The Queen Mother returns to the palace

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, spring was drawing to a close and summer was creeping in. Our ancestors also held a Spring Feast on this day, a homophone for "Spring Shu" meaning "farewell to spring." This was the grandest palace banquet of the first half of the year, so naturally, it warranted special attention.

The maids and palace servants in the western suburbs palace came and went in a hurry, carrying and packing luggage and not daring to stop for a moment, for fear of keeping their master waiting for too long.

Queen Dowager Xuan sat in the front hall of the main hall, leisurely sipping tea. A female official beside her lovingly massaged her shoulders, her face awash with smiles. "The Crown Prince is certainly wary of you, Queen Dowager, and wouldn't dare abandon you to the temporary palace to await impeachment by the court officials. Look, as soon as this memorial is delivered, he'll immediately send someone to take you back to the palace."

Queen Dowager Xuan never showed her displeasure, but at this moment, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly. Feeling proud, she glanced at the people around her and said, "The Crown Prince is simply too young. He hasn't yet fully understood his place."

Oh, did Si Pei think that by removing her spies in the palace and then bluffing those university scholars, he could wipe out her power? Xuan Huian was still alive, and even Si Pei, the powerful crown prince, could not take away her title of Empress Dowager.

As long as she is the empress dowager of the Dajing Dynasty, Si Pei will have no way to do anything to her.

The principle of filial piety alone is enough to defeat him.

Queen Dowager Xuan put down her tea bowl and looked at the woman outside the door with a displeased look.

"Where is this girl from?"

"Go back..."

"Your Highness, I am the servant of His Highness Prince Lin. His Highness has arranged for me to stay with the Queen Mother and take care of you."

Before the female official could speak, the girl explained her origin and purpose. Queen Dowager Xuan frowned slightly, not because the girl was disrespectful by calling herself "I", but because she had guessed Si Jue's intention of placing someone by her side, but she didn't know what Zi'an was going to do.

Does he really have the ability to go head-to-head with the fully-fledged Si Pei?

Although Queen Dowager Xuan disliked Si Pei, she ultimately wanted to maintain her position as queen dowager and continue to enjoy wealth, prosperity, and a long life. If she got involved in Si Jue's affairs, given Si Pei's ruthless heart, she feared she would suffer a disastrous fate.

Although the girl kept her head down and didn't see Queen Dowager Xuan's expression, the long silence seemed to have given the answer.

"I know the Empress Dowager's concerns, and Your Highness knows them too." The girl's voice was clear and sweet, tinged with a smile. "If I wasn't absolutely certain, Your Highness wouldn't have allowed me to see you."

The Queen Mother laughed, and the girl knew that her mind had softened. However, the old fox still had his own calculations after all: "I am probably just an old man with no use to Prince Lin."

Queen Dowager Xuan's self-mockery contained a hint of sarcasm towards Prince Lin. Zi'an really tried his best to drag her into the water.

As expected, the girl calmly gave a strong prescription: "This matter won't harm you. After the rabbit dies, the dog will be abandoned. If King Lin had been defeated that day, something would have been involved... I'm afraid you wouldn't want to see it."

Queen Dowager Xuan subconsciously clenched the corner of the table at hand, the anger in her heart neither rising nor falling. She and Si Jue were indeed inseparable, and even if she tore off the skin, she would still have two ounces of flesh left.

"I know."

Queen Dowager Xuan thought for a long time before slowly replying with this sentence.

"The Empress Dowager is wise and wise."

"Get up. What's your name?" Queen Dowager Xuan was quite interested in this girl. She was not afraid of her and was neither humble nor arrogant. She was even as imposing as her. She had never seen such a young girl do this before.

"My name is Ningyue."

After saying that, she stood up from the ground, revealing her pretty face.

Her eyebrows were curved, her eyes were bright, her skin was as white as the moon, and her pink lips were often raised in a smile. At first glance, she was truly a rare beauty.

The Queen Mother Xuan spent her entire life in the palace and had never seen the true face of Yue Ningning, the talented woman from the capital. If a patron of Yushan Bookstore saw Ningyue, they would undoubtedly exclaim, "Boss Yue."

"She is quite beautiful." Queen Dowager Xuan was surprised but did not show it on her face. Zi An didn't even take a girl with such appearance into his room. What kind of fairy did this kid want?

Queen Dowager Xuan inexplicably thought of Jing Yao. That little bitch was pretty, but it was a pity that such a disaster star must not be welcomed into the harem. If she was kept by the emperor's side, she would only slander and flatter him and deceive him.

"Then stay by my side as a maid and return to the palace with me."

"Yes." Ningyue responded respectfully, "Please ask the Queen Mother to arrange for me to be one of your ladies-in-waiting at the Spring Banquet."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager's court lady Su frowned unhappily: "How can you arrange such a major event just because you want it?"

The Queen Mother raised her hand to signal her to shut up, then turned to look at Ningyue who stood aside with an unchanged expression.

"Okay, as you wish."

Now, Lady Su didn't know what to say. Looking at Ningyue's smiling face, she felt worse than if she had eaten a fly.

The day before the Chunshu Banquet, the Queen Mother and her entourage were welcomed back to De Shou Palace by Crown Prince Si Pei from the Western Suburbs Palace.

That evening, the Empress Dowager hosted a banquet, and Prince Si Jue of Lin was invited to the palace to accompany the Empress Dowager for dinner. The Crown Prince was also invited, but the Crown Prince declined, saying he was busy with government affairs and could not be disturbed.

Little did they know that the person in the Eastern Palace was busy with government affairs, but it was true that it was inconvenient to disturb him.

