Chapter 170 Trip to Ganlu Temple

"Halt! You've seen the Empress, why aren't you coming over to pay your respects? Where are you going?"

As Lü Jiaying led Hongjin past Yikun Palace, she immediately noticed two palace maids beside Consort Nian carrying bulging bags of something. They hurried inside, but upon seeing her, they didn't stop. Instead, they lowered their heads even further and quickened their pace.

Xuexin frowned and took two steps forward to stop them. The two women looked at each other and then moved slowly in front of the Empress, looking guilty.

Looking at them, Lü Jiaying secretly shook her head. Yikun Palace was no longer the same as before. The Emperor had replaced all the palace maids and eunuchs here. In addition, Consort Nian had become particularly cold to the Emperor since the Nian Gengyao incident and no longer gave generous rewards. Naturally, the palace servants were not as clever and loyal as before.

"What are you holding in your arms? Show it to me."

The two of them clearly had a guilty conscience, so Lü Jiaying couldn't help but ask them a few more questions.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects."

These two men were so utterly unresponsive that Xue Xin was getting impatient and was about to step forward to teach them a lesson when a voice suddenly appeared beside him.

Hearing the commotion, Nian Shilan came out from the inner hall, still wearing her favorite peony-colored qipao. Her face had lost some of its previous sharpness; having grown accustomed to a peaceful and tranquil life, she now possessed a gentleness she had never shown before.

"Now that you're here at Yikun Palace, why are you still standing outside talking?"

She walked closer, bent down, and pinched Hongjin's little face—"Wenyi is playing with the Luban lock inside, Shuer, come in and play with your sister."

Her bright and loving gaze instantly turned into a glare that seemed to spiral upwards when it met the two palace maids kneeling on the ground.

Lü Jiaying smiled helplessly – “Let’s go, I’ll go see Wenyi too.”

…

"Alright, leave your things here, you can leave now." After the two princesses were settled, the Empress and Consort Nian sat down, and Consort Nian waved her hand impatiently at them.

Lu Jiaying leaned forward curiously, her pupils shrinking in confusion—"Paper money? You can't be unaware of the rule that you can't burn paper money in the palace. What do you need this for?" She remembered that no one in the Nian family had died on this day.

Nian Shilan proudly raised her chin at her – “Burning paper money for others is of course not okay, but this is definitely okay.”

“You must know what Princess Qingying is like since you were in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. You must tell me in detail so that I can tell her everything.”

"Tell who?" Lü Jiaying was increasingly confused.

“That is naturally… this princess’s aunt.” Nian Shilan’s tone was mocking. “Her good niece is so outstanding. She served the emperor for decades before being punished, but this princess did it in just a few days. Shouldn’t we give her a good talking-to? I want to see that rare collapse on her face.”

Lu Jiaying forced a stiff smile, wondering to herself which eye she had used to see Wen Wan. Ever since her mind had shifted away from the Emperor, it seemed she had more energy to think about others.

Lü Jiaying shook her head with a light laugh – “Alright, as long as you know what you're doing, don't let others see. I think Consort Qi is eager to compete with you.”

She waved her hand, not wanting to talk about it anymore, and instead explained the purpose of her visit: "On the second day of the second lunar month this year, His Majesty was ill and was unable to go on a spring outing. He didn't even visit Baohua Palace. Now that he is much better, His Majesty's intention is... to go to Ganlu Temple."

“Ganlu Temple? Is it…” Nian Shilan sensed the Empress’s concern in her words, and her brows furrowed as well.

Lu Jiaying nodded with her lips pursed. "Yes, the previous Consort Zhen has been in Ganlu Temple for more than two years now. During these two years, not a single word has come out. I heard that a few days ago, news came from Ningguta that Zhen Yuandao and his wife are old and unable to work, and are seriously ill and on the verge of death. That's why they remembered this matter again."

"What does the Emperor mean?" Nian Shilan asked.

“That’s exactly what I don’t understand.” Lu Jiaying’s eyes were filled with deep thought. “If the Emperor wanted to pardon them, then the news from Ningguta has been coming for several days, but not a single doctor has been summoned, nor has anyone been relieved of their duties. Yet the Emperor has chosen Ganlu Temple as the place, making it unclear what his intentions are.”

She sighed softly, feeling that the peaceful days of the past two years were probably coming to an end. Looking at Nian Shilan, who was even more silent across from her, she only hoped that no matter how the harem fluctuated, it would not affect her children.

She didn't care about favors or rewards, or who received more or less. Even if someone shared some of her things, she could laugh it off. But these children, especially You'er, had come a long way, and she couldn't allow any of them to stand in her way.

"Alright, think about it carefully. If we miss the second day of the second month anyway, there's no rush. Let's set it for early April for now. You should start preparing. I won't keep you any longer."

She shared her worries with someone else, and seeing that someone else was even more troubled than her made her feel much lighter. She stood up and waved to the little ones playing happily in the warm pavilion inside—"Shu'er, let's go back to the palace."

——

"Is Prince Guo's illness cured?" Yinzhen asked casually, holding a memorial. Hongzhao sat beside him, pretending to be doing his studies, but actually listening intently.

"Your Majesty, someone from Qingliangtai has come to say that Prince Guo is almost fully recovered, but he is afraid that the illness will be at its worst when he is about to recover and offend Your Majesty's health, so he has not come to the palace to pay his respects." Su Peisheng replied carefully while grinding ink for the Emperor.

Yinzhen asked casually, and didn't take it to heart. However, he sighed at the end, "This seventeenth prince has always been healthy. How come he got sick for so long after just one snowfall?"

Hongzhao used the book to hide the amusement in his eyes. "Father, your seventeenth brother is using himself as a mobile ice pack to lower the fever of Huanhuan, whom you are about to meet, while you are still holding this comprehension book. No wonder your concubines have been snatched away."

Thinking about it, he realized he hadn't checked the surveillance camera on Zhen Huan for a while. The thought made him itchy, and he figured that this was probably the period when the female lead and the civet cat's relationship was rapidly heating up, and the tug-of-war between them must be quite interesting.

He turned on the monitor on a whim, but what he saw on it completely stunned him.

No, during the period when your relationship was heating up, how did you manage to accelerate and overtake others on a curve?

Hongzhao rubbed his eyes. If he wasn't mistaken, Huanbi was lying on Zhen Huan's stomach, calling her "little nephew."

In that moment of blankness, he suddenly realized a truth—you can't stop watching a TV series, otherwise you really won't be able to follow the plot at all.

Then… Hongzhao secretly glanced at his father. He figured his father would be going to see Zhen Huan at Ganlu Temple in a month. What if he saw a woman with a noticeable pregnant belly, or… what if he saw his seventeenth brother?

Hongzhao found the thought of such a scene incredibly exciting.