Looking at the delicate and small emerald jade bell, Tao Ti showed a puzzled look.

"What is this?"

Qiong Qi was stunned and asked in astonishment, "You don't know?"

Tao Ti was confused. "I don't know. Do you know?"

Qiong Qi was speechless and rolled her eyes. "You don't even know about your Thirteenth Uncle's stuff, let alone an outsider like me. At first I thought it was some kind of magic weapon of your Taotie clan, and I was waiting for you to explain it to me..."

Tao Ti took the small emerald jade bell. It was cool and cold in her hand. It seemed no different from any other jade ornament. It tinkled and sounded very cute.

"Did my Thirteenth Uncle say anything when he gave it to you?" She lowered her head and studied it.

"He asked me to see if you would return to the modern world. If you do, I won't give it to you. If you are sure you will not return and stay in ancient times for the rest of your life, I will give you this bell. Oh, by the way, he said at the time that it was to be kept as a souvenir or something... No way, is this thing really just a souvenir?"

Qiong Qi was surprised and thought that this Thirteenth Uncle of Ati's family was too outrageous.

Taoti, "..."

Qiong Qi raised her hand and touched her chin, squinting her eyes as she recalled, "But I clearly remember that when your Thirteenth Uncle took out this thing in the underworld, a circle of rich white spiritual energy surrounded the bell. At that time, I thought that your Thirteenth Uncle still cared about you and gave you a magical artifact..."

Tao Ti looked at the bell over and over again, but she really didn't see anything special about it. She pursed her lips and said, "Maybe we are mortals now, so we don't understand how to use this thing. I will study it slowly later."

Qiong Qi nodded, "That's fine."

Tao Ti put away the jade bell, chatted briefly with Qiong Qi, and then they went their separate ways.

…

That night, the Yanfang Hall was brightly lit, and it was the golden autumn when chrysanthemums were in full bloom, so all kinds of chrysanthemums were placed from outside the hall to inside. Even the palace lanterns, bowls, plates, cups, tables, cushions, curtains, and brocade screens used in the hall were all in the style of chrysanthemums.

The Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet was particularly lively. In addition to the royal family, there were also civil and military officials and family members close to Emperor Zhaokang.

The Yongwei Marquis's mansion had a Crown Princess, who held a high position. The Yongwei Marquis and Zhang attended the event together, acting as a couple on paper but not in harmony with each other.

Dingbei Marquis's Mansion had made many achievements and was full of powerful generals, so it was ranked at the front. It was the first time for Xu Wenchan to attend such a grand palace banquet. She felt uncomfortable sitting with the wife of Dingbei Marquis. But after seeing Tao Ti, she immediately felt like she had found her backbone and her heart was at peace.

At first the hall was noisy and filled with lively conversation, but when the announcement of "Your Majesty has arrived, the Empress has arrived" came from outside the hall, the place fell silent for a moment, and everyone put on a solemn look and stood up to salute.

Emperor Zhaokang wore a dark yellow robe with dragon embroidery and a serious expression on his face, which showed no emotion. Empress Zhou, who was standing behind him, smiled gracefully and followed him slowly. The two of them walked to the upper seat together, with a strong aura.

After a boring opening speech, Emperor Zhao Kang signaled for the feast to begin, and the atmosphere gradually became relaxed as singing and dancing began.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the best time to enjoy the roe and fat crabs.

Tao Ti and Pei Yan sat at the same table. In front of them was a large bowl of crabs, with eight crabs in total. They were bright yellow and looked very mouth-watering.

With graceful movements, she took the crab pieces and took apart a large crab, revealing the snow-white crab meat and the golden crab roe inside.

The crab meat is fresh and firm, and you can taste a hint of sweetness if you savor it carefully. The crab roe and crab paste have a crunchy texture and a light salty aroma, with the unique delicious taste of crab. Taoti ate it happily with ginger vinegar, finishing a crab in no time, and Linglong continued to open it for her.

Pei Yan saw that she liked eating crabs and chuckled, "Do you like eating crabs so much?"

"I like it." Tao Ti chewed the crab meat, her black eyes sparkling, "Crabs are such a good thing. In addition to boiling them, they can be made into many other foods, such as crab-stirred orange, crab roe soup dumplings, stir-fried spicy crab, crab roe lion head, crab fried rice cake, crab with soy sauce noodles... It's delicious no matter how you cook it!"