As usual, Eunuch Ming was waiting outside Yilan Palace to take care of various matters for his own prince. Seeing the ignorant eunuch about to report inside without paying attention, he hurried forward to stop him: "How dare you! His Highness is busy. If you disturb him, you will be in trouble!"

Eunuch Ming acted as if the situation was serious, frightening the young eunuch so much that his voice trembled. "Eunuch Ming... I, I'm here to deliver a memorial from the Imperial Household Department... Tomorrow is the Spring Festival Banquet, and this must be reviewed by His Highness."

After hearing this, Eunuch Ming snatched the memorial from his hand and said, "I will take it to the Crown Prince for you."

"Okay, thank you, eunuch."

When the young eunuch heard that he didn't have to wait here in fear, his tone became much lighter and he immediately walked away in small steps.

Eunuch Ming looked at the memorial in his hand, then turned back to look at the closed door of Yilan Palace and sighed helplessly.

Although it was still daytime outside the hall, it was a little dark inside.

On the couch, their bodies were entangled and pressed against each other's quilt. Both of them were sweating, but they were unwilling to separate from each other.

Since that night, Si Pei has become addicted to love affairs and cannot extricate himself from it. He wishes he could stay on the bed with Jing Yao every day and never be separated.

Jing Yao groaned in his heart. Although he could enjoy the pleasure, he was not made of steel or bronze. His mortal body could not withstand Si Pei's torture.

Jing Yao wanted to refuse several times, but Si Pei didn't give her a chance to speak once he got close to her. Even her body's instincts betrayed her and she got close to him involuntarily.

In the end, he was kissed so hard that he was dizzy and confused and could only say "close the doors and windows and blow out the candles".

The shame of engaging in sexual activity in broad daylight was too strong. Even in her previous life, Si Pei rarely slept with her outside of the night. Jing Yao still couldn't get used to being exposed to live pornographic activities in broad daylight.

After this round, Jing Yao really couldn't bear it anymore. His whole body was wet and sticky, uncomfortable and hot. He just wanted to push Si Pei away and go to the bathtub to soak and scrub himself.

"I'll carry you there."

Si Pei felt that he was in the wrong, so he quickly coaxed the person into his arms, kissing him as they walked towards the bathtub.

The feeling of being carried in the arms became even stronger as they walked. Jing Yao's face turned red like a drop of blood, and he bit the shoulder of Si Pei, who was grinning secretly.

"You still dare to laugh!?"

Jing Yao thought to himself that he had been too accommodating to Si Pei recently, which gave him the courage to have such bad thoughts every day.

Upon hearing this, Si Pei's mouth corners straightened quickly, and he looked expressionless: "I'm not laughing."

Jing Yao was so angry that she punched his chest hard. There were still a few teeth marks on it from her random biting. Jing Yao looked at it and felt a little itchy. It happened that Si Pei had just provoked her, so Jing Yao did not hesitate and bit him directly.

"hiss……"

Si Pei muffled his voice and didn't shout out, but the low voice made the evil Jing Yao's ears hot.

He kissed the girl's ear gently: "Be good, I'll help you clean it up."

After washing, the two of them were still soaking in the pool for a while. Especially Jing Yao, who was almost exhausted. He collapsed in Si Pei's arms and gasped: "Even if you drank the contraceptive soup, you can't act so recklessly."

It's too troublesome to wash.

Jing Yao seriously asked Si Pei to agree. Si Pei naturally said yes, but no one knew what he was planning in his mind.

"Are you hungry? If you are, we can have dinner early."

Jing Yao, who had just been put on the outer robe by him, nodded weakly. Their three meals a day had been irregular in the past few days, and she was almost used to it.

When the meal was served, Jing Yao suddenly remembered something: "Didn't the Queen Mother ask you to have dinner with her at Deoksugung Palace?"

"I turned it down a long time ago, and she didn't really mean to call me."

Jing Yao nodded. As long as Si Jue went, Queen Dowager Xuan would be happy. She was afraid of losing face if she asked Si Pei to go. They would be unhappy if Si Pei really went.

They didn't go to welcome Queen Dowager Xuan this morning. Si Pei had long since stopped doing this thankless superficial work.

"Let the grandparents and grandchildren talk for a while. Tomorrow is the Spring Festival Banquet."

Si Pei smiled as he picked up a piece of crispy meat for the person in front of him. That smile was full of meaning. Jing Yao was also happy in her heart. Thinking that there would be no enemies to be eliminated after tomorrow, she couldn't help but feel happy.

Eunuch Ming, who was waiting outside the hall, hurriedly brought in the memorial from the Ministry of Internal Affairs after the two of them finished their dinner. Si Pei glanced at it, found that there was nothing wrong, and asked someone to send it back.

In previous years, the Spring Banquet in the palace was fully entrusted to the Queen Mother of De Shou Palace to organize, or at least the Empress Dowager would act as the agent. This was the first time that the Ministry of Internal Affairs not only did the odd jobs but also took part in the preparations.

"It has been co-organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for so many years, they know what's going on."

Si Pei smiled. The empress dowager herself would not care too much about such a banquet. It was the Imperial Household Department that did the hard work in the first place, and now it was just a matter of giving the credit back to them.

"The Queen Mother will be furious if you disrespect her like this."

Although the Empress Dowager did not personally organize the Chunshu Banquet, the forces behind it were the Imperial Household Department, the Six Ministries, the court officials, the aristocratic families, and so on. It was a symbol of her power in the harem. Now that these powers have been stripped away, the position of the Empress Dowager has become an empty shell.

"It's just as well that she died of rage. It saves me from having to make excuses for her."

As soon as Si Pei finished speaking, Jing Yao couldn't help laughing.

There was no way. Thinking that all her enemies were about to die, she couldn't pretend anymore.