Chapter 173 Gathering Together

Because they wasted a lot of time on the road, it was already a little late when Wen Li'er brought Xiao Xiao, Yan Shiliang and Yan Shilang to the Cining Palace.

Everyone has come, and everyone is gathered together, laughing and talking.

Seeing Wen Li'er arriving late, the atmosphere in the hall became quiet for a moment.

But the bustle soon returned to normal.

Wen Li'er met Yan Shixu's gaze and smiled softly at him.

Yan Shixu also frowned, but when she saw Yan Shiliang and Yan Shilang following behind her, she was a little surprised.

The two young boys shrank their necks at the same time, fearing that he would know about the trouble they had caused today.

But the Imperial Concubine has already promised them not to tell anyone about this matter, so she should keep her word, right?

Wen Li'er stepped forward and first saluted several elders and the emperor one by one, and then a group of peers and juniors came to salute her.

After one round, she will probably recognize everyone.

Sitting to the left of the Empress Dowager is Concubine Duan.

Concubine Duan wore an indigo-colored satin long jacket with a cloud pattern, and a dark blue kesi double-breasted bodice with seven oriental pearl buttons on the chest.

She had a low round bun with a gilt phoenix-head hairpin in the middle, silver-gilt longevity characters on each side of her hair, and pearl earrings dangling from her ears.

She is over sixty but still looks not old, except for the fine lines at the corners of her eyes that spread out like fan bones. In her right hand, she is twisting a bracelet made of eighteen agarwood beads, and her nails are trimmed short and round.

He looked solemn and stern, not at all the amiable person that Nanny Qin had described.

After Wen Li'er secretly looked at Concubine Duan, she sat up straight.

Why does Concubine Duan's face feel familiar?

How could she be familiar? Had she met Concubine Duan before?

It shouldn't be.

Before she got married, she had never entered the palace, let alone been to Youzhou.

Wen Li'er couldn't figure it out, so she just drank the tea silently.

In such occasions, she usually doesn't speak if she can. After all, there are so many people around, and the less she speaks, the fewer mistakes she will make.

The Empress Dowager asked the palace maids to come and carry Xiaoxiao and Xiongxiong to her.

The little guy Xiaoxiao is much more high-profile than Xiongxiong.

As soon as he saw the Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother, he called out in a baby voice, "Grandfather... Grandfather..."

I don't know whether he was calling her "Grand Empress" or "Empress".

As a result, both the Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother were beaming with joy.

Xiongxiong also waved his little arms and made a babbling sound.

Concubine Duan glanced at Xiaoxiao, then looked at Xiongxiong, and praised: "Both children are smart."

The Empress Dowager smiled at Yan Shiqian and said, "Brother Qian, you should get married soon and give your grandmother a great-grandson to play with."

Yan Shiqian laughed heartily and said, "Grandmother, you're urging me to give birth more urgently than the winter rain in the capital. Having a child is like planting crops; it depends on the season and fate, right? When you find a good wife for me, I promise to bring you and Grandmother Wang a chubby baby as soon as possible, so that you can be happy every day."

When he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

Princess Wu scolded her with a smile, "You cunning fellow! No wonder you disliked the one I chose for you. Perhaps you knew your grandmother had the best taste, and you were waiting to come to the capital to choose?"

Yan Shiqian looked so embarrassed as his mother hit the nail on the head, which made everyone laugh.

He is very good at adjusting the atmosphere, and looks completely different from his father, the rough and tumble man.

The Empress Dowager was delighted to see this, and had Xiaoxiao and Xiongxiong taken to a side hall to play and be well looked after.

Then she pulled Yan Shiqian aside and asked him a lot of questions.

Her son went to the side hall, and Wen Li'er felt a little bored, so she quietly looked at the other people in the main hall.

She first looked at Princess Wu.

Princess Wu's appearance did not conform to Dayan's aesthetic of thinness and whiteness.

