The Duke's Daughter is Reborn

The Queen tapped the table with her fingertips, causing ripples in the Biluochun tea in the celadon teacup.

The voice was like a soft thread that slowly passed through Yang Qi's tense nerves, pulling her back to reality bit by bit from the abyss of memory.

The bloody scene on the night of the Crown Prince's rebellion in his previous life, the cold face of Han Renyuan, the Minister of Revenue - all seemed to be covered by a layer of fog at this moment, and only the concern in the Queen's eyes was dazzlingly clear.

"Empress." Yang Qi's throat tightened and she subconsciously grasped her sleeves. She almost fell into the tangled memories just now. It was the warm ending tone of the Empress's call that warmed her heart.

"I'm here." The Queen's hand came over, with thin calluses on her palm from years of holding a pen.

Feeling the warmth from the Queen's hand, Yang Qi took a deep breath and looked up at the Queen's loving eyes: "Don't worry, Queen, they must want to use the Hundred Flowers Banquet as an excuse to start a fight. If we can prepare properly, it may be an opportunity to completely overthrow the Fifth Prince.

When the time comes, we will see how they get themselves into trouble."

The Queen's hands gently stroked her dress, with a hint of approval in her eyes: "Ah Qi has figured out the overall situation."

She suddenly reached out to help Yang Qi tidy up her wind-blown hair, "It's just..."

"Your Majesty, are you worried about me?" Hearing the hesitation in the Queen's words, Yang Qi interrupted her with a hint of expectation in her voice.

The queen stared at Yang Qi, and when their eyes met, she seemed to see a light surging in the depths of Yang Qi's eyes. That light suddenly reminded her of her own A Yuan.

The Queen's heart moved, and she said softly, "That's right. I summoned you to the palace today because I'm worried that if the war really comes to an end, I won't have time to take care of you.

Ah Qi, have you ever considered moving into the palace?

You will be safer by my side."

The Queen knew that Yang Qi was very important to A Yuan. She knew that if Yang Qi met with an unexpected accident, A Yuan would be heartbroken, which was something she absolutely did not want to see.

Hearing the Queen's words, Yang Qi felt deeply moved, and a warm current surged in his throat.

She remembered that her stepmother once said that the queen was also a heroic girl who was good at riding horses and shooting arrows when she was young. However, since she became the queen, she had to restrain her edge and bury that passion deep in her heart.

Despite this, there is always a fire hidden deep in the Queen's heart.

Now, this fire was burning in front of Yang Qi, making her feel the warmth and kindness of the Queen.

"I understand," Yang Qi clenched her hands tightly. She knew very well that the current situation was precarious and the slightest mistake could lead to eternal damnation.

Concubine Hua and the Fifth Prince looked at him with suspicion, and their attention to him was obvious.

What made Yang Qi even more worried was that the shop under her name was also targeted by them, which undoubtedly brought her tremendous pressure.

However, in this moment of panic, Yang Qi remained unusually calm. She knew that the more she was in this situation, the more she should not panic, otherwise it would only give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage.

"Empress," Yang Qi calmed down and continued, "If there is any unusual movement at this time, it may arouse the vigilance of Concubine Hua and the Fifth Prince, which will backfire. It is better to keep everything as usual and pretend that nothing has happened, so as not to alert the enemy."

For Yang Qi, she had experienced the rebellion of the prince in her previous life, and she felt more deeply about today's events than others.

Therefore, she understood the weight of the Queen's words better than anyone else.

In the eyes of others, Yang Qi is already on the side of the Queen. Once the two sides really go to war, staying with the Queen will undoubtedly be the safest choice.

The Queen looked at Yang Qi's thoughtfulness and suddenly laughed: "You are smarter than I was in the past."

She raised her hand and pointed at the dressing table. "Come, pick a hairpin. I'll give it to you."

Yang Qi stepped forward and saw a golden hairpin with twin lotus flowers in the dressing box, with oriental pearls embedded in the petals. "This was given to me by the Queen Mother when I entered the palace."

The Queen's fingertips stroked the hairpin and said, "I give it to you today for good luck."

Yang Qi took the hairpin, which still carried the warmth of the Queen.

"Thank you, Madam." Yang Qi carefully put away the hairpin and said, "I will take my leave."

After leaving the Queen's palace, Yang Qi turned around and looked at the palace wall, touching the warm jade in her arms - the hand she had just held with the Queen still had residual warmth, like a rope, tightly tying her to the trust in this deep palace.

Different from the worry that was weighing on Yang Qi's heart at the moment, there was a secret excitement in the courtyard of Duke Song's Mansion.

Song Hongwen had just left the government office and had not even had time to change into his official uniform when he rushed to the old lady's courtyard clutching his court beads.

The bricks under the corridor reflected his anxious footsteps. He did not even have time to inform the nanny before he lifted the curtain and entered the upper room: "Mother, Xiao Fuzi just said that Aunt Rong Pei, the personal nanny beside the Queen, came to personally invite the third girl to enter the palace?"

The old lady was sitting upright on a rosewood couch, with her three granddaughters, Yang Lan, Yang He and Yang Jing, sitting beside her.

Hearing the noise, she looked up and saw that the wind from her son's clothes gently moved the tea on the table. The corners of her mouth curved first: "That's right. It is said that the queen thought of the third girl's good behavior and wanted to take her to the palace to have a talk."

Yang Lan sat on the left side of the old lady, twisting a handkerchief between her fingertips.

In all these years, she was the first one to be questioned by her father, but now she was left aside. When her father came into the room, he didn't even look at her, but only focused on Yang Qi's affairs.

Over the years, was there ever a single banquet in the imperial city where the invitations weren't delivered to me first?

Yang Lan looked at her grandmother somewhat lonely. It was herself and the fifth prince last year... Thinking of this, Yang Lan felt even more lonely.

Even though she was favored by the Fifth Prince, Concubine Hua did not ask her personal maid to go out of the palace to pick her up; but now Yang Qi just responded to the call and alarmed Aunt Rong Pei.

Ever since the incident with the Yin family, the old lady has paid more attention to Yang Lan than before. As if she could see her emotions, she raised her hand and patted the seat beside her: "Lan'er, sit closer."

Yang Lan hesitated for a moment, then immediately moved forward.

"Your third daughter is different now." The old lady turned to Song Hongwen, her tone full of emotion, "In the past, people always said that she was taciturn, but now she has become a favorite of the Queen."

Listening to the old lady's words, Song Hongwen rubbed his hands anxiously: "Mother means..."

"Do you think the Queen is so kind to people for no reason?" The old lady twisted her Buddhist beads, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes showed calculations. "The Emperor arranged Bai Yuxin's marriage a few years ago, and the Queen didn't ask much. Now she treats the third girl like the apple of her eye."