bullyxtreme Chapter 117 It really is Sister Xu! Jiang Qingxue collapsed!
Chapter 117 It really is Sister Xu! Jiang Qingxue collapsed!
Xu Fenghua...
The eldest daughter of the Xu family, Xu Longxiang's elder sister, the woman who always gently called her "Qingxue Sister" when they were in the North, and who would bring her Jiangnan pastries...
How could she...?
Didn't she marry into the Zhao family in Jiangnan? Hasn't she been a wife for six years already?
How could this be...?
Entering the palace?
To become Qin Mu's concubine?
absurd!
This is impossible!
There must be something wrong with this!
Perhaps they share the same name?
Yes, it must be someone with the same name!
There are countless women in the world with the surname Xu, and quite a few with the name Fenghua.
How could it be the Xu Fenghua she knows?
Jiang Qingxue suddenly stood up, her movements so abrupt that her vision went black for a moment.
"Your Majesty!" Qiu'er exclaimed and rushed forward to help her up.
Jiang Qingxue pushed her hand away, her voice trembling, "I want...I want to go out and see."
"Your Majesty, this..." Qiu'er hesitated, "There are too many people and too many eyes outside, and His Majesty has just returned to the palace, and everyone is in a flurry of activity. If you go out at this time, I'm afraid..."
"I'm going." Jiang Qingxue's tone was unusually firm.
She had to see it for herself.
She had to see for herself whether the "Consort Hua" Qin Mu brought back was the same Xu Fenghua she knew.
in the case of……
in the case of……
Jiang Qingxue dared not think any further.
She felt a chill run through her body, a coldness rising from the soles of her feet and instantly spreading throughout her entire being.
If it really is Xu Fenghua...
What does that mean?
This means that Xu Longxiang's sister has also fallen into Qin Mu's hands.
This signifies the Xu family's most important strategic move outside the northern border.
Qin Mu uprooted the key figures in the Jiangnan trade routes and intelligence network.
It also means...
How will Xu Longxiang react?
The man who valued his sister more than his own life, the man who swore to protect her for life on the snowy northern plains...
When he learned that his sister had also been taken away by Qin Mu...
Jiang Qingxue dared not think any further.
She pushed Qiu'er aside and strode towards the outside of the palace.
The moon-white hem of her skirt brushed past the threshold, gleaming softly in the autumn sunlight, yet it contrasted sharply with her cold and flustered state of mind.
........
Outside Chengtian Gate.
The massive royal procession slowly came to a stop.
Two thousand armored guards stood in two rows on either side, as straight as a forest, keeping the onlookers a hundred paces away.
The master of ceremonies stepped forward and announced loudly:
"His Majesty has returned to the palace!"
"Consort Hua has entered the palace!"
The heavy palace gates slowly opened.
The curtain of the gilded imperial carriage was lifted, and Qin Mu stepped out first.
He was still wearing a moon-white, wide-sleeved robe, with silver cloud patterns shimmering faintly in the sunlight.
Her long hair was not crowned, but loosely tied up with an ebony hairpin, and her posture was lazy and casual.
But his appearance instantly silenced the previously noisy scene.
Everyone knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.
Qin Mu's gaze swept indifferently over the crowd kneeling on the ground, then he turned around and reached out his hand into the imperial carriage.
A slender, fair hand, painted with nail polish, gently rested on his palm.
Then, a figure in deep purple slowly emerged from the imperial carriage.
When the figure was fully revealed in the sunlight, a collective gasp of barely suppressed breath rose from the crowd.
So beautiful.
The deep purple palace gown was exquisitely beautiful, tightly wrapping around her slender yet upright figure, with the hem trailing on the ground. Embroidered with golden phoenixes, it shimmered in the sunlight.
Her long hair was styled into an elaborate flying bun, adorned with a golden phoenix hairpin, and a fresh peony was pinned to each side.
Her makeup was exquisite; her eyebrows resembled distant mountains, and her lips were like a touch of rouge.
But what's most striking are those amber eyes.
Clear and deep, calm and still at this moment, yet it possesses an inherent majesty of someone who has long held a superior position.
She stood there, letting Qin Mu hold her hand, her posture dignified and her back straight.
She seemed not to be a court lady forcibly taken into the palace, but rather the mistress who was rightfully in this position.
Jiang Qingxue squeezed to the front of the crowd.
When she saw that face clearly, she was struck dumb, frozen in place.
It's really her.
Xu Fenghua.
That woman in the Listening Snow Pavilion in the Northern Border, who would gently teach her embroidery and tell her stories of Jiangnan.
