Peach Blossom.

The Queen Mother was very disdainful when she saw Tao Ye's behavior: "Who do you think you are? Are you worthy enough for me to dismiss the attendants and summon you alone?"

Tao Ye mustered up her courage and tried her best: "I want to see the Queen Mother not for myself, but to express my gratitude to the Queen Mother for not punishing me just now and to the princess for saving my life from the fire last night. I am willing to tell her the whole truth about Chen Ji's murder! I falsely accused the princess before, but I had no choice..."

When the Queen Mother heard these words, she thought that listening to them might be of some benefit, so she told Si Yao: "Go home first. If there is anything, I will send someone to tell you."

Si Yao seemed a little worried and started to act coquettishly: "Mother..."

The Queen Mother patted Si Yao's hand and smiled very gently: "What are you afraid of? Mother is not a soft ear!"

Si Yao then bid farewell to the Queen Mother and left the palace.

Afterwards, the Queen Mother took Tao Ye back to her own bedroom and asked her trusted palace maid to guard the door before asking her alone: ​​"Tell me about your 'helplessness'!"

Tao Ye no longer pretended to be weak like she did in Hanzhang Palace. Instead, she showed her strength. "Yesterday, Chen Ji drank the wine given by the princess and ate the food sent by the Grand Marshal. After nightfall, he foamed at the mouth and died soon after. I am not sure whether it was the wine or the food that was poisonous. Because I was suspicious of the Grand Marshal, I did not release the news when Chen Ji just died. I just wanted to wait until dawn to quietly find a coroner to check. But I didn't expect a fire to start in the middle of the night and burn the body. Even I almost died!"

The Queen Mother was very curious when she heard this: "Since you can't be sure of the cause of the poisoning, why did you say in front of the emperor that it was the princess who poisoned him?"

Tao Ye suddenly knelt down and knocked her head heavily on the ground: "Please forgive me, Queen Mother. I do have selfish motives. I just want to find an excuse to take revenge on the princess!"

The Queen Mother looked down upon Tao Ye, her eyes becoming extremely cold: "How dare you tell me that you want to avenge the princess?"

Tao Ye looked at the Queen Mother and murmured, "I hate the princess not because of Wang Jing! I have been in the Wang family for eight years, and the couple have long disliked each other. The only thing I care about is my only daughter! The Queen Mother can understand this kind of blood relationship best! The princess is already a married woman, but the Queen Mother still misses her. My daughter is only seven years old, how can she bear to be separated from her?"

Speaking of this, Tao Ye felt really sad and burst into tears.

The Queen Mother seemed somewhat moved: "You hate the princess, is it really just because you can't bear to leave your daughter?"

Tao Ye replied with tears in her eyes: "Your Majesty, I have no children. How can I live in my husband's house without considering other people's opinions? If it weren't for my daughter, I would have been unable to bear this humiliation and would have refused to stay in the Wang family!"

The Queen Mother nodded, believing it, but she still couldn't tolerate it: "Even if you have suffered the pain of separation because of the princess, it can't be an excuse to slander the princess! That's a crime of murder!"

"Of course I shouldn't do this, but I was brought into the palace by the Grand Marshal. How dare I question him in person? Moreover, after the Grand Marshal took Chen Ji in, he sent people to deliver food every day. There were plenty of opportunities to harm him, but he chose the day when the princess gave him wine. What was his intention? Wasn't he deliberately trying to confuse people?"

After Tao Ye's words, the Queen Mother could not help but doubt Chen Xi's motives for helping Si Yao repeatedly. But Chen Xi was the head of the military officers, so even the Queen Mother could not easily question him.

Tao Ye continued, "If the fire last night was an accident, I really can't believe it; but if someone set the fire on purpose, then the people serving Chen Ji are all the Grand Marshal's men, who has a better chance than them?"

The Queen Mother seemed to understand something and asked again: "You are telling me these things, so you are not trying to sue the Grand Marshal, right?"

Tao Ye shook her head: "The Queen Mother is wise. I have been married to Wang Jing for eight years and our relationship is so strong. How could she care about Chen Ji, who was married for only one day? The Queen Mother knows the world well. There is no need for me to pretend to care about the cause of Chen Ji's death! I am looking for an opportunity to enter the palace just to ask the Queen Mother and the Emperor for a chance to return to the Wang family and reunite with my daughter!"

The Queen Mother was a little surprised: "You actually want to return to the Wang family?"

Tao Ye replied, "Yes! The princess's reputation cannot be slandered, but the Grand Marshal holds a large army. If he is accused of murder, it will cause an uproar in the court, and the emperor will definitely not want this. If the Queen Mother allows me to return to the Wang family, I am willing to announce to the public that Chen Ji died in an accidental fire, and the matter will be over!"

The Queen Mother immediately retorted: "No! Yao'er is already married for the second time, this marriage cannot go wrong again! I will never allow you to interfere and affect Yao'er's marriage!"

Tao Ye hurriedly defended herself, "Her Majesty, please check it out! I, a commoner, will live in a separate courtyard when I return to the Wang family. It is impossible for me to affect the princess! On the contrary, if the only daughter of Prince Consort Wang is left without a mother to take care of her, the princess, as the nominal mother, will be more likely to suffer from her reputation!"

The Queen Mother glanced at Tao Ye and did not refute immediately this time.

