Seeing Tao Ti looking at her curiously, Lu slowly put down her teacup and said in a slow voice, "Empress Gu, when your mother and I were still married, our three families lived together in Yongxingfang. We were of similar age, so we played together from childhood to adulthood. We even set up an altar and burned incense on the night of the Chinese Valentine's Day to become sworn brothers. At that time, the three of us were almost inseparable. Your mother loved to play the most. Today she would hold a banquet, tomorrow she would go shopping and play with birds, and the day after tomorrow she would go fishing and riding horses at the manor. We were so happy."

It was really hard for Tao Ti to connect the serious and old-fashioned Zhang with the playful and lively girl in Lu's words.

Seeing her like this, Lu said softly, "Crown Princess, you don't seem to believe it?"

Tao Ti smiled awkwardly, "Aunt Lu, when was the last time you saw my mother?"

Mrs. Lu said, "The last time I saw you was two years ago. An aunt from my mother's family passed away. I rushed back to Chang'an to attend the funeral. Before I left, I went to your house to drink a cup of tea. You happened to be out at that time and were not at home, so I didn't get to see you."

Tao Ti searched her memory and it seemed that Zhang two years ago was also difficult to get along with.

Could it be that Zhang has two faces, one in front of her bestie and another in front of her daughter?

Yes, most Chinese parents like to emphasize their "dignity" in front of their children.

Compared to Zhang's affairs, Tao Ti was more curious about Empress Gu. She looked at Lu and said obediently, "Aunt Lu, can you tell me something about the late Empress?"

Lu lightly glanced at the white jade bracelet on Tao Ti's slender wrist and said gently, "Is this bracelet left for you by the late queen?"

Tao Ti was stunned, and her fingers touched the cool bracelet subconsciously, and she said in surprise, "Aunt Lu, you have a very good eye, you can recognize this."

"This is Yuanyuan... Oh, Gu Yuan is the late queen's nickname... She has always worn this bracelet. When she was crowned queen, Madam Gu personally put it on her."

Tao Ti obviously didn't expect that this jade bracelet had been passed down for several generations. She thought to herself that she had to be careful in the future so as not to damage this treasure.

"She left this bracelet to you, and it seems that she is very satisfied with you being her daughter-in-law. Among the three of us, the late queen married the earliest, I was the second, and your mother was the last to marry. Before we got married, the three of us swore that if any of our families had a son or a daughter, we would pair them up to make the relationship closer."

"Later, the late queen gave birth to the prince first. That year, I went to the palace to