Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 123 Don’t care about your deeds

In the Crown Princess's carriage, Fang Tong sat quietly opposite Qin Shiyue, with his hands folded on his knees, very well behaved.

She could feel that Qin Shiyue had been looking at her, but there was no malice in his gaze, so she didn't take it to heart.

She lowered her eyes and stared at the hem of Qin Shiyue's skirt. Qin Shiyue was wearing an elaborate palace dress. The hem of her gorgeous skirt was woven with a large brocade phoenix with gold thread, which was glittering and colorful, and looked extremely noble.

Such clothes were not suitable for ordinary travel. Fang Tong guessed that she must have just returned from a ceremony. However, as the Crown Princess, Qin Shiyue only brought a few guards with her. Such a ceremonial procession was too simple.

Her eyes moved, and suddenly she saw some tiny hairs on Qin Shiyue's skirt, some white, brown, and black, especially above the knees, on the chest, and on the hem of the sleeves.

These fine hairs are mixed in with the silk threads and are difficult to find without careful observation, but for people who have raised cats, they can tell their origins at a glance.

Fang Tong's mind suddenly turned and he guessed where she had been before, and couldn't help laughing.

"What are you laughing at, Miss Fang?" Qin Shiyue asked.

Fang Tong considered his words carefully: "After the Crown Princess sends me back home, do you want to go somewhere else?"

Qin Shiyue showed some doubts: "After I send you off, I will go back to the Prince's Mansion."

"That's good." Fang Tong said, "The Crown Princess's dress is luxurious but not resistant to dirt. If you are going somewhere else, you'd better change your clothes."

Qin Shiyue lowered her head and looked at herself, her brows twitching slightly.

"What did you see?" she asked.

Fang Tong thought about the straightforwardness of the Crown Princess and did not hide it: "The Crown Princess must have held many pets today."

The fur was of different colors and lengths. Fang Tong remembered that after Qin Shiyue became pregnant, in order not to anger the emperor, she sent all the cats and dogs in the mansion to a villa in the suburbs.

Just before she got on the carriage, she saw a lot of mud on the wheels and thought that Qin Shiyue must have gone to the suburbs.

Qin Shiyue was not annoyed when she pointed it out, but laughed: "You can see this at a glance, so you must be a fellow traveler?"

Fang Tong pursed her lips and chuckled: "I guess so."

She has only ever kept one cat, Fang Xiaohua, but people who keep pets always communicate with each other, and she has petted many other people's cats and dogs.

Qin Shiyue's eyes lit up: "What have you raised?"

Fang Tong wanted to answer, but then he remembered that he had given himself the name of amnesia, so he changed his words and said, "I don't remember raising anything, but seeing cats and dogs makes me want to hold them and touch and rub them."

She smiled again as she spoke: "If I were to say which feels the best, it would be the big cat's belly. It's warm and soft. In winter, it's more comfortable than a heater. I can't wait to use it to warm my feet."

Qin Shiyue laughed out loud: "You are right, my cats don't like to get close to me, but when it is cold, they will follow me wherever I am, surrounding me at my feet one by one, and won't leave no matter how I mess with them."

"Is it because there is a brazier wherever the Crown Princess is?" Fang Tong guessed.

Qin Shiyue laughed: "You're right."

The two of them opened up and talked about some interesting things related to cats and dogs, and they felt much closer to each other.

"Today, we are all grateful to Miss Fang for sacrificing herself to save others," Qin Shiyue said, "otherwise, if something happened to the child, not only would it be heartbreaking, but I'm afraid the Crown Prince's Mansion would also be responsible."

Fang Tong was slightly surprised: "Why did the Crown Princess say that?"

Qin Shiyue gently patted the fluff on her skirt and sighed, "The child fell in front of my carriage. In the chaos, if anything happened to her, who could tell whether she was injured by the mad horse or by my carriage." Fang Tong understood. This was just like the situation in modern times where people are falsely accused of helping others. In ancient times, there was no surveillance, and rumors would become true if they spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred.

