Chapter 22: Swing

A regular visitor arrived in the Weiyang Palace.

The empress dowager lived in the deep palace for a long time, exempted from the daily visits of the concubines, and took care of flowers and plants, rarely participating in the affairs of the harem.

She lived her own simple life, and the years did not leave many traces on her face. She was still in her prime, but instead had a mature charm. Her every frown and smile exuded a self-satisfied charm.

She smiled and said in a doting tone, "My prince, it's rare for you to come so early to pay your respects to me. Tell me, have you gotten into trouble?"

Xin Mingzhe was like a child who had not grown up in front of the Queen Mother. He stuck to her side and said in a very intimate tone, "Of course I miss you, Queen Mother."

The Queen Mother stroked the leaves of the potted plant in front of her with her fingers and smiled: "I don't know you yet. You must have encountered difficulties, otherwise how could your mouth be so sweet."

Xin Mingzhe smiled lightly and agreed directly.

"Let me guess, what difficulties have you encountered?" The Queen Mother flicked the leaves with her fingers, her lips curled, her eyes smiling: "Could it be..., you have taken a fancy to a girl and want to marry her? Tell me, I will listen to you and make the decision for you."

Xin Mingzhe tactfully handed over a small shovel and said with a grin, "You can't hide anything from your mother. My son has indeed encountered difficulties, but it's not about getting married."

"You know, mother, that my son hasn't found the person he loves yet and doesn't want to get married for the time being!"

The nail-dyed slender hand took the golden spatula and tapped him on the head gently: "You are not young anymore. How can you live without a close friend by your side?"

"Tell me, what's the problem that requires you to come to my place?"

Xin Mingzhe feigned pain, hissed, and said with a wry smile, "I know Mother rarely interferes in harem affairs, but my son grew up with Sister Qingya, and I simply can't bear to see her suffer in the Dali Temple."

He studied the expression on the Queen Mother's face and continued, "I know that my brother has always listened to me since he was young. I want you to persuade him to spare Sister Qingya."

The Queen Mother paused while loosening the soil with the shovel, her narrow eyes slightly narrowed, and it was unknown what she was thinking.

"Sister Qingya was confused for a moment..." Xin Mingzhe swallowed the words like witchcraft and sorcery, "She truly knows she's wrong."

The Queen Mother continued to loosen the soil, frowned, and said, "You are all grown up now. Don't call Concubine Yu Qingya sister like you did when you were little. She is your sister-in-law."

"You should respectfully address her as Empress Yu."

When Xin Mingzhe heard the word "Emperor's sister-in-law", his heart skipped a beat. He blinked guiltily and secretly observed his mother's expression. He almost thought that his mother knew about their immoral relationship.

After confirming that it was not his mother taking the opportunity to criticize him, Xin Mingzhe secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and his rapid heartbeat finally slowed down.

Empress Yu!

If I hadn't been so young back then, Sister Qingya should have married me instead of my brother. I felt extremely bitter and my eyes dimmed for a moment.

The Queen Mother didn't notice Xin Mingzhe's unusual behavior. After a moment's thought, she slowly spoke, "I have heard some rumors about Concubine Yu. Since you've asked me to plead with you, I can try to persuade the Emperor to allow her to return to the palace from the Dali Temple."

Then, the two of them chatted and laughed for a while, and after finishing their meal together, Xin Mingzhe left Weiyang Palace.

After he left, the Queen Mother looked at the lush green potted plant and asked, "How long has it been since Concubine Yu left the palace and entered the Dali Temple?"

The palace attendant behind her said, "Replying to the Queen Mother, it has been more than half a month."

The Queen Mother stood up and pinched off a slightly longer leaf with her slender fingernails. She said with a half-smile, "It's time."

"Ever since Concubine Yu was imprisoned, it seems like there is a new imperial teacher in the palace." The empress dowager smiled kindly, but the smile did not reach her eyes.

"I heard that she predicted the secrets of heaven and made a prophecy in the court. Not only did she predict that General Luo would be in trouble, but she also brought down Lord Feng."

"Rumor has it that this Imperial Master is an extremely beautiful woman, but she seemed to have appeared out of nowhere after Concubine Yu was imprisoned."

"I want to meet this Imperial Master."

…

The warm sun made her feel warm, and Shen Tingyu fell asleep in a daze. When she woke up, she found herself suddenly back in the miniature palace, sleeping in her small bed.

She was stunned for a second. How did she come back and sleep in the small rocking chair outside the courtyard of the miniature palace? Could it be that... the tyrant brought her back?

Yes, the only person who can bring her back without waking her up is the tyrant.

But what's strange is how he knew which tree and branch she fell asleep on, as if he had installed a positioning system on her body.

"what happened?"

Shen Tingyu glanced around casually, covered her mouth, and exclaimed in surprise: "Is there a thief in the house?!"

She quickly stood up. The objects in the miniature palace were in disarray, all shifted from their original positions, as if they had been hit by a tornado.

The swing in the yard was also broken, with the rope broken and lying on the ground, looking a little dilapidated.

She moved the screen back to its original position, picked up the stool that had fallen to the ground with confusion, and resigned herself to putting all the messy things back in their original places. Fortunately, some of them were firmly fixed.

She spent a long time putting the ornaments back in place one by one, and she was so tired that she was out of breath.

"A palace with only me doesn't seem like much fun. Living alone is nice, but cleaning it by myself is just... exhausting."

In the study.

A corner of the wood was cut off. The tyrant angrily threw the wood in his hand to the ground and said coldly: "Failed again."

There were also countless pieces of wood broken into different shapes and countless tiny wood chips on the ground.

On the table stood an exquisitely carved swing with armrests, which he had ordered the craftsmen to make a new one.

Compared with Zhu Yu, the swing in his hand at this moment can only be regarded as an ugly piece of rotten wood, which is not comparable at all.

A quarter of an hour later.

"Damn it, I still failed!"

The last swing was crushed into pieces by his internal force. Xin Hongying was completely furious. "It's just a small swing, but it's so difficult."

This time, Gao Tang's eyes were full of smiles as he stood aside calmly, "Your Majesty, how about you start with the simplest swing?"

His Majesty has been furious at least dozens of times in order to make an exquisite swing, and Gao Tang has become somewhat immune to it.

Holding the carving knife, Xin Hongying suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "Shut up, I don't believe I would be stumped by a small swing. How can a simple swing compare to an exquisite swing?"

"How perfunctory! How can I give it to you as a gift?" After saying that, he stared at the swing he had just made in his hand, frowning so hard that it looked like it could pinch a fly to death.

He opened his thin lips slightly and said slowly, "How ugly! It's so ugly."

Finally, he accepted his fate and started with the simplest swing, with his eyebrows furrowed and looking serious as if he was going to fight.

Suddenly, a secret guard came out from the corner, knelt respectfully on the ground, and said coldly: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother went to the direction of the Star Observatory."

Ever since the Imperial Master encountered the assassin, there have been nearly 10% more imperial guards near the Observatory, and there are also special secret guards who are watching every move of the Observatory and reporting to His Majesty if there is any disturbance.