Chapter 65: The Maid Jintai and Princess Yue Liuxi

Of course, there is actually another interpretation to this.

Luo Yunyao and Jintai shared the same fate, or rather, Luo Yunyao and Jintai were the same kind of person.

Luo Yunyao saw herself in Jintai's eyes.

Back in modern times, she had been a flower growing in a greenhouse, acting spoiled in her mother's arms and playing cute before her father. She had lived a carefree life dedicated solely to books, occasionally indulging in harmless, moderate modern entertainment. She was such an obedient and well-behaved child that, even as she grew up, she had never once been in a relationship. Under the protective wings of her parents, she believed in the beauty of socialism, held firm to the direction of Marxism, and believed that the widowed, the orphaned, the lonely, the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled should be cared for by everyone and given something to lean on. She believed that all men are created equal and that the world would eventually become a great commonwealth.

Before Luo Yunyao could fully comprehend these truths, the wings that had sheltered her suddenly vanished.

She discovered that the world was not as wonderful as she had thought; it had many flaws.

Yet there were no more wings, no more greenhouse, no more harbor to grant Luo Yunyao a place of refuge. No one came to gently tell her that the world indeed had its imperfections and shortcomings, but that it would slowly get better.

No one came to tell her how she should treat the world's imperfections.

At that time, Luo Yunyao, curled up in the darkness, felt that the world was the ultimate villain—a wolf that had always deceived her while wearing sheep's clothing. Back then, Luo Yunyao could not see even a sliver of goodness in the world; she did not know that she was innocent, that the world was fundamentally good, and that its darkness was only temporary. Back then, Luo Yunyao was thus devoured by the imperfect world, eking out a miserable existence on the darker side of things, her very soul nearly stained by the gloom.

There, Luo Yunyao's almond-shaped eyes had long since seen the sunlight within them shattered into pieces, melting into the abyss. Those naturally pretty and pristine black eyes of Luo Yunyao could no longer find a single ray of light.

Fortunately, Luo Yunyao had discovered it in the end—even though she ultimately used suicide as an act of rebellion against her own corruption and destruction.

Though her method of defiance was cowardly, the heavens had after all granted her a chance to turn over a new leaf. They had even extended grace beyond the law by allowing her to cross paths with Qin Jinghao. He was the one to whom she was willing to entrust her soul, the one to whom she wished to commit her spirit for all eternity. Qin Jinghao, as pure as the breeze and as bright as the moon, cold and flawless like jade—her immortal descending to the mortal world, the person of her heart.

Luo Yunyao's lips trembled, still unable to utter a word. Amidst these wild chrysanthemums across the hills, on the verge of withering, separated by the distance of the wind, she locked gazes quietly with Qin Jinghao.

Given the Great General Qin's exceptional memory, he naturally remembered this maid who had vied with his own lady for favor.

Though the wind bearing the fragrance of wild chrysanthemums moved slowly, it finally passed by, soothingly carrying away the trembling in Luo Yunyao's body and the biting chill that had begun to seep in.

Luo Yunyao steadied her chattering teeth and lips. "Jintai... she is... Yue Liuxi's person." Her words came in fits and starts, and the voice belonging to them was raw and hoarse.

Whether it was because Luo Yunyao had not spoken for too long or because her throat was actually choked with an inexplicable sorrow,

General Qin had originally stood unmoving, his jade-like face displaying not the slightest ripple of emotion, as if carved from stone. Yet at Luo Yunyao's suppressed and trembling words, he finally raised his eyelashes, looking at her with a thoughtful expression.

Luo Yunyao knew what Qin Jinghao wanted to ask, and having no reservations, she simply spoke naturally, "How could it possibly be Jintai? Do you know why I never asked who that maid was who went to the emperor to accuse me of trafficking in official offices and stealing your military secrets? Everyone probably thought I just didn't care. But how could that be? After all, she was a maid in my own estate. Even if you assumed I couldn't recognize every single servant in the manor—yes, I'm not as smart as General Qin, and I don't know every servant—how could someone who brings accusations of such magnitude against me be just an ordinary maid? Without someone holding the high position of Minister of War, someone who has dealt with the internal affairs of the Ministry of War, how could the mastermind behind the scenes have such a person frame me? Where would the credibility be in that? Someone as exquisite and perceptive as Yue Liuxi, how could she possibly commit such a low-level mistake that could be seen through at a glance..."

Luo Yunyao was indeed agitated; she was stumbling over her words, her syntax disordered, sounding entirely devoid of logic. Yet Qin Jinghao understood the conclusion she was trying to articulate.

The person who had accused Luo Yunyao was someone familiar to her, perhaps even close.

It was only when a passing insect pricked the back of her hand that Luo Yunyao snapped out of her absent-minded state. She glanced casually at the tiny red dot left by the insect—she recognized the creature, and thus dismissed it without a second thought. The Lord Minister of War was far more concerned that, in her previous loss of composure, she might have spoken somewhat too harshly to the Great General Qin.

Lord Luo, Minister of War, offered a sincere apology: "I'm sorry, I was just too excited. You know I didn't mean to blame you."

