In the blink of an eye, it was the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and it was the day when Qin Xiaoxiao and Jing Heng returned to Beijing.

This year's twelfth lunar month only has twenty-nine days, and tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Although Qin Xiaoxiao was reluctant to leave and wanted to stay at home with her family to celebrate the New Year, as soon as she said this, Lin Qiuniang couldn't wait to pack her things, wishing to put her away immediately

Sweep out the door.

Qin Xiaoxiao hugged Qin Shan and pretended to cry, accusing Lin Qiuniang of treating her like water being thrown away and not hurting her at all.

Under her deliberate prank, the Qin family members became less melancholy about her not being able to stay at home for the New Year, and told her to stay calm when she returned to the capital and not run around with her big belly.

When it was time to leave, Rhubarb didn't leave. It squatted at the door of the courtyard and looked at its owner quietly, unlike before when she was about to leave, clinging to her all the time.

At this time, it was already very thin, with a pointed head, rugged ribs, and messy fur that could not be combed smoothly with lard. It did not show the vigor and majesty of chasing chickens and rabbits when it was young.

Qin Xiaoxiao had an ominous premonition in her heart, and squatted down with difficulty to coax it: "Dahuang, can you come with me? When the weather gets warm next year, we will come back to play. You can play as long as you want. I will always be with you, okay?

good?"

Dahuang licked her hand and sighed like a human being, with two muddy tears flowing from the corners of his eyes.

"Rhubarb!" Qin Xiaoxiao hurriedly caught its rolling tears, her voice revealing a sadness that she had not noticed.

Seeing this scene, the Qin family understood something and their eyes were red.

Rhubarb arrived at the Qin family just after the full moon, and has become a part of the Qin family for so many years. To outsiders, it is just a watchdog, but in their eyes, is it just another child?

Now that this child's life has come to an end, how can they be willing to part with it?

"Xiao Xiao, Rhubarb grew up here. If it wants to stay, let it stay." Mr. Qin patted his granddaughter on the shoulder with trembling hands, feeling very uncomfortable in his heart.

Qin Xiaoxiao tried her best to hold back her tears, knowing that this was the true home of Rhubarb, and letting it stay would be the best thing for it. But how could she bear this? She didn't want to not be able to see the last of Rhubarb.

"Woooo~" Dahuang seemed to have read her thoughts, and he weakly arched his head to urge her to leave quickly. He didn't want his owner to watch him leave with his own eyes.

When he was in the capital, he could no longer hold on. He didn't want to die in front of his master and make him sad, so he supported him and returned to his hometown where he grew up.

Qin Xiaoxiao bit her lip to prevent herself from crying.

She hugged Rhubarb tightly. If she could go back to her childhood, she would be better to Rhubarb. She would never teach him a lesson for being greedy, nor be harsh with him for biting her shoes.

It will always be a happy dog.

Jing Heng stepped forward and hugged his wife, his chest tightening with her sadness. When he noticed that the back of his hand was licked, he raised his head and looked at Dahuang, who also looked at him and let out a sad cry.

He stroked its head and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, I will take good care of your master."

Rhubarb licked the back of his hand again, and then licked his master's face hard again and again, saying goodbye to his master for the last time. But it really didn't have the strength anymore, and it couldn't lick its master until he was staggering like before.

Call it a little bad guy.

In the end, Qin Xiaoxiao got on the sedan chair. She tightly covered her mouth and did not dare to look back. She was afraid that if she turned around, she would not want to leave and Dahuang's last wish would be shattered.

As the sedan chariot was lifted up, it walked steadily towards the outside of the village. She couldn't help it anymore, opened the small window on the side, and looked at Dahuang who was standing at the door looking at her.

With tears in her eyes, she seemed to see Dahuang wagging his tail, grinning and running towards her with his tongue out...

At midnight, the group arrived at the Princess Protector's Mansion. When Qin Xiaoxiao got off the sedan, her eyes were swollen and the clothes on her chest were wet.

Jing Heng waved away Mingyue Jingque and silently helped her walk towards the house.

The two of them returned to Anyiyuan first, preparing to tidy up before going to pay their respects to Princess Protector.

