"Why are you in such a panic? What could have happened?"

"This servant was ordered by Your Highness to deliver something to Yong'an Palace just now. I heard something about the Empress Dowager. They said... they said..."

The maid hesitated, seemingly quite embarrassed.

In a moment of panic, he quickly stepped forward and whispered something in the Empress's ear.

Upon hearing this, the Empress looked at the maid's face in great surprise, and asked as if she couldn't believe it, "Are you telling the truth?"

The maid nodded repeatedly and said, "That person is still with the Empress Dowager. Even the Emperor has been alerted and has personally gone to Yong'an Palace to check!"

Upon hearing this, the Empress stood up in shock and said, "What did you say? The Emperor has already gone to Yong'an Palace?"

The maid replied with absolute certainty, "I saw it with my own eyes on the way back to the palace just now."

The Empress was terrified and ran out while saying, "Hurry, let's go to Yong'an Palace."

The maidservant also hurriedly followed closely.

At this moment, Yong'an Palace was brightly lit everywhere.

After dinner, the Empress Dowager was holding a bowl of fragrant tea.

While skimming off the few floating tea leaves, he casually asked, "Are your injuries any better?"

As dusk fell, the Emperor's Grace, who had been summoned to the palace, sat down beside him.

This was the first time in a long time that the Empress Dowager had spoken to him in such a gentle tone.

Upon hearing this, Long En felt a sudden warmth rise in his heart.

So she replied, "I'm almost fully recovered. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager breathed a sigh of relief, but her tone suddenly became stern again.

"How old are you? How can you act so recklessly, always doing things on a whim? Why did you suddenly run off to such a dangerous place? If it weren't for Eunuch Shou arriving in time, would you still be alive?"

Clearly, everything that happened in Luxian County was far beyond what he had expected.

However, it's truly regrettable to see something so close slip away.

Long En could only apologize, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I thought I would be able to find her this time, but before I could even verify it, we were attacked by a pack of wolves, and I almost..."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager said fiercely, "Utterly foolish! They are more than capable of ruining things than accomplishing anything."

Seeing Long En slowly lower his head, he became depressed.

The Empress Dowager felt a little reluctant, so she said, "Alright, don't be too discouraged. It's good that everyone is safe. Now that we have a direction, we should hurry up and investigate, and not let others get there first."

Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's words, Long En immediately perked up and said, "I will heed Your Majesty's instructions and will find her as soon as possible."

After saying this, Long En began to rummage through his clothes, saying, "By the way, I've heard that Lu County is famous for its rare stones and beautiful jade, so I specially found one for Your Majesty. These past few days, I've also found the best craftsmen in the city to make this bracelet. I hope Your Majesty will like it."

As he spoke, he took out a gold-plated jade dragon and phoenix five-colored bracelet that he had been carrying in his bosom.

This bracelet features five colors: purple, white, green, red, and yellow.

To add more elegance to the bracelet, its surface is entirely inlaid with gold.

Holding this exquisitely crafted treasure, Long En rose and went to the Empress Dowager, presenting it to her with both hands.

Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager seemed to really like the bracelet, staring at it in a daze for a while.

She slowly extended one hand and said, "Since this is your filial piety, then you should put it on me yourself."

Upon hearing this, Long En felt flattered and stunned for a moment before quickly regaining his composure and replying, "Yes!"

Just as Long En approached, he knelt before her, focusing intently on putting the bracelet on the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager looked down at him with loving eyes, gazing at her beloved son whom she had not seen for many years and who had been living away from home for the first time since their reunion.

Even when she felt a stirring in her heart, hesitantly wanting to touch him with her other hand.

Emperor Jing had just stepped across the threshold and stormed in.

Upon entering, I saw the two people standing so close together, and the intimate things they were doing.

The hall was vast and silent.

All of this drove him to a fit of rage, and he roared, "What are you doing?"

Upon hearing the voice, Long En was interrupted and turned around, bowing to the person who came and saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"

Almost simultaneously, the Empress Dowager looked at Emperor Jing's dark face in surprise and asked, "Emperor, why are you here?"

Emperor Jing, however, only questioned them, "Who is he? Where are the servants in the palace? Why are only the two of you here? What are you doing?"

Seeing his disrespectful and impolite words, and his constant questioning, the Empress Dowager immediately became angry: "Emperor, please watch your attitude and words. He is a distant relative of Eunuch Shou."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jing was extremely astonished.

He looked at the Empress Dowager, then at the person kneeling before him.

"who?"

"Eunuch Shou?"

"Hasn't he been dead for many years?"