"What the Crown Princess said is true," she nodded. "If people start to talk about it, it will be hard for the Crown Princess to defend herself. Even if we find witnesses, I'm afraid the people will think that the Crown Prince's Mansion is using its power to oppress others, which will only lead to public anger."

Qin Shiyue looked at her in surprise. As the Crown Princess, she had experienced many attacks and was particularly sensitive to such unexpected events. However, Fang Tong actually understood the ins and outs of it, which made her look at her with new eyes.

"No wonder Twelve thinks so highly of you," she praised with a smile, "Miss Fang is not only chivalrous, but also very sharp-minded."

Fang Tong raised his eyebrows slightly and asked tentatively: "Your Highness the Twelfth Prince?"

Qin Shiyue smiled but said nothing.

Fang Tong's heart moved. Qin Shiyue might have heard of her from the prince. As for how the prince knew her, it was naturally Feng Twelve who mentioned it on his own initiative.

She didn't know why Feng Twelve mentioned herself to the prince, but thinking about the trust between the two, Fang Tong couldn't help but want to find out where Feng Twelve was now and whether he was doing well.

She looked at Qin Shiyue, hesitated for a moment, and swallowed the words.

Feng Twelve's trip was a secret. If she asked rashly, wouldn't it be tantamount to telling the prince that Feng Twelve had hidden nothing from her?

The prince trusts Feng Twelve, but he may not trust her, so why should she add to the trouble?

"You are too kind, Princess." Fang Tong smiled. "I can't say I am chivalrous. I just saved someone by accident. The child happened to be next to me, and I just did it for the sake of convenience."

There is no time to think too much at a life-and-death moment. If she were asked to recall it now, she couldn't explain what she was thinking at the time.

Qin Shiyue smiled at her and shook her head: "It's the deeds that count, not the heart. It's because it happens that it's valuable."

She lifted the car curtain, looked out the window, and said, "We had a good chat today. If I have some free time someday, I would like to invite you to visit my other courtyard. I have many cats and dogs there. What do you think?"

"It is my honor to be invited by the Crown Princess," Fang Tong replied with a smile, "But if you summon me, please come two days in advance. I need to prepare."

"what to prepare?"

Fang Tong said, "There is a shop under the Willow Bridge that sells delicious dried fish. The cats in your Highness's house love it, and I'm sure the cats in the Crown Princess's house will like it too."

Qin Shiyue raised her lips and said, "Then let's make a deal. After the Wanshou Festival next month, I will come and ask you out."

When Fang Tong heard her mention the Wanshou Festival, he suddenly understood why she was dressed so formally today.

"Did the Crown Princess just go to the Imperial Temple?"

The Wanshou Festival is the emperor's birthday. According to Dazhao custom, all civil and military officials and ladies of honor must go to the imperial temple one month in advance to pray for the emperor. Since there is no empress in the palace, the crown princess is responsible for arranging the prayers for the ladies of honor. Judging from Qin Shiyue's attire, she must have just returned from the imperial temple in the suburbs.

Qin Shiyue heard this and said with a smile: "I said you are very smart. I just came back from the Imperial Temple and felt a little tired, so I went to the other courtyard to rest for a while."

This would explain Fang Tong's doubts. No wonder Qin Shiyue was dressed luxuriously but traveled with a small entourage. She must have already decided to go to the villa to relax, which was why she acted so low-key.

Fang Tong thought about it and kindly reminded: "Crown Princess, you should be careful when you go out. If what happened today is not an accident, it means that someone has been keeping an eye on your whereabouts."

She didn't say more. Qin Shiyue and the prince had more political experience than her, so she just needed to say a few words.

Even with just this one sentence, it can be regarded as a deep friendship. However, Feng Twelve is a member of the prince's party. Only when the prince's family is safe can Feng Twelve be safe.