Wei Ying didn't return until early the next morning. After hearing what someone had done, he headed straight to Chu Qing's courtyard with an inscrutable expression.
Sunlight filtered through the window, casting fine, broken rays on people's faces. The warm light made one feel even more languid.
Green Vine was gently massaging Chu Qing's shoulders, but her expression was full of indignation.
"Your Highness, aren't you angry that those maidservants are gossiping like that?"
"They're just some maids from the outer courtyard. They're not worth getting angry over."
"But Your Highness..." Green Vine was somewhat unwilling. When she passed by the garden yesterday, she heard those maids speaking ill of her mistress behind her back. She was so angry that she trembled. She originally wanted to rush up and argue with them, but when she saw that there was a rough - working maid of Concubine Xu Xin among them, she was afraid of causing trouble for her mistress, so she held it in and came back.
"Forbearance prevents disruption of great plans. Moreover, since they're talking behind my back instead of to my face, I'm not that petty." Chu Qing replied calmly.
Indeed, if she got angry every time she heard people gossiping about her, she would probably have been angered to death during her days as the queen in her previous life.
"But Green Vine thinks what they said was really offensive!"
"Oh? What did they say? Tell me."
"They said... they said... Green Vine really can't repeat it!" Green Vine originally wanted to repeat what they said to her mistress, but for some reason, the words got stuck in her throat.
Looking back at Green Vine with a blushing face, Chu Qing shook her head with a smile. She gently patted the other's hand and said softly, "If you can't say it, then don't. Keep an eye on them recently. Don't tip them off. Then find out when they usually gather together and tell me. I'll go and listen myself."
"Yes!" Seeing that Chu Qing was finally going to do something, Green Vine happily agreed. Her mistress finally had the bearing of a princess now, unlike before when she was always timid, afraid of offending others, enduring all the grievances by herself and always blaming herself when something went wrong.
Huh??? Why did her mistress suddenly change?
Green Vine was suddenly confused. It seemed that after her mistress's serious illness and continuous drinking for a few days, her personality had changed.
Before she could think further, Green Vine heard that the Prince of Ning had come. She immediately came back to her senses and bowed to pay respects.
Chu Qing stood up with a smile and curtsied.
"Your Highness, don't you need to go out on errands today?"
"If I go out again, I'm afraid I won't know what kind of prestige some people will use my name to show off." Wei Ying sat down casually and spoke in a non - committal tone.
...
The smile on Chu Qing's face froze. The Prince of Ning really had his ears to the ground! She had just used his name to confront others yesterday, and today the "shield" had come to seek an explanation?
Chu Qing, who originally wanted to sit down, stood up awkwardly again.
"Your servant was just trying to uphold the dignity of the Prince of Ning's Mansion." Chu Qing pursed her lips and forced a polite smile.
Was she... afraid of the Prince of Ning?
She hadn't had much interaction with him in her previous life, and in this life, it had only been a few months. He hadn't done anything to her in person, but Chu Qing just couldn't muster the calm and imposing attitude she had towards others.
Maybe... it was because she had taken his kindness and felt indebted.
Chu Qing lowered her eyes to console herself. Anyway, she absolutely didn't want to admit that she was afraid of this... "nephew"!
It was simply a disgrace to her!
She, a former grand - empress dowager, how could she be afraid of a junior!
"Oh? Uphold the dignity? When did I ever tell you, Qingqing, that it was time to enforce the rules?"
Wei Ying narrowed his eyes. His fingers gently tapped the table in a rhythmic pattern, and his voice made someone even more flustered.
"Your servant might have dreamed about it... I've been injured these days and I'm a bit... out of my mind... maybe..." Chu Qing sighed silently. Forget it, forget it. If she had to yield, then so be it. Fortunately, she hadn't interacted much with him in her previous life. Otherwise, it would be absurd for a grand - empress dowager to inexplicably be afraid of a prince.
But her body just wouldn't listen.
Wei Ying looked at Chu Qing, who was standing far away from him. Although his face remained expressionless, he felt a strange sense of joy in his heart.
A very strange kind of joy.
He remembered when the steward reported to him how the princess had dealt with the wife of the minister of rites. The old steward, who rarely praised others, had actually praised Chu Qing. He said that she now had a powerful aura, which was the proper bearing of the mistress of the Prince of Ning's Mansion.
The very same princess, who had been praised for her eloquence and imposing manner, now looked like a quail, wanting to shrink into a ball in front of him. Was he really that scary?
He should have left the killing aura from the battlefield behind, right?
He should have.
Seeing Wei Ying staring at her in a daze, Chu Qing blinked her eyes and tentatively called out.
Wei Ying glanced at Chu Qing's hand waving in front of him and gently patted it.
"I'm not here to seek an explanation from you. The people in this mansion have indeed been too idle. Sometimes, it's necessary to enforce the rules." Wei Ying softened his tone and his expression became gentle.
Seeing that the other party wasn't angry and had just been teasing her, Chu Qing snorted discontentedly but didn't say anything else.
"Is your body feeling better? And how about that medicine?"
"Thanks to Your Highness's medicine, your servant's wound has healed incredibly fast."
Seeing that Chu Qing was truly happy this time instead of just perfunctorily agreeing, Wei Ying was in a great mood.
Seeing that Wei Ying was in a good mood at the moment, Chu Qing moved closer, tilted her head and tentatively said,
"Your Highness... I want to learn martial arts."
"..." Wei Ying stopped the motion of reaching for the teacup that Green Vine was offering. After a long while, he continued his movement and then replied indifferently, "No."
Not to mention that martial arts were usually learned from a young age. The hardships of martial arts training were probably too much for his delicate princess to bear.
Seeing Wei Ying directly refuse after a moment's hesitation, Chu Qing frowned and asked why.
"Qingqing, you've already passed the age of coming of age. And judging from your delicate body, you probably can't endure the hardships." Wei Ying explained patiently, which was rare for him.
After hearing this, Chu Qing understood.
What Wei Ying said was true, and he was indeed thinking of her.
When she made this decision, she only thought about strengthening her body but ignored whether her physical condition could adapt.
"I have some things to attend to, so I won't keep you company."
Seeing Chu Qing looking a bit absent - minded, Wei Ying felt a bit flustered. Afraid that he would couldn't help but agree, he made up an excuse and left first.
Looking up at Wei Ying's back, Chu Qing was too lazy to say anything.
Sighing silently, Chu Qing was about to think carefully about whether she should really learn martial arts.
Acting on impulse was something she often did before entering the palace in her previous life. But later, she wasn't allowed to do things without careful consideration.
Otherwise, she would probably have died more than once.
Should she continue to live a life of careful calculation like in her previous life, or should she try something new and experience a different life?
Chu Qing walked out of the courtyard, raised her head to face the somewhat blinding sunlight and covered her eyes.