When Sang Jiang turned around, she saw Long Jingchen watching her from a short distance away, smiling with a devilish grin.

Sang Jiang: ...

How come she's so impressive!

But this man is just another cannon fodder character; she's never seen him before, and there's no such character in the novel.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Long Jingchen walked out from behind the rock, fanning himself with a folding fan: "It seems that Fourth Miss really doesn't want to see me... me."

Sang Jiang: ...

My true self?

This person probably has some kind of serious illness.

Long Jingchen continued, "Fourth Miss, aren't you afraid that Consort Qi will cause you trouble? Should I... help you?"

Sang Jiang gave him a perfunctory smile: "I've done nothing wrong, why would I be afraid of her? Can you explain what I... mean?"

Long Jingchen: ...

He was so used to saying "朕" (the imperial "I") that he couldn't change it for a while.

"Miss, you may not know this, but this is out of respect for you."

Sangjiang: ? ? ?

Is this the start of unreasonable arguments?

However, she didn't expect Long Jingchen to be able to give a reasonable explanation.

As Long Jingchen watched her leave, he called out the hidden guards who were standing nearby: "Tell Consort Qi not to come out unless necessary. Also, tell the Empress that I am feeling unwell and will not be attending today."

The guards received their orders and withdrew.

Long Jingchen couldn't help but laugh as he watched Sang Jiang leave. No wonder Long Jingyu was interested in her; she's really interesting.

What they didn't know was that there was another pair of eyes watching them with resentment.

"Your Majesty, let's get ready to go out; the banquet is about to begin."

Empress Liang Qingge gripped the handkerchief in her hand, gritted her teeth, and nodded.

It's bad enough that the Sang family and that little bitch Sang Ruo are always going against her, but now there's Sang Jiang too.

The Emperor's smile clearly showed that he was in high spirits.

This won't do!

She must nip this in the bud.

...

When Sang Jiang returned, she saw the young ladies and wives chatting in small groups. She scanned the crowd and found the First Madam and Sang Rui in the crowd.

Sang Jiang casually walked to a seat and sat down.

She felt bored watching those so-called ladies from prominent families and wealthy socialites gather and flatter each other.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, her head bobbing up and down like a chick pecking at rice, a eunuch outside suddenly announced, "The Empress Dowager has arrived! The Empress has arrived! The Imperial Concubine has arrived!"

Everyone immediately knelt down in a dense mass, and Sang Jiang, still dazed, was also pulled down to kneel by Kou'er.

Then everyone said in unison, "Greetings to the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and the Imperial Concubine."

Sang Jiang, still half asleep with her head down, heard a woman's voice, around forty years old, say: "Get up, everyone."

She quietly raised her head and looked at the three people at the head of the table.

The person sitting in the middle should be the Empress Dowager. She doesn't look very old, which matches her voice; she's probably in her forties at most.

Sang Jiang couldn't help but sigh in her heart, "It must have been so hard for women in ancient times. They had to live as widows at such a young age."

Then look at those grandsons, some of them are about the same age as her son.

"Everyone, please do it, don't be shy."

The Empress Dowager smiled with a kind expression.

Because of the high rank and titles in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and because of Sang Ruo, Sang Jiang's position is relatively early in the game.

Once everyone was seated, she noticed that the Empress's gaze seemed to be glancing at her rather casually.

However, she didn't think it was because she was too beautiful that the Empress was so captivated by her beauty that she couldn't take her eyes off her.

The Empress must have noticed that Sang Jiang was looking at her, so she looked away and stopped looking at her.

Sang Jiang felt a bit speechless. Why was the Empress always paying attention to her? She hadn't done anything to harm her.

Shouldn't she target the concubines in the harem?

Just as Sang Jiang was wondering, the Empress suddenly spoke up in a graceful and generous manner...