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Two days later, at dawn.
The weather wasn't good; it was gloomy.
A light drizzle was falling from the sky.
Su Tiyue left the palace early and went straight to the Su residence.
Xiao Heye, having nothing else to do, originally planned to return to Qiushui Residence to visit his godfather and Hanzhou.
But as soon as he stepped out of the front courtyard of Yelan Pavilion, he ran into a young eunuch from Yongshou Palace, who said that the Empress Dowager had asked him to come over.
Xiao Heye hesitated for a moment, but finally moved to Yongshou Palace.
He was so clever that he could probably guess why the Empress Dowager was so eager to see him.
Right now, what's giving Empress Dowager Chen Mei the biggest headache is the Zhou Ziqi incident.
In Shen Mei's eyes, the greatest threat to the emperor was probably this posthumous child of the late emperor.
The King of Huainan suddenly returned to Yong'an, making it clear that he wanted to protect Zhou Ziqi.
The scheming involved is probably not just about helping the emperor.
The more you can't see through something, the more panicked you become.
When people are panicked and don't know what to do, they may do some extreme things.
The seed of malice in Shen Mei's heart slowly took root and sprouted, and the thought grew stronger as the Prince of Huainan returned to the palace.
The question for Zhou Ziqi is no longer whether he should stay in the palace.
The question now is whether or not he should be allowed to remain in this world...
Shen Mei is the Empress Dowager, the Emperor's birth mother, and the mistress of the harem.
She had to maintain that dignified, virtuous, and elegant image, fearing it might bring criticism to her son. Therefore, she walked a precarious path in the harem.
Those shady things should naturally be left to others to do.
However, when someone else did it, Chen Mei hesitated and couldn't rest easy.
After much deliberation, he finally turned his attention to the all-powerful Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Shen Mei had naturally heard about the rumors surrounding Xiao Heye and Consort Su Tiyue.
After the late emperor passed away, Shen Mei turned a blind eye to many things, focusing solely on paving the way for Zhou Tingyue.
To put it simply, the reason why Shen Mei took the initiative to suggest that Su Tiyue go home to visit her family on her birthday was largely to get closer to Xiao Heye.
Everyone in the palace knows this.
Xiao Heye was a swift and decisive blade; wiping out an entire family was as easy as snapping his fingers.
In Shen Mei's mind, the only person in the world who could eliminate Zhou Ziqi and keep this matter completely secret was Xiao Heye.
...
Xiao Heye did not stay at Yongshou Palace for long, leaving after only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Just as he was leaving, he encountered a young woman he didn't recognize at the entrance of Yongshou Palace.
A maid was holding an umbrella for her as the two walked towards each other.
A light drizzle was falling outside. Xiao Heye was dressed in white, with a jade belt around his waist. He was tall, slender, and imposing.
That face had delicate, well-defined features, and a faint, aloof aura about keeping people at a distance.
He was only holding a black gilded folding fan, and was not using an umbrella.
As he brushed past the woman, Xiao Heye remained aloof, his eyes fixed straight ahead, not giving her a second glance.
The woman, on the other hand, had her gaze fixed on Xiao Heye ever since she saw him, never looking away for even a moment.
Even after Xiao Heye's figure had disappeared at the end of the road, she remained standing still, without moving an inch.
She had seen many handsome and dashing men in the world, but rarely had she seen a man as aloof and eccentric as this, like a banished immortal.
The maid holding the umbrella beside her noticed that she was distracted and whispered a reminder, "Miss, the Empress Dowager is still waiting for you inside."
Jiang Min snapped out of her daze, her eyes sparkling with joy: "Chuntao, I can go see the Empress Dowager myself. Could you secretly find out who that person who just passed by was?"
The maid Chun Tao looked bewildered: "Huh?"
"What do you mean 'huh'? Hurry up and come back!"
"Oh." Chun Tao nodded. Although she didn't quite understand, she could only obediently do what her master had instructed.
Seeing that Chun Tao had walked away, Jiang Min turned around and continued walking towards Yongshou Palace.
She lowered her head, her slender, fair fingers gently stroking her slightly flushed cheeks. Just thinking about that handsome, aloof face from earlier made her heart pound like a deer.
Jiang Min was born into a wealthy and powerful family. She had a graceful figure, a beautiful face, and was exceptionally intelligent.
The scions of prominent families who came to propose marriage almost wore down the threshold of the Jiang family mansion.
But how could Jiang Min possibly look down on those people?
Now that the Empress Dowager intends to be close to the Jiang family, she has granted Jiang Min the special privilege of freely entering and leaving the palace, and her affection for her is obvious. The intention behind this is all too clear.
Jiang Min is intelligent and quick-witted; she already knows what's good for her.
If I make no mistakes, once the national mourning period is over, I will very likely become the future empress.
She wanted to be empress, but she was also very interested in the man she had just met.
Upon closer examination, these two things do not seem to conflict.
Faced with such a stunning beauty, he didn't even glance at Jiang Min once.
That's quite interesting...
Jiang Min smiled and walked inside with light steps.
*
Yong'an City, Su Mansion.
Back home, Su Tiyue chatted with her mother, Madam Yang, in her room for a while. Before they had exchanged more than a few words, Xiao Jue ran in and said in her childish voice, "Auntie, can you come with me to the lotus pond to feed the fish? My mother had lots of little fish put in there a few days ago, it's so lively there..."
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