Chapter 84 What Do You Want to Exchange?

After the Empress Dowager finished speaking, her originally kind face instantly turned serious. Her eyes, which had lost their sharpness due to old age, suddenly glowed with a youthful warmth. Pan Yueqing raised her eyes and looked at the Empress Dowager, who had returned to the state of showing no sympathy for Pan Miaoqian's plea. She let out a low laugh, "If you have something to say, Your Majesty, please speak directly."

The Empress Dowager raised her eyes and looked at Pan Yueqing, who was calm and composed. Her heart, which had been as still as a well without ripples, suddenly stirred slightly. In fact, when she first saw Pan Yueqing, it wasn't that she couldn't recognize her, but that she didn't dare to. This face was so similar to Su Lan's. Standing from a distance, it made her feel as if she was looking at Su Lan in her youth. Over the years, she had never dared to ask about how Su Lan's daughter was. She was afraid that the child she had met a few times many years ago might look more and more like Su Lan.

The thing she was worried about still happened. Pan Yueqing looked almost exactly like Su Lan, but her elegant and gentle appearance was completely different from Su Lan's preference for military attire. Su Lan's daughter was very calm, or perhaps it wasn't calmness, but coldness. Those dark eyes reflected mockery of the world. She had lived a long life and met all kinds of people, but Pan Yueqing was someone she had rarely encountered in her life.

"What were you originally going to give to me today?"

The Empress Dowager closed her eyes and simply stopped looking at Pan Yueqing. She was afraid that if she did, she wouldn't be able to harden her heart.

Pan Yueqing stood there. She keenly sensed the fleeting killing intent of the Empress Dowager. After lowering her head and thinking for a moment, she couldn't help but chuckle and said to the Empress Dowager, "In fact, the reason why you punished Pan Miaoqian wasn't because she colluded with Yao Zhen and touched the art of witchcraft, right?"

With her eyes closed, the Empress Dowager trembled slightly after Pan Yueqing's words. She didn't open her eyes but became more determined in her worst choice. She returned a clear laugh without a trace of emotion to Pan Yueqing, "What do you think the reason should be?"

She didn't ask why. Pan Yueqing raised her eyes and looked at this old woman. The smile still remained on her lips. She had been on the battlefield for ten years, facing treacherous villains and cunning heroes. When a person was not interested in the reason but only in the deeper answer, it could only prove that in her eyes, the other person was only valuable for the answer.

"I don't know. This answer should only be known to Your Majesty," Pan Yueqing slightly curtsied and lowered her eyes. In fact, she had already guessed that this birth date must have something to do with the Empress Dowager. Otherwise, after raising the Emperor for so many years, she still couldn't let it go. This was not only of no benefit to the Empress Dowager but also constantly reminded the Emperor that he was not a legitimate son of the central palace. It was even harmful to the mother - son relationship between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor that she had painstakingly cultivated over the years.

The Empress Dowager finally opened her eyes. Looking at Pan Yueqing, who was looking down and seemed to be deep in thought, she couldn't help but laugh. However, this laugh was not kind and amiable. On the contrary, it seemed somewhat sinister. Sitting on the high position, except for the six years when the late Emperor passed away, leaving behind an orphan and a widow and the Northern Qi Dynasty in a precarious state, it had been a long time since anyone had so confidently tried to understand her heart.

"Come to think of it, if I hadn't married into the palace and there wasn't a relationship between us as a monarch and a subject, you should call me great - aunt," the Empress Dowager said with a smile and shook her head. "There's no one else here today. Just tell your great - aunt directly what it is that you've gone to so much trouble to present to me with the 'Twenty - four Filial Exemplars' picture."

Pan Yueqing took a deep breath. Looking at the Empress Dowager, who was smiling but without a trace of warmth, she finally understood why Qi Dushe and Qi Sicheng were so capricious. Under the cultivation of such an elder, even the most innocent child would be influenced and become a ruthless person.

Unfortunately, she was also a ruthless person. She was not at all disturbed by the Empress Dowager's combination of kindness and power. She slowly looked at the face with a smile that didn't reach the eyes and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "It was originally something of great importance, but now it's no longer important."

Of course, it wasn't important anymore.

Although Pan Haiyun would be excluded in the following days because of his ineffective discipline of his children, this was in line with her and Pan Haiyun's plan. Even without this incident, Pan Haiyun would leave the power vortex for various reasons. The land deeds that were originally a death sentence had now become a bargaining chip for survival. As long as she still held these things, which were obtained completely in accordance with the laws of the Northern Qi Dynasty, they would surely play a huge role at a certain opportunity. At least, they were useful in the eyes of the Emperor, who was getting closer and closer to the common people.

"You should know that today's matter will definitely have some impact on your father," the Empress Dowager didn't want to force her. Seeing that she firmly refused to say anything, she was naturally helpless. She temporarily gave up the idea of killing Pan Yueqing and re - examined this girl who, like her, had the blood of the Su family in her veins. After a while, seeing that Pan Yueqing just nodded silently, she let out a long sigh, "I'll say it again. Plucking chestnuts from the fire and standing under a dangerous wall are not smart choices at all."

Pan Yueqing nodded in agreement, "Yes, I will keep Your Majesty's teachings in mind."

"I'm not teaching you anything. I'm just reminding you," the Empress Dowager said with a distant look in her eyes. Naturally, she had drawn a conclusion from Pan Yueqing's words. Perhaps this child would never choose to be close to her in this life.

"Then I thank Your Majesty for your guidance," Pan Yueqing followed the Empress Dowager's words and was so respectful that there was no fault to be found. She originally wanted to kowtow and take her leave, but suddenly, as if she had remembered something, she bowed to the Empress Dowager again and said, "I still want to thank you for upholding justice for me today." She was referring to the matter of Pan Miaoqian and Yao Zhen slandering her. The Empress Dowager waved her hand and looked deeply at the sparkling lake in the distance. She said casually, as if unintentionally, "Do you want to know why Hong Qiqiao is willing to protect you?"

Grandpa Hong? Pan Yueqing secretly smiled in her heart, "Because he was an old acquaintance of my late mother."

"Not just an old acquaintance. Otherwise, he wouldn't still be unable to let go of Su Lan's death after all these years," the Empress Dowager let out a deep breath but stopped speaking when Pan Yueqing raised her eyes to show her curiosity. Pan Yueqing felt that her hand under the long sleeves couldn't stop trembling. She instinctively felt that the Empress Dowager was going to exchange information with her. Her feelings towards the Empress Dowager became extremely difficult to describe at this moment. At first, she wanted to rely on her, then she didn't trust her, and finally, she felt angry.

She had originally thought that the Empress Dowager regarded her mother as her own daughter. She had always mocked human emotions, but the reason she mocked was just to hide her longing for true feelings. She could sense the true feelings for her from the eyes of her grandmother, uncle, father, the Princess of Anbei, Gu Pan Wan'er, and others. Therefore, she always repaid their kindness with even greater kindness.

But in the eyes of the Empress Dowager, someone who was once regarded as her own daughter had become an excuse for exchange.

How cold - hearted!

"May I ask Your Majesty, why did you mention my mother at this time? You..." Pan Yueqing sneered. Seeing that the Empress Dowager remained silent, she raised her eyes and said slowly, "What do you want to exchange?"