"The sooner the better," the Empress Dowager said, then turned to Zhihai and said, "I bestow you upon Ajun. From now on, serve her well. I entrust my granddaughter to you."

Zhihai kowtowed again, his ugly face revealing nothing of his feelings. Emperor Mingde gave a bitter laugh and strode away. Although Zhihai was a eunuch, he was no ordinary eunuch. He never easily submitted to anyone. Even when Emperor Mingde ascended the throne, Zhihai refused to submit to him. Zhihai was the only eunuch in history who was so proud and arrogant.

Although the arrogance of yesteryear is no longer visible, he believes that Zhihai's temperament remains unchanged.

Few people know that Zhihai was once a noble young master from a prominent family. However, his family fortunes changed drastically, and his collateral branches plotted to seize power. He eventually ended up in the palace and became a minor eunuch.

Emperor Mingde did not believe that Zhao Shu could subdue Zhihai, but now that she had suffered such a great injustice, he was afraid that his mother only wanted Zhihai to help her vent her anger.

He shook his head slightly, set off and left the Cining Palace. Outside the gate, Liang Yunsi was still in a state of confusion when he heard Emperor Mingde say, "Summon the Minister of Rites."

"Yes." He hurriedly responded, picked up his whisk, and told someone to follow. He then left the Cining Palace a few steps behind Emperor Mingde.

Xiao Liangzi was wiping the sweat from Zhao Shu's forehead. He understood that even though the princess had fallen out of favor with the Empress Dowager, the Emperor still doted on her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had someone hold an umbrella for her. Most importantly, the prince had gone on an inspection tour of the country on behalf of the Emperor. There were so many princes in Dayong, but our Prince Yong was the only one who was special.

As the saying goes, it's easy to add flowers to brocade, but difficult to provide charcoal in the snow. He was providing charcoal in the snow for the princess, and he didn't ask for anything in return. He just wanted his godfather to see that he had done his best.

Emperor Mingde stepped out of the Cining Palace and his gaze fell on Zhao Shu. This niece seemed to act without any rhyme or reason and had a volatile temperament, mostly being domineering. However, recent events had greatly changed his opinion of her.

Each and every one of these things was of great benefit to him. Sometimes he would think how wonderful it would be if she were the crown prince or his son.

However, he was also grateful that she was a girl, his niece, and that everything she did benefited him the most.

After glancing at Xiao Liangzi, Emperor Mingde's gaze fell on Zhao Shu's trembling legs, and his surprise became even more obvious. Not only was A-Jun intelligent, but her resilience was also extraordinary. If Zi Rou had been kneeling here for half a day under the scorching sun, he didn't know how much she would have cried. After all, she was still a child.

He recalled when Ah Jun had become like this. Ever since his nineteenth brother was beaten at the Ningguo Marquis's mansion, she had changed.

A girl actually led a group of people into someone else's house, beat up all the guests and guests until they were black and blue, and even made him take Xie Yun and the others home to teach their sons. It seems that from that time on, Ah Jun no longer felt so angry at the sight of the nineteenth brother that she wished she wasn't his daughter. And since that time, the nineteenth brother no longer spent his days fighting cocks, walking dogs and fighting crickets with his cronies. His Great General King is probably dead by now.

Recently, he played chess with his court officials, and even Yan Shiren praised the game as exquisite, which greatly enhanced his reputation.

Tai Chi and double-skin milk pudding are both extremely exquisite things. As for those medical prescriptions, although she explained that they were left behind by the late Princess Yong, he had already sent Lan Yue to the palace again to investigate, but she couldn't find anything. There was also the Tai Chi that the Empress Dowager practiced every day. He had sent people to check all ten doctors, and none of them knew it, but each of the ten doctors did know some methods for strengthening the body.

Sometimes truth and falsehood are intertwined. He didn't need to compete with a girl, especially a niece who was always scheming for her own interests. Whether it was true or false, he was absolutely certain that this was his niece. Her mother had done many shocking things back then, but compared to her mother, A-Jun was much more gentle and virtuous.

He was an emperor. The late emperor once said that Ziyi was a man of great magnanimity who could tolerate talented people. If an emperor did not have the capacity to tolerate others, the country would sooner or later be handed over to others.

There was one thing he wasn't sure about, and thinking of this, he said to Liang Yunsi, "All of you step back, I have something to say to Ajun."

Just after Liang Yunsi finished instructing Xiao Duzi to summon Liu Huan to an audience, he heard Emperor Mingde's words and hurriedly waved for everyone to stay far away, including himself.

After everyone had gone, Emperor Mingde squatted down to look at Zhao Shu, took out a silk handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and asked gently, "Ah Jun, are you feeling wronged?"

Zhao Shu shook her head, "A-Jun is not wronged."

"I have a question that I do not understand. Would you be willing to enlighten your uncle, Ah Jun?" he asked bluntly.

Zhao Shu nodded, "Uncle, please ask."

"How did Ah Jun obtain the jade pendant from the Huo family?" He had been thinking about this for a long time but couldn't figure it out. The people from the Shadow Division couldn't find out, and even Huo Baichuan, who had been living in Jiulipo in the capital, didn't know.

What the Shadow Division didn't know, his niece did, and the fact that she carried the eldest son of the Huo family into the Yongwang Mansion in a sack was inexplicably strange.

Zhao Shu had been prepared for this matter, fearing that someone would ask about it. Now that Emperor Mingde had asked, she naturally wouldn't say that she had heard someone say it to her as a joke in her previous life.

In his previous life, Huo Baichuan lived in Jiulipo, a suburb of Beijing, for three years. The jokes at the time were quite legendary. It was said that a fox spirit lived in Jiulipo. In order for the fox spirit to come down the mountain to heal his blood relative, Huo Baichuan changed his name to Chuan Baihuo and lived in a hut at the foot of Jiulipo for three years.

When she sent Xiao Zhuzi to find Huo Baichuan, she only told him Huo Baichuan's alias and that he was a very talented man, probably an old man in his seventies. Later, Xiao Zhuzi spent a lot of effort to confirm that Huo Baichuan, who was in his early twenties, was indeed Chuan Baihuo, who lived in a thatched hut.

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