The Scheming of the Heaven 016 Probing the Empress

  Wei Zhong looked at Fu Gonggong in surprise: "Say it again."

  Fu Gonggong repeated: "Empress Dowager Gu wants to teach Princess Worry-Free how to play the zither."

  "When was this?" Wei Zhong found out that it wasn't his ears that were wrong, but reality, and he calmed down.

  "Now the carefree princess is already in the Return to Buddha Hall." He couldn't bear listening to that ear-piercing zither sound, and it was rare for Empress Dowager to continue beating the wooden fish, he listened so much that he almost wanted to plug his ears to death.

  "Master Gān, would you like to go take a look at the Guī Fó Diàn?" suggested Fú Gōnggong in a low voice.

  Wei Zhong fell silent for a moment, originally wanting to say go take a look, but remembering the special existence of Princess Worry-free at this time, and thinking about her ghostly wailing-like piano skills, he couldn't help but shudder all over, waving his hands repeatedly like swatting flies: "Go, go away."

  He had expected as much; this carefree princess was indeed an exception!

  She is no longer considered a person in his cold palace, since she is not one of the prisoners under his jurisdiction, he doesn't need to bother with trivial matters, as for Consort Gu? Her status is obvious, and with Prince Huai around, he's full and has nothing better to do than worry about her, he's old, the less trouble the better.

  Wei Zhong didn't seem to want to go to the Guifo Temple, and Fu Gonggong secretly let out a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that his father would make him run another errand. Now, whenever he saw Princess Wuyou, he got goosebumps all over his body and tried to stay as far away from her as possible!

  Now he finally understands that this carefree princess is a thorny one, can't be grasped, can't be touched casually, but also can't be obviously favored, otherwise no matter what you do it's wrong!

  If possible, avoid it; if unavoidable, bump into it with a bow and a smile. He decided to learn this trick thoroughly.

  Return to Buddha Hall.

  The Empress Dowager closed her eyes and tapped the wooden fish, oblivious to the sound of Yu Wuyou's zither playing. Even Lan's nursemaid found herself getting used to the piercing, shrill notes, no longer feeling any discomfort.

  She secretly marveled at this, as the carefree princess's zither seemed to have a magical power.

  At that time, Empress Liu was known as the number one of the four great beauties of the Great Yuan Kingdom, with a stunning appearance, born into a noble family, intelligent and resourceful, and also skilled in playing the zither. However, it's never been heard that she played the Hundred Heart Melody?

  At that time, the eight kings fought for power. The reason why King Qing won was not only because he was ruthless and poisonous enough, but also because he got the help of the Liu family. If Princess Wuyou learned from the Liu family, then before she entered the Cold Palace, there were no rumors about her being good at playing the zither? Although she and the young lady had been living in the Cold Palace for a long time, they still knew some necessary people and things in the imperial court and harem.

  Is there still a secret hidden on Liu's mother and daughter? Did the young lady decide to give her the pardon gold card because of this?

  Yu Worry walked out of the inner room and sat down on a grass mat beside Grand Consort Yu, listening to the rhythmic sound of the wooden clappers, carelessly sizing up Grand Consort Yu.

  The Empress Dowager slowly opened her eyes, just in time to meet Yuan Wuyou's gaze, and asked faintly: "Who is the princess's teacher?"

  She could play the Hundred Heartstrings to perfection, entrancing people's hearts. She didn't think Liu had such ability; otherwise, Liu wouldn't have ended up with a more miserable fate than hers.

  "Worry has been listening to her mother play this tune since she was a child. When Worry was three years old, her mother personally taught her how to play the piano, but Worry refused to learn. Her mother had no choice but to ask the palace musicians to teach her forcibly. From the age of three to five, all they did was practice this one piece over and over again. Worry was so naughty that she deeply hated practicing the piano and thought of ways to trick the musicians."

  The sound of the wooden fish stopped, and Empress Gu's eyes were filled with surprise: "Does the princess mean that you only know this one tune?"

  Carefree Smile: "Yes, I can only play this one tune."

  No coincidence can make a book, this hundred-hearted song actually contains too much, almost no one wants to decipher it, how many people have the good fortune of having nothing to worry about before disaster strikes?

  Purity, sex, truth, goodness, respect, nobility, clarity, purity, sincerity, ardor...

  Unexpectedly, the willow tree has grown into a shade! Yuan Wuyou didn't know that she would break this melody, and others wouldn't know either, because no one had yet grasped the essence of this song. Yuan Wuyou was the first person after its creator to understand it!

  However, Yuan Wuyou inadvertently broke it but couldn't reassemble it, so the ghostly wailing and wolf howling he played had an earth-shattering effect.

  She has only cracked the positive energy side, and she can't recombine the negative energy side.

  And she Lan Yun has this unique innate condition, so after five years of repeated deliberation, she finally understood the subtlety of it!

