Five days later.

Under the supervision of Consort De, a unique flower banquet was launched.

Those young ladies from noble families who were invited to the Hundred Flowers Banquet were all dressed up in their finest attire, as if today were the Emperor's selection contest. In reality, it was a real pity that Guan Zhiyue's flowers were in full bloom and no one was watching them. Otherwise, Guan Zhiyue would not have gone to such lengths to organize this strange thing.

Guan Zhiyue watched as Bilian walked in from outside and asked with some lack of interest, "So, has the banquet started yet?"

Bilian replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, it has already begun. We are just waiting for Your Majesty to come and take a look!"

Guan Zhiyue waved her hand dismissively, saying, "I'm not going. I have absolutely no interest in that kind of thing. You go by yourself!"

Bilian shook her head like a rattle drum and waved her hand, saying, "I'm not going! Humph, Your Majesty, you don't know, those women are all sharp-tongued and not one of them is easy to get along with."

Guan Zhiyue yawned, waved the book in her hand, and turned her neck wearily, saying, "I'm exhausted! This is simply inhuman!"

"Your Majesty, what are you doing?" Bilian asked curiously, but upon closer inspection, well, forgive her for speaking frankly!

Is this some kind of mysterious book? Why is it different from the books she's seen?

"Your Majesty, I'm currently preparing the rose exam papers. This group of students will have been in school for a month soon. At the end of the month, I want to give them a set of papers to test their learning progress and, incidentally, examine the teachers' teaching methods."

"So, your queen is currently preparing exam questions, but I still don't know how to do it properly."

Guan Zhiyue had almost worn out her foreign language books and memorized all the punctuation marks, but she still didn't know how to create a reasonable question.

Unfortunately, Bilian couldn't help her. She had seen the other teachers' test questions, and they were too easy. This made it impossible to assess the students' level and the limits of their knowledge.

Guan Zhiyue was deep in thought under the big tree in the backyard, at the stone table! Now look what's happened!

Su Yan, who was by Consort De's side, came to the Cold Palace and stood at the main gate, respectfully looking at Bi Lian.

"Sister Suyan, what brings you here?" Bilian asked softly.

Su Yan said, "This servant is here on the orders of Consort De to invite Her Majesty the Empress to attend today's Hundred Flowers Banquet."

Bilian declined, saying, "I'm sorry to trouble you, Sister Suyan, but Her Majesty the Empress is currently preparing exam papers for the students at the Foreign Languages ​​Institute and is unable to come. I hope you will pass on this message to Consort De."

Su Yan frowned slightly, her displeasure barely perceptible, and looked at Bi Lian, saying, "Sister Bi Lian, Consort De and the ladies of various noble families are currently waiting for Her Majesty the Empress's arrival!"

Bilian found these kinds of activities very troublesome, as they always seemed to be there to cause trouble. Unable to refuse any longer, she could only say, "Then allow this servant to go in and report to Her Majesty the Empress."

Su Yan quickly said, "Why don't I go with Sister Bi Lian? This is also what I should do to pay my respects to Her Majesty the Empress."

Before Bilian could refuse, Suyan strode into the Cold Palace. This was her first time in the Cold Palace. Many people said that the treatment in the Cold Palace was better than in other palaces. The Empress was very caring towards the servants, and they even received additional monthly stipends. In addition to other income, there were occasional bonuses.

"Sister Suyan, Her Majesty the Empress is busy. Your sudden intrusion will disturb her," Bilian said anxiously as she followed behind.

Following the palace's layout, Su Yan made her way through the maze of turns to the backyard, where she finally saw Guan Zhiyue sitting at a stone table under a large tree, looking at a book in her hand.

"This servant greets Your Majesty the Empress." Su Yan quickly knelt down to pay her respects to Guan Zhiyue.

Bilian chased after Guan Zhiyue from outside and knelt down in front of her with a thud. Guan Zhiyue didn't even raise her head and remained as if she were in deep meditation, as if she were oblivious to everything else and had only studied the classics all her life.

"Your Majesty..."

Su Yan called out softly, but found that Guan Zhiyue was unmoved. She was just quietly flipping through the book in her hand, and occasionally she would take a pen and write something on the paper placed on the stone table in front of her, but she would not turn her head to look at the two people kneeling on the ground.

Seeing her mistress acting this way, Bilian figured she must be angry, so she didn't say anything and just silently knelt on the ground.

Guan Zhiyue already knew when Su Yan stepped into the Cold Palace. She was a person with a spatial ability. Xiao Tuantuan had already told her that someone was coming in a menacing manner. She was the empress of a country, how could she allow a mere servant to act so presumptuously on her territory?

This is just a punishment for her, a way to teach her a lesson. Not everyone is someone she can mess with. She can be unrestrained and have a lot of influence in Chonghua Palace, but she can't do that in the Cold Palace.

Su Yan was also surprised that the Empress would ignore her completely. She was injured, and this was simply disregarding Consort De. Otherwise, how could the Empress dare to punish her by making her kneel like this?

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, when Bilian and Suyan were both swaying unsteadily, Guan Zhiyue turned around and said with feigned surprise, "Oh dear, why are you kneeling on the ground?"

"Get up quickly."

"Who are you? You look so unfamiliar to me!" Guan Zhiyue asked, pretending not to recognize her.

Su Yan quickly curtsied and said, "Your Majesty, I am a maidservant of Consort De. I have come today on Consort De's orders to invite Your Majesty to the Hundred Flowers Banquet. The ladies and young ladies of various families, as well as the concubines of the harem, are all waiting for Your Majesty's arrival."

Guan Zhiyue nodded in understanding and said, "Oh, I see! I see!"

"But I have no time to worry about that. What should I do? Maybe I shouldn't go... well..."

"Su Yan."

Guan Zhiyue frowned in displeasure. Someone actually interrupted her while she was speaking. Where was the etiquette?

"Bilian, slap yourself!" Guan Zhiyue said with a look of disgust.

Su Yan knelt down again with a thud, and immediately slapped herself hard across the face. How could she be so annoying!

"I don't like others interrupting me. I don't know how Consort De educated you, but it just won't work here. I won't go today. I'll go back and tell Consort De to teach her servants properly and not embarrass her."

Su Yan quickly kowtowed repeatedly to show that she understood and would never dare to do it again, before humbly leaving the Cold Palace.

Bilian looked at Guan Zhiyue with a wronged expression and said, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with these people? They're always trying to make you uncomfortable."

"If your skin is itchy, it's simply because you've eaten too much and are full."

"Sigh, wherever there are women, there's a battlefield! Luckily, I don't have to attend any banquets, otherwise I don't know how long I'd have to deal with these gossipy people!" Guan Zhiyue closed the book in her hand, looking disgusted.