Su Qing had long known she would be questioned…
So naturally, on the way back, she had already thought of an explanation.
Su Qing already had considerable experience in dealing with Chaoyan…
Su Qing didn’t intend to tell all lies, nor all truths. A mix of truth and falsehoods would make it easier to convince Chaoyan, and prevent her from seeing through it immediately.
Su Qing sighed slightly, then sat down by the table.
She picked up a teacup, poured herself some tea, and casually said:
“Yesterday, the Queen of Women’s Kingdom invited me to gather at the Waterside Pavilion, and then she wanted me to become her Empress.”
Hearing Su Qing’s words, Chaoyan was slightly stunned, then quickly asked:
“Then Godmother… did you agree?”
Su Qing smiled helplessly and said:
“Of course, I didn’t want to agree. After all, you know I have a daughter! But…”
When she heard the first half, Chaoyan subconsciously let out a sigh of relief, but when she heard “but,” she couldn’t help but become nervous.
She didn’t know why she was nervous…
It seemed like she was worried her Godmother would be snatched away by a newly met Queen.
Chaoyan couldn’t help but ask:
“Godmother? Don’t keep me in suspense!”
“It’s just that if I didn’t agree, she wouldn’t let us leave, nor would she give us the Travel Document. So, I had no choice but to agree,” Su Qing said with a gentle smile.
“…”
Chaoyan didn’t immediately think about the loopholes in Su Qing’s words, but rather noticed that Su Qing said she had agreed. She couldn’t help but ask:
“Then Godmother… afterward, will you still go to Western Heaven with us?”
Seeing Chaoyan’s worried expression, Su Qing smiled and said:
“Of course, I will! But, I’ll have to wait until after I marry the Queen… it’ll probably be after spring before we can leave. How about it? Do you want to wait here with me until after spring before we set off?”
Hearing Su Qing’s words, Chaoyan seemed somewhat relieved.
She nodded and said:
“Since Godmother has decided to stay here until spring, what more can I, your goddaughter, say? I’ll listen to whatever you decide, Godmother.”
Su Qing saw this, put down her teacup, and chuckled as she patted Chaoyan’s head, saying:
“Don’t worry, since I promised to go to Western Heaven with you, I naturally won’t break my word.”
“Godmother’s words… Chaoyan naturally believes them!”
Chaoyan looked at Su Qing and smiled faintly, though her smile was a bit forced.
This should have been a joyous occasion, but to Chaoyan, it wasn’t so delightful; instead, it made her feel a little depressed…
Her heart felt exceptionally heavy, as if shrouded in a mist.
She knew her emotions were off.
So she didn’t dwell on Su Qing’s words.
After saying goodbye to Su Qing, she returned to her room.
In the room, she lowered her head and recited the Heart Sutra she had received earlier from Zen Master Wuchao.
To calm her mind.
In the living room.
Yudie was sprawled on the table.
Looking at her mother.
She spoke: “Mother, you fooled Sister Chaoyan again, didn’t you?”
Yudie’s words made Su Qing smile slightly and ask: “Which aspect are you referring to?”
“Naturally, the part about the Queen threatening you… with your abilities, Mother, could the Queen really threaten you?” Yudie said: “It’s just that Sister Chaoyan is so troubled right now, that’s why she didn’t notice the loopholes, right?”
Su Qing spread her hands and said with a smile: “That’s right! But, once her mind calms down, she’ll naturally notice it.”
“Why didn’t Godmother find a better excuse?” Yudie asked curiously.
“You guess~”
“I won’t guess. Anyway, I don’t think Godmother couldn’t think of a better excuse.”
“You little rascal! Since you won’t guess, I won’t tell you either. I naturally have my own plans~” Su Qing smiled and said.
“But, Mother, did you really agree to marry the Queen and become her Empress?”
Su Qing nodded slightly upon hearing this, saying: “That’s right! I didn’t lie about that~”
“Why? You just met for the first time?”
“No, actually, we’ve known each other for a long time… Although the current her and the past her have many differences, with her past life memories, she can indeed be considered the same person from back then.”
