When Dugu Pingting sent a message to Dugu Xuancheng saying that her plan had succeeded, it was exactly one hour before the hundred-day banquet was to begin.

The palace, both inside and out, was meticulously decorated and bustling with activity.

Chu Yuan and the others were brought into the palace early on. The Empress Dowager was still pouting and unhappy. "Ten days have passed. What exactly are you doing, Ling'er? It's fine if you don't bring the child into the palace to show me, but why did you even return the 108 gold bracelets that I bestowed upon you? Do you think my gifts are too meager?"

The Empress Dowager spoke with a huff, but her expression didn't seem genuinely angry.

Is it just that she's being affectionate with Dugu Ling?

Old people and children are pretty much the same.

The palace was not large, and all three of his grandsons, including Dugu Yue, had built their own residences outside the palace.

The Empress Dowager disliked getting involved with the concubines, so her days were naturally boring.

When Chu Yuan was alive, she could read scriptures to her every day. Now that Chu Yuan has left the palace, the Empress Dowager can only talk to Qin Mama a few words most of the time, or stare blankly at the new peaches outside the window.

Dugu Ling glanced at her son's bare wrist in her arms and laughed, "What are you saying, Grandmother? It's not that you dislike it, but that you dare not accept it!"

The child is still young, and the gift from the Empress Dowager is too precious; I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it.

His mother intended for his grandmother to keep the money so that it could be given to him or his bride when the child grew up and got married—it would be a respectable arrangement.

The Empress Dowager is over sixty years old this year. Considering the generally short lifespan of people in ancient times, it would be difficult for her to live until Dugu Chang is in his twenties and gets married.

But Dugu Ling's words contained this expectation, which would comfort anyone who heard them, and they would not care about the return of the gift.

Chu Yuan's actual words that day were:

Gold is extremely precious to us, especially since it was bestowed by the Empress Dowager. Its purity and style are of the highest quality. However, children have delicate skin, and wearing such things would only be a way for them to show off their wealth, without any benefit whatsoever.

This was still Chu Yuan being tactful.

In ancient times, refining techniques were not advanced, so much gold and silver was not pure and contained small amounts of harmful metals. While this had little effect on adults, it was a different story for children.

She didn't want Chang'er to be harmed by the 108 pieces of gold jewelry.

But one has to admit that Dugu Ling's words at this moment were excellent.

The Empress Dowager immediately stopped arguing and said with a smile, "Very well, I will keep it safe for Chang'er."

Dugu Ling went straight forward and placed the child in the old lady's arms. The old lady hurriedly picked up the child, but became even happier and couldn't stop smiling.

Dugu Yue, standing to the side, twitched her eyes upon seeing this.

He scoffed, "It's just a baby, what's so great about it?"

Today, Shen Youan did not enter the palace. She was in charge of maintaining order at the banquet on the long street outside the palace with Shen Kuo. Since she could not see the target of her attack, she naturally glared at Chu Yuan's family.

She thought that at least the Empress Dowager still cared about her, but unexpectedly, the attention was stolen by the young Dugu Chang. Dugu Yue's heart was ice-cold.

Chu Yuan glanced at her and said, "Princess, are you... jealous? Instead of being jealous of the child, you should hurry up and get married yourself, and give the Empress Dowager a grandson. Then you and Chang'er can have a companion."

The Empress Dowager's eyes lit up upon hearing this, "That's wonderful! I love children the most."

In my opinion, not only Yue'er's marriage, but also Ran'er's marriage must be put on the agenda.

"Even you, Yuan'er, I've prepared plenty of tonics today. Take them home after the banquet and make sure you recover from the damage caused by giving birth to Chang'er. Then, together with Yue'er and Ran'er, you can give me a few more chubby grandsons and granddaughters."

Chu Yuan, "..."

Sure enough, those who gloated over others being pressured to get married ended up being pressured to have children themselves!

Fortunately, at this moment, Eunuch Xu came to inform everyone that the banquet was almost over. All the civil and military officials and their families were already seated and waiting for the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Crown Prince and his family, the main figures of the day, to make their appearance.

Xu Risheng and Chunxiao are now a proper couple, having overcome countless difficulties to finally achieve their happy ending.

Although it is not perfect for some reasons, Sunrise is already quite satisfied and grateful.

He knew that this was all thanks to Chu Yuan's encouragement of Chunxiao, and therefore he respected Chu Yuan very much.

Chu Yuan had privately told him that if he noticed anything amiss at the banquet, he should immediately warn her.

At this moment, Chu Yuan looked at him and saw him shake his head with a slight smile.

Everything is normal.

Even so, Chu Yuan did not dare to be careless. She still asked Xia He to step forward and take the child from the Empress Dowager's arms and keep it by her side.

At the same time, she gave Dugu Ling a wink, telling him to coax and pamper the old lady a little, so that her attention wouldn't be focused on the child and backfire.

When they arrived, the emperor had already arrived, but he seemed to have just arrived, because all the ministers and their families below the stage were standing, as if they had already paid their respects but had not yet sat down.

Just then, upon hearing Eunuch Xu's chant, everyone turned around without having to go back and forth, and together with the Emperor, bowed briefly in the direction of the Empress Dowager.

"Your son greets His Majesty the Empress."

"Your Majesty, we pay our respects to the Empress Dowager. May the Empress Dowager live a thousand years! We also pay our respects to His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Crown Princess."

The Empress Dowager waved her hand, "Alright, let's be less formal. Today is my precious little Chang'er's special day, not my special day. Be casual and don't spoil the child's good fortune."

Everyone agreed, but inwardly they sighed. With a grandson, the Empress Dowager's favoritism was beyond words.

They cherished them so much that they were afraid of dropping them or melting them if they held them in their mouths.

Upon seeing Chu Yuan's attire, they became even more envious!

This princess of a fallen kingdom, who was once not favored by everyone, has now risen to the position of Crown Princess thanks to her son, and is even being pampered by the Crown Prince!

Look at their clothes and hair accessories. None of them seem to exceed the standard for the Crown Princess, yet each one is top-notch in the standard.

It can be said that, apart from the Empress Dowager, no one at today's banquet could outshine her.

Even the once most favored Dugu Yue paled in comparison!

Not to mention the others.

Such an honor might elicit only astonishment and sighs from others, but for Dugu Pingting, who came with Xiao Chengyao, it was more than just simple envy and jealousy.

Her hands were so tight inside her sleeves that they almost drew blood.

Xiao Chengyao was unaware of her true identity, and she herself dared not reveal it now.

They were afraid that Xiao Chengyao would be influenced by those messy rumors from the outside world.

Noticing her overly intense gaze, Xiao Chengyao grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing? Want to die? Lower your head!"

"I promised to show you around, so don't cause me any trouble!"

Previously, rumors were not to be believed, but at this moment, seeing Chu Yuan dressed in her finest attire, standing beside the Crown Prince, with a demeanor and presence no less impressive than his, Xiao Jing and his son believed that the pitiful princess who had once lived under someone else's roof had already undergone a complete transformation.

So, her desire to restore her kingdom is also true?