attracting Liang Ruowei to assassinate me?" Seeing the maid stammering, Yu Qingwu simply answered for her.

She asked with a faint smile, "Do you think Liang Ruowei would be stupid enough to assassinate me on the street? Or would Prince Ning wade into this muddy water at this time?"

Even if they really wanted her life, those nobles would never dare to do it at this time, especially on the street. Wouldn't that be purely telling others that they had a close relationship with the Rongguo Duke's mansion?

Those who can stand at the pinnacle of power, except for a few lucky ones, are mostly not fools.

Now the emperor is taking the opportunity to beat these pampered aristocratic followers, and now anyone, as long as they are related to the Rongguo Duke's mansion, will give the emperor a good opportunity to strike. They are not so stupid.

But Gao Minyue is different. In her eyes, she only believes that she was forgiven because of her pregnancy, and she didn't think about anything else at all...

According to Gao Minyue's impatient temperament, as long as there is a chance, she will definitely act immediately...

Her gaze slightly swept around, Yu Qingwu sat back in the carriage, closed the carriage door again, and didn't explain anything more to the maid, only coldly ordered again, "Drive the carriage, otherwise we won't be able to return to the Crown Prince's residence before dark."

"Okay..." Although the maid was worried, seeing Yu Qingwu's firm attitude, she couldn't say anything more.

The afternoon sun became more and more brilliant, even in the spring, Qingwu felt a little stuffy sitting in the carriage.

Fortunately, the Jingzhao Prefecture was not far away. In less than an hour, the carriage stopped by the roadside.

Yu Qingwu was helped out of the carriage by the maid. As soon as she got down, she saw a girl greeted her, looking at Yu Qingwu from left to right as she approached.

Seeing this, the maid couldn't help frowning and reprimanded, "Who are you? Don't block the way."

However, the maid's reprimand did not move the girl at all. Instead, she looked at Yu Qingwu more carefully. Finally, she happily shouted to Yu Qingwu, "Are you Miss Da (Eldest Daughter), right?"

As she spoke, the girl got closer and closer.

Seeing her approaching, the maid immediately stood in front of Yu Qingwu and scolded coldly, "What Miss Da? This is the Crown Princess! If you dare to be rude again, be careful I'll chop off your head."

The maid roared fiercely, but the girl was not afraid.

Instead, she became even happier, turned around and ran inside, saying as she ran, "Young Master, Young Master, it's really the Eldest Daughter, the rumors outside are true, the current Crown Princess is our Yu family's Eldest Daughter."

As the girl spoke, tears were already welling up in her eyes.

Before long, a young man in green clothes came out of the Jingzhao Prefecture. Beside him, there was a servant boy supporting him. It seemed that the young man had been beaten, and he limped as he walked.

But as soon as he saw Yu Qingwu, his pace quickened.

He didn't stop until he walked up to Yu Qingwu, then he bowed and said with tears in his eyes, "This commoner greets the Crown Princess."

Hearing this, Yu Qingwu didn't answer, but frowned and looked at the young man in front of her.

With picturesque eyebrows, firm eyes, and a very heroic and clean appearance, his expression had a kind of vicissitudes of life, and his appearance looked quite familiar.

Looking at the girl next to him again, childhood memories instantly flooded into her mind.

"You... are you Yu Zhen, my cousin?" Qingwu's eyes turned red. If she had been skeptical on the way here, then at this moment, she was sure, sure that the man in front of her was Yu Zhen, her cousin who had grown up with her.

Looking at the girl beside him again, Qingwu slowly remembered something, looked at her and said, "You are... Yu Zhen's cousin's child bride... Ling'er."

Perhaps hearing the words "child bride", Ling'er immediately blushed, looked at Yu Zhen shyly, and smiled, "Yes... it's...it's us..."

"That's great, it's really you, I was worried that someone would impersonate you when I came."

"By the way, cousin Yu Zhen, I heard His Highness say that you came here to sue the Shen family with the evidence that the Shen family threatened the Yu family, why were you beaten instead?" Yu Qingwu looked Yu Zhen up and down, while speaking, she winked at the guards on the side to help Yu Zhen.

Yu Zhen was full of injuries at the moment. He was so excited just now that he forgot to walk over. Now that he calmed down, it was very painful. He was helped up by the guard, and he gritted his teeth in pain, enduring the pain and replying to Yu Qingwu, "Reporting to the Crown Princess, that Magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture said that we are commoners suing officials, so we have to be beaten first."

Commoners suing officials?

But isn't the Shen family already in jail?

A trace of doubt flashed in Yu Qingwu's eyebrows, but soon, she understood.

She looked deep inside and said angrily, "What commoners suing officials? The Shen family can only be ordinary commoners now, and you are just adding fuel to the fire, how can it be commoners suing officials! I see that someone must be deliberately making things difficult for you."

Yu Zhen was always honest. When he first came and heard that he was going to be beaten, he didn't have any complaints.

But at this moment, after hearing Yu Qingwu's words, he finally understood, his face sank, and he couldn't help but curse, "This dog official! I'm afraid he's in cahoots with the Shen family, no wonder he said he would be tried later."

It's hard to say whether he's in cahoots with the Shen family, but he's definitely one of those who want to muddle through the Yu family's case.

Heh, he's also very bold, the matter has become so big, and he still wants to cover it up.

"Cousin Yu Zhen, this matter is a bit complicated, don't worry about it for now, I'll find a place for you to live first." A trace of coldness flashed in her eyebrows, Yu Qingwu winked at the guards on the side again and said, "You are responsible for settling them down, if there is any mistake with the two of them, I will only ask you!"