Originally, Gu Yanyue planned to bring Xiao Yuntun to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager today. She had been away from the palace for several months and had not paid her respects to the Empress Dowager for several months. She must have accumulated a lot of resentment.
A few days ago, when she returned to the palace, she wanted to pay her respects to the Queen Mother first, but was stopped by Yuwen Ran, who said that the Queen Mother was angry because of the matter of Prince Xiang.
Moreover, he was dissatisfied with the fact that she, a woman, had to go to the battlefield with men and live and eat with the soldiers in the barracks for several months.
If she went to pay her respects now, she would be scolded by her.
Xiao Yuntun had a fever today, so she definitely couldn't be taken to see the Empress Dowager. She also couldn't spare the time to pay her respects to her. Gu Yanyue was afraid that the Empress Dowager would blame her later, so she asked the palace maid to run to Cixi Palace and tell her to tell the Empress Dowager that she would take Xiao Yuntun to see her after she recovered.
As soon as the empress dowager got up, she heard the palace maid from Fengqi Palace report that Xiao Yuntun had a fever today and it was not convenient to bring her to see her. After she recovered, Gu Yanyue would bring her to apologize to the empress dowager.
When the Queen Mother heard that Xiao Yuntun was sick, she could no longer sit still. She had to go to Fengqi Palace to poke Gu Yanyue in the heart. After washing up, she personally led people to Fengqi Palace.
The Queen Mother rejected the suggestion of the palace maid waiting outside Fengqi Palace to lead her in. As the Queen Mother, she wanted Gu Yanyue to come out and lead her in.
But she was also trapped in the mechanism like Yu Wenran a few days ago. She came here with "good intentions" to see her granddaughter, but she didn't expect that not only did Gu Yanyue not come out to greet her, but she couldn't even enter her hall, which made her even angrier.
"Mother!" Gu Yanyue had just sent little Yuntun back to the room to have a good rest when she heard her maid say that the queen mother had arrived. She didn't want the maid to lead her and went into the main hall of Fengqi Palace by herself. She could only hand little Yuntun to the maid who took care of her on weekdays and then rushed to the main hall by herself.
When the Queen Mother saw Gu Yanyue coming, she spoke in a sarcastic tone: "I never thought that one day I wouldn't even be able to enter the Queen's main hall."
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" Gu Yanyue bowed to the Queen Mother before explaining, "Today, my Fengqi Palace has been repeatedly attacked by assassins who have come to assassinate me and the Emperor. Seeing this, my master devised a plan for me. He installed numerous traps in my palace to slow down the assassins and make it easier for the Imperial Guards to arrive."
The Queen Mother was furious at Gu Yanyue's behavior, but Gu Yanyue was also not at fault. She had refused the maids from Fengqi Palace to lead her in, and had not listened carefully to their explanations. She was trapped because of her own fault. However, she still said in a bad mood: "Alright, this concerns the safety of you and the Emperor. I can't say much."
"Why did you come here today, mother?"
"I want to come and see my granddaughter. Do I have to report this little matter to the Queen in advance before I can come?" The Queen Mother sneered, obviously still dissatisfied with Gu Yanyue's self-willed decision to let her master install these mechanisms in Fengqi Palace.
Gu Yanyue didn't get angry. She smiled and said to the Queen Mother, "It's really unfortunate that you came here. I just coaxed little Yuntun to sleep. When he recovers in a few days, I will take him to Cixi Palace to pay my respects to the Queen Mother."
Upon hearing this, the empress dowager raised her eyebrows, waved at Gu Yanyue, and went back with the palace maid aunt she brought with her.
After returning to Cixi Palace, the Queen Mother was not idle either. She sent people to investigate the identity of the master that Gu Yanyue mentioned. She was trapped by the trap today, and she thought that the master must be extremely skilled in the art of traps. If he could be captured by Prince Xiang, it would probably be a great obstacle for him.
In the evening, the secret guard sent by the Queen Mother came back and handed the Queen Mother the results of his investigation with both hands.
The Queen Mother took the letter and read it carefully, her eyes moving rapidly. She had heard about Bai Youjin from her father when she was still a boudoir girl. Her father had tried many times to recruit Bai Youjin to work for him, but to no avail. In the end, he had lost all contact with Bai Youjin.
After the Empress Dowager was chosen by the late Emperor to enter the palace, her father still did not give up and wanted her to persuade the late Emperor to send someone to help him look for her.
After listening to what his father said, the late emperor would send a large number of people out every year to search for Bai Youjin's whereabouts. However, all the people he sent out never returned, so the late emperor gradually gave up this idea.
After so many years, she thought Bai Youjin had died long ago. Unexpectedly, she was still alive and had accepted Gu Yanyue as her apprentice.
She understood how difficult Bai Youjin was. Since she was already Yuwen Ran's person, she would definitely not join Prince Xiang's side again.
The Queen Mother put the letter into her sleeve and instructed the secret guard, "Go to Prince Xiang's mansion and ask him to come to my palace after court tomorrow. I have something to tell him."
The secret guard received the order and disappeared from the spot.
The news brought back by the secret guard also mentioned that Yuwen Ran was trying to make an exception and appoint Bai Youjin as a female official.
The empress dowager naturally understood how important the position of female official was in the court. When she was honored with the favor of the late emperor, she once wanted to ask the late emperor to appoint her talented elder sister as a female official.
The late emperor rejected her proposal, citing the fact that women were not allowed to interfere in the court. He even avoided visiting her bedroom for four months.
It wasn't until her birthday that the late emperor, for her father's sake, took the initiative to enter her bedroom. She was able to regain the late emperor's favor, but after that, she never again asked His Majesty to make an exception and appoint her elder sister as a female official.
The empress dowager understood that most of the ministers in the court were ambitious, and the position of female official that Yuwen Ran wanted to appoint to Bai Youjin was even higher than that of the prime minister.
She didn't believe it. If she spread the news, would the ministers in the court still be able to sit still? She had spent half her life working hard to get an official position, but she couldn't even compare to a woman who only knew how to run a business.
By then, the spit of each minister would be enough to drown Yuwen Ran, not to mention if the news spread to the people, Yuwen Ran would be labeled as a tyrant who would do anything for Gu Yanyue.
The Queen Mother asked Prince Xiang to spread the news that Bai Youjin was in the palace and Yuwen Ran even wanted to appoint her as a female official to the public and the court.
However, it was different from what she expected. Instead of being angry at all, the ministers and the people came here more and more. Some of them tried their best to enter the palace to ask Bai Youjin to customize a set of mechanisms for them. Some people who were learning the art of mechanisms also wanted to take this opportunity to ask Bai Youjin to accept them as disciples so that they could improve their own skills in mechanisms.
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