Cui Jin snorted softly, "Back then, your father was just a young general. She despised your father for having no future."

"Just because of this?" Shen Ningyuan was surprised.

It would be a bit unreasonable to stop Dad and Mom from being together just for this reason.

"No." Cui Jin shook his head. "Of course, things are not as simple as you think."

"Any other reasons?" Shen Ningyuan continued to ask.

Cui Jin sighed and explained, "Back then, the Queen Mother announced the marriage to the outside world in order to force Mother to compromise and marry the current Emperor."

"Doesn't that mean that everyone knows about my mother's marriage to the emperor?" Shen Ningyuan was even more surprised.

"Yeah." Cui Jin nodded.

"But mother finally rejected the emperor and chose father."

Cui Jin didn't respond, just nodded.

Shen Ningyuan didn't know what to say.

She could imagine that her mother was under a lot of pressure when she chose to marry her father.

Cui Jin continued to sigh, "Alas, the situation back then was even more complicated than you imagined."

"No wonder, all these years, mother didn't want to see the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother didn't want to recognize mother as her niece." Shen Ningyuan said with a complicated expression.

Cui Jin nodded. "Yes, she believed that my willfulness had brought shame upon the royal family. But mother, she just wanted to marry the man she loved."

Shen Ningyuan was speechless.

There is really no solution to this problem.

Whether it is my mother or the Queen Mother, they both have the attitude of never having anything to do with each other.

"But mother, since the Queen Mother took the initiative to find me, I believe she has decided to repair her relationship with you."

Shen Ningyuan reached out and shook Cui Jin's hand, "Mother, why don't you take this opportunity to repair your relationship with the Queen Mother?"

Hearing this, Cui Jin thought for a moment and felt that what Shen Ningyuan said made sense.

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Cui Jin nodded, and together with Shen Ningyuan, they walked towards the palace where the banquet was held.

At this time, many people arrived at the vegetarian banquet one after another.

Many people showed surprise on their faces when they saw Cui Jin appear.

As far as they knew, Cui Jin rarely attended palace banquets.

Why did you suddenly show up today?

For a moment, many women from official families were talking to each other.

Surprisingly, no one came up to talk to my mother.

This scene looks really weird.

But on second thought, although my mother was of noble birth.

But people still disliked the fact that a woman was doing business.

These ladies looked at my mother with surprise, but there was nothing to be surprised about.

Then, the eunuch's shrill voice came from outside the hall.

"The Queen Mother has arrived!"

Everyone then withdrew their gaze and turned to the outside of the hall.

After Empress Dowager Cui walked into the hall, everyone knelt down to pay their respects, and Shen Ningyuan and Cui Jin were no exception.

Queen Mother Cui walked through the kneeling crowd. When she passed the two people, she stopped for a moment, but quickly continued walking forward.

After taking the main seat, Queen Mother Cui slowly raised her hand.

"Stand up."

Then, everyone stood up one after another.

After everyone stood up, Empress Dowager Cui's gaze involuntarily fell on Cui Jin again. After sighing, she looked away.

"Please take a seat."

After that, everyone took their seats.

After Shen Ningyuan sat down, she looked at the vegetarian food in front of her without any appetite.

Cui Jin, who was sitting next to her, looked away in disdain and said in a muffled voice, "After so many years, you still continue to eat vegetarian food, without any meat or fish, and you are not worried about lack of nutrition."

After hearing this, Shen Ningyuan couldn't help but pursed her lips and chuckled.

It seems that my mother still cares about this aunt, otherwise she wouldn't be worried about her health.

While eating vegetarian food, many ladies and young ladies present stood up and said many auspicious words.

When it was the mother and daughter's turn, Shen Ningyuan stood up gracefully and said some nice polite words.

After she took her seat, everyone's eyes continued to fall on Cui Jin.

Cui Jin stopped, glanced around casually, and then stood up.

"Your Majesty, I wish the Empress Dowager a long and healthy life."

After saying that, he pretended to sit down.

But unexpectedly, before she could sit down, the gloomy voice of Queen Mother Cui came immediately.

"Did I let you sit?"

Cui Jin paused, slowly stood up, and looked at her aunt calmly.

Shen Ningyuan frowned slightly, looking at the gloomy face of Queen Mother Cui, feeling a little unhappy.

Even if Empress Dowager Cui disliked my mother, she shouldn't have embarrassed her in front of so many female relatives.

Thinking of this, Shen Ningyuan's face darkened and he was about to stand up to speak for Cui Jin.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she moved, Cui Jin held her hand and pushed her back without leaving any trace.

Shen Ningyuan knew that Cui Jin didn't want her to interfere.

But she was also worried about Cui Jin's situation and was extremely anxious.

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense, everyone looked at the scene in surprise.

Everyone wondered how long the confrontation between the Empress Dowager and Cui Jin would last.

As time passed, Empress Dowager Cui's expression became increasingly gloomy.

Shen Ningyuan couldn't hold back any longer and was about to stand up and say a few words for Cui Jin.

But before she could speak, Cui Jin's soft voice suddenly rang in her ears: "Auntie, my legs are numb, can I sit down?"