"Isn't this the male concubine that the Empress Dowager found?!"

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager suddenly realized: "Emperor, what did you say? Male favorite? You think he is me..."

He chuckled and said, "So, the emperor came to Yong'an Palace to catch his wife in adultery?"

The more Emperor Jing thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

"He is a distant relative of Grandpa Shou."

"Eunuch Shou? Wasn't he already..."

At this thought, Emperor Jing asked doubtfully, "Eunuch Shou, didn't he also perish in the fire that happened to Consort Chun at the City God Temple? Besides, I've never heard of him having any distant relatives all these years..."

Just then.

A eunuch entered, walking unsteadily and carrying a wooden tray in his hands.

Upon seeing Emperor Jing, the eunuch immediately knelt down and said, "This old servant greets Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"

When Emperor Jing finally saw the person's face clearly, he froze on the spot, stunned.

"Eunuch Shou, is that you?"

"You...you're actually still alive?"

The eunuch said, "Fortunately, thanks to the mercy of Heaven and the protection of the Empress Dowager, this old servant was able to survive the great fire that year."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jing's demeanor changed completely. He actually stepped forward and helped him up, saying, "Eunuch Shou saved my life, please get up!"

As the eunuch rose, he said, "Your Majesty need not dwell on matters from your childhood; these are simply things this servant should do."

Emperor Jing felt relieved and said, "It's wonderful that the eunuch is still alive!"

At this moment, the eunuch formally introduced himself to Emperor Jing: "Although the fire did not kill this old servant, it severely injured one of my legs. Over the years, thanks to the care of my nephew, I have been able to return to the palace to serve the Empress Dowager today."

As he spoke, the eunuch looked at the Empress Dowager's face, paused, and continued, "Your Majesty's favor is such that I must bring this nephew into the palace to thank you personally, no matter what. I never expected that the Emperor would misunderstand. It is all my fault. I will take him away immediately."

As he spoke, he limped over to Long En, who was still kneeling on the cold floor, and helped him up.

"I told you long ago, this place is not for someone like you. Get up and come with me out of the palace."

The two of them took a step together, intending to walk out of the main hall.

Just then, Emperor Jing's voice rang out again in the hall: "Wait..."

The eunuch stopped abruptly and solemnly declared, "Your Majesty, rest assured, this old servant guarantees that he will never appear in the palace again in his lifetime!"

Emperor Jing strode over and blocked their path, smiling as he said, "Eunuch Shou, you've misunderstood me. That's not what I meant. Tonight's events were indeed my fault; I believed rumors without verifying the facts. What I really meant was that when I was a child, I was too playful and nearly drowned. If it weren't for you, Eunuch Shou, I wouldn't be where I am today!"

As the eunuch listened to Emperor Jing's words, he thought to himself, "Back then, when the young master went missing and wandered outside without a trace, if there had been no other suitable replacement, I would not have extended a helping hand to save you. But now, you are indeed not easy to deal with."

After a pause, Emperor Jing finally made a decision: "From now on, your nephew will live in Yong'an Palace. He can stay as long as he wants. With you all here, you can also keep the Empress Dowager entertained. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?"

The eunuch overheard this and feigned surprise, saying, "How can this be? My nephew is neither a palace guard nor a eunuch like me. How can he stay in the palace for long?"

Emperor Jing looked somewhat helpless, and then looked at the Empress Dowager's face.

The Empress Dowager was genuinely angry because Emperor Jing suspected her.

But after thinking for a moment, he added, "Since the Emperor has already agreed, you can settle down here! In the future, let the Emperor arrange an insignificant position for him in the palace!"

At this point, the eunuch pulled Long En down to kneel and express his gratitude.

"In that case, this old servant thanks the Empress Dowager and the Emperor!"

"Thank you, Empress Dowager! Thank you, Your Majesty!"

At this moment, they saw that the Empress Dowager's face was still gloomy.

Emperor Jing then stepped forward and apologized to him.

"I'm sorry, Mother."

"Today, I have indeed been impolite."

"Your subject truly did not know, that Eunuch Shou is still alive..."

"Fortunately, with Eunuch Shou taking care of Mother from now on, I am much more at ease!"

The Empress Dowager also admonished, "As the emperor, you must not act so unfoundedly in the future."

Emperor Jing said, "Your Majesty is right. I will never do such a thing again!"

Thus, the truth about the rumors surrounding the male favorites in Yong'an Palace has finally come to light.

Emperor Jing's gaze swept across the area casually before finally settling on the wooden tray that the eunuch had just brought in.

Emperor Jing asked with some curiosity, "What is this?"