The ministers looked at Yun Duoduo with extremely unfriendly, sharp, thorny, and seemingly hateful gazes. The sight of so many eyes shooting at her at once made Yun Duoduo shudder and feel a chill run down her spine.

They seemed convinced that the heavy snow and natural disasters in Wusun were caused by Yun Duoduo, that the cattle, horses, and sheep of Wusun were killed by Yun Duoduo, and that the refugees of Wusun were forced to rush to the border at Yun Duoduo's instigation.

Yun Duoduo pouted in dissatisfaction, even though she had compared the loyal ministers who were famous throughout history to the ministers present.

They don't deserve it!

[He's a real opportunist, always changing his mind. This Zhen Taishi is a complete liar, spouting nonsense.]

[How can a mere baby like her possess such immense power?! She can even influence matters concerning Wusun.]

So, she can control the people of other countries without ever leaving her home?

She hadn't done anything to anyone; this trouble just came out of nowhere.

The ministers present reacted in various ways.

Some were led astray by Zhen Taishi's words, some looked at the little princess with dissatisfaction, some remained indifferent and ate the food on their plates without a care, while others pondered something with deep eyes.

Xiao Jinyu sat at the very back of the Xiao family. He looked at everything in front of him with suspicion and listened to the words of the Vice Minister of Rites and Grand Historian Zhen. He still didn't understand what the death of the cattle and horses of Wusun and the influx of Wusun refugees into Nanyang had to do with the little princess.

How could the little princess, who spends all her time in Fu Shuang Palace, possibly be involved in those kinds of things?

Sun Huohuo was nestled beside Sun Ren's legs, licking his sweet soup, when he suddenly noticed that his father's chopsticks had stopped moving and he was no longer giving him sweet cakes. He looked up at the main hall of Anqing Palace and wondered why it was suddenly so quiet.

He gently tugged at Sun Ren's sleeve, "Daddy, sugar cake..."

Grandma's soft voice went unanswered. Sun Ren was looking at Yun Beiye with a complicated expression. [Tonight's situation is a bit tricky. Sigh, I finally had a daughter, and now there's so much trouble. These people just won't stop!]

[They won't even let us enjoy a proper New Year's Eve dinner! It's so frustrating!]

Xue Deyi sat in front of the Xue family, his position being to the left and behind the Left Prime Minister Xue Guangjin.

He was drinking soup when he heard an unfamiliar minister say that the little princess he was protecting was involved with the affairs of Wusun, and the minister's tone was unfriendly, suggesting that he was trying to incite public sentiment.

He calmly placed the soup bowl on the table, placed his hand on Hongying's spear, and stared intently at Zhen Taishi.

Is this guy asking for trouble?

Protecting the little princess was the first task His Majesty entrusted to him, and he would not allow anyone to stop him from completing the mission.

Xue Guangjin seemed to anticipate his grandson's reaction, so he turned back to look at him and gently patted Xue Deyi's hand, signaling him not to act rashly.

Yun Beiye looked at Zhen Taishi coldly, pondering what he was really up to.

"Grand Historian Zhen wants to use money to appease the people of Wusun. Does the Bureau of Astronomy intend to donate some money to the court as a way to appease Wusun?" Yun Beiye asked coldly.

"Or is it that Grand Historian Zhen wants to go to Wusun to serve as an official?" Yun Beiye recalled how this guy became a Grand Historian in the first place. What a traitor!

"Your Majesty, uh, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that as the princess of Nanyang, the little princess should set an example, shouldn't she?" When Grand Historian Zhen heard that he was asked to pay, he immediately became unhappy. He scratched his head and said with a forced smile.

Empress Zhaoyuan looked at Zhen Taishi, who was using the little princess as a target, and felt very contemptuous. What a big man he was, making such a fuss, not even sparing a little girl. During the New Year, he was just adding to people's troubles.

She couldn't stand it anymore. What was Zhen Taishi doing, stirring up trouble and directing everyone's anger towards a baby?!

"Grand Historian Zhen, I am not in a position to interfere in matters of state, but since this concerns the little princess, I, as her mother, have a few words to say, and also to clarify the situation you have described."

"The money for buying flowers and honey for the little princess came from my dowry from my family, and it did not come from the court's money."

"Hmph, I've really seen something today. I never expected that a mother spending a little money on her child would make outsiders envious!!" Empress Zhaoyuan retorted, her words utterly irritating to Zhen Taishi.

When Empress Zhaoyuan learned that the little princess loved meat soup, she instructed the imperial kitchen to prepare different kinds of meat soup at all times, so that Yun Duoduo could have a variety of dishes to drink.

When she learned that Yun Beiye had ordered Eunuch Zhao to search for fresh flowers all over the country, she felt that this was something that she, the Empress, and her mother should do. Moreover, she had extensive connections and knew better than Zhao Zhongquan where to buy good flowers with abundant nectar, so she took on the task herself.

Empress Zhaoyuan snorted coldly and continued, "What, Grand Historian Zhen, do you want me to cover the cost of buying beautiful women, opening villas, and keeping concubines?!"

Shameless thing!

Empress Zhaoyuan cursed inwardly.

Zhen Taishi was a womanizer, but his wife was a shrew. So he could only secretly keep concubines in a villa outside the capital. This kind of gossip could be kept secret for a while, but not forever. The whole capital knew about his little hobby.

"Your Majesty, that's not what I meant," Zhen Taishi retorted, bowing his head, hoping that Empress Zhaoyuan would give him some face.

"Get lost! Stop yelling and screaming here. Look at your stupid face! You're just a half-empty bottle... You dare to gossip about the princess in this hall?" (Xiongse, a Northeastern dialect term for a foolish appearance)

As soon as she uttered the words, Empress Zhaoyuan immediately covered her mouth with both hands. She couldn't hold back for a moment, and only realized after the words left her mouth that all the ministers in the court were in Anqing Hall and had heard her cursing.

Yun Duoduo twitched the corner of her mouth. This must be a social disaster scene, right?

However, Empress Zhaoyuan obviously didn't care about other people's opinions. She glanced at Yun Beiye and, seeing that he wasn't angry, cleared her throat and continued, "Also, I haven't finished yet. The dress this little princess is wearing is a new dress for the New Year, which was also a gift from the Empress Dowager."

"What, Grand Historian Zhen? You're allowed to wear a new fox fur cloak, but our Princess Duoduo, a princess of the nation, isn't even allowed to wear a new dress?!" Empress Zhaoyuan looked at the fox fur cloak on Grand Historian Zhen and mocked him mercilessly.

It's also because Grand Historian Zhen is a show-off and ostentatious person. The Anqing Palace was already warm and cozy with charcoal fire burning inside, but he insisted on wearing that fluffy cloak all the time, which attracted a lot of attention.

"You are a court official from Nanyang, why not donate your entire fortune to the court and set an example?!" Empress Zhaoyuan suggested.