Though her attitude was earnest, the words didn't sound particularly apologetic.

Luo Yunyao did this so the Great General Qin wouldn't think they were acting like strangers. Even though lovers shouldn't have to apologize, it was still Luo Yunyao who had been biased and irrational; as a model youth, she naturally had to reflect on herself.

Qin Jinghao turned a deaf ear to Luo Yunyao's apology. Not wanting her to dwell on it too much, he followed up on her previous remark and asked, "So, you believe the person who reported you is Jintai?"

Luo Yunyao naturally understood what Qin Jinghao meant, and without any coyness, she simply came right out with it: "Yes, based on my observations, she is the most likely candidate."

Qin Jinghao signaled for Luo Yunyao to continue her analysis, and she didn't mind launching into a lengthy discourse: "Jintai has infiltrated the inner sanctum of the Ministry of War manor—that is beyond doubt. I know Qingzhu's temperament; whoever she takes a liking to, she tells everything to and keeps no secrets from. Judging by how she and Jintai were acting back then, they were glued to each other like conjoined twins."

Luo Yunyao made her first point clear, establishing that Jintai had ample opportunity to make the accusation. Seeing Qin Jinghao's deep gaze fixed on her, she understood the Great General's reservations and doubts. "Of course, that girl Qingzhu still has some sense of propriety. She certainly wouldn't talk about my major matters—things like cross-dressing as a man and the Princess Biluo's restoration are naturally out of the question." She added in praise, "Even though Qingzhu is careless, she's a very reliable person. Look after how well she takes care of me! Don't worry, look, even Father Luo was at ease letting Qingzhu follow me."

Qin Jinghao gave Luo Yunyao a look that was half-smile, half-serious. As if he couldn't hold back his amusement, he quickly shifted his gaze to the wild chrysanthemums by the roadside, though his words gave no quarter to the Lord Minister of War: "Mmm, like master, like servant, I suppose."

Like master, like servant. Luo Yunyao pondered this and finally understood what Qin Jinghao was smiling about.

The careless Qingzhu and the careless Luo Yunyao—he was mocking them both.

Qin Jinghao gave Luo Yunyao time to process this, but obviously wasn't going to give her time to exact revenge, so he quickly distracted the Lord Minister of War by picking up her previous train of thought: "Jintai had the opportunity to do this, but what about the motive?"

Luo Yunyao promptly took the bait, turning serious as she replied, "I later sent people to investigate Jintai's background and origins. Both her mother and father were people from Princess Yue Liuxi's estate." Luo Yunyao hesitated, seemingly reluctant to malign Princess Yue Liuxi based merely on her own conjectures, but she pressed on anyway: "Jintai was born in Princess Yue Liuxi's manor and grew up there, so..." So how could I not suspect her?

Since Luo Yunyao dared to make such a claim, she naturally had absolute certainty. Although she lacked Cangshu's formidable intelligence network, Princess Biluo had the young imperial guard Yanci, and that sunny boy was an absolute master of his craft. The fact that Luo Yunyao had been able to escape the destruction of Biluo back then was partly thanks to Yanci.

Though the Great General knew nothing of this layer, he understood that his lady would never make groundless accusations against others.

Qin Jinghao paused, nodded in understanding, and said, "So Yunyao placed her by Qingzhu's side."

Luo Yunyao was long past being surprised by Qin Jinghao's deep understanding of her.

Regardless of the emotional standpoint—that Luo Yunyao felt a pang of sympathy and pity for Jintai and therefore wanted to keep her close to protect and care for her—or the benevolent persona of the gentle and refined Minister of War Luo, Luo Yunyao ought to treat Jintai well.

Yet Jintai happened to be Yue Liuxi's person, so no matter what, Luo Yunyao never dared to truly keep such a person by her side. Call her paranoid, call her cautious—either way,

Qingzhu was naturally the best choice for dealing with this situation.

Qingzhu was, after all, the second mistress of the Ministry of War manor; no one would dare to harm the person she favored. Most crucially, Qingzhu's martial arts skills were quite decent, more than enough to handle a mere maid.

Therefore, perilous though it was, Luo Yunyao had taken the risk of keeping this girl—who had won her affection at first sight—right beside her and taking proper care of her.

The fact that Jintai was actually from the estate of Luo Yunyao's rival, Yue Liuxi, was something Luo Yunyao certainly hadn't told Qingzhu. Otherwise, given Qingzhu's forthright and unfiltered nature, it would have been impossible for her to get along so well with Jintai without a single trace of reservation.

Thinking of this girl who from time to time revealed the cautious, wary, yet grateful and worshipful expression of a small beast before her, Luo Yunyao couldn't help but continue, "It's not wild guesswork on my part that Jintai is the most likely culprit. After all, she hasn't been here very long. I myself have suspected that Jintai was planted here by Yue Liuxi. As for the others, I temporarily... the others have all been here quite a long time, back when you and I had nothing to do with each other, so Yue Liuxi couldn't have foreseen things this far in advance..." Luo Yunyao wore a thoughtful expression, as if grappling with a tremendously difficult puzzle.