Consort Hua was terrified and retreated repeatedly. She had heard people talk about the little princess, and despite being just a little child.

She was a ruthless person. Even the emperor couldn't do anything about Prince Xiaoyao. Because Prince Xiaoyao had offended her, he was killed by a little girl in front of the civil and military officials and the emperor.

Upon hearing that the little girl had introduced herself as a princess, the women who had been surrounding Consort Hua quickly dispersed.

There were also a few women who looked rather foolish, yet they still held their heads high with arrogance, thinking to themselves, "She's just a little princess, what's so great about her compared to Consort Hua?"

"Ahem, it's all a misunderstanding. I have some matters to attend to, so I won't keep you company any longer."

As she was about to leave in a hurry, Su Muyao snorted coldly, "This royal uncle's backyard is really a mess, there are mad dogs everywhere, tsk tsk tsk, I don't know how he manages to control it."

The emperor was about to step over, but upon hearing the little princess's words, he turned and walked away with a flick of his sleeve.

"Listen to what you're saying! You're trying to drag me into everything."

Xiao Dezi nodded: "This little princess always thinks of you."

The Emperor stopped and glared at Xiao Dezi.

Su Muyao led her aunt down another path, and from a distance they saw a woman punishing a maid.

The maid staggered from the slap, her face burning with pain.

"Ah, Your Majesty, this servant really heard from the young eunuch that the Emperor is coming this way."

"You lowly maid dare to lie to me? You've been too good to me, so you just spout whatever comes to mind."

The one referred to as "Miss" is the eldest daughter of the Minister of Rites. She is over 20 years old and remains unmarried because of her willful and capricious nature, and because most people look down on her.

This trip to the palace was made possible by her wife's private brainwashing, who told her that although the emperor was quite old, his status was still there!

In addition, she was young and in the prime of her life, while the other concubines in the harem were all elderly women. How could they compare to her?

If it succeeds, then he will be second only to the emperor, above all others, and will be able to get whatever he wants.

That's why she sent her personal maid around asking around, hoping to have a chance encounter with the emperor.

Who would have thought that the maidservant beside him would be so useless!

She was told that the Emperor would pass by, but she walked back and forth for more than an hour without seeing him.

My legs were so sore from walking that I had to sit down in the pavilion to rest for a while.

With the banquet about to begin and the emperor still nowhere to be seen, she became enraged and began to beat the maidservant beside her.

Su Muyao sighed. What bad luck! Wherever she went, there were always unlucky people and things. Sigh.

The people in the pavilion looked up and saw Su Muyao and Qin Meijuan standing not far away.

Now that they had seen it, Su Muyao led her aunt into the pavilion.

"Auntie must be tired. Sit down and rest for a while. We'll go over when the banquet starts."

"Okay, sure."

The woman approached Qin Meijuan and asked, "May I ask whose family you are, sister?"

Qin Meijuan was startled by the sudden sweet voice, and then looked at Su Muyao.

Su Muyao nodded, and Qin Meijuan then said, "I am the young princess's aunt."

The woman immediately recognized the man before her as a country bumpkin, someone whose success brought prosperity to his entire family.

Unexpectedly, the young princess didn't attend the palace banquet but instead sent a country bumpkin with a little girl.

I've heard that the young princess is very capable, but she rarely attends banquets held in the palace.

Although she was a country bumpkin, she didn't dare to provoke him easily, after all, the incident involving the Prince of Nan had only happened a day ago.

She didn't hear the little girl call Qin Meijuan or Auntie at all.

Then the woman's sweet voice rang out again: "Then, sister, you can rest here for now. I'll go check on the situation over there." After saying that, she gave a simple bow and walked forward.

The palace maid who had been hit covered her face, glared fiercely at Qin Meijuan and Su Muyao, and then quickly followed her mistress.

"Yaoyao, we didn't offend that maid, did we? What did that look in her eyes mean when she left?" Qin Meijuan asked, puzzled.

"Of course, it's because we saw her being beaten and we held a grudge."

Qin Meijuan's eyes widened upon hearing Su Muyao's answer.

"It makes no sense that she doesn't hold a grudge against the person who hit her, but instead holds a grudge against us who just happened to pass by."

"That's how it is in the palace. Even if you haven't done anything, you might accidentally stumble upon something and be killed to silence you."

Qin Meijuan nodded.

They sat in the pavilion chatting idly, and then they saw that the people who had been admiring the flowers in the Imperial Garden not far away were gradually leaving.

Xia reminded her from the side, "Princess, the palace banquet is about to begin, let's go over first."

"Let's go," she said, standing up.

The banquet was held in the largest hall, which was already full of people. Men and women were seated together, and each family could bring a maximum of four people to sit together at the same time.

The small table was already laden with various fruits and delicate pastries.

Su Muyao took a look and found that they were just ordinary fruits from her own space.

This emperor is really going all out, taking out so much of what he's taken from himself!

Because the emperor had not yet arrived, the officials and their wives were still chatting and making some noise.

Led by the palace maids, Su Muyao and Qin Meijuan took their seats.

Xia was not supposed to sit down, but Su Muyao pulled her to the side as well.

He glanced around the main hall and saw that all the ministers he had met in court were also there.

They had just sat down when a sharp, high-pitched shout rang out: "The Emperor has arrived! The Empress has arrived!"

The discussions in the hall immediately ceased, and then everyone knelt down.

The emperor and empress walked in hand in hand, followed by several concubines from the harem.

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress!"

The Emperor and Empress ascended the high platform, their majestic gazes sweeping over the crowd in the hall as they addressed the assembly: "No need for formalities."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Everyone stood up and sat down again.

Su Muyao was seated in the lower left seat of the emperor, which was originally the seat of the crown prince.

However, since the Crown Prince was not present, and Su Muyao was the one with the highest status among everyone, her position was naturally arranged here.

The two princes who made the move were dissatisfied, wondering why an outsider should be allowed to sit in that position.

Since the Crown Prince is not here, then the princes should be allowed to sit here.

Although they harbored resentment, no one dared to voice it.

They knew all too well how ruthless this young mistress was; just think, even the Emperor was troubled by the carefree Prince, who was killed by her just like that.

Furthermore, that young prince not only crippled someone's hands, but also exposed their long-hidden background.

They had heard that the young prince and the princess consort were tortured to death and eventually thrown into a mass grave to be eaten by wild dogs.