Big Boss – Chapter 36

Fenghua Pendant

The woman who had just rushed over was Ye Youqing, she saw Qin Wang and Ci Ke confronting each other from a distance, and hurriedly took a breath before coming over, but in the next moment, the man reached out to push Ci Ke.

Thanks to her using a little Qinggong in desperation, she was able to pull Ci Ke back in time.

“Qingqing?” Qin Wang suddenly became a little flustered, and hurriedly whispered, “When did I push her? Ci Ke, don’t accuse me!”

The woman’s enchanting eyes paused on him for a moment, then turned to look at Ye Youqing, her slender hand unconsciously gripping Ye Youqing’s sleeve.

With such a look, once she acted pitiful, no one could resist it.

“How laughable, if you don’t have any ill intentions, why would you corner a girl and make her unable to move? What are you trying to do?” Ye Youqing said coldly, “As a young general, you are also a senior official in the court. You knew that Princess Xinyi was hosting a banquet today, but you intruded into this gathering of women. How inappropriate!”

Qin Wang did indeed enter the palace under the pretext of submitting a memorial, but he was rendered speechless by her words. He felt that even if he had twelve mouths, he still couldn’t explain clearly, and he became anxious.

He had previously wanted to use the Ji family to get rid of Ci Ke, but he had not succeeded. He then sent people to track and kill her but also failed. This made him more anxious and angry, unable to understand how a mere woman could escape from him multiple times.

Now seeing that Ye Youqing was helping, he felt even more frustrated and puzzled. He didn’t know where he had gone wrong. The person he used to easily control in the palm of his hand now seemed beyond his reach.

Not to mention that the commotion here was too loud, already disturbing many women, who were turning back and even gathering in groups.

“Isn’t that General Qin? What is he doing here?” someone whispered.

“I heard he was trying to push the maidservant of Duke Liang’s daughter into the water. Miss Ye caught him in the act and is questioning him now,” another person whispered back.

“How could that be? General Qin is a rare good young man in the capital. He would never do anything to disrespect a woman. Besides, isn’t that Ye family girl fond of General Qin?” Some young ladies who seemed to have a favorable impression of Qin Wang expressed their disbelief.

“Don’t be so naive. Look at that maidservant, isn’t she the one who constantly followed General Qin around before? She seems to be from the Zhou family, beautiful in appearance, and has always been favored by General Qin. However, she suddenly left the Qin residence recently. It must have been tough for her before. People may know one’s face but not their heart. Who knows what Qin Wang did.” A tall, arrogant-looking girl pouted as she spoke.

Her sister beside her agreed with her.

The gossip and whispers kept pouring into Qin Wang’s ears without stopping. He had never experienced this before, and his face turned pale with anger. He wanted to say something but didn’t dare to speak loudly. He could only point his finger fiercely at Ci Ke and say in a hoarse voice,

“Zhou Ci Ke, you wait for me!”

With that, he pushed through the onlookers and fled.

What a classic quote for fleeing, Ye Youqing sneered, releasing Ci Ke and standing with her hands behind her back in the same spot, observing Ci Ke for a moment.

Ci Ke blinked her fox-like eyes.

“You fell quite skillfully. What would you do if I couldn’t catch you?” Ye Youqing’s words carried both reproach and resignation.

Ci Ke blinked again, this time uncomfortably averting her gaze.

She seemed to have never considered the possibility that Ye Youqing would not come to her aid, and this thought made her fumble with her hands behind her back.

Ye Youqing raised her eyes and saw that the crowd had dispersed. She sighed, “Forget it, I’ll take you to the Noble Consort’s place.” With that, the woman in blue turned and walked away. Her hair falling down from the bun was lifted by a gentle breeze, crossing over her shoulder.

Ci Ke watched her retreating figure, stuck out her tongue, then lifted her skirt and followed behind. The two departed from the lakeside in the spring breeze, one in front and one behind.

The two once again walked through the women who were playing with the fighting grass¹. There was already a broken bunch of mugwort on the ground. Ye Youqing’s steps slightly paused as she saw a eunuch running towards them from the opposite direction, followed by a few younger ones, with a look of panic.