"Then eat more if you like it." Pei Yan had a smile in his eyes. After tasting the crab in his hand, he didn't take any more and gave the rest in the bowl to Tao Ti.

Seeing her eating happily, he also felt happy.

At this moment, the voice of Queen Zhou was heard from the seat of honor, "Does the Crown Princess like to eat crabs?"

Tao Ti was startled, and when she looked up, she saw Queen Zhou smiling gently and caringly, with a very kind look.

Taoti wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and replied politely, "This crab tastes very delicious. I like it very much."

"Although crabs are delicious, they are cold in nature. Eating too much crabs is not good for women. It's better for the Crown Princess to eat less." Queen Zhou said with a smile, and her eyes swept her stomach meaningfully. Her expression became gentler. "You have been married to the East Palace for half a year. You and the Crown Prince are in love. I am happy to see it. But if you can have a little grandson as soon as possible, it will be the icing on the cake. It can't be better."

Having said that, she turned to look at Emperor Zhao Kang and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, don't you agree?"

Emperor Zhaokang might not like to get involved in other matters, but he was looking forward to the prince's offspring. Especially since Xu Wenhe said that the prince's health would not affect his offspring. While Emperor Zhaokang was happy, he was also considering whether to add a few more women to the Eastern Palace.

How could a prince of a country live with a woman? Moreover, Tao had been married for half a year and her belly was still not moving.

But he only mentioned it to the crown prince two days ago, and the crown prince firmly refused. Emperor Zhaokang couldn't force a woman on him, so he had to put the idea aside for the time being and thought about giving Tao another half a year. If there was no movement by next year, he would definitely find one or two concubines for his son.

Emperor Zhaokang glanced at Tao Ti dimly and said in a deep voice, "What the Queen said makes sense. Too much is as bad as too little. Use less cold things."

Tao Ti was not stupid either. She could naturally understand what the emperor and empress said. On the surface, they were concerned, but secretly they were trying to induce labor.

She lowered her eyebrows, feeling unconvinced, but she responded obediently, "My daughter-in-law knows."

Under the table, Pei Yan quietly squeezed her hand, and while picking up food for her, he whispered to her, "It's okay, just eat two less now. We have plenty in the East Palace kitchen. Tomorrow I'll have them send you a few large baskets, and you can eat whatever you want."

Tao Ti was feeling a little aggrieved at first, but when she turned around and saw Pei Yan's tolerant and gentle smile, she no longer felt aggrieved and blinked, "Really?"

Pei Yan curled his eyes and smiled, "Well, I guarantee you'll be fine!"

Seeing her husband being so considerate, Tao Ti smiled and stopped thinking about Queen Zhou.

But soon after Empress Zhou stopped talking, she suddenly started talking again, "Your Majesty, Changzhou is not young anymore, it's time for him to get married."

As soon as these words came out, Pei Changzhou immediately sat up straight.

Emperor Zhaokang narrowed his dark eyes, glanced at Empress Zhou indifferently, and then glanced at Pei Changzhou who was sitting below him. He thought that it had been several years since Pei Changzhou left the palace to set up his own household, and his younger sister Pei Lingbi had already been engaged, so it was not right for him, as the elder brother, to still have no marriage arranged.

After a moment's silence, he nodded and said, "Well, it's time to get married. Queen, do you have any favorite candidates?"

Queen Zhou smiled softly, "I have indeed chosen one."

They spoke in low voices, and only those who were close to the front could hear clearly. Qinghe County Lord heard these words clearly, and when she thought of the dirty things she had encountered in Zhuyuan Villa before, she subconsciously pursed her lips, and her face turned a little pale.

Princess Jingyang noticed her daughter's strangeness and patted the back of her hand calmly, telling her to be at ease.

Tao Ti also put down her chopsticks and pricked up her ears curiously, wanting to hear which young lady was so unlucky as to marry Pei Changzhou, a scumbag.

Queen Zhou smiled deeply and raised her voice slightly, "I heard that Marquis Dingbei has a precious daughter named Wen Chan, who is only sixteen years old, smart and clever, and has a dignified appearance..."

She then gave him a bunch of flowery compliments, but Taoti didn't hear any of them.

She was completely confused, and the word "grass" kept repeating in her mind.

Xu Wenchan was sitting quietly at the bottom eating honeydew melon,???

Smart???

Good appearance and decent character???

No, she was just eating a melon, how did she end up eating herself?