Chapter 43: Only when you are full can you have the energy to fight in the palace

Xu Mubai's eyes trembled, and his already red cheeks turned even redder in an instant.

But when Su Yunyao walked past him, he could clearly smell the sweet scent of alcohol on her body.

The eldest princess is drinking again?

Is it the Dali Temple Shaoqing whom I met at lunch today?

It seemed that the eldest princess also got drunk with him last night.

The hand at Xu Mubai's side slowly tightened.

He followed Su Yunyao into Jinjing Tower.

It was just after dinner, and the restaurant was at its busiest.

Su Yunyao went straight to the private room on the second floor.

The waiter cut some fruit and brought her a plate of crab roe pastries, which she usually loved to eat.

Su Yunyao picked up a crab roe cake and took a bite. "Does the store usually use these to entertain customers?"

Xu Mubai was startled when he heard this, "No."

"Then why is it that no matter when I come here, I can always eat crab cakes? Do you always have these in your store?"

Xu Mubai was silent for a while. "There's a pastry shop next door. Every time the princess comes here, she asks someone to buy some of her favorite pastries."

"So, you can remember this princess's taste?"

I thought of the crab roe pastry I ate at the Princess Mansion today.

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Xu Mubai's face. "Since I work for the princess, I naturally have to remember her preferences carefully. However, the cakes at Mixiangzhai cannot compare with those at the princess's mansion."

"No." Su Yunyao took a bite of the cake in her hand. "This princess likes it very much."

Xu Mubai's eyes trembled, "Princess, you came here at this time, is there something you want me to do?"

"The Queen's birthday is coming up in a few days. Most of the things in my storeroom were gifts from my younger brother. I can't bring myself to give the things my younger brother gave me from the palace to the Queen, so I thought I'd come to Jinjing Tower to see if there's anything suitable."

Upon hearing this, Xu Mubai took the key and went to the warehouse himself.

Half a cup of tea.

The waiter came in behind him, carrying a tray.

Three different gold objects were placed on three trays in sequence.

After the waiter put down the things, Xu Mubai started to introduce them, "Princess, how do you think of these three?"

"The Hibiscus Flower Golden Cup has a petal-shaped mouth that looks like a blooming hibiscus flower. The relief is delicate and the workmanship is excellent."

"A gold comb with a peony pattern. The comb body is decorated with three blooming peonies and two buds, complemented by winding branches and leaves, creating a sparse and elegant look."

The last one is the pure gold Guanyin statue, which speaks for itself.

The women in the harem care most about offspring. Although the queen holds a high position, she has been childless for many years.

If one wants to live a peaceful life in the harem, no matter how much favor one has, it cannot compare to a child. In addition, the emperor is a workaholic, and he enters the harem very few times a month.

I guess this is apart from the rule set by our ancestors that the emperor must stay overnight in the queen's palace on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month.

Not to mention giving birth to a child, the queen could hardly even see the emperor on a daily basis.

"Princess, are any of these to your liking?" Xu Mubai asked.

Su Yunyao thought about it seriously and said, "Let's just go with that bowl. As the saying goes, only when you are full can you have the energy to fight in the palace."

Xu Mubai: ...

pearl:……

Is there such a saying?

It was getting late, and after picking out a satisfactory gift, Su Yunyao had no plans to stay in Jinjinglou any longer, so she asked Zhenzhu to take the gift box and prepared to leave.

Just as they reached the door of Jinjing Tower, a group of children aged fifteen or sixteen suddenly rushed out from outside, snatched the wooden box from Zhenzhu's arms and ran away.

Su Yunyao was also pushed and staggered, but fortunately she was supported by Xu Mubai who came out right behind her.

The guard caught up with him in a moment.

But the thief who stole the things had accomplices, and they entangled the guards one by one.

Just as the thief was about to disappear from everyone's sight, he seemed to be tripped by something, stumbled and fell, and the wooden box in his hand was thrown far away.

He was lying on the ground with a grim face, one hand covering his leg, seemingly in great pain, rolling on the ground.

Su Yunyao quickly walked in front of him and looked down at him, "Your grandmother, you are so brave, you actually snatched it from me."

The thief who stole the things seemed to have not heard Su Yunyao's words at all. He just hugged his legs and groaned in pain.

Only then did Su Yunyao realize that his pants at the knees were soaked with blood.

It doesn't look like he fell by himself.

It seems more like...

Su Yunyao looked up and around. The guard had just been entangled by his accomplices and had no chance to use his hidden weapons.

Then the only possibility is that she has secret guards around her?

When did the emperor place secret guards around her? How come she didn't know?

"Miss, please send him to the government!" Xu Mubai said, following closely behind. "It's too chaotic here. Miss, you should return home early. I will handle the rest."

After Su Yunyao was certain in her mind that there were secret guards following her, she was not at all panicked by the small incident involving a few petty thieves.

"Take them to the Dali Temple. I want to see who gave them such courage!"

Dali Temple?

The thief, who was in so much pain that he was seeing stars, stopped rolling on the ground when he heard the word "Dali Temple".

"My dear lady, I just stole your things. There's no need to send you to the Dali Temple, right?"

Su Yunyao sneered, "Why? You're not sending him to the Dali Temple, but to Shengjing Prefecture. Do you have any acquaintances in Shengjing Prefecture?"

When the thief heard this, a glint of brilliance flashed in his eyes.

"Ha." Su Yunyao sneered, "Isn't it true that I guessed it right?"

"What... what do you mean by acquaintances? I... I don't understand what you are talking about. Whose Dali Temple cares about trivial matters like robbery?"

Su Yunyao slowly leaned forward, a sneer rising from the corner of her lips: "What a coincidence, my Dali Temple really is in charge!"

"You...your Dali Temple?"

The thief glanced at her coldly and stopped talking.

He felt that he must have gone out without checking the almanac today, so how could he have robbed a madman.

"Take him away and take him to the Dali Temple!"

The thief was not at all panicked. No one would care if he went to the Dali Temple anyway, and he would eventually end up in Shengjing Prefecture.

It would be a waste of time to go.

"Ah...what are you doing? Why are you pulling me?"

"I'm already so injured, won't you let me go by carriage?"

"Are you human beings...ah...ah...it hurts, it hurts...ah..."

The thief was dragged by the guards, and his heart-wrenching cries filled the entire night sky of Shengjing.

Arrived at the gate of Dali Temple.

Su Yunyao got off the carriage. Just as Zhenzhu was about to take out the badge of the princess's mansion, she was stopped by Su Yunyao.

She said to a guard standing at the door, "Go and call Lu Mingfeng out."

The guard looked her up and down and asked, "Who are you? How dare you address our Shaoqing by his name?"

"Me?" Su Yunyao thought seriously, "Just say that his eldest uncle's son's uncle's uncle's uncle's uncle's cousin has something to ask him."