After the foreign officials and Sang Qian and her daughter left, the Empress Dowager waved her hand again, signaling the palace maids and eunuchs in the room to leave.

No one raised any objections to this obviously irregular act. Over the years, the Empress Dowager had absolute control over the people around her, and even her closest maids and eunuchs knew about the Regent and sometimes helped her cover for him.

After the maid closed the door, the Empress Dowager, carrying a wisp of fragrance, nestled into Zu'an's arms.

Zu An embraced her mature body and asked with a smile, "Ning'er, is there something you want to discuss with me in private?"

The Empress Dowager raised her head, rested her chin on his chest, and pouted as she muttered, "You only dare to call me that in private. Why didn't you call me that just now?"

Zu An chuckled: "You're the Empress Dowager, you should be mindful of your image in public."

"And what about Sang Qian and Si Si? You were holding hands and hugging them in front of so many people." The Empress Dowager said with a resentful look.

Zu An thought to himself, "No wonder, he's jealous."

He didn't explain, but simply kissed her.

Only a fool would argue with a woman about right and wrong at a time like this; what they need more is emotional support.

As expected, the Empress Dowager let out a soft moan, and as she listened to her lover's sweet words, her anger vanished instantly, and her body, no longer as stiff as before, became tender and gentle.

After a while, the two somehow started talking about the rebellion of the vassal kings, and the initial defeat of the imperial army.

"Even a clever cook can't cook without rice," the Empress Dowager used a single sentence to describe the situation at the time. "Because of the rumors that you had died in another world, the people below were restless, each with their own ulterior motives, and naturally suffered defeat after defeat. No matter how capable Linglong and I were, we had to entrust the tasks to the people below. But the people below were all people with ulterior motives, so how could we possibly win the battle? In the end, we simply had Linglong personally lead the expedition while I stayed in the capital, and only then was the situation stabilized."

"Thank you for your hard work these past few days," Zu'an said affectionately, holding her hand.

The Empress Dowager smiled gently, brightening the otherwise solemn imperial study considerably: "Does the Regent wish to know the specifics of what has happened during this period?"

“Of course.” Zuan thought to himself that knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle. Now that the rebellion of the vassal kings has caused such a big stir, it is essential to distinguish between friends and enemies.

"Your Majesty, please take a seat. I will tell you the story slowly." The Empress Dowager pushed Zu'an to sit on the dragon throne.

Zu An was initially puzzled. Why did he have to sit on the dragon throne to speak? Where would the Empress Dowager sit?

However, when the Empress Dowager smiled charmingly, tied her hair up, and hid under the table, he finally understood.

Thinking of the Empress Dowager's lament just now, even a clever cook can't cook without rice.

Now, however, he thought of another saying: "Once there is rice, a skillful cook will come along."

The Empress Dowager was very eloquent; she spoke very slowly and in great detail.

Zuan finally figured out all the details that had happened during this period.

After an unknown amount of time, the Empress Dowager leaned close to Zu'an's ear and said, "Zu, I want a child."

“But you are the Empress Dowager.” Zu An was somewhat embarrassed, as the other party’s status was indeed very special.

"I don't care, I just want to have your child." The Empress Dowager also felt that her current mentality was a bit too fanatical. In fact, after being the Empress for so many years, she had not cared too much about not having children. But when she saw Zu'an carrying the little girl into the palace, she was finally deeply moved.

In that instant, her long-suppressed emotions finally erupted. It turned out that she had always really liked children, but she hadn't wanted to have one for Zhao Hao before. At the same time, Zhao Hao wanted to control the power of the Liu family. The Liu family already had two empresses, and if both empresses gave birth to princes, the power of the Liu family would no longer be able to be balanced. So she just let things slide.

But at this moment, the mother's emotions were unusually strong.

Zuan fell silent. He didn't care about the others, but Liu Ning's identity was indeed too special.

If the Empress Dowager were to give birth, it would be the biggest scandal ever, one that would even be listed in history books.

Moreover, it could trigger a series of unpredictable events, such as the recent rebellion of a regional prince.

Sensing his silence, the Empress Dowager's face darkened, but she quickly put on a charming smile again: "I was just joking with you. I'm still so young, of course I like to play more. Children are just ordinary people."

How could Zu An not tell whether she was being sincere or lying? Originally, since she was being so considerate and had found an excuse, he could have simply gone along with her and let the matter drop.

However, he still stroked the Empress Dowager's face and nodded solemnly: "Good!"

"What's good?" The Empress Dowager's voice trembled, somewhat incredulous.

“Of course, it’s about having a child,” Zuan laughed.

Upon hearing his words, the Empress Dowager was momentarily dazed.

She never expected that the other party would actually agree. For a moment, she felt that her life had been worthwhile.

Back then, she was the high and mighty Empress, while the other party was just a lowly Embroidered Robe. Taking that step back then was actually quite nerve-wracking.

She later struggled with whether the other party coveted her power and status or simply her beauty and body.

Although she rejected the former possibility after spending more time with him, she saw that he had so many young and beautiful female confidantes around him—although she herself was not old at all and was a famous beauty in the capital, she was not one of those young girls after all, so the idea of ​​the latter possibility became stronger and stronger.

In the quiet of the night, she often asked herself, did Ah Zu really love her?

Every time this thought just arose, she would immediately extinguish it; she dared not think about it in detail.

She was, after all, a mature woman, and reason told her that there was no need to be so clear-cut, nor did she dare to think too clearly about it; it was best for everyone to be happy together.

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