Su Qing smiled and said:
“However, you probably don’t know these things, as you hadn’t been born yet back then.”
Yudie pouted upon hearing this, saying: “I don’t care about that… It’s just that, Mother, you already have our birth mothers, and now you’re going to marry another woman. I don’t even know what to call her.”
“Let’s just address her as she is!” Su Qing spread her hands and said: “Actually, I’m not quite sure myself…”
“That’s certainly something you’d say, Mother!” Yudie said helplessly: “But, Mother, what if our birth mothers find out about these things… won’t it become very troublesome?”
“Ah… I hadn’t thought of that at first,” Su Qing said, rubbing her temples.
Well, the headache started again.
But Yudie, seeing Su Qing’s headache, didn’t say anything, just pouted.
Then she asked:
“Then, Godmother, are we really still going to Western Heaven for scriptures after this? Or are we stopping here?”
“Of course, we’re going. Most of what I told Chaoyan earlier was true, only a small part was false.”
Su Qing nodded and said:
“Once spring arrives and the ice and snow melt, we can continue our journey west.”
Su Qing’s words made Yudie nod slightly, saying:
“I thought Mother was planning to end it here!”
“Naturally, we can’t end it like this… If we did, what would have been the point of traveling so far? Since we’ve already covered more than half the distance, we must finish it,” Su Qing shook her head slightly and said.
“Hehe~ I was overthinking it. But I feel like Sister Chaoyan might be thinking even more,” Yudie said with a chuckle.
“Indeed, I can tell,” Su Qing took a sip of tea and said: “But I already have some plans in mind.”
“What plans do you have, Mother?”
“You wouldn’t even guess what I asked you to guess just now, so I naturally won’t tell you.”
“Speaking of which, Mother, what did you ask me to guess just now?”
Su Qing: “…”
She helplessly patted Yudie’s head twice, then stopped paying attention to the noisy Yudie.
However, Su Qing looked at the silent Jingyue and couldn’t help but feel curious.
She said: “Jingyue, don’t you have anything you want to ask?”
Jingyue was deep in thought. Hearing Su Qing’s words, she slowly came back to herself.
She looked at Su Qing, shook her head slightly, and said:
“Actually, what I wanted to ask, Chaoyan and Yudie have already asked for me. Moreover, I don’t really care about the scripture journey; following along this path is just to be with you, Sister!”
“So whether you go or not, Sister, I have no opinion! As long as you don’t abandon me, that’s enough.”
“Besides, I’m not very surprised by today’s events, Sister.”
“After all, you’re quite the romantic, Sister!”
Su Qing: “…”
This left Su Qing speechless again.
Where was she romantic?!
She just didn’t want her sister to be sad.
Su Qing smiled helplessly and said:
“Forget it, since you don’t have anything to ask, I’ll go check on Chaoyan. It should be about time.”
Jingyue nodded slightly upon hearing this, then suddenly remembered something and couldn’t help but ask:
“Oh, right, if we travel after spring, will the Queen of Women’s Kingdom follow us to Western Heaven?”
Alright, Su Qing had thought Jingyue truly had nothing left to ask.
But she still had a question.
Su Qing shook her head and said: “Did you forget? She’s the Queen! She still has to govern the country here. If she leaves, who will govern the country? So, naturally, she won’t come with us to Western Heaven for scriptures.”
“Besides, the Queen is just a mortal…”
“How could she travel such a long distance with us? And along the way, there will probably be many demons and monsters.”
Hearing Su Qing’s answer, Jingyue nodded slightly.
She said: “Is that so? In that case, I truly have nothing else to ask.”
Su Qing looked at Jingyue, narrowed her eyes slightly, and asked: “Really?”
Jingyue nodded, smiling: “Of course, it’s true!”
“Then I’ll go find Chaoyan,” Su Qing said, nodding.
Jingyue said nothing more, just waved with a smile.
Because she had already gotten the answer to the one thing she cared about most…
So naturally, she had nothing left to ask.
As for why she cared about this matter.
Naturally, it was because she felt that if the Queen were to follow Su Qing to Western Heaven on their future journey, her threat would be even greater.
