When the Queen Mother saw Jing'er, she was a little excited.

"Exactly like him!" She looked at Jin Ge'er, "Exactly like the old marquis!"

The old marquis is Xu Lingyi's father and Jing'er's grandfather.

Jing'er allowed the Queen Mother to look at him confidently: "My grandmother also said that I look like my grandfather, and that I will definitely be taller and smarter than my father in the future." His big phoenix eyes were sparkling and he looked very innocent.

The Queen laughed, and the slight sadness she had felt earlier immediately disappeared.

She took Jing'er's hand and sat on the throne. She grabbed a handful of candy from the small table beside her and stuffed it into Jing'er's mouth: "Come! Eat some Wosi candy."

Jing'er put the candy into his purse.

The Queen was slightly stunned.

"The silk candies in the palace are more delicate than those made outside, and they taste sweeter," said Jing'er with a smile, "I will take some back for my seventh brother, eighth brother, Ting'er, and Yingying to eat!"

"This child!" The Queen Mother smiled and put her arm around Jing'er's shoulders, and told Huang Xianying, "Remember to pack a box of Wosi candy for the Sixth Young Master to take back later!"

Huang Xianying smiled and replied "yes", and quietly reminded the Queen: "It's time for the audience."

After hearing this, the Queen hesitated for a moment, and said softly to Jing'er, "Wait here for a while, I'll be there soon!" Then she ordered one of the palace maids, "You stay here with the Sixth Young Master!" and went to the main hall.

The palace maid was about twenty years old and looked very dignified. She brought a brocade stool for Jing'er to sit on and smiled as she gave Jing'er some cakes to eat.

Jinger said "Happy New Year, sister" and ate the rose cake while talking to the maid: "What's your last name, sister? Have you been working in the Queen's palace? What is your job now? Are you busy? Can you leave the palace?" Like a curious baby, he asked a lot of questions, which made the maid cover her sleeves and laugh: "My last name is Tan, you can just call me Aunt Tan!" She didn't say anything else, just asked him, "Do you like rose cakes? This osmanthus cake is not bad either."

"Really?" Jing'er immediately took a piece of osmanthus cake and tasted it, praising it repeatedly, "Delicious! Sweet but not greasy." It seemed that he was attracted by the delicious food and forgot the question just now.

There was a noise outside, and someone walked into the side hall, loudly asking, "Mother has not come back yet?"

All the palace maids in the palace knelt and saluted, addressing her respectfully as "Grand Princess".

Jinger looked up and saw a girl wearing a bright red jacket with a pattern of birds paying homage to the phoenix, accompanied by a group of palace maids in blue-green palace costumes. She had delicate and fair skin, a high nose bridge, and a pair of dark and bright eyes. Perhaps because she was in a hurry, her face was flushed, and she looked lively and cute.

"Who is this?" Suddenly, a strange boy appeared in her mother's side hall. The eldest princess couldn't help but look at Jing'er curiously.

"This is the sixth young master of the Marquis of Yongping!" As Aunt Tan said this, Jing'er had already knelt down to pay his respects to the eldest princess.

"It's you!" The eldest princess was slightly startled, and immediately became very interested. She walked up to Jin Ge'er and said, "Hey, do you recognize me? Didn't I say that you were not in good health and I didn't dare to let you go out in winter? Why are you here today? I see that you don't look unwell at all..."

Of course, Jin Ge'er didn't remember what the eldest princess looked like. He smiled and said lightly, "I'm fine now, so I came to pay my respects to the Queen!"

The eldest princess' eyes lit up when she heard this.

"Great!" She pulled Jing'er and ran out, "We want to play Cuju, and we're just short of one person!"

"Big Princess!" Aunt Tan hurriedly chased after her, "The Queen Mother asked the Sixth Young Master to wait in the side hall." She added, "You still have to go and pay your respects to the Emperor later!"

"Just tell mother." The eldest princess ran faster. "I've already gone to ask about father's well-being."

Aunt Tan couldn't help stamping her feet, and after talking to the palace maid beside her, she hurried over.

When the Queen Mother brought Eleventh Lady to the side hall, Jing'er and the eldest princess had already left for almost half an hour. Thinking of the eldest princess's mischief, the Queen Mother immediately sent Huang Xianying: "Go and call Jing'er over, and tell him that the wife of Yongping Marquis is coming back!"

Huang Xianying thought of the two times they had met when they were young, and both times the princess was uneasy. She also became anxious, asked where the eldest princess was going, and hurried over.

"Don't worry!" The Queen comforted Eleventh Lady, "There are maids and eunuchs around us, we won't let them run around."

There's no use in being anxious now.

Jing'er never bowed his head wherever he went. How he should behave in front of these dragons and phoenixes was also a test for him!

Eleventh Lady replied “yes” respectfully and half sat on the brocade stool awarded by the Queen.

The Queen Mother asked about the situation of the Lady Dowager.

Eleventh Lady answered one by one, and Concubine Wang, Concubine Song and others came over to pay their respects to the Queen.

The Queen Mother introduced Eleventh Lady to each other.

After everyone greeted each other, they sat around the Queen and chatted, and there was a noise coming from outside.

In Kunning Palace, perhaps only the eldest princess can do this.

