It was Cen Xi’s first time attending a palace banquet.
In the banquet hall, everyone was dressed to the nines, every outfit sparkling brightly.
Qiao Yanze was worried that Cen Xi wasn’t used to it, so he stayed by her side.
Several nobles came over to greet Qiao Yanze, but he merely replied them simply, placing all of his attention on his woman.
Cen Xi pulled Qiao Yanze to a corner, her small hands holding onto his well-defined hands. “Go and talk with them. I’ll go eat something.”
Qiao Yanze held Cen Xi’s hand in return instead and pulled her into his arms. His sexy and thin lips inched closer towards her. “You come with me.”
“Aiya, others will laugh at us. I really don’t need you to accompany me!” Cen Xi looked up and placed a kiss on his handsome and devilish face. “I will do my best to get used to your circle. Don’t worry. Go and do what you have to.”
Qiao Yanze had grown up in the elite society since he was young, so he was extremely comfortable in such occasions, like a fish in water. Because of his status as a Duke, countless people surrounded him the moment he headed toward the center of the banquet hall.
He was wearing a pearl-blue suit today. The suit fit him perfectly and he carried the color really well. He was both mature and devilish looking as his handsome facial features made it hard for others to look away. The dazzling and luxurious lights highlighted the exquisite and smooth lines of his figure.
Cen Xi looked away from Qiao Yanze. With a turn of her head, she realized that the person Gu Meng was looking for wasn’t no longer in the banquet hall.
Cen Xi looked around the banquet hall. After asking a waiter, who was holding onto a serving tray, she was told that the person had gone to the lounge, so Cen Xi hurried over.
After exiting from the back door of the banquet hall, she had to walk through a long corridor to arrive at the resting room.
There were two guards holding onto guns standing by the door of the lounge. Seeing Cen Xi approaching, one of them spoke, “This place is Her Majesty’s lounge. Her Majesty is currently resting. No one can disturb her, no matter who you are.”
Cen Xi was wearing a retro, dark green long dress. Her long hair was tied into a low ponytail with her fringe pushed up. Her exquisitely made-up face was exposed without any reservation, making her look cold but beautiful and attractive.
Anyone who could attend the palace banquet was of certain status and power. That was why the guards didn’t dare to be too impolite to her.
Cen Xi didn’t leave. She pursed her lips and spoke louder, “Can I trouble you two to inform Her Majesty that I’m the Duke’s fiancée and there is something I would like to meet Her Majesty for.”
“Her Majesty is currently resting. She is not seeing any guests right now.”
Seeing that the guards weren’t going in to inform the Queen, Cen Xi shouted, “Your Majesty, I want to tell you something about the Third Prince. You will definitely regret it if you don’t meet me.”
Seeing that Cen Xi had started to shout, the guards instantly approached Cen Xi and grabbed her arms. “Since you’re the Duke’s fiancée, you should know better of Her Majesty’s taboos. She hates being disturbed when she’s resting.” The guards held onto Cen Xi, wanting to escort her away.
Right at this moment, the doors to the lounge opened.
The Queen, who was sitting in a wheelchair, glanced at Cen Xi with a strict and powerful gaze. “Let her come in.”
…
In the lounge.
The Queen stared at Cen Xi. “You’re Yanze’s fiancée, but you want to tell me about Ah Qing?”
Although the Queen was already old and her body was a lot weaker than before, her gaze was still extremely sharp and powerful, subconsciously making others become serious and polite.
Cen Xi curtsied respectfully. “Your Majesty, I’m bringing a message from my friend, Gu Meng. If the royal family still wants the Third Prince and Princess Dai Na to get married successfully, you must go and see her.”
As the highest and most powerful leader of the royal family, the Queen must know some things about Ye Qing and Gu Meng even if Cen Xi didn’t mention their relationship.
…
The skies slowly turned dark.
Gu Meng laid in bed, tossing around as it was hard to fall asleep.
She didn’t know if Xiao Xi had met the Queen. She didn’t know if the Queen would come and see her either.
Although she wasn’t that important, Ye Qing was! She was a woman that Ye Qing had outside. If she really made an issue about it, the royal family would be humiliated as well.
At midnight, the nurse came over for her routine check.
After the nurse came in, she walked toward the bed and said softly, “Her Majesty is waiting for you at the rooftop.” With that said, she took off the nurse’s uniform she was wearing.
Gu Meng froze for a second, not expecting the Queen to have come so quickly.
Gu Meng hurriedly swapped her clothes with the nurse before she left the room and took an elevator to the roof.
There were two guards standing beside the rooftop’s door. After Gu Meng gave her name, the guards let her through.
Gu Meng saw the Queen, who was sitting on a wheelchair.
She walked over and bowed to greet her. “Your Majesty.”
The Queen slowly turned around, showing her old face as her murky eyes landed on Gu Meng.
She checked Gu Meng out carefully. “If I hadn’t come, how did you plan to destroy Ye Qing and Dai Na’s wedding?”
When faced with the Queen’s strong aura, Gu Meng couldn’t help but feel nervous. Nevertheless, she replied calmly, “I’m sure that Your Majesty still doesn’t know that the injury His Highness has on his shoulder was inflicted by me.”
Hearing this, the Queen’s eyes darkened as a strong, royal aura exuded from her. “You dare to stab Ah Qing? Do you know that you can be imprisoned for what you did?”
Gu Meng’s dandelion-like lashes fluttered as her hands that were resting by her sides clenched into tight fists. “Am I not being imprisoned by His Highness now? He took away my identification documents and my friend is under his control. My child has also become Princess Dai Na’s child. What do I have left?”
The Queen narrowed her sharp eyes slightly. “Tell me. What do you want me to do when you asked to see me?”
She was indeed the Queen. She understood everything so easily.
“I want to leave Ye Qing and this place with my friend.” Gu Meng knew that if she wanted to leave, she definitely wouldn’t be able to take the baby away. No matter how unwilling she was to part with the baby, she couldn’t stay by Ye Qing’s side anymore nor be his exclusive property.
The Queen admired Gu Meng’s courage to negotiate with her, although she didn’t like being threatened. “What has Ah Qing got to benefit from you leaving?” Ah Qing liked her and kept her outside. As long as the relationship didn’t affect his courtship with Dai Na, she would be able to to turn a blind eye to it.
After all, with the education and guidance that Ah Qing had received since he was young, it was impossible for him to marry an ordinary girl from a fishing village. If he really married her, she would have a terribly tough life, and neither would she receive any acknowledgment from the royal family.
However, the Queen had never expected that Gu Meng would ask to leave Ah Qing.
She didn’t even want her child anymore.
This made the Queen look at her differently.
Gu Meng took a deep breath in and said, “Of course it will be beneficial to him. If I continue to stay by his side, it might not be his shoulder the next time he gets injured. It might be his heart instead.” Seeing the Queen’s expression change, Gu Meng sped up. “Your Majesty dotes on His Highness so much, so I’m sure you wouldn’t keep a time-bomb by his side. Besides, Princess Dai Na already knows that His Highness has a child. Staying by his side would only make Princess Dai Na unhappy. If that time comes, it would threaten the interests of the two countries.”
The Queen leaned back in her wheelchair and stared at Gu Meng’s pale face for several seconds, before she slowly said, “I can arrange for you to leave S Country with your friend using another identity. However, Gu Meng will not exist in this world anymore.”
