Although some ministers knew that Gu Jingchun was the Crown Prince's man.

However, in their eyes, Gu Jingchun was raised in the Eastern Palace and still has no official title, so he must not be favored by the Crown Prince, and may have already grown tired of him.

Naturally, they wouldn't take Gu Jingchun seriously.

The Dragon Boat Festival is just around the corner.

As is customary, a palace banquet is held during the Dragon Boat Festival, which is attended by all high-ranking officials and dignitaries.

Now that Shen Hechuan is acting as regent, he originally did not want to hold this banquet.

After all, he had been too busy lately and hadn't had much time alone with Gu Jingchun.

Therefore, he wanted to take this opportunity to take Gu Jingchun out for some fun, and more importantly, he wanted to formally confirm his feelings for Gu Jingchun.

However, these court officials did not want to let go of this opportunity to allow their daughters to get closer to Shen Hechuan.

Naturally, they tried every possible method to persuade him, even resorting to reasons such as ancestral rituals and laws.

Shen Hechuan was driven crazy by their arguing, but he eventually gave in and agreed to hold a small event.

However, the question of who would organize the banquet became a problem.

Now that the Empress has passed away and Consort Hui has been assassinated, there are only a few insignificant concubines left in the harem, and they are not qualified to organize this banquet.

The Empress Dowager was already quite old.

Shen Hechuan thought of Gu Jingchun, but Gu Jingchun's current status prevented him from directly handling the matter.

Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Shen Hechuan went to see the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager understood Shen Hechuan's thoughts and, without him having to speak, immediately said, "Don't worry, Jingchun is definitely a smart child."

"She may not be very good at these palace affairs now, but as long as she is willing to learn, she will definitely get the hang of it quickly in a few years."

"From today onwards, she will stay by my side, and I will certainly do my best to teach her."

After the Empress Dowager finished speaking, Shen Hechuan hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

He wanted to say that these affairs of the harem were a piece of cake for Gu Jingchun.

He wanted to explain, but once he started explaining, he would have to explain Gu Jingchun's identity and businesses.

So, after thinking for a moment, Shen Hechuan still didn't speak.

Anyway, once the Empress Dowager gets to know her better, she will surely understand.

However, when he got back, he still had to tell Gu Jingchun to be more careful, so as not to embarrass the Empress Dowager.

Upon learning this, Gu Jingchun did not refuse and went to Shou'an Palace the next day.

After all, she would be following Shen Hechuan in the future, and managing the affairs of the harem would be a basic task for her.

Since the Empress Dowager was willing to teach, she was naturally willing to learn.

When she arrived at Shou'an Palace, the Empress Dowager first greeted Gu Jingchun before tactfully explaining the situation to him.

"The affairs of the palace are complicated, and you will inevitably have to deal with them after you move into the East Palace."

I know you haven't done this before, and it's bound to be difficult at first, but as long as you persevere and put in the effort, you'll definitely get the hang of it quickly.

Gu Jingchun immediately nodded and bowed.

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty. I will keep it in mind."

The Empress Dowager already had a good impression of Gu Jingchun, and now seeing how sensible she was, she was even more pleased, and her voice softened considerably.

"In that case, you can start by looking at the ledgers."

As she spoke, she pointed to the several stacks of account books behind her.

The Empress Dowager deliberately created so many account books, firstly to observe Gu Jingchun's state of mind, and secondly to curb her arrogance.

So as not to let Shen Hechuan's rising status during this period cause her to lose her sense of propriety.

Gu Jingchun nodded, his expression unchanged, and immediately walked over.

The Empress Dowager was satisfied with her attitude.

He intended to go over and teach her some more, but unexpectedly, he saw Gu Jingchun rapidly flipping through the account book, page after page.

This made her frown slightly.

"You looked so fast, did you even see it clearly?"

Gu Jingchun replied respectfully, "I can see it clearly."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager frowned even more deeply.

She had previously thought Gu Jingchun was a composed person who remained unfazed even when faced with so many account books.

I never expected him to be a scoundrel.

This made her vaguely dissatisfied, so she pressed her hand on the ledger, and her voice became a little stern.

"Stop!"

The Empress Dowager's cold words reminded Gu Jingchun, who stopped what he was doing and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"I have already made it very clear to you. It is normal that you do not know how, and I will not blame you. I am here specifically to teach you."

"But you can't just fool me like that."

Do you know what this ledger represents?

"Do you know what trouble your carelessness will cause in the palace?"

"How many palace servants will lose their lives because of this?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Jingchun realized that the Empress Dowager had misunderstood him, and quickly explained:

"Your Majesty, you misunderstand. I wasn't just looking randomly; I really saw it clearly."

The Empress Dowager was even angrier upon hearing this.

"What, are you going to start lying now?"

"Given how fast you were turning the pages, how could you possibly see it clearly?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Jingchun closed the account book and handed it to the Empress Dowager.

"Your Majesty, why don't you ask Jingchun a few questions about the content of the last few pages? If Jingchun can answer them, he must have understood it clearly."

The diva exclaimed in surprise, "You mean you've memorized it all?"

Gu Jingchun nodded.

The Empress Dowager didn't believe it at all. Looking at the contents of the account book, she thought it would be good to ask some questions and also to deflate her arrogance.

Therefore, she chose to ask questions about the topics mentioned above.

But she never expected that Gu Jingchun would actually tell her everything.

She compared the information again in surprise, and after confirming that the content was correct, she deliberately asked a few more difficult questions.

But Gu Jingchun still managed to say it.

The Empress Dowager was even more surprised.

"You actually remembered all of that?"

Gu Jingchun nodded and patiently explained.

"Yes, although Jingchun comes from a poor background, he has inevitably had to do some small business in order to make a living over the years."

Later, Jingchun received help from a benefactor, and his business grew larger.

That's how I developed my ability to read account books.

The Empress Dowager suddenly realized what was happening and was quite surprised, but after the initial surprise, she looked somewhat embarrassed.

After all, she had just thought Gu Jingchun's attitude was improper and had even scolded her for it.

Fortunately, the Empress Dowager was magnanimous and apologized immediately after realizing that she had misunderstood Gu Jingchun.

"So that's how it is. I've lived for so many years, and I'm really getting more and more out of touch with reality. I actually judged you based on your background. It was my mistake, I misunderstood you."

As she spoke, she took a jade bracelet off her wrist and handed it to Gu Jingchun.

"Consider this my apology for misunderstanding you."

Gu Jingchun naturally couldn't accept it and immediately stood up to refuse.

However, the Empress Dowager insisted that she accept it.