As soon as she reached the door, Xiqiao came over quickly. Just as she was about to say something, she realized that her master was not in the right mood, so she quickly swallowed what she wanted to say.

Qin Xiaoxiao didn't notice anything strange about her, but Jingheng did. When Xingtian and Qingshu helped Qin Xiaoxiao wash up, he called Xiqiao outside.

Xiqiao did not dare to hide anything and reported in a low voice: "Miss Lianxin came yesterday and said that the Zhang Mansion wanted to take in Miss Lan Zhi for the Commandery Lord. Princess Jiaming nodded in agreement and came to ask Madam for advice."

Because the day for Zhang Shiren to take a concubine was today, Xiqiao sent the news to Qingshan Village in time, and Qin Xiaoxiao had no time to come back to persuade her, so she did not send anyone to send the news.

Jing Heng was very annoyed by the bad things happening in the Zhang family. After thinking about it for a while, he warned: "I will tell my wife about this matter, and you don't need to mention it to my wife again."

Xiqiao responded, bowed and retreated.

Jingheng stood under the eaves of the corridor for a while, then went into the house to wash up briefly and change into clean clothes.

Qin Xiaoxiao has also washed herself up. Except for her eyes being a little red and swollen and her mood being slightly depressed, there is no other abnormality visible.

Jing Heng helped Qin Xiaoxiao towards the main hall, hesitating whether to tell her about Zhang Shiren's concubine.

Thinking that she was in a bad mood today, and that the matter was a done deal, she could not change it at all. Knowing that it would only increase her anger, she decided to wait until a few years later to mention the matter again.

Little did they know that with this hesitation, no one could stop Princess Jiaming from causing the Zhang Mansion tragedy.

According to the practice in previous years, on New Year's Eve, the emperor would hold a banquet in the palace to spend the festival with civil and military officials, and this year is no exception.

The baby in her belly was very fussy last night, and Qin Xiaoxiao also had something on her mind, so she didn't sleep well at night. When she got up in the morning, her eyes were not swollen, and there was still a faint black and blue under her eyes.

Fortunately, Ming Chan was skillful and carefully dressed her up, and her whole body became radiant, without losing half of her appearance because she was pregnant.

Qin Xiaoxiao put on a new dress made of Yunzhixia brocade. The waist was made very high, which made her figure less bloated and looked more dignified.

The palace banquet starts at noon, so that it will not affect the reunion dinner of civil and military officials and their parents, wives and children in the evening.

During the meal, most of the food on the table was Qin Xiaoxiao's favorite food, but she was thinking about the rhubarb at home and had no appetite at all. In the end, she still took care of the child in her belly and reluctantly ate some, and gave her the Princess Protector.

A few small steamed buns were stuffed into it.

There were too many people at the palace banquet today, and the dishes were all prepared in advance. In this weather, most of the dishes were served cold on the table, and not much could actually be eaten. Besides, she had to avoid food, so she could only eat what she wanted.

Less.

If she doesn't have a full meal this time, she won't be able to bear it when she gets to the palace.

After the meal, the three of them sat for a while and then got up and set off.

The weather today is very bad. There are thick black cumulus clouds in the sky. I can't feel a trace of cold wind. It looks like it's going to snow.

For some reason, Qin Xiaoxiao's chest felt tight and her mood became extremely depressed.

Jing Heng saw something was wrong and asked in a low voice: "What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

Princess Protector also looked over, with worry in her eyes.

Qin Xiaoxiao tugged on his collar, breathing a little unsteadily: "I'm not uncomfortable, maybe it's because I didn't sleep well last night, and I feel a little upset."

Jing Heng touched her face distressedly and said comfortingly: "I'll say hello to my grandma later, and I'll accompany you to the Bishui Pavilion to take a rest."

Qin Xiaoxiao touched the baby that was moving around in her belly and nodded uneasily.

The palace was very close, and this time the three of them were riding in sedan chairs. When they arrived at the palace gate, there were already many officials and their families waiting to verify their identities and queue up to enter the palace.