Tao Ye added, "The Queen Mother cares about the reputation of the Princess, and even more about her peace of mind. My daughter is already seven years old, and she is a stubborn girl. If the Princess keeps her by her side to raise her, I am afraid she will often be annoyed; if the Princess does not raise her by her side, over time, people will inevitably gossip about her. Only if I, her own mother, stay with her daughter, can the Princess justifiably stop living with her."

Although the Queen Mother thought what she said made sense, she was still worried: "After all, you are Wang Jing's first wife. The Wang family has long been accustomed to your original identity. How can you not affect my Yao Er if you just stand there?"

"Last time, I made a scene at the wedding of the princess and Prince Wang, bringing shame to the Wang family. I'm afraid the Wang family has hated me to death. How can they still treat me the same way as before? I swear to heaven that I returned to the Wang family only to be their daughter and have no intention of seducing Prince Wang! I am willing to destroy my own face to show my sincerity!" After Tao Ye said this, she pulled out the hairpin on her head and drew it hard across her face.

Tao Ye had watched some TV dramas in modern times, and had seen characters in the dramas slash their faces to express their unwillingness to compete for favors, so she followed suit. After slashing her face, she remembered that her blood in this era was green! Wouldn't that scare the Queen Mother?

Unexpectedly, the Queen Mother was not frightened. Instead, she looked at Tao Ye solemnly and sighed, "I will believe you for now, but I still need to think about this matter again. You go back to the Chen family first and wait for my order."

Tao Ye thanked him and said goodbye. After leaving the house, she hurriedly touched the scratched place on her face with her hand, and saw red blood!

Only then did she understand that the body the Ghost King reshaped for her was not just modeled after Mantang Jiao's skin, but its entire body.

After Tao Ye left the palace, she walked back the way she remembered coming, but she got lost. She walked around but couldn't find where the Chen Mansion was, and she felt very speechless.

She suddenly remembered that Chen Ji had said that they wanted to find a suitable opportunity to meet at Guishan to discuss the next plan. Isn't now a suitable opportunity?

So Tao Ye asked people for directions, walked to Qinhuai River, and walked along the river, from the noisy place to the less-traveled place, and finally saw the Ghost Mountain on the other side of the river.

At this time, she found that there was a small boat moored by the river with a person in it. She looked closer and saw that the person in the boat was Ma Da, as she expected, wearing a fisherman's hat with a long brim.

Mada saw Taoye and motioned for her to board the boat, and then they rowed to the other side together.

At the foot of Ghost Mountain, Tao Ye met Chen Ji again. He proudly told Chen Ji what had happened since they parted, and boasted about himself as extremely brave and powerful!

After hearing this, Chen Ji praised him: "I didn't expect that you have such a good ability to adapt to changing situations, and your eloquence is much better than I thought!"

Tao Ye was so proud that she blurted out, "Of course! After all, I studied Chinese as an undergraduate!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tao Ye immediately realized that he had spoken out of turn again.

Chen Ji just smiled and said, "I'm used to it. You may say things that I don't understand at any time! But... I'm leaving soon. I'm afraid we won't be able to meet again for a long time. If you can return to the Wang family, you must be careful in everything and don't reveal your true identity."

When Tao Ye heard that Chen Ji was leaving, she felt reluctant: "Where... where are you going?"

"Yongchang County."

"What place is that? Is it far away?" Tao Ye was very poor at history and had a terrible memory of ancient place names.

"Far, very far." Chen Ji looked into the distance, then looked at Tao Ye, and seemed reluctant to leave.

Tao Ye couldn't help but ask again: "Why do you want to go so far? Just to avoid people who know you?"

It was dark, and Mada brought a pile of firewood and lit it to keep Chen Ji and Tao Ye warm.

Chen Ji sat by the fire and told Tao Ye: "The emperor has a half-brother named Si Yuan. Before the death of the previous emperor, the current empress dowager accused him of treason and rebellion, and the previous emperor banished him to Yongchang. After the emperor ascended the throne, the empress dowager instigated the title of King of Yongchang for Si Yuan. On the surface, it seemed that the grace was extended, but in fact it was to trap Si Yuan forever in the barren land of Yongchang!"

Tao Ye understood: "So, you want to go to King Yongchang?"

Chen Ji nodded: "When my father was alive, he always supported Prince Yongchang, not the current emperor. Prince Yongchang is nostalgic and will definitely take me in."

Tao Ye was roasting by the fire, feeling sad.

Chen Ji could see that Tao Ye was sad, and said half jokingly and half seriously: "If you can't bear to leave me, why don't you come with me!"

"Ah?" Tao Ye had never thought about leaving with Chen Ji before. She didn't know why, but in her concept, it seemed that her goal was only to go to the Wang family.

When Chen Ji asked this, she pictured in her mind the two scenes of wandering around the world with Chen Ji and going back to the Wang family. After comparing, she felt that she still seemed willing to go to the Wang family.

Looking at Tao Ye's expression, Chen Ji seemed a little disappointed: "Why don't you want to go with me?"

Tao Ye didn't know how to answer.

Chen Ji asked again: "Is it because I don't want to eat the food you gave me?"

This gave Tao Ye a good reason: "Yes! If you really want to be with me, how could you not eat the food I gave you?"

"So you are going to give it to Wang Jing to eat?"

"Yes!" Tao Ye answered without hesitation.

After answering, Tao Ye seemed to feel something was not right.

Chen Ji smiled, with a bit of weirdness in his smile: "Why do you have to deliver food to people?"

Tao Ye didn't dare to answer easily.

Chen Ji smiled again: "Or...I should ask, who are you?"