Upon seeing Ci Ke behind Ye Youqing, the eunuch breathed a sigh of relief, bowed, and saluted, “This servant has seen Miss Ye. Miss Ci Ke, upon hearing the news from Chunhong, the Noble Consort sent this servant to search. Fortunately, nothing happened to the young lady.”

“Thank you, Eunuch Zhu, no harm done,” Ci Ke replied, smiling.

Ye Youqing walked quickly with Eunuch Zhu, passing by several pomegranate flower trees. The fiery red and gorgeous flowers poked out from the dark green background, unfolding their petals, resembling numerous beauties reclining drunkenly in the mountains.

Ye Youqing glanced a few times at the pomegranate trees. When she refocused, a large red sandalwood door appeared before her, with the door wide open, revealing a corner of a magnificent palace, and the steps were as though made of jade.

Upon entering, the porch was spacious with red painted stone pillars. The ceiling of the corridor was painted with colorful fairy figures. The courtyard was wide and clean, with an old locust tree tied with a swing that swayed slowly in the wind.

At a glance, one could tell that the owner of the house was highly favored by the divine.

Passing through the front courtyard, they arrived at the entrance of the main hall. Eunuch Zhu knocked on the hall door, which then slowly opened. The elegant scent of sandalwood filled the air, and the decoration inside the hall made Ye Youqing involuntarily open her mouth in surprise.

The interior of the hall was gilded with gold paint, magnificent and exquisite. A bunch of pomegranate flowers was placed on the table, with a few drops of water sprinkled on it, resembling a beauty shedding tears.

“Miss Ye, I have heard of your name for a long time. Please come in,” a lazy voice sounded from the inner room. The voice sounded like the most mellow wine, with a lingering charm.

Ye Youqing was about to step forward, but was suddenly stopped by Ci Ke tugging at her sleeve. She turned around to see the woman furrowing her brows as she stared at the door leading to the inner room, lost in thought.

“Ci Ke.” The voice from inside the room spoke again, as if noticing her actions.

“It’s fine.” Ye Youqing patted Ci Ke’s hand and walked steadily into the inner room. A wave of floral fragrance filled the air, even overshadowing the scent of the incense burner. Several maids walked out from the door, all bowing respectfully to Ye Youqing.

A woman dressed in a light red dress was sitting in front of a dressing table. Her attire was luxurious, belonging exclusively to the Noble Consort. The skirt was embroidered with colorful clouds, and she wore long cloud-shaped shoulder decorations that cascaded down to her waist, covering her graceful figure.

The pearl chain on her hairpiece swayed slightly as the woman turned her head. Her almond-shaped eyes were unadorned but no less beautiful, with delicate eyebrows blending into her temple hair, causing Ye Youqing’s heart to skip a beat.

She quickly lowered her head, feeling that the woman was too beautiful, making her dare not look too much. Although she had seen her from afar before, now that she was closer, she realized the intensity of her beauty.

If Ci Ke was likened to a rosy and vibrant flower bud, then this woman was like a pomegranate flower in full bloom in deep red.

“I am unaware of the situation outside the palace now. Have you been under the protection of Miss Ye during these days, Ci Ke?” the woman spoke, then stood up slowly and walked towards Ye Youqing, lifting her rouge-tinted fingertips to gently lift the cloud-shaped shoulder decorations that had just been put on.

Ye Youqing couldn’t help but straighten her back. Under the gaze of this woman, she felt like she was being scrutinized.

“It’s just a small favor, not really considered protection,” Ye Youqing said calmly, despite the turmoil in her heart.

“Miss Ye, if you are willing to bring Ci Ke here, does that mean you already knew about the relationship between her and me?” Zhou Ziqiu laughed.

Ye Youqing did not answer, she maintained eye contact with her calmly. But then they heard a knock on the door frame, and when she turned around, Ci Ke was standing at the doorway. Her beautiful eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she stared intently at Zhou Ziqiu, seemingly with a sense of deterring.

Zhou Ziqiu glanced at her, then suddenly turned around and swept her skirt along the ground in a fiery red arc, leaning gracefully on the beauty couch. She smiled and said, “I have something to discuss with Ci Ke, please have some tea, Miss Ye, wait a moment.”

Ye Youqing nodded and left the inner room. As soon as she stepped out, she felt the scrutinizing gaze disappear, and she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders.

Zhou Ziqiu was really not an easy person to get along with.

