At dusk, there was a grand banquet in Shou'an Palace.

An endless stream of palace maids and eunuchs came and went between the various royal concubines, serving them carefully.

The melodious sounds of stringed instruments rose and fell continuously. Emperor Shangwen was sitting on a high platform, with Empress Duan sitting at his side.

Because of the hairpin, Xiao Ruyu had to stay beside Queen Duan. She looked at the excitement in the audience and was eager to try.

Empress Duan saw through her thoughts and tugged at her sleeve without looking away. "Princess, you can go somewhere else only after your grandmother arrives and the banquet begins."

【I understand, mother.】

She lowered her head obediently, imitating Empress Duan and pretending to sit aside, but she couldn't sit still for a moment.

[Hey, why hasn't my eldest brother arrived yet? ]

Xiao Ruyu looked around and found that Xiao Ru'an was nowhere to be seen, and couldn't help feeling anxious for him.

In less than half an incense stick of time, the Empress Dowager greeted everyone and asked them to take their seats.

Everyone knelt down and saluted, "Greetings to the Queen Mother."

"Everyone, get up."

The Empress Dowager smiled and waved her sleeves, landing on the other side of Emperor Shangwen.

Just as she sat down, Xiao Ru'an came in late. He knelt on the ground and admitted his mistake.

"Please forgive me, Father. I was late for some time."

Emperor Shangwen frowned slightly and looked at the Empress Dowager beside him.

He didn't care about these things, he just wanted to see if the Queen Mother cared.

The Queen Mother waved her hand gently, "Get up, the eldest prince has been very tired in the military camp these days, I'm afraid he hasn't rested for a while."

"Everyone, take a seat! Don't be so reserved!"

Xiao Ru'an breathed a sigh of relief and sat aside.

Xiao Ruyu followed his gaze and found that he looked unhappy and seemed depressed.

strangeness?

The eldest brother has always been the most stable.

The palace banquet officially began, with singing and dancing in the Forbidden City, and bursts of melodious songs floating in the air.

After three rounds of drinking, Emperor Shangwen raised his glass and mentioned what happened to Xiao Ru'an in the military camp.

He took a sip of wine, in high spirits, "I heard that Ru'an performed very well in the military camp."

"Everyone who came to report this praised Ru'an. I heard that Ru'an is highly regarded by the soldiers in the barracks."

"You are worthy of being my son!"

Emperor Shangwen raised his cup and pointed it towards Xiao Ru'an.

Xiao Ru'an was lost in thought when he was pulled by Concubine De beside him. He quickly stood up and raised his glass.

"Thank you for the compliment, Father."

"I don't deserve it."

He lowered his head, his face showed no joy, and he even looked a little unhappy.

Emperor Shangwen did not respond, but stared at his face, with an invisible aura of oppression pressing down on him.

Upon seeing this, Concubine De quickly stood up to help, "Your Majesty, Ru'an has been driving the carriage back to the capital for a whole day, and I'm afraid he hasn't rested yet."

She touched Xiao Ru'an gently with her arm to bring his thoughts back to his senses.

"This wine is very good. I offer a glass to Your Majesty."

Defei tried to smooth things over and drank the glass of wine in front of her.

There was no expression on Emperor Shangwen's face. After drinking the wine, he asked her to sit down.

"In that case, after the palace banquet is over, let Ru'an rest as soon as possible!"

When the palace banquet was halfway through, Xiao Ruyu came back from playing nearby and happened to run into Concubine De and Empress Duan chatting nearby.

"What's wrong with the eldest prince today? He seems to be in a bad mood."

Empress Duan's eyes fell on Xiao Ru'an who was drinking alone not far away, and she felt puzzled, "It's not like his usual calm personality. He even ignored the emperor's praise."

Concubine De sighed and looked at him with heartache.

"Ruan has a kind heart since childhood, and always thinks of others instead of himself."

She clutched her handkerchief, her heart churning, and whispered in Queen Duan's ear, "A few days ago, Ru'an proposed a reform in the military camp, but it was rejected."

"I'm afraid it's because of this that I've been feeling depressed and upset."

Queen Duan looked at Xiao Ru'an's appearance, wanting to say something but stopping herself, and could only sigh deeply.

How could these women in the palace interfere in the affairs of the military camp?

Xiao Ruyu took all these words to heart. Just as she was about to go forward to comfort Xiao Ru'an, she saw him suddenly stand up, walk forward and say a few words to Emperor Shang Wen.

Although Emperor Shangwen looked a little unhappy, he still waved his hand, as if agreeing to something.

Afterwards, Xiao Ru'an left the palace banquet.

Just as Xiao Ruyu was about to go over, she was hugged by Empress Duan, who smiled at Concubine De and said, "Little Princess, you haven't seen Concubine De for a long time. You must stop running around."

Empress Defei was very fond of her. She bent down, picked her up, and chatted with Empress Duan about other things.

She had to watch Xiao Ru'an leave and could only wait until the palace banquet was over before going to look for her.

When the palace banquet ended, it was almost noon.

While Queen Duan was not paying attention, Xiao Ruyu slipped away from under her nose and went to Xiao Ru'an's palace.

"Little Princess, the eldest prince has gone to rest."

The servants in his palace stopped Xiao Ruyu with some difficulty and stood guard at the door dutifully.

"If you have anything to tell me, I will tell you as soon as the eldest prince wakes up."

Seeing that Xiao Ruyu didn't say anything, the servant thought she was dissatisfied with him, so he knelt down and told her.

"No need. Since the eldest prince has gone to bed, I won't disturb him." Xiao Ruyu didn't think much about it and turned around to leave.

Suddenly, Xiao Ru'an's cries for help were heard from inside the palace, getting louder and louder.

“Save me! Save me!!”

"Don't come over here!!!"

The words were full of fear and terror, as if he had seen something extraordinary.

Big Brother is in danger!

Xiao Ruyu's pupils trembled slightly. She took advantage of the servant's inattention and slipped directly under his armpit and pushed open Xiao Ru'an's door.

Xiao Ru'an, lying on the bed, was sweating profusely and waving his hands constantly, as if trying to drive away something in front of him.

"I won't do that! Let me go!"

He was already screaming, and he couldn't wake up from this dream!

Xiao Ruyu stretched out her little hand and gently pushed him.

As Xiao Ru'an suddenly sat up, there was still a lingering sense of fear in his eyes.

[Big Brother, what’s wrong with you? ]

Helping Xiao Ru'an up, Xiao Ruyu tiptoed to pour him a glass of water and handed it to him worriedly.

Touching his head which was aching like a splitting headache, Xiao Ru'an took the water and drank it in one gulp to calm himself down.

There was still some shock on his face, and he slowly couldn't speak.

"This...I'm sorry to bother you, little princess. My brother has no..."

[Big brother, please stop hiding this from me. ]

Xiao Ruyu was a little angry and puffed up her little face, thinking about all the things that were wrong in the past few days.

She concluded that Xiao Ru'an must be hiding something from her!

[If you don't tell me, I'll be angry.]

Seeing that he couldn't hide it from her, Xiao Ru'an sighed, his eyes lost in memories.

"In that case, there's no harm in telling the little princess."

"It all started at the end of the third month in the military camp..."