The palace maids were overjoyed to see the Empress awaken.

"Your Majesty, you've finally woken up! This servant will go and inform the Emperor immediately!"

The queen felt as if she had been sleeping for a long time, and now she had a great appetite.

"Someone, bring the meal!"

The palace maids looked at the Empress with delight and said, "Your Majesty, you finally want to eat. We'll go prepare it right away!"

The palace maids were so moved that they shed tears.

The empress seemed extremely hungry and disregarded palace etiquette, eating and drinking heartily.

The palace maids embraced each other and wept.

The Queen's recovery also meant that they were given a new lease on life.

In the imperial harem, the fates of the palace maids were closely intertwined with those of their masters.

The imperial harem is a place of intrigue and backstabbing, where the powerful flatter the weak and bully the powerful. Once the empress is gone, they have no one to protect them and become the targets of humiliation.

When the Emperor heard that the Empress had woken up, he rushed over happily. He was even more pleased to see that the Empress had a good appetite.

The Emperor rushed over and embraced the Empress tightly, saying, "Empress, I thought I would never see you again. This is wonderful, truly wonderful! Which imperial physician cured you? I will reward him handsomely!"

Empress: "Your Majesty, my illness was not cured by the imperial physicians."

The Emperor: "Oh?"

Empress: "In my daze, I saw a little girl who did everything she could to save me. I felt better after I woke up."

The Emperor laughed heartily: "Is the little girl you're talking about fair-skinned, very cute, and quite young, named Qiuqiu?"

The Empress grasped the Emperor's hand in surprise and said, "Your Majesty, did you also dream of this little girl?"

The Emperor said, "I've not only dreamed about her, but I'm also quite familiar with her."

Empress: "Is this a joke His Majesty is playing on me?"

The Emperor grasped the Empress's hand and said, "I'm not joking at all. Our son had a high fever and was unconscious; it was she who saved him."

Empress: "This is amazing! May I see her?"

The Emperor: "Of course!"

When the Crown Prince and the Third Prince heard that their mother had woken up, they ran over happily.

"Mother, Mother—"

The Crown Prince and the Third Prince rushed into the Empress's arms.

"Mother, you've finally woken up! Your son has missed you so much! Waaah..."

The Empress stroked her two sons' heads and said, "Good children, your mother is alright now. From now on, your mother will take good care of you!"

The Emperor said, "Empress, you really need to take better care of your health from now on! Everyone was so worried about you being unconscious for so long!"

Empress: "Yes, Your Majesty! I will definitely take better care of my health from now on!"

The Emperor saw the Empress's food and said, "The Empress's food is cold. Why don't we eat together tonight and have some fun together!"

The Queen nodded: "Alright! It's been a long time since we ate together."

Third Prince: "Father, Mother, may I invite a child?"

Empress: "Oh? My son has made a new friend?"

The Third Prince nodded and said, "Yes. Her name is Qiuqiu, and she loves to eat delicious food. I heard she's currently in the Empress Dowager's palace. She would be very happy if we could spend the evening together!"

Empress: "Chirp chirp? Is that the chirp chirp your father mentioned?"

The Empress looked at the Emperor.

The Emperor nodded.

Queen: "That's wonderful! I'd also like to see Chuchu."

That evening, the Emperor hosted a family banquet, inviting the Empress Dowager, Qiuqiu, Xu Ruyun, the Crown Prince, and the Third Prince.

The palace maids brought out plate after plate of delicious dishes.

As the instruments began to play, the dancers performed a delightful dance.

Since the Empress fell ill, the palace has not been this lively for a long time.

Chiu Chiu woke up too, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she started clamoring for food.

"Hungry, so hungry!"

Empress Dowager: "My dear children, His Majesty has prepared a palace banquet and invited you all to attend. The banquet will be full of delicious food!"

Chirp jumped off the bed excitedly: "I want to go, I want to go!"

The Empress Dowager brought Xu Ruyun and Qiuqiu to the palace banquet.

Chiu Chiu swallowed hard as she looked at the dazzling array of food.

Qiuqiu saw a noble and beautiful woman sitting next to the emperor. She recognized her; it was the empress.

My complexion is much better now than when I was lying in bed.

Xu Ruyun, accompanied by Qiuqiu, bowed to the Emperor, Empress, Crown Prince, and Third Prince one by one.

The Queen waved to Qiuqiu, signaling her to come over.

Chiu Chiu looked at her mother.

Xu Ruyun nodded.

Chiu Chiu sat down next to the Queen.

The Queen patted Chiu Chiu's head and said, "Chiu Chiu, did you save me?"

Chirp nodded.

"Absolutely. I'm exhausted! All that delicious food I ate was completely digested because of the fatigue."

The Queen heard the child's voice but did not see Chiu Chiu open her mouth. She wondered to herself: Could it be that I am hallucinating after I fell ill?

[However, the Empress is truly pitiful. In her original destiny, she was poisoned and murdered by someone close to her, and died without ever knowing who had killed her.]

The Queen nearly choked on the sip of water she had just taken.

Murdered by someone close to you? Who was it?

Even though the Empress escaped this time, she doesn't know who the mastermind is. The murderer will eventually bring her to her death.

The Empress noticed that everyone else was casually drinking tea and watching the song and dance performances, but she was the only one staring intently at Qiuqiu.

Could it be that I can hear Chiu Chiu's thoughts?

Can Chiu Chiu predict my fate?

If that's the case, it's absolutely amazing.

However, who exactly harmed her, and why did she want to harm herself?

The Emperor raised his glass: "Come, let's raise a glass to celebrate the Empress's recovery! Cheers!"

Everyone raised their glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

Chiu Chiu's prediction of the Queen's fate went unheard by others.

It seems that everyone can only hear their own inner thoughts about their own affairs.

This is good, as it prevents privacy leaks and avoids causing concern for others.

The Queen took off her own string of Buddhist prayer beads and put them on Qiuqiu's head.

"Chirp, chirp, this is a string of 108 prayer beads made of luminous pearls from the East Sea. It's for you! Hope you like it!"

Xu Ruyun: "Your Majesty, this is too precious. Qiuqiu is still too young to accept such a valuable gift."

Empress Dowager: "Do you intend to betray the Empress's good intentions?"

Xu Ruyun: "This humble woman dares not."

Chiu Chiu happily fiddled with the prayer beads and said, "Thank you, Liang Liang! Chiu Chiu likes it."

The Queen happily picked up Chiu Chiu and said, "I'm glad Chiu Chiu likes it."

The Emperor: "This is what Chiu Chiu likes the most."

The Emperor placed a large chicken leg in the bowl in front of Qiuqiu.

Without any hesitation, Chiu Chiu grabbed a chicken leg and stuffed it into her mouth.

No one else dared to touch their chopsticks yet.

The Emperor said, “There’s no need to be so formal at today’s family banquet. Madam Xu, please feel at ease.”

Xu Ruyun: "Yes!"

The palace maids continued to serve dishes.

Even the Third Prince was surprised.

In the past, my father and mother always talked about frugality. Except for grand festivals, they never indulged in such lavish feasts.

These people are all benefiting from Qiuqiu's fame!

However, since Qiuqiu saved so many lives, it's only right that she gets better treatment.