At the same time, the door to the inner room closed, and Ci Ke quickly approached. Zhou Ziqiu, seeing that she was unharmed, spoke up, “What’s the plan.”

Ci Ke suddenly unbuttoned her outer garment, fumbled inside her shirt for a while, and then forcefully tore it. With the drop of a white cloth, several neatly wrapped papers fell to the ground.

Zhou Ziqiu’s smile faded instantly as she bent down to pick them up, reading them carefully. As she read, her hand began to shake.

“This is the handwriting of my elder brother, Ci Ke, this is…” Zhou Ziqiu’s lips trembled, then she stifled her tears and continued reading.

Ci Ke suddenly squatted down, took out one of the papers, and pointed to the ink marks on it, speaking softly, “This is the original correspondence between my father and King Si Rong from years ago, manipulated by Qin Wang to forge a major piece of evidence of treason.”

Zhou Ziqiu seemed too excited, almost unable to hold the papers steady. Ci Ke took the papers from her, suppressed the trembling in her voice, and continued, “I had already noticed something wrong with Qin Wang. He would disappear from the study every few days, so I took the opportunity to search and discovered a secret room beneath the secret passage.”

Zhou Ziqiu took a deep breath, waited for her breathing to steady, and then spoke again, “I thought that after the case of the rebel party, all evidence had been destroyed. Why then were these important papers still kept? Is there a deception at play?”

Ci Ke shook her head, her voice even lower, “In addition to these papers, there are some maps and miscellaneous papers in the secret room, all related to the same thing mentioned in these letters.”

“Fenghua Pendant,” Ci Ke said.

“Fenghua Pendant?” Zhou Ziqiu murmured, “What is that?”

“These letters only mention a few brief sentences, not explaining in detail. It seems to be some important token. Qin Wang kept these letters in order to trace some clues,”

Zhou Ziqiu looked over the letters again, unsure whether to cry or laugh.

“These are indeed my elder brother’s handwriting. Back then, my elder brother went on a Northern expedition with King Si Rong, successfully repelling the enemy forces and achieving numerous military merits. Qin Wang only followed my elder brother for training. Who would have guessed that after three years of the Northern expedition, when they returned to the capital, my elder brother was accused of treason and involvement with the rebel party.”

“Indeed, my elder brother was wronged,” Zhou Ziqiu was on the verge of tears.

Ci Ke’s eyes also turned red, but she did not shed tears. Instead, she reached out and wiped away the tears from Zhou Ziqiu’s eyes.

“Aunt, Qin Wang now wants to kill me. It’s not easy to enter the palace. Aunt, you must keep these letters safe.” Ci Ke said as she carefully rewrapped the letters and placed them in Zhou Ziqiu’s arms.

“The Emperor back then only believed in the forged letters, insisting that my elder brother was a traitor, completely disregarding his achievements in battle. It seems that as the Emperor, he was wary of my elder brother and King Si Rong’s military power and the love of the people, hence exploiting the situation.” Zhou Ziqiu regained her composure, with only a faint blush remaining on her cheeks.

“So, to clear my elder brother’s name with the royal family, we must be extremely cautious. Qin Wang, the Emperor, I will not spare any of them.” Zhou Ziqiu’s voice gradually lowered, eventually only a breath left.

“Ci Ke, I’m sorry for dragging you into this.” She sighed and reached out to caress Ci Ke’s cheek.

“You may need to seek help from Ye Youqing. If she is unwilling, you can reveal half of the information, after all, King Si Rong is her maternal grandfather as well.”

Ci Ke’s eyes flickered, a mark left on her cherry lips from biting down. Suddenly, she asked, “Aunt, will our actions hurt Ye Youqing?”

Zhou Ziqiu squinted sharply.

Ci Ke was flustered by her gaze and couldn’t help but swallow nervously, “Ye Youqing, she’s different from before, not only does she save me every time, but also…”

Also, she brings her peace, and being by her side makes her feel at ease.

“Ci Ke, could it be that you have feelings for her?” Zhou Ziqiu said, her gaze growing deeper.

1. “Fighting grass” is a term used in Chinese martial arts fiction or wuxia novels to describe a type of combat technique or skill. It often refers to a style of fighting that involves agile movements, quick reflexes, and sometimes the use of hidden weapons or tricks.