"I'm leaving." He stood up and said with deep resentment, his gaze falling on Chu Nian.

Chu Nian: "Very well, Your Majesty, take good care of yourself after you return home, and make sure you recover from your illness to the best of health!"

Chu Susu put down the plate, stood up, bowed, and said, "Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty."

Chu Nian, whose eyes were squinting into crescent moons with laughter, then remembered that she had to bow to the Emperor and couldn't continue eating while sitting there. Feeling a little helpless, she took another bite of cake before getting up to bow and see him off.

The Emperor felt utterly pathetic: he felt his place in Consort Lian's heart wasn't even as important as the piece of cake on her plate. He left heartbroken—when had Consort Lian become so indifferent to him?!

Thinking of what Li Xiao had said before, "I have lost my Su Su, and Your Majesty has also lost Your Majesty's Consort Lian," the Emperor finally felt the same way.

Xiao Jia, who was standing nearby, noticed that he was unhappy and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to be upset. This servant has inquired and found out that the stewards of the Imperial Kitchen have learned how to make cakes from the two empresses. This servant will go and have them make some for Your Majesty to take to the Qianqing Palace."

Is this all about a few pieces of cake? Ying Yuan turned and glared helplessly at Xiao Jia.

Xiao Jia felt flustered under his glare: Had he said something wrong? But he was clearly trying to curry favor with the Emperor, and there was no way the Emperor wouldn't have noticed.

The master and servant, both preoccupied, returned to the Qianqing Palace. Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the hall, a eunuch reported that the Regent had just sent someone with a calligraphy piece. The Emperor was puzzled; this fellow had barely left before sending calligraphy to the palace. What could it be?

Xiao Jia and another eunuch unfolded the calligraphy scroll, and there were four large characters written in regular script: "Let us encourage each other."

What does this mean? Did Li Xiao find out so quickly about his two setbacks at Xukun Palace?

Thinking of this, Ying Yuan's anger flared even more. He flung the calligraphy away with a wave of his hand, pointing at the scroll that had fallen to the ground and shouting, "What does he mean by this? Is he mocking me?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down!" Xiao Jia quickly tried to appease him. "In my humble opinion, what the Prince actually meant was..."

He hesitated for a moment.

Ying Yuan said sternly, "Speak! Why aren't you talking?"

Xiao Jia hesitated, "I'm afraid if I tell you, Your Majesty... you'll be even angrier. But this is... the truth."

Ying Yuan: "Speak quickly, and I will pardon you!"

Xiao Jia: "In my opinion, His Highness is advising you to be more tolerant of the women you like, just like him, and to try to win back their hearts."

Ying Yuan asked suspiciously, "Is that what you mean?"

Xiao Jia hurriedly replied, "That must be what he meant. Think about what the Prince said to you before... This servant thinks he is indeed a bit tired of the infighting in the court and only wants to please the Empress. Otherwise, he wouldn't have obediently handed over the Imperial Guard's tally as soon as the Empress asked for it."

.

Recently, the usually turbulent court has become unusually calm.

Regent Li Xiao, who used to always disagree with the emperor, has recently become quite compliant with him. It seems that he and the emperor have secretly reached some kind of reconciliation, and their back-and-forth movements are surprisingly harmonious.

The Lian family has received news that the emperor and the regent have agreed to maintain the current situation for the time being, with both sides keeping each other in check, thus ensuring the stability of the court.

The Lian family was the one who most wanted to see this situation. Although they were quite disgusted by the Regent's attempt to force the emperor to abdicate, many of Li Xiao's policies were still very beneficial to the peace and prosperity of the country.

Moreover, as long as Regent Li Xiao remains active in the court, the emperor will always need the Lian family, thus ensuring that the Lian family will not fall.

Chu Nian was having a great time.

Because the emperor and Li Xiao worked hard both inside and outside the palace, they found the raw materials for many of the seasonings she wanted: many of which were unknown to people of this era as edible, resulting in a scarcity of seasonings even in the imperial kitchen.

Using the recipes for some seasonings from her memory, Chu Nian created many strange and unusual seasonings, which not only greatly improved the food in the palace, but also allowed her to sell these seasonings outside, making a fortune for herself.

She no longer has to worry about the most basic problems in life.

On this day, although the emperor knew that the regent frequently visited his harem openly and secretly, and that the delicacies from his own imperial kitchen often appeared on the regent's table, he never expected that he would one day meet Li Xiao in this imperial kitchen.

He originally went to Xukun Palace to visit Consort Lian, but he heard that the Empress and Consort Lian had been spending almost every day in the Imperial Kitchen researching food lately, so out of curiosity, he went to the Imperial Kitchen.

The saying goes that a wise man keeps away from the kitchen; the emperor rarely set foot in this place. If the regent wanted something to eat, he would simply send someone to deliver the order, rather than coming here himself.

But who would have thought that these two would arrive on the same day?

Although the two disliked each other, they both restrained themselves. After exchanging glares, one bowed and the other politely addressed the other as "My dear minister." The Empress, who was helping Chu Nian with her work inside the room, couldn't help but sigh inwardly when she saw the two outside: "How hypocritical!"

"Sister, pass me that spoon." Chu Nian felt that the chopsticks and filling in her hand were a bit short, so she pointed to a long-handled spoon next to Chu Susu.

Chu Susu immediately handed over the spoon with a smile.

This scene had occurred more than once, and the chefs in the imperial kitchen were used to it. However, the emperor and the regent, who strode into the imperial kitchen one after the other, felt a little confused.

The Empress had become very assertive without anyone noticing, and even the Regent dared not provoke her, showing her great tolerance. The Emperor was even less likely to do so; he had previously harbored some improper thoughts about the Empress, but after being given the cold shoulder a few times, he only wanted to stay as far away as possible.

But this powerful empress really obeyed Consort Lian's every word. She would take whatever Consort Lian told her to take and do whatever she was told to do, just like a lowly palace maid doing odd jobs.

Is this really the empress who rules the harem and even has a firm grasp on the defense of the entire palace?

The emperor and the regent had both arrived. Even though Chu Susu was too lazy to see them, she still pulled Chu Nian to put down what she was doing and respectfully bow to the two great figures. After shouting "Long live the emperor!" three times, Chu Nian immediately got back to work.

The emperor, having no other choice, made a small conversation: "I've heard that my beloved concubine has been spending a lot of time in the imperial kitchen lately. I wonder what delicious dishes she's been preparing?"

Chu Nian smiled sweetly, her face innocent and naive, and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to make five-flavor glutinous rice balls today." She paused, then added, "It's a dessert. Unfortunately, Your Majesty suffers from a cough and is not suited to eating these desserts. I will make them for Your Majesty when you are fully recovered."

Could we please stop talking about this cough? The emperor was quite annoyed and almost lost his temper.