The Princess Protector's Mansion enjoys extremely high privileges. When the guards saw the sign on the sedan chair, they immediately opened another palace door and knelt down to welcome the three Princess Protector as they got off the sedan and entered the palace. This made the officials and their families who were still waiting in the cold

They were envious.

The soft sedan chair of Yongning Palace was waiting inside the palace gate, and the three of them got on the sedan chair and headed straight to Yongning Palace.

At this time, the high-ranking concubines, crown princes, princes and their daughters-in-law arrived at Yongning Palace early and were talking to Queen Mother Jing.

After hearing the report from the palace maid that the Protector Princess, Nanminghou and Nanminghou's wife had arrived, they all stood up to greet her.

Princess Protector's status was too high, second only to Empress Dowager Jing, Emperor Yuan He and the Empress (late). Even the fourth concubine had to give a half-ceremony in front of her, let alone the crown prince, princes and concubines.

When they saw Qin Xiaoxiao, who was wearing cloud-woven brocade and looking as beautiful as ever, everyone was stunned, and soon a trace of jealousy slowly arose in their hearts.

They had not seen Qin Xiaoxiao since she became pregnant. They thought that pregnancy would make her ugly and vicissitudes of life, and there were even more beautiful concubines being stuffed into the backyard. Her flower once amazed everyone.

The delicate flowers will eventually wither and wither in the courtyard of the deep house.

Unexpectedly, everything they thought did not happen. This person became more and more eye-catching and was deeply loved by the Empress Dowager. She specially asked the Holy Emperor for Yun Zhi Xia Brocade for her. This made her come from a better background and status.

How can people who are taller than her but not as good as her not be jealous?

But it is useless to be jealous. The Queen Mother has seven or eight biological grandchildren and more than twenty great-grandchildren. She only has one biological grandson, and the great-grandson is still carried in this woman's belly. If not, the scarcity of things is valuable, and more is more valuable.

No longer rare.

Qin Xiaoxiao ignored all the looks that fell on her, and walked side by side with Princess Protector Jing Heng to salute Empress Dowager Jing: "Greetings to my grandmother (empress)!"

"Quick, get up, give me a seat!" Seeing them smiling from ear to ear, Queen Mother Jing asked the palace maid to place the embroidery stool closest to her, and waved to Qin Xiaoxiao: "Sit down at Ai's house, little girl."

Come here and let the Aijia have a good look."

Qin Xiaoxiao didn't go to the palace for several days. She didn't have much fun playing Five Stars and Pearls, and she missed her two unborn great-grandchildren.

"Yes, grandma." Qin Xiaoxiao originally wanted to salute the Crown Princess and others, but when Empress Dowager Jing called her, she had no choice but to walk over and was helped by Jing Heng to sit on the embroidery stool.

Empress Dowager Jing ignored the others, only Qin Xiao smiled in her eyes. Looking at her belly which was much bigger than the last time she saw her, she asked with concern: "Is the child still good? Is she making trouble for you? How is her daily appetite?

?Is it possible to send a doctor to the imperial doctor once every five days?"

Qin Xiaoxiao answered one by one: "The child is very well-behaved and has a good appetite. He can eat five or six meals a day. I asked Dr. Liu to check it before returning to the village. Everything is fine. Grandma doesn't need to worry."

Queen Mother Jing nodded, held her hand and reminded her grandson sitting on the other side: "Xiaoxiao is having a hard time getting pregnant. You should be more considerate of her and don't use your bad temper on her."

This was not the first time that Jingheng was beaten by her old man. He looked helpless and said: "With the support of you and mother, how dare my grandson dare!"

Queen Mother Jing laughed heartily and turned to ask her grandson's wife: "Is what this guy said true? He doesn't usually bully you?"

Qin Xiaoxiao glanced at Jingheng, pursed her lips and said with a smile: "The other day, I was making shoes for my child, and he asked me to make them for him. I thought that my craftsmanship was not good, and the shoes I made might not be good.

Wear it, and he gets into trouble."

When Empress Dowager Jing heard this, she glared at her grandson displeased: "There is no embroiderer in the mansion or something. You have to let the little girl make shoes for you? If you don't do it, you will make trouble, which is worse than a three-year-old child!"
To be continued...