The little baby looked up and glanced into the room, then happily went back to picking out flowers.
Huo Chengche and Xuan Di looked up and exchanged glances, only to find that neither of them knew what had happened.
They didn't stop them?
Didn't they stop anyone?
Both of them frowned slightly in unison.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Zhixian's gentle and soft voice rang out, advising Emperor Chongjin:
"Your Majesty, please calm down. They are just guards. How could they dare to stop Sister Min, a concubine of the inner palace, from going out? At that time, you were talking to the Crown Prince and the Fifth Prince. They probably didn't dare to interrupt you, which is why they didn't report it in time."
That's a euphemistic way of putting it. It's not "talking" at all; it's a tense standoff. Unless something really serious happened, which guard would be so reckless as to dare to go up there?
However, Chen Zhixian's gentle tone did indeed ease Emperor Chongjin's anger.
Inside the room, when Emperor Chongjin's voice rang out again, the anger from before was gone, but the overwhelming imperial might remained, his voice deep and authoritative: "Did you see where Min Shi went?"
Upon hearing this, Huo Chengche and Xuandi exchanged a glance, a sudden realization flashing in their eyes—it was Min who had secretly run away while they were outside coaxing Niannian.
On this matter, Huo Chengche and Xuandi shared the same stance and neither intended to easily let the Min family off the hook.
Huo Chengche explained to Xuan Di in a low voice, "This person is the daughter of the Empress Dowager's half-sister."
That was all; Huo Chengche hadn't paid attention to that before, so naturally he wouldn't know anything else.
With just this one sentence, Xuandi already knew where the person had gone.
Sure enough, a guard inside reported, "Your Majesty, judging from the direction, they should have gone to Shouci Palace."
"Oh."
A cold laugh came from inside the room.
Upon hearing this, Xuandi was no longer in a hurry and leisurely continued to accompany his little sister in picking flowers.
Emperor Chongjin inside the room was not in a hurry. After that cold laugh, he softened his tone and asked Imperial Physician Yuan to take Chen Zhixian's pulse.
In just a short while, Dejiang had already conveyed Emperor Chongjin's imperial edict to the Inner Palace Bureau, which "demoted Minshi to the fourth rank of Miaoliu and promoted Chenshi to the second rank of Zhaoyi," and informed the six palaces.
This imperial edict caused a huge uproar, and the harem was immediately thrown into chaos.
For a time, various palaces came to Xihe Palace under the guise of "sending congratulatory gifts" and "bestowing rewards" to inquire about news, but they were all blocked at the gate by the people in the imperial court, and they couldn't even enter the palace gates of Xihe Palace.
Meanwhile, in the quiet backyard of Xihe Palace, a chubby little pink figure was running around, its giggles echoing back and forth. The child was so pure and innocent that it seemed to bring a smile to everything it passed through.
Before long, the little boy had a full armful of flowers in his arms, and he ran into the house with his short legs, rushing towards his gentle godmother who was sitting on the low kang (a heated brick bed).
"Godmother, godmother! I want a pot!" The little dumpling, with his chubby little body like a little meatball, rolled softly into Chen Zhixian's arms, looked up and blinked his bright, watery eyes, and said in a childish voice.
Chen Zhixian looked at the flowers in her arms, smiled gently, and pulled her into her embrace. "Niannian picked so many flowers for Grandma Dowager, but what should I do if I don't have a vase big enough for her?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the little boy let out a regretful "Ah!" and puffed out his cheeks. Emperor Chongjin, who was standing next to him, immediately frowned and said, "Dejiang, go to the storeroom and see if there are any jade pots or vases that you can bring over to Consort Chen and Niannian."
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