Shen Jiao was completely unaware that she had been discovered, mainly because when she went to dig for the shoes the next day, they were still there!

Actually, she didn't hear much that day. Fearing the tyrant would find out, she ran out to destroy the evidence after hearing only the first half.

Shen Jiao originally planned to stroll around the prison again the next day.

To her surprise, the prison gates were tightly shut, so tight that even if she transformed into a mosquito, she might not be able to squeeze in, so she had no choice but to give up.

No wonder no one has ever escaped from prison. Even Plankton might not have been able to get out alive, let alone a living person.

During this period, Shen Jiao's persona was that of a melancholy empress who was depressed due to a miscarriage. She was not allowed to leave the palace for a stroll and could only play cards with Liang Heng and Xi An every day.

However, losing too much in a game like Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) can make it quite boring.

Extremely monotonous.

Reluctantly, Shen Jiao emptied the money under her pillow to pay off her gambling debts in one go, then waved her hand and said, "I'm done playing."

Xi'an counted the coins, pulled out a single coin, and returned it: "Your Highness, this is the extra."

Shen Jiao said generously, "Take it, it's almost Chinese New Year, this is your lucky money."

Xi'an: "..." Hmm, a bit generous, but not much.

**

The days passed in this noisy and chaotic manner. On the day before New Year's Eve, the Gu family and the Shen family sent representatives to the palace to ask Shen Qingfeng and Gu An to invite Shen Jiao home for the New Year.

Originally, according to custom, the royal palace would hold a banquet on New Year's Eve. However, the tyrant had held very few banquets over the years, and each one ended with someone being beheaded. As a result, all the high-ranking officials and nobles showed a common resistance and fear towards the banquet.

Fortunately, the tyrant himself did not like to have any grand celebrations, and he would save on palace banquets as much as possible. As a result, for several years, while families outside were celebrating on New Year's Eve, the palace was eerily quiet, with loneliness evident everywhere.

Shen Jiao heard all of this from Wang Fu, and the Shen and Gu families also knew about it, which is why they wanted Shen Jiao to return home for a family reunion.

Shen Jiao declined, saying, "Please send my New Year greetings to my family for me. I won't be going back; I need to spend the New Year with His Majesty."

Shen Qingfeng muttered under his breath, "His Majesty has no human touch whatsoever, how could he possibly celebrate the New Year?"

"Why doesn't Your Majesty know how to celebrate the New Year? Look at your mouth, you can't even say a few auspicious words during the New Year." Gu An pointed at Shen Qingfeng and launched into a tirade, afraid that this guy would say something even more reckless. He immediately said goodbye to Shen Jiao and dragged the man away.

"Gu Xiao'an, why did you pull me like that? What I said wasn't wrong. I just wanted Her Majesty to go home and have a lively New Year." Shen Qingfeng broke free of his restraints once he was outside the palace gates.

Gu An snorted, "What do you know? If Jiaojiao goes home, what will His Majesty do?"

Shen Qingfeng muttered, "What do you mean, 'what to do'? 'If you marry a chicken, follow the chicken; if you marry a dog, follow the dog.' He'll just go back to his wife's family home."

Gu An pondered: "That makes a lot of sense."

Shen Qingfeng: "Right, right? How about we go back again?"

"Forget it." Gu An walked towards his carriage. "If Jiao Jiao wants to go home, not even nine oxen can stop her. His Majesty has it tough too. Having Jiao Jiao with him is a hard-won warmth for him. Why should we bother him?"

Shen Qingfeng wasn't unreasonable. Although he disliked his brother-in-law, he couldn't win against him, so what could he do?

I have no choice but to put up with it.

The tyrant had been very busy these past few days, leaving early and returning late, and it wasn't until New Year's Eve that Shen Jiao finally saw him.

She circled Ji Yan several times, looking her over: "Good child, you've lost weight."

Ji Yan: "..."

However, he hadn't really looked closely at his frizzy hamster for quite some time. He walked around a few times, mimicking Shen Jiao's manner, and said seriously, "Hmm... it's gotten fatter again."

Shen Jiao: "??? Is it beneath you to say 'thin'?"

Ji Yan: "A little... I really can't say it."

Shen Jiao: "..."

Ji Yan noticed the difference in the palace. Not only were there glaring red lanterns hanging everywhere, but the palace servants, under Shen Jiao's pressure, had also changed into bright red new clothes. From a distance, they looked like a group of walking candied hawthorn skewers.

On the large doorway of the sleeping quarters, there was also a couplet.

The handwriting is quite nice, as for the content—

First line: The moon doesn't sleep, so I don't sleep either; I'm a bald little baby.

The second line reads: "If the sun doesn't rise, I won't rise either; I am a little surprise in the world."

Horizontal inscription: Unconscious.

Ji Yan: "..."

That's so apt.

It was so fitting that it had absolutely nothing to do with him.

**

These past few days, Wang Fu has been running around with the tyrant, still dressed in his usual clothes, standing out awkwardly among the various candied hawthorn skewers.

That won't do!

Wang Fu immediately turned and went to the imperial kitchen: "Your Majesty!"

Shen Jiao hummed a little tune, happily making dumplings.

Ji Yan stood on the right, staring at the dumpling wrapper in his hand that he had just torn again, lost in thought.

Liang Heng stood on the left, looking with satisfaction at the plump and adorable dumpling in his hand.

"Sigh, there's just no way around it. I told them to wrap slowly, to wrap slowly, but their hands just wouldn't listen and they've already wrapped another one."

Ji Yan: "..."

The tyrant had never encountered such a troublesome situation before. Provoked by Liang Heng and encouraged by Shen Jiao, Ji Yan picked up a new mask and started causing trouble again.

Wang Fu rushed to the imperial kitchen, panting, and saw this scene.

The handsome young man, with a composed and dashing face, scooped up a spoonful of vegetable filling with the air of someone about to devour someone's brains.

Then, with the same ferocity as peeling human skin, they began to knead the dough.

Even their beautiful eyebrows are being carefully drawn.

And so, under his fierce and aggressive handling, a plump dumpling, as everyone expected, finally cracked open.

Ji Yan: "..."

Taking the opportunity, Liang Heng exclaimed again, "Oh dear, I've already wrapped another one!"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!