She was tall and sturdy, and her skin was even the same color as King Wu's. But when she smiled, revealing her big white teeth, she was extremely approachable.

You can tell at first glance that he is a quick-witted and cheerful person.

The wife of King Wu gave birth to two sons and two daughters for King Wu.

The eldest daughter, Yan Shizhen, was twenty years old, gentle and dignified, and had great talent. After she came of age, she married into a local aristocratic family in Youzhou.

The second son, Yan Shiqian, is eighteen years old this year and has not yet married. He is steady and self-controlled and is a modest gentleman.

The third daughter, Yan Shiwei, just came of age half a year ago. She wears red clothes and has black hair. She has a flamboyant personality and doesn't like women's work or needlework, but likes to wield swords and guns. Now she has reached the age to get married.

The fourth son, Yan Shilang, is ten years old this year. Both his appearance and temperament are almost modeled after King Wu.

King Wu grew from a young devil to an old devil, and Yan Shilang unsurprisingly became the new generation of young devil.

He fights and causes trouble on a daily basis, even worse than his father.

For example, now, everyone is chatting and laughing, but he is winking at Yan Shiliang, and it is obvious that he can no longer sit still.

Although Yan Shiliang is not as lively as Yan Shilang, he is still a child at heart.

How could I possibly listen to the adults chattering about the past?

He finally had a cousin of the same age as himself, and the unpleasantness of having his Cuju robbed immediately disappeared, and he lip-read with Yan Shilang.

Wen Li'er thought their little actions were amusing, so she just stared at them.

As he looked, his gaze fell on Yan Shichi and Yan Shiwei who were sitting not far from them.

The two men were extremely quiet. Apart from bowing to everyone when they came in, they didn't say anything else.

Wen Li'er looked at the brother and sister carefully again, wondering if they knew the truth about Prince Yu's imprisonment.

I guess he knows. He used to be a treasure spoiled by his parents and grandmother. Now his mother is dead, and his father is almost dead even though he is not. The only one left is his grandmother, and they don’t seem to be as close as before.

That's why they suddenly became so silent, completely losing their previous bright and energetic spirit.

Wen Li'er keenly noticed that Concubine Duan's gaze seemed to fall on Yan Shichi and Yan Shishuang from time to time.

Wen Li'er didn't think much about it at first, but when Yan Shishuang felt her gaze and looked up at her, Wen Li'er's body suddenly jolted.

She remembered why she felt that Concubine Duan looked familiar, because Concubine Duan's narrow forehead and a pair of slightly upturned phoenix eyes looked very similar to Prince Yu.

No wonder it looks familiar.

Yan Shishuang used to be a little fat and had a round face, so it wasn't very obvious.

She has lost a lot of weight now. Although her forehead is covered by her black hair, you can still see that she has a narrow forehead.

Especially those eyes, which are exactly the same as Concubine Duan’s. And the shape of her mouth is also somewhat similar.

Wen Li'er's not-so-bright brain worked for a long time, but she couldn't figure it out.

Prince Yu is the son of the Grand Empress Dowager. Even if Yan Shishuang looks like his grandmother, she should look like the Grand Empress Dowager. How could she look like Concubine Duan?

But it seems that I only feel the similarity when I look at it at first glance. When I look at it more and more carefully, I feel that they are not so similar.

Wen Li'er then looked away and looked at the others.

Then I saw that the emperor was also staring at Yan Shishuang, his brows slightly furrowed, and I don’t know what he was thinking.

Noticing Wen Li'er's gaze, Yan Shixu looked towards her with a slight smile on his lips.

Wen Li'er was caught peeking again, she blushed and quickly turned away.

After about an hour, the Empress Dowager called all the younger generations to her front and questioned them one by one. Then she no longer detained them and let them go and play on their own. She left the Empress Dowager, Concubine Duan and Princess Wu in the Cining Palace to talk.

…