Chapter 1250: Chapter 1245: Bustling

The people sitting opposite them were Prince Qin and Xie Qinyun. It was said that Prince Qin’s wife could not get out of bed anymore, and the Prince Qin Residence had fallen into the hands of Xie Qinyun.

Gu Youyou vaguely heard that Xie Qinyun was harmed by someone when she gave birth to twins, and that person was none other than Prince Qin’s wife.

However, Prince Qin had no concrete evidence and could only take the approach of keeping family scandals private, completely neglecting Prince Qin’s wife thereafter.

Prince Qin’s wife was already in poor health, and this incident made her condition even worse. Dragging her frail body, she has been like this for two years, and now she is truly on the verge of death.

Thus, the one who could make public appearances was naturally Xie Qinyun.

“Ah, Youyou, come sit here, come here!” Xie Qinyun was very happy to see Gu Youyou.

Gu Youyou smiled lightly and tugged at Jin Zijin’s sleeve.

He lowered his voice and said, “Go ahead, it will be very lively in a moment, and I might not be able to pay attention to you; take care of yourself.”

Today’s seating arrangement was not separated by gender but by status and position.

At their table were imperial relatives; since all the siblings of the old Emperor had passed away, there were no more of his generation’s imperial relatives, so the table only included Gu Youyou and her husband, along with Prince Qin and Xie Qinyun, plus a Princess and her Prince Consort.

The Harem was controlled by the Empress, and the children of other concubines hardly had a presence; anyone who threatened the Empress would be harmed by her.

The Emperor did have many children, but only a few survived.

Regardless of whether they were alive or deceased, the Emperor reserved their places, so although there were only three living princesses, by the time it reached Jin Liuying, she was already called the Ninth Princess.

Gu Youyou had only seen this Princess a few times and was not familiar with her; the only person she could converse with was Xie Qinyun.

“Why did you come so late, I’ve been bored sitting here alone.”

Surprisingly, Xie Qinyun still maintained her past purity, speaking straightforwardly, with clear distinctions of gratitude and grudges. It was precisely because of this trait that Prince Qin favored her.

“Who told you to come so early?” Gu Youyou laughed.

“Oh, it was none other than my Prince who insisted on arriving early, saying we cannot be later than the Emperor.”

“The Emperor isn’t here to see you anyway; he is here to see King Jin’s eldest son.”

“Exactly, ah! By the way, why did Qianqing run away, do you know about this?”

She paused, then lowered her voice and said, “You were closest to her, she must have told you before she ran, right?”

Gu Youyou shook her head and said, “No, I really don’t know about this matter.”

“Tsk tsk, everyone says you helped her escape, and you don’t know? Who are we to each other, come on, tell me, I won’t betray you, what are you afraid of?”

Gu Youyou helplessly said, “I know you just want to gossip a bit, but really, she didn’t come to me before running away.”

“What’s the matter then?” Xie Qinyun looked puzzled, saying, “What really is the matter with her, seriously, she is the chief wife, what is there to fear? Even if a concubine gives birth to the eldest son, the legitimate child has to come from her belly, right? But she just turned tail and ran off, this is like conceding defeat without a fight.”

Gu Youyou pursed her lips and said, “If you want to know what happened with her, just wait a little.”

“Hmm?”

Gu Youyou looked towards the high platform with a smile that was not quite a smile, guessing that once they had mostly finished eating or started offering toasts, it would probably be revealed.

Right, she thought, she should eat more quickly. Once the drama starts, there won’t be a chance to eat.

“Don’t worry about that for now, let’s eat quickly. Ah, my favorite dish has arrived…”