My wife has a secret

Chapter 253 Gathering in the Capital
The graceful and elegant Empress Gongsun had a cold face, her long eyelashes seemed to be trembling slightly, and both her face and her heart were filled with displeasure.

She pursed her bright red lips and said uncomfortably, "I heard that the Marquis got into trouble outside and was confined to the palace by the Saint to reflect on his mistakes... I thought the Marquis would reform himself and rest in a cold palace somewhere, but I didn't expect that after a few days, the harem would be turned upside down by you!"

"The Queen has spoken."

"Did you say that?"

Empress Gongsun tilted her neck and motioned Xu Qing to look around.

Following the other party's instructions, Xu Qing looked around and couldn't help but realize that the palace maids who were playing games with him did not leave. They were all standing around him in a well-behaved and quiet manner.

They lowered their heads and dared not make a sound.

It seems that Empress Gongsun's entry has frightened these palace maids to the extreme.

"I didn't say that, Lord Marquis is really good at this... If your wives and concubines knew what I have been doing these days, I wonder how they would react."

Xu Qing was speechless after being rebuked. He had just satisfied his urge to touch the person in front of him thoroughly, so he had no confidence to talk back.

I never expected that the woman who had had physical contact with me in the past would become so fierce...

"Okay, all of you go down and let me and the Marquis be alone for a while."

"Yes."

Upon hearing Empress Gongsun's order, the surrounding palace maids hurriedly responded and retreated from the courtyard of the Imperial Garden.

Empress Gongsun looked around quietly. When the figures around her gradually disappeared, an inexplicable smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and her majesty in front of people almost disappeared.

Empress Gongsun looked at Xu Qing coquettishly and murmured, "You bastard, you caused a big disturbance outside the palace, but you didn't even come into the palace to see me."

Xu Qing looked at Empress Gongsun and was unable to switch roles for a moment, just standing there stupidly.

"you……"

Empress Gongsun, who was originally smiling, couldn't help but change her expression when she heard this question.

She raised her eyebrows and asked unhappily, "Why? The Marquis is famous now, and he doesn't even recognize his old lover? Are you planning to pull up your pants and turn your back on me?"

"I recognize you."

Xu Qing responded awkwardly: "It's just that the appearance of Empress Gongsun really makes Xu Qing a little scared."

"It's good that you know how to admit your mistakes... Life in the palace is mostly as helpless as mine."

Empress Gongsun sighed softly, lifted her skirt, and walked slowly to a stone table somewhere in the garden.

She recalled and talked about the sad past during that period.

"Sometimes, as you live, your life is no longer your own. The old ministers in the world, that is, those royalists, do not want women to be in power and the Xu family to be in power, so they secretly contacted me and wanted to force me to abdicate again and launch a coup."

Xu Qing could understand what Empress Gongsun said.

In ancient times, the concepts of class and hierarchy were extremely strong. Even if my aunt had done great things, she would still be criticized for her identity as a woman.

But what Xu Qing didn't expect was that the other party would reveal the conspiracy of rebellion to him.

What? His last name isn't Xu?
"Tell me about this..."

"I have long lost my power in the palace, but those people are still unaware of this. They think that the reputation of the noble family is too great and the saint dare not offend."

Empress Gongsun said calmly, "So every move of mine is part of the plan of the Saint. She wants to take this opportunity to wipe out all the royalists."

"aunt……"

Xu Qing didn't dare to say the second half of the sentence, because this method was so cruel and it made people feel uneasy.

"So when you ask me why I put on that face in front of others, I am just putting on an act."

Empress Gongsun rolled her eyes at Xu Qing, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and a little disgust appeared on her face, "But some of this is not a show. The Xu family has taken away my husband's kingdom and throne. Who else would be free of resentment?"

Pictures and scenes from the past seemed to flash across her eyes.

But she finally placed her five slender fingers on her lower abdomen, sighed and said: "But people, after all, have to look forward."

……

"The sky is dry and everything is dry, be careful about the fire."

As dusk approached, waves of "knock, knock, knock" sounds could be heard in the streets.

The clerk who was responsible for reminding people to prevent fires walked from one street intersection to another, holding a candle.

"Whose family is this?"

Halfway through the journey, the clerk saw a house with its door wide open and asked in dissatisfaction, "Why leave the door open to protect against thieves at night?"

"Sir, maybe my son was too busy closing his stall and forgot about it."

The clerk's voice immediately attracted the attention of an old man with a weathered face, who stuck his head out, bent over and closed the door, then apologized and explained the situation.