The woman who held her hand on the eve of her wedding and said, "Qingxue, take care of yourself."
That... Xu Longxiang's most respected and beloved older sister.
At this moment, however, she was dressed in the palace attire of a concubine and stood beside Qin Mu.
She stood beside the man who took her virginity and destroyed her life.
Jiang Qingxue felt her breath catch in her throat.
She bit her lip hard, her nails digging deep into her palms until they bled, but she was completely unaware.
Why...
Why is this happening...?
Sister Xu...why do you want to enter the palace?
Was it voluntary?
Or... was it forced upon you?
If it was forced...
Jiang Qingxue's gaze fell on Qin Mu's face.
That handsome, smiling face now appeared like a demon in her eyes.
It's him.
It must be him.
He not only took her away, but now he's not even letting Sister Xu go.
He wanted to completely destroy the Xu family.
They wanted to take away everything that Xu Longxiang cared about.
So ruthless...
So poisonous...
Tears welled up uncontrollably in Jiang Qingxue's eyes.
But she held back her tears.
Can't cry.
You can't cry here.
We must not let anyone notice anything amiss.
She forced herself to look away, lower her head, and blend into the crowd.
She took one last look at Xu Fenghua.
Xu Fenghua seemed to have noticed something and glanced in her direction.
Their eyes met briefly in the air.
Jiang Qingxue saw a fleeting, complex emotion flash across Xu Fenghua's eyes.
There was surprise, worry, and reassurance?
But that emotion was quickly masked by calm.
Xu Fenghua shifted her gaze and looked ahead again, letting Qin Mu lead her by the hand as they walked into the palace gate.
The deep purple figure gradually disappeared behind the heavy palace gates.
The palace gates slowly closed, separating the inside from the outside.
This also extinguished Jiang Qingxue's last shred of hope.
It's really her.
Sister Xu... has really entered the palace.
Jiang Qingxue stood still for a long time.
The autumn sun was warm and bright, but she felt cold all over, as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty?"
Qiu'er had somehow squeezed next to her and called out softly.
Jiang Qingxue snapped out of her daze, looked at Qiu'er's worried face, and forced a smile: "I'm fine."
"Let's go back," Qiu'er said softly. "There are too many people here; we shouldn't stay any longer."
Jiang Qingxue nodded, letting Qiu'er support her, and turned to walk towards Yuxiu Palace.
His steps were unsteady, each step feeling like walking on a knife's edge.
The scene from just now kept replaying in my mind—
Xu Fenghua, dressed in the attire of a concubine, stood beside Qin Mu.
Calm, dignified, yet... terrifyingly unfamiliar.
That wasn't the Sister Xu she knew.
The Xu sister she knew was a woman who could ride a horse across the snowy plains of the North, play the zither and paint in the Listening Snow Pavilion, and secretly plot for her brother's ideals.
Instead of the current situation... a concubine in the deep palace.
What exactly happened?
Why did Sister Xu enter the palace?
Was it Qin Mu who forced him?
Or... does Sister Xu have other plans?
Countless questions swirled in Jiang Qingxue's mind, but she couldn't find the answers.
All she knew was that from this day forward, many things would change.
With Sister Xu entering the palace, it means that there will be one more "one of our own" in the palace.
But it also means that Sister Xu will face the same predicament as her, or even... more dangerous.
Why did Qin Mu want to take Sister Xu as his concubine?
Was it to humiliate the Xu family?
Was it to control Xu Longxiang?
Or... is there a deeper purpose?
Jiang Qingxue became increasingly alarmed as she thought about it.
If so...
Then wouldn't she and Sister Xu both become Qin Mu's playthings?
And Xu Longxiang...
Jiang Qingxue dared not think any further.
All she knew was that from this day forward, she had to be much more careful.
It's not just for myself, but also for Sister Xu.
Back at Yuxiu Palace, Jiang Qingxue sat alone by the window, gazing at the plum trees in the courtyard that were beginning to shed their leaves, remaining motionless for a long time.
Qiu'er changed her into clean clothes, served her hot tea, and then quietly withdrew.
The hall was completely silent.
Only the faint sound of the autumn wind passing through the windowpane could be heard.
Jiang Qingxue picked up her teacup and took a small sip.
The warm tea slid down my throat, but it couldn't dispel the chill in my heart.
But besides that, she seemed to have an indescribable strange feeling.
It felt like a sense of relaxation, even relief and liberation.
Seeing that Sister Xu was just like her, she felt much less burdened.
Jiang Qingxue couldn't understand where this emotion came from, but she couldn't ignore it.
She sighed softly.
I gazed into the distance with mixed feelings, my thoughts swirling.
........