Chapter 246 Born to Be a Rebel

The Ninth Princess used to be aloof, her mother died early, and there were many princesses in the royal family. The Queen and the concubines in the harem were obsessed with palace fighting, and their eyes only saw the dragon throne where the emperor sat. Although they were not overly enthusiastic about the Ninth Princess, they had no time to deliberately cause trouble for her, so they rarely interacted with her.

But this trip to the Great Zhou to form a marriage alliance failed. After returning, Ye Qingcheng instantly became a hot figure in the palace. The Queen summoned her, the princes also wanted to see her, and the concubines in the harem secretly sent people to keep a close eye on her movements.

Ye Qingcheng pretended not to know.

After washing and dressing up, she followed the eunuch sent by the Queen into the palace. As soon as she reached the palace gate, she met the eldest prince coming out of the palace.

The two looked at each other, and the air was quiet for a moment.

"Ninth sister." Prince Mu was the first to speak and break the silence, accompanied by a faint smile, "Last night, I was inconsiderate and neglected the fatigue of Ninth sister after a long journey. I will hold a banquet in my mansion tonight to welcome Ninth sister. I wonder if Ninth sister is free?"

Ye Qingcheng smiled faintly: "Okay."

When Prince Mu heard her straightforward response, the gloom he felt after being rejected last night instantly dissipated, and a happy smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "I will ask Yuwan to prepare well."

Ye Qingcheng nodded: "In this case, I will trouble my brother and sister-in-law. I will go to the palace to pay my respects to the queen first, and I will not accompany my brother to say more."

"Well, Ninth sister, go ahead, we will see you in the evening." Prince Mu said, and suddenly seemed to remember something, "By the way, I heard that Ninth sister brought back a young man. Is he Ninth sister's friend? Ninth sister can bring him tonight so that everyone can get to know him."

Ye Qingcheng smiled faintly.

This eldest brother was not so kind to her before, but now he always called her "Ninth sister" and it really sounded like a brother and sister, as if they had a deep relationship.

As for bringing back a man...

Not to mention that men and women should not be intimate with each other, according to the rules of the royal family, it is against the rules for a princess to be close to a man, and she brought him back to the palace openly. If it were in the past, I am afraid that these royal brothers would have reprimanded her.

As expected, people are driven by interests. No principle or bottom line is worth mentioning in front of interests. What does it matter if it is against the rules?

After her father ascended the throne, the queen mother also became the most noble woman in the world. However, the extreme wealth could no longer satisfy her desires. From the initial cover-up to the later blatant, the queen mother's palace had no less than ten male favorites, and the princes and ministers did not dare to say anything.

Ye Qingcheng walked into the palace and followed the eunuch to the queen's palace. This woman who was the mother of the country looked much more haggard than before Ye Qingcheng went to the Great Zhou to marry. The majesty that was once high above had faded a lot. Even with her gorgeous dress, she could not hide the pale fatigue visible between her eyebrows.

Ye Qingcheng walked into the palace and bowed slightly: "Empress."

The queen frowned, as if she was dissatisfied with her rudeness, but her dissatisfaction was only for a moment, and she quickly said: "Please sit down."

The palace servant heard the words and immediately moved a chair to the side of Ye Qingcheng.

Ye Qingcheng was not polite, brushed her skirt and sat down: "I wonder why the queen asked me to come here?"

The etiquette in the palace has always been a decoration for her. She didn't care about it before, and now she doesn't care about it anymore.

The queen said, "I want to ask about the prince."

"Oh." Ye Qingcheng lowered her eyes and looked at her robe sleeves, and said casually, "I don't know much about the prince's brother for the time being."

"Not very clear?" The queen's expression changed, and her face darkened instantly, "Didn't the prince go to Da Zhou with you? Why don't you know about his situation?"

"Because the marriage didn't succeed." Ye Qingcheng smiled lightly and looked up at the queen who was dressed gorgeously, "I originally wanted to come back with the prince, but he didn't agree and asked me to stay in Da Zhou. Later, I heard that the prince had an accident when he left Da Zhou and entered the border of Shu. I was very anxious when I heard the news, so I asked the regent of Da Zhou to let me come back. I reported this to my father as soon as I entered the palace last night."

The queen's cheek twitched, and she restrained her anger and said lightly, "The prince asked you to stay in Da Zhou because he had no choice. Family and national affairs cannot be trifled with. He must follow the will of your father."

Ye Qingcheng smiled playfully: "I didn't say he did anything wrong."

The queen paused, "Didn't the regent of the Great Zhou investigate the disappearance of the prince?"

"We did, but we didn't find any definite news." Ye Qingcheng said, "The clues point to the martial arts world. As for which force is responsible, we can only wait and see."

The queen's tone was a little anxious: "Waiting for what?"

"Waiting to see what the other party's purpose is in kidnapping the prince." Ye Qingcheng said calmly, "There must be a reason for kidnapping. Whether the other party is seeking money or something else, we don't know yet, we can only wait."

The queen picked up the teacup to hide her uneasiness: "Why doesn't the Great Zhou agree to the marriage?"

Ye Qingcheng raised the corner of her lips slightly, as if mocking: "They have no intention of marriage, not to mention that Shu Kingdom has increased its troops at the border and made blatant threats. The regent of the Great Zhou doesn't buy it."

The queen looked at her, and she couldn't understand who she got this kind of temperament from. She was born with a rebellious nature, and people couldn't like her anyway.

"What did your father say when I met him last night?"

"The Queen can ask the Father in person." Ye Qingcheng said, "The disappearance of the Crown Prince concerns the country, and the Father must have some plans in mind, but I am just a princess, I don't care about politics, nor do I care about the ownership of the country."

The Queen's expression was gloomy, and she tentatively said: "If you know the whereabouts of the Crown Prince..."

"The Queen thinks too highly of me." Ye Qingcheng smiled faintly, "I am a weak woman, how can I know so many inside stories? Besides, when the prince disappeared, I was still living in the Regent Palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Even if I had the ability to reach the sky, I could not know the secret of the prince's disappearance."

The Queen remained silent.

"Father's health is not as good as before. If the prince can't be found again, the ministers will most likely persuade the emperor to appoint another crown prince. The Queen had better be mentally prepared." Ye Qingcheng stood up, her beautiful eyebrows calm, "The prince's life and death are unknown at the moment. If another prince becomes the crown prince and inherits the throne, the Queen's fate is probably predictable. Instead of doing this, it is better to give it a try and let the uncle-in-law send more people to search."

The Queen tightened her hand holding the teacup.

Ye Qingcheng bowed: "Son, I'll take my leave."

After saying this, she turned around and walked out.

The queen did not stop her, but just looked at her back in silence. Ye Qingcheng clearly did not reveal much information to her - whether she really did not know or pretended not to know, the result was the same.

But what she said was not without reason.

The emperor's dragon body was getting weaker and weaker. If there was no news about the prince, he would definitely consider appointing another crown prince. At that time, she, the queen, would not have a good ending.

So the most urgent task was to send someone to find the prince. Although it was a taboo to mobilize troops without authorization, she could not care so much.