As soon as Xia Miaoyuan walked near the Qilin beast's enclosure, he smelled a foul odor mixed with the fragrance of grass.

[It smells a lot like Maomao's poop. It seems this Qilin beast is also a herbivore.]

Just as he was thinking about it, he saw two young eunuchs who were in charge of cleaning the stables coming up to him with a fawning look on their faces.

"I didn't know your majesty was coming, and I failed to greet you. Your majesty, please forgive me!"

The little emperor raised his hand and urged, "Where's the Qilin? Let it out and let us see!"

The two young eunuchs responded hurriedly and ran towards the enclosure.

This enclosure is very large, with lawns and several tall trees. It should be the activity area.

At one end of the enclosure, there are two very tall houses. It seems that this is where the Qilin beast sleeps.

After a while, two young eunuchs came into the venue and opened the doors of the two rooms.

Before the two huge doors were fully opened, two big guys poked their heads out from inside.

At this moment, not only the little emperor and Xia Miaoyuan, but also their entire group became excited, shouting in low voices, "The Qilin Beast has emerged!"

Xia Miaoyuan stared intently at the heads of the two Qilin beasts. He saw that their heads were not big, and there were two cute tufts of things on their heads that looked a bit like horns.

At this time, the Qilin beast stepped out with its long legs.

[Wow! Giraffe!] Xia Miaoyuan exclaimed inwardly the moment she saw the Qilin beast's long legs.

It turns out that the Qilin beast they were talking about, which is rarely seen in a century, is actually the giraffe commonly seen in zoos.

For a moment, Xia Miaoyuan felt as if he had been played a huge joke and was completely stunned.

"Damn it! If I'd known it was a giraffe, I wouldn't have come. It's so hot out here, wouldn't it be nice to just lie down on a recliner under the tree and drink a bowl of iced sour plum soup?"

Xia Miaoyuan was complaining madly in his heart, but when he looked at the little emperor and his followers, they were all staring at the two giraffes without blinking, smiling with a worthless look on their faces.

The little emperor took Xia Miaoyuan's hand and came to the edge of the fence. He stared at the giraffe and said, "Miaoyuan, look! This is the Qilin beast!"

"I didn't expect the Qilin beast to be so tall, as tall as a three-story building. It's really rare!"

"Miao Yuan, do you like this Qilin beast?"

Seeing everyone's excited reactions, Xia Miaoyuan deliberately opened his mouth wide and exclaimed in surprise in order to appear more natural. "Wow! How can it be so big? How can it grow like this?"

The little emperor looked at Xia Miaoyuan lovingly, revealing a satisfied smile, "As long as Miaoyuan likes it!"

Just then, a young eunuch came running over.

Xia Miaoyuan looked closely and found that it was the person next to the little emperor.

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is here!" The young eunuch said without even bothering to salute, before he even stood firmly on his feet.

[No way, Zhu Ling is here again. Seriously, if things go wrong, she might catch the little emperor secretly taking me out to play and start scolding him again.]

【Eh…bad luck!】

As the Queen Mother of Dai Viet, Zhu Ling was naturally very wary of the Second Prince and his delegation from Da Xia. She even had some grudges against Xia Miaoyuan, who was only four years old.

The young emperor likes Princess Anguo of Daxia and likes to be close to her, which Zhu Ling thinks is absolutely unacceptable.

At the last two palace banquets, the little emperor secretly spent time with Xia Miaoyuan and treated her like a younger sister. Afterwards, Zhu Ling was very angry and scolded the little emperor for not being close to Xia Miaoyuan again.

So today, the little emperor invited Xia Miaoyuan to visit Nanyuan together. He carried Zhu Ling on his back and only told Zhu Ling that he was leaving the palace in disguise.

At this moment, when the little emperor heard that Zhu Ling had also come to Nanyuan, his heart suddenly tightened.

"Where is the Queen Mother? Judging from the situation, where is she going to play?" the little emperor asked hurriedly.

The eunuch said, "She's heading towards the Zoo. She'll probably be there in two cups of tea."

The little emperor's face turned pale.

"Miaoyuan, let's hide first. It's best not to run into her. Otherwise she will nag us." The little emperor said, pulling Xia Miaoyuan's hand and looking around, as if looking for a place to hide.

As he surveyed the place, he shouted, "Tell those two eunuchs guarding the Qilin beast to shut up tight and not tell anyone I was here!"

Xiao Hai, the young emperor's personal eunuch, quickly responded, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I've already given you instructions."

As Xiao Hai spoke, he also looked around, helping the little emperor find a suitable hiding place.

Unfortunately, the area around the Qilin beast enclosure was somewhat empty and there was no suitable shelter.

In a panic, Xiao Hai pointed to a rockery about 40 feet away and said, "Your Majesty, why don't we climb behind the rockery and hide there?"

The little emperor had no choice but to nod in agreement.

The little emperor pulled Xia Miaoyuan, and several followers followed behind. The master and servants ran to the rockery in a panic.

Fortunately, this rockery is not small. The mountain is made up of more than a dozen strange rocks and is very complicated inside. Several people climbed up the rockery using their hands and feet and hid their bodies behind it.

Sang Qi held Xia Miaoyuan in his arms. Xia Miaoyuan peered out through the crack in the mountain, mentally complaining, "Damn it! I came all this way this early in the morning to see the giraffes, and before I could even take a few glances, that Zhu Ling woman is back again."

"Little Emperor, you're so unreliable. If your mother doesn't let you play with me, then don't call me. Look, your mother is coming, and you're scared."

Xia Miaoyuan was just complaining when he heard footsteps and several eunuchs came over holding huge red umbrellas.

Looking behind them, there was Zhu Ling wearing a pink dress. Beside her was a tall man with a veil on his head. The black gauze on the veil covered the man's face tightly.

[Oh my god, something's happening!] Xia Miaoyuan shuddered as she took one look at the man.

The Empress Dowager did not invite the young emperor to join her, nor did she ask anyone else to accompany her. Instead, she quietly came to Nanyuan with this mysterious man in black veil.

[So, this man in black veil must be Liang Chaozong!]

【Hahaha, this is going to be fun! 】

[The Queen Mother secretly met with her lover and was caught by her son.]

Xia Miaoyuan thought about it and glanced at the little emperor beside him. He saw that the little emperor was staring at the man with a dark and frightening expression.

The followers around the little emperor also widened their eyes, with great shock in their eyes.

Looking over at the Qilin beast's enclosure, Zhu Ling and the man had already walked to the side of the enclosure. Zhu Ling gave Mei'er a look, and Mei'er sent away all the palace maids and eunuchs who followed them, and even the two eunuchs guarding the Qilin beast retreated.

Mei'er was the only personal maid left by Zhu Ling and the others' side.

Everyone looked at Zhu Ling and the man with bated breath.

Zhu Ling took the man's hand.