As Eleventh Lady was thinking, she heard a clear female voice saying unexpectedly: "...I didn't say that he should stay in my palace. Can't he live with Eighth Brother? Besides, he is my cousin, what's the relationship..." The voice gradually approached and came to the side hall. The eldest princess walked in unhappily with the embarrassed Jin Ge'er, followed by the embarrassed Huang Xianying and Aunt Tan.

"What's going on?" The Queen's face darkened.

"Mother!" The eldest princess was not afraid at all. She ran to the Queen Mother and said, "Can you let Jing'er stay in the palace overnight? We can send him back after the fifth day!" As she said that, she pulled the Queen Mother's sleeve and acted coquettishly.

When Jin'er entered the room, Eleventh Lady looked at her son carefully from head to toe. Seeing that his face was red and he was sweating as if he had run several miles, she couldn't help but wonder in her heart. After hearing what the eldest princess said, her eyes were glued to her son.

Jing'er quickly winked at his mother, indicating that he was fine.

The eldest princess said, "My ninth brother and I have agreed to play another game of football on the fourth day of the first lunar month. It would be so boring if Brother Jin is not here!"

The Queen frowned upon hearing this: "How old are you? You're still playing Cuju with your brothers? Not to mention that there is no tradition of staying overnight in the palace. Even if there is, we can't keep Jing'er in the palace just because you want to play Cuju during the New Year." As she spoke, her expression became serious, "Don't talk about this anymore." Then she brought the teacup, "It's getting late. Yongping Hou is still waiting for his wife and Jing'er outside the palace!"

Seeing the opportunity, Eleventh Lady hurriedly pulled Jing'er to kneel down and greet him. The eldest princess was still there, calling "Mother" unwillingly.

After leaving Kunning Palace, she anxiously asked her son, "Are you okay?"

"It's okay!" Jing'er laughed softly, "I just played a game of Cuju with the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince." Then he told Eleventh Lady what had happened.

It turned out that the eldest princess loved Cuju and often played with several princes. The best at Cuju was the eighth prince, so the eighth prince often played with the eldest princess. On the night of New Year's Eve, the eldest princess invited several people to play Cuju again. Who knew that the eleventh prince caught a cold and couldn't come today? The eldest princess happened to see Jing'er, and she had an idea and asked him to play with the ninth prince to compete with her and the eighth prince.

Eleventh Lady thought of the eldest princess leaving Jing'er behind and said with a smile, "Could it be that you lost?"

"Of course not!" Jing'er said somewhat proudly, "The Ninth Prince and I won!"

Eleventh Lady was very surprised.

"From what I see from the eldest princess, she just wants to use me to fill the gap." Jing'er said, "The eighth prince doesn't even take me seriously. If I don't show some real ability, they won't remember me!"

"What do you want them to remember?" Eleventh Lady hoped that Jin Ge'er would be as far away from these people as possible. "Aren't you afraid that the princess will be angry?" She thought of the scene just now. The princess didn't seem angry. She was secretly surprised and couldn't help asking him, "What happened?"

"It's nothing!" Jing'er smiled and told Shiyi Niang what had happened.

When Jinger heard that he was going to play Cuju, he thought he was just playing with the eldest princess for fun. Later, when he saw that it was a competition, he was a little worried about his skills. When he saw the eighth and ninth princes, he had some idea in his mind and began to wonder whether he would win or lose. When he found out from the ninth prince that they didn't have fixed partners in their competitions, it was just because the eighth prince was good at Cuju, so he usually played with the eldest princess, but sometimes the eldest princess would play with the ninth or eleventh prince.

"...So I didn't say anything polite to them." Jinger smiled, "This way, if there's a next time, the princess can just change someone else!"

Eleventh Lady was stunned: "You, you want to go to the palace and play Cuju with the eldest princess and the others?"

"We don't have to play Cuju together!" Jing'er said, "Just leave an impression on the princess and the princes!"

As they were talking, they had already left the palace.

"Daddy, Fifth Uncle!" Jing'er ran over with a smile.

The brothers Xu Lingyi and Xu Lingkuan were standing and talking in the middle of two black lacquered flat-top carriages. Hearing the noise, Xu Lingyi strode towards them.

"How is it?" He patted his son's shoulder, a barely perceptible worry flashing in his eyes.

Jinger smiled broadly at him and said, "I played a game of qiu with the eldest princess. The eldest princess lost and asked me to play another game with her on the fourth day of the New Year."

"Oh?" Xu Lingyi raised his eyebrows slightly, "Let's talk about it in the car."

* * * * * *

"If the palace allows Jing'er to enter on the fourth day of the first lunar month, let him go!" Xu Lingyi lay on the bed, his brows full of relief, "Our Jing'er can handle it."

"After all, we're just playing with him in the palace." Eleventh Lady sat down beside the bed. "Homework is more important. Otherwise, the child's mind will become wild!"

Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "Let him do whatever he wants during the New Year!" Then he sat up and said, "Moyan, I have something to discuss with you!" His expression was solemn.

Eleventh Lady was slightly stunned: "What's the matter?"

"Next year, Jing'er will be twelve years old. I want him to go to Jiayuguan!"

"Isn't this too early?" Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi in surprise. "What can he do in Jiayuguan?"

※

PS: Make up for the extra update on October 1st!