Emperor Shang Xiche thought about it all night, and the next morning after court, he went to Cixi Palace.

After hearing the Emperor recount the destruction of Songjiazhuang yesterday, the Empress Dowager pondered for a long time before saying, "Your Majesty's considerations are thorough. At this moment, the Ninth Prince is indeed untouchable; on the contrary, we should try to win him over."

“He already commands a large army and wields immense power. How can we possibly win him over?” Shang Xiche frowned.

"The Ninth Prince has been childless, and the Ninth Princess has been in the palace for nearly half a year without any news; moreover, I have heard that in the past six months, the original concubines in the Ninth Prince's palace have either died or been punished, leaving only a few. This time, we will select a few good ones to send to him." The Empress Dowager picked up her teacup, stirred the tea foam, took a sip, and then slowly said, "Now that Zhaoping is grown up, the Emperor knows about her concerns, and it is time to bring this up for discussion."

Shang Xiche frowned even more: "Sending women to the Ninth Prince's residence? This tactic has been used for so many years without success, why bother using it now? Besides, the timing of Zhaoping entering the Ninth Prince's residence now is not good either."

"What didn't work in previous years might work now; having the Emperor discuss Zhaoping's matter now is just to lay the groundwork for the Ninth Prince and that bandit, so that Zhaoping can enter the Ninth Prince's residence more smoothly in the future. By then, the Ninth Prince will also have experienced matters of love and sex, and considering Zhaoping's status, he will surely..." The Empress Dowager stopped herself from saying anything more.

The emperor understood and did not press further, nodding repeatedly: "The Empress Dowager has a long-term vision regarding matters of the inner quarters. I will have someone arrange it."

"There's no need to make special arrangements; there's an opportunity right now," the Empress Dowager said calmly.

"Mother means it's your birthday... How can this be allowed..."

“What’s wrong with that? As long as Your Majesty is pleased, I don’t mind if I don’t celebrate my birthday. Besides, every year there are always people coming and going on my birthday. If I can take the opportunity to do something practical, I will feel at ease.”

In less than three hours.

The news that the Emperor and Empress were going to hold a birthday banquet for the Empress Dowager this year spread to the homes of all the imperial relatives, civil and military officials.

This is nothing like Consort Yin's birthday banquet, which was a major event celebrated by the whole country.

The Duke of Chen's mansion naturally received this news as well.

Chen Ziying, who was under house arrest by the Empress, was overjoyed. As a direct descendant of the imperial family, she was required to attend such an occasion, which meant that her house arrest would be lifted on that day!

Lady Chen was so angry these past two days that she was almost depressed to death, and her mouth was full of blisters, which was a sign of her being extremely agitated.

Seeing Chen Ziying's smug and silly expression because she could go out and have fun made me feel even more exhausted.

How could she have given birth to such a brainless idiot!

That damned Xiong Yingxiang, even ten million taels of silver couldn't shut him up, and today he actually opened an internal audit!

That was clearly patting her face to tell her that the money wasn't enough, and if she wasn't sincere, he was going to get serious!

Lady Chen guessed that he meant to triple the amount!

As if things weren't going to go wrong, she received news that the Empress Dowager was going to hold a grand birthday banquet. Lady Chen felt as if she could see a large amount of silver flowing out of her fingers, and she vomited blood on the spot.

"Mother! Mother, what's wrong?" Chen Ziying quickly stepped forward to support Lady Chen, and comforted her, "Mother, the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet is a good opportunity for us to ease the tension between us and the Empress Dowager. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"You idiot, get back to your own room and stay there!" Lady Chen finally couldn't help but yell.