  The Empress Dowager's lips moved silently, she hadn't expected this outcome, she thought she was a master of an extraordinary person, could it be that she had been deceiving her?

  Wu You smiled faintly: "Your Ladyship must think that Wu You is just flattering you, but Wu You thinks it's unnecessary to flatter you, and will only play this one tune..."

  The Empress Dowager looked at her, and in the depths of her eyes, a strange color flashed, as if it could capture her soul. She lightly opened her red lips, her voice was soft, but it hit her heart like a heavy punch, making her heart tighten.

  "The meaning of every word is crystal clear!"

  The Empress Dowager's whole body shook, and every word she spoke was crystal clear. Only one note... only one note was crystal clear?

  Yu Wuyou took the wooden mallet from her hand and, under the stunned gaze of Empress Dowager Yu, struck out a rhythm.

  "The princess certainly doesn't know that in this world there are magical beings, who dare to say will make a sound that penetrates all, absolutely not empty words. The threads of human heart are complex and changeable, the sound is like heaven, the tone is like humans, the scattered sound is like the great earth, called the three sounds of heaven, earth and man."

  "Worry-free listening to the sound of the wooden fish, it's a pity for the girl."

  The Empress Dowager's dazed eyes listened to her words, suddenly waking up, but her voice became inexplicably hoarse: "...... What do you mean?"

  Wu You calmly gazed at her flustered eyes and said lightly, "No need to investigate the princess intentionally, just based on the sound of the wooden fish you knocked out, I can hear the changes in your mood. Adding that to my basic understanding and reasoning, although it's not like predicting the future, I can still guess about five or six out of ten."

  "You..." Consort Gu didn't know whether the young Yuan Wuyou in front of her was pretending to be mysterious and trying to scare her, or if there really was such a magical technique in this world.

  "In the sound of the wooden fish beaten by the nun, the rhythm seems calm and waveless at first, but to the carefree ear, it is a continuous stream of nostalgia and suppressed thoughts..."

  The Empress Dowager suddenly interrupted Yuan Wuyou's words, her tone somewhat sharp: "Enough."

  Worry-free smiled slightly: "What Worry asks for, Your Majesty may have already taken to heart, but the Tenth King seems not to think so and is hard to persuade. Worry asks Your Majesty to convey to the Tenth King that what Worry asks for, if he grants it, Worry will be deeply grateful and help him with his own requests."

  It was as if her momentary loss of composure had never existed, and Consort Gu's face calmed down in an instant.

  Yu Wu You was not unexpected, the women who could survive in the harem were all capable, the incompetent ones had long been eliminated, like Gu Tai Fei, a woman with outstanding looks and a good family background, skilled at hiding her true nature, such a woman should have made a name for herself in the harem!

  What a pity! Sometimes having talent and intelligence is not enough, you also need sufficient luck. But luck is an elusive thing, it can be encountered but cannot be sought.

  "How did you know about this?" The pardon gold card that the late emperor entrusted to Huan'er before his death, except for her and Lan's mother and son, no one else knew, and Lan's mother would never say anything.

  "I'm guessing."

  The Empress Dowager's expression sank, her face somewhat cold: "Do you think I would believe that?"

  "Why not?" Yuan Wuyou's eyebrows slightly raised: "Wuyou entered this cold palace at the age of seven, and in five years, she has never left the Taihuidian. Apart from guessing, what else can be done?"

  "Is it just a guess? If I didn't know that the Liu family was completely exterminated, and Liu Yinghua died twice, I would have thought this was a trick of Emperor Qing."

  As soon as Gu Tai Fei's voice fell, no one in the scene except Yuan Wu You herself knew about the relief and excitement in her heart.

  "Wu You has heard Mother mention Consort Gu before." Yuan Wu You said calmly.

  Gu Tai Fei was taken aback: "How is that possible?" She had only met Liu Yinghua a few times, so how could Liu Yinghua have mentioned her?

  "Worry remembered that winter when she was five years old, the snow was flying everywhere, and the sky and earth seemed to have lost all other colors due to the heavy snowfall. Worry followed her mother to visit her maternal grandmother in the palace, and as they passed through the East Gate of the palace, she saw four snowmen carrying a sedan chair into the palace. At that time, Worry was very curious and asked her mother who it could be that would carry a sedan chair into the palace."

  The surprise in Empress Dowager Gu's eyes faded away, so it was like this.

  "The queen mother said with deep feeling, 'That is your tenth uncle.' Worry had never seen this tenth uncle before, although he was already five years old. Worry curiously asked questions, but the queen mother refused to say more. After returning to the palace, Worry sent Yu Zhu and Yu Cui to make inquiries. When the queen mother found out, she summoned Worry to Shengyuan Palace, where, amidst the snowflakes flying outside the window, Worry heard from the queen mother's mouth about your past with tenth uncle."

  The Empress Dowager's hand trembled slightly, her face a mixture of anger and hatred: "What exactly did she say to make you come after us mother and son?"