After swallowing my anger and taking the blame, I became the lucky little queen

Qin Junyu looked unnatural and nodded and said "hmm".

Suddenly remembering something, he shook his head, covered the wound and made a hissing sound, his expression full of pain.

Nian Susu was worried, "What's wrong?"

He raised his hand to check his wound, but then realized that they were in the palace, and there were people walking towards Xizhimen not far from them. As long as he paid a little more attention in this direction, he might be able to find them.

She withdrew her hand angrily, looking flustered.

Qin Junyu was pretending quite well and was amused by her reaction, but Nian Susu found out that he was pretending and punched him.

She didn't mean to hit him on the wound, but he turned his body to the side and her fist hit his right shoulder accurately. Although the force was not great, it was fatal to a wound that had not yet healed.

"Hiss..." He took a few steps back and rested his back against the square base of the stone lion. The cold feeling penetrated his bones through layers of clothes.

Nian Susu was really panicking now. He held his arms and let him lean on him. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

Qin Junyu relaxed for a long time and barely managed to squeeze out the word "pain".

"Who asked you to lie to me..." She felt guilty and had to blame him for everything to make herself feel better.

He looked at her pitifully, his eyes red, and spoke in a soft voice: "My right shoulder hurts, and my back hurts too."

Nian Susu softened her heart and coaxed him gently: "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I was wrong."

Only then did he stop staring at her with that "hurt puppy" look.

The two men walked towards Xizhimen, not too close nor too far away from each other, chatting casually, the corners of their robes fluttering in the wind occasionally colliding with each other.

Nian Susu shrank into the warm cloak, with the fur-edged collar burying most of his face, leaving only a pair of charming and cute fox eyes visible.

She looked at the white magnolia-shaped pointed-toe shoes on her feet. The pearl tassels on the toes swayed with every step, appearing and disappearing under her snow-white skirt.

She asked in a muffled voice: "Your Highness, do you know Yun Zheng's feelings for you?"

Qin Junyu said nothing.

Nian Susu had no choice but to turn his head to look at him. He was looking ahead with his eyes fixed, not knowing what he was thinking about.

"Your Highness?" she called again.

Qin Junyu just came back to his senses and answered her question calmly: "Everyone knows it."

There was no sarcasm or contempt in his tone; it was just a statement of fact.

Nian Susu cannot be denied. This may sound arrogant, but it is the truth.

Long before Xiao Yunzheng returned to Beijing, she had heard a lot about the childhood "love story" between the third young lady of the Xiao family and the Crown Prince. At that time, she did not take it seriously and thought it was all hearsay.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Yunzheng herself did not shy away from it at all. She openly admitted that she liked Qin Junyu and even asked the emperor to grant her marriage in public. Although she was rejected, she accepted it calmly and promised to wait for him.

Nian Susu admired her sincerity and courage. After becoming friends with her, she found that she was a very good girl. She didn't want this friendship to change because of Qin Junyu.

She asked again: "So what do you think?"

Qin Junyu answered without hesitation: "I have always treated her as my sister."

He then added, "I grew up with the three siblings of the Xiao family. They are like family members to me. Even if we laugh and play around with each other, it's because I treat them as my brothers and sisters. I have no other thoughts."

The wind was howling, and she was silent for a long time.

She was not as happy as she thought she would be when she got his answer.

Thinking of Xiao Yunzheng, would such a passionate and free person like her one day become depressed because of unrequited love?

My heart felt depressed, as if there was a huge rock blocking it.

When they reached Xizhimen, Qin Junyu stopped and looked at her.

Nian Susu then realized that he had no intention of leaving the palace, and he had come all the way here to see her off.

She felt a slight stir in her heart, but that was all.

Nian Qiaoyue was waiting for her beside the carriage, shivering with cold. She couldn't see her expression from the distance, but she must be filled with resentment and must have cursed her countless times in her heart.

Nian Susu bowed towards him and said, "Your Highness, goodbye."

Qin Junyu nodded and watched her get on the carriage before turning around and leaving.

……

At the hour of Mao, the sky was not yet fully light, and the horizon was tinged with paleness, as if a hole had been torn in the darkness.

Qin Junyu was walking towards the Mingde Hall. The officials around him walked past him in twos and threes, talking, but no one wanted to talk to him.

He recognized that most of them were members of the Qing Wang Party, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Your Highness." A shout suddenly came from behind.

He paused, glanced sideways and waited for the man to come forward.

Nian Chengyun walked up to him and raised his hand to signal him to go forward.

Nian Chengyun was half a body length behind him, and the two of them went up to the Danchi one after the other.

"Your Highness, I heard that the Emperor is going to finalize the candidates to go to Jiangnan to suppress the bandits today. Is this true?" Nian Chengyun did not beat around the bush at all.

He always speaks in a tactful and roundabout way, making it difficult to find fault with him. It's rare for him to be so straightforward.

Qin Junyu put his hands behind his back and sighed deeply. White smoke came out from between his lips and teeth and immediately disappeared in the cold wind. "Since the Prime Minister has spoken, he must have the answer in his mind. Why do you need to ask me?"

Nian Chengyun smiled and said, so the news was true.

"Your Highness, who do you think the Emperor will send?"

"It's hard to say. Jiuhua Mountain is under the jurisdiction of Tianxuan Mountain Villa. They have no dealings with the people in the court, and they are even more incompatible with the royal family. No matter who goes there, they will not get any benefits."

"What if it's someone from the Xiao family?" Nian Chengyun glanced back meaningfully.

Qin Junyu turned around and saw General Xiao and his two sons walking upstairs, surrounded by many people who wanted to talk to them.

Xiao Jianting's eyes were dark and he looked tired. He had no intention of dealing with them, so it was General Xiao who answered all the questions.

He glanced at Nian Chengyun and said calmly, "Very good."

Nian Chengyun couldn't get any words out of him, and he didn't use any of the words he had prepared. He closed his mouth unhappily, and the two of them walked up the last flight of stairs in silence and entered the Mingde Hall.

Today was the first time that the Xiao family attended the morning court after returning to Beijing. The emperor was overjoyed and boasted about General Xiao's achievements, and even Xiao Jianting and Xiao Helin benefited from it.

Both civil officials and military generals admired General Xiao and congratulated him sincerely.

The relaxed and joyful atmosphere reached its freezing point when the emperor mentioned the need to select the personnel to go to Jiangnan to suppress the bandits.

The laughter in the hall stopped abruptly. Everyone's smiling faces froze. They adjusted their positions slightly and lowered their heads as quickly as possible, for fear that the emperor would notice them.

Qin Junyu, who was standing in the first place, glanced sideways at Nian Chengyun opposite him.

He was calmer than anyone else, looking as if it had nothing to do with him.

The emperor's face turned cold. "When it comes to suppressing bandits in Jiangnan, everyone is speechless, right?"