But if she didn’t follow…
Then there was nothing to worry about.
After that, most of it would be her advantage.
Su Qing didn’t know what Jingyue was thinking…
She just silently walked into Chaoyan’s room.
Planning to have a heart-to-heart with Chaoyan.
Actually, even if she didn’t intervene, Chaoyan would quickly adjust…
But she still decided to talk to her personally.
To prevent any problems from arising due to that extremely small chance.
After all, this girl sometimes overthinks things a bit.
Su Qing stayed in Chaoyan’s room for a long time…
She had a simple discussion with Chaoyan.
Actually, it was more like letting Chaoyan ask her questions.
Once Chaoyan had asked enough, and she had answered enough.
Many of Chaoyan’s doubts would naturally be resolved.
As for how much truth and how much falsehood was in Su Qing’s answers, only Su Qing herself would know.
And whether Chaoyan believed all her words.
Only Chaoyan would know that.
However, when Su Qing brought Chaoyan out of the room, Chaoyan’s emotional state and demeanor were completely different from before.
She seemed to have fully recovered and come to terms with everything.
At this, Yudie could only sigh…
Truly worthy of being her mother.
When it came to fooling Chaoyan.
She was truly first-rate.
In just this short time, she had already fooled Chaoyan into being completely disoriented.
“Should I say, as expected of Mother?”
Yudie swung her feet, eating pastries, looking at Su Qing, and thought:
“But then again, Chaoyan herself would probably figure it out quickly anyway, right? Never mind, I’ll just enjoy the show.”
Yudie didn’t want to get too involved…
Anyway, even if something major happened, its impact on her would be minimal.
As long as her mother was safe, that was enough.
Chaoyan’s matter was naturally concluded for now.
As for Su Qing, she still had many things to attend to.
Since she had made these decisions…
Naturally, she would have to pay some price for them.
So, even if it meant being busy, it was unavoidable…
Su Qing would not regret this busyness.
Time quickly came to noon.
Su Qing quietly arrived at Bai Yuhe’s sleeping quarters.
Su Qing had basically figured out the situation of the palace, so she didn’t need anyone to lead her wherever she wanted to go.
Of course, on another note, she also didn’t intend to hide her abilities anymore.
After all, these aspects were hard for others to notice.
However, this time Su Qing came to Bai Yuhe’s sleeping quarters not to deepen their relationship…
But because she had forgotten to ask some things and wanted to take this opportunity to ask them properly.
Su Qing drank a little wine in Bai Yuhe’s sleeping quarters and waited for a short while.
Bai Yuhe, who had slept all morning, finally woke up from her slumber.
She opened her eyes and yawned.
Looking up, she saw Su Qing sitting beside her, watching her very calmly.
She wasn’t shy at all…
Firstly, they had already seen each other frankly.
Secondly, in this Women’s Kingdom, most women were bolder than one might expect.
It was just that she hadn’t had enough sleep, and was still yawning incessantly.
At the same time, she asked: “Didn’t you go back to find your daughter today?”
Su Qing smiled slightly, shook her head, and said: “I did, but I came back again.”
Bai Yuhe was slightly puzzled by this. She slowly sat up, her quilt sliding down from her front.
Half-covered, half-exposed, revealing her fair skin.
Combined with her peerless beauty.
It was infinitely captivating.
She curved her lips, and joked with a smile: “So, Empress, you’re still not satisfied?”
Su Qing rolled her eyes upon hearing this, and helplessly poked her forehead.
Although she didn’t use much force, it still hurt Bai Yuhe.
For a moment, Bai Yuhe stared at Su Qing with dissatisfaction.
“So, Sister Xiao Qing, why did you come here at this time, if not for me?”
Su Qing smiled: “Actually, in a way, I did come for you, but I have some questions I want to ask you.”
Bai Yuhe yawned, leaned against the bed, and asked lazily: “So, what do you want to ask?”
“It’s about the Bodhisattva who told you that I was still alive and would come from the Great Tang,” Su Qing said, sitting on the bed, while appreciating this rare sight.
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