The clerk also frowned and nodded, then continued walking towards another house with the lantern in his hand.

When the old man smiled, closed the door and went into the house, an extremely terrifying scene suddenly appeared around him.

The room was littered with broken limbs and dark red blood had drawn an intricate white lotus pattern on the wall. The air was also filled with a suffocating smell of rust.

The originally dark yellow light, against the backdrop of this scene, also appeared to flicker and sway.

"Tianji, you are old too."

Below the white lotus pattern, there sat a strange man in a black robe and with a green face.

He said to the old man who had just come forward in a mocking tone: "If you were a new believer in the Holy Church, you would definitely kill the official without hesitation and use him as your blood food."

The old and weathered man just now was one of the seven star gods, Tianji Star God.

Tianji Star Lord was also familiar with the tone and habits of the person in front of him. He did not get angry, but walked to a corner of the house and covered his face with a fiery red mask.

With a click, similar to the sound of snapping together, the mask was affixed to the face of Tianji Star Lord.

"Qi State has temporarily resolved external threats, and its attention is now focused on the Holy Church. If we cause trouble again, I'm afraid that before we can accomplish our great cause... we will be caught by the government and end our lives."

On the other side of the room, Yaoguang Star Lord, who had not appeared in public for a long time, turned his head slightly and expressed his dissatisfaction with Tianji Star Lord's discouraging words.

"What do you mean by a residual life? We are willing to be dry wood and burn the remaining fire for the Holy Church. Isn't it a great honor? Why does it become reluctant and fussy in the mouth of an old man like you?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The man in the green face and black robe suddenly laughed twice, disturbing Yaoguang Xingjun who was in the fire.

"This Tianji Star Lord does not belong to our group and has nothing to do with the reincarnation cause and effect of the Holy Church. It is normal for him to say this... However, when Tianji Star Lord joined the church, he had been approved by the leader. He must be a colleague of ours and will definitely not abandon the great cause." Tianji Star Lord closed his eyes and nodded, and responded in an old and vicissitudes voice: "Tianshu Star Lord, your opinion is profound."

When Yaoguang Xingjun heard this person speak, he tactfully shut up and lowered his head, not pursuing the matter any further.

Tianshu Xingjun nodded with satisfaction and asked, "I asked the Autumn Harvest Envoy to come back this time. I wonder how many of the arrangements of the Holy Church are left, and how many people have devoted themselves to the great cause and are among the immortals?"

Yaoguang Xingjun replied: "The three Four Seasons Envoys have all completed their journey according to their destined plan. Although Envoy Xia Chang can still breathe, he is facing the powerful Mongolian cavalry, and his demise is only a matter of time."

Xiao Chong held military power in the Liao Kingdom and had many elite soldiers and generals under his command.

But after the Battle of Qinling Mountains, this ever-victorious general was seriously injured, and the army he had assembled was to the point of falling apart.

Although Xiao Chong cut off the possibility of Qi's pursuit with the help of the corpse, the Mongols and Jin soldiers had already moved south and were eroding the Liao Kingdom from two directions, causing shock to the government and the people in panic.

The two envoys, Master Liu Dongzang and Chunsheng, were also killed in the Suzhou Rebellion and the imperial mausoleum, and their deaths were beyond description.

"Tianxuan Star Lord used his ability to control beasts and used thousands of beasts to block the Liao army. He died in Qinling Mountains and entered the cycle of reincarnation. Kaiyang Star Lord and Chunsheng Envoy were defeated by Yang Xianning in the Imperial Mausoleum."

When Tianshu Star Lord heard this, he noticed a name that interested him.

"Yang Xianning?"

"Yes, this person is the current head of the Yang family, the actual owner of Huangling Pass, and has tens of thousands of Yang family soldiers under his command... But the Xia Chang Rebellion has caused him to lose power and he is under house arrest in Guangping Marquis Mansion."

Tianshu Star Lord had heard of Yang Xianning's name a long time ago and knew that this man had become a famous general by relying solely on his practice without any external help.

Being able to fight against such a heroic figure, even his long-silent heart couldn't help but feel his blood boiling.

"Kaiyang Xingjun, his death is not unjust."

Yaoguang did not agree with this statement, but continued to talk about the situation of other people.

In his opinion, it was a disgrace for a star god with divine power to lose to an ordinary person, and he was not worthy of being included in the List of Gods.

"During the chaos caused by the Spring Envoy, the Saint Girl followed the will of Heaven and sent the Man of Heaven away. This was equivalent to exposing her identity in front of the Saint... Therefore, when the Man of Heaven returned to the capital after going through the disaster, he was the first one to be dealt with."

"Saint."

Tianshu Star Lord smiled and remembered the cynical and mischievous Saint Lady.

It has to be said that the other party is the only person in the entire Holy Church who suits his taste.

Unfortunately, the saint's fate was already sealed when the man of destiny returned to the capital.

"Rumor has it that Her Highness the Saint is not dead, and is most likely hidden by the Destiny Person in the basement of the Princess's residence. But the destiny lamp in the altar has gone out, and even the destiny lamp of Yuheng Xingjun, who often follows the Saint, has gone out."

"pity."

Tianshu Star Lord responded calmly to show his sympathy, but everyone could tell from his tone that he did not have any compassion or sympathy.

The breaking of the life lamp basically foreshadows the physical death of these two people.

“That’s basically it.”

"The Saint has passed away, and Qiushou is the only one left of the Four Seasons Envoy. Three of the Seven Star Lords have also passed away, leaving only you and I in this room."

Tianshu Xingjun nodded, shook his head and smiled, "It seems that the last act of this destiny man will be performed by us."

Tianji, Yaoguang, and Tianquan all turned toward the green-faced man, bowed respectfully, and said, "We will follow the Star Lord's orders."

……

Xu Qing's meeting with Empress Gongsun did not last long.

It would be more accurate to say that they just had a brief chat in the Imperial Garden and then parted ways.

There were a large number of beauties in the palace, and there might be spies from other royalist parties, so the two did not have an in-depth exchange.

A few days later, at the end of the month when he was about to leave the palace, Xu Qing received another order from Lord Lianhua, asking him to go to Feishuang Palace to meet the saint.

Since the incident at the beginning of the month, Xu Qing has also gone to Feishuang Palace several times, sitting down with his aunt to eat some dishes and chat about some past family matters.

What I heard most often from my aunt was the stories of my mother when she was young.

When my aunt talked about my mother, she often looked longing and there was a smile in her eyes.

Because of this, Xu Qing didn't think much about it when he was summoned.

However, when he arrived outside Feishuang Palace, he gradually realized that today was different from usual. The usual vegetarian family dinner had turned into a long pearwood table.

The table was about three meters long and was filled with beef and mutton rolls and various vegetables.

"Lord Lianhua, what's going on here?"

"You said a few days ago that you were craving for hot pot from the southwest. Do you remember?"

Xu Qing was led into the house by Lianhua Jun and nodded numbly.

He remembered this incident. Because his aunt believed in Buddhism, the vegetarian meal was light and he felt like he had not eaten anything after eating it.

Xu Qing, who wanted to satisfy his craving for food, naturally thought of the delicious hot pot from his previous life, so he mentioned it to his aunt.

He didn't really want to eat it. After all, the capital was located in the Central Plains, and the palace didn't have any peppers from the Sichuan and Chongqing regions on hand. It would take a lot of effort to eat this stuff.

It would be better to wait until I go back and travel there to taste the local food.

"On the night that the Marquis mentioned this, the Saint ordered the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Food Department to send people to the Sichuan and Chongqing areas to pack up the peppers and the cooks who knew how to make the soup base and bring them back."

Lianhua Jun looked towards Xu Qing with an extremely calm gaze, but she had already rolled her eyes countless times in her heart.

It seems that this marquis still hasn't figured out his own identity. In the saint's heart, he is more important than the entire country.

When they were fighting for power, he had never seen the saint show a timid expression. But after receiving the news that Guangping Hou was missing, the saint locked himself in a side hall for three days, fasting and chanting Buddha every day, hoping to bless him to be safe.

While the two of them were standing at the door for a while, a palace maid came in and informed Empress Dowager Xu.

After a while, the other party was seen wearing a chest-length dragon robe, walking out with the support of two personal maids. His every move was full of noble and elegant temperament, like a blooming peony, attracting everyone's attention.

Lianhua Jun stepped aside, and Xu Qing hurriedly saluted towards Empress Dowager Xu in front of the palace and called out, "Aunt."

"Qing'er, what are you still doing standing there like an idiot?"

Seeing Xu Qing coming, Empress Dowager Xu's mood was obviously much better. Her beautiful face, which was usually serious in front of the servants, turned into a faint smile today, like melting snow.

"Come in and let your aunt see how you have been doing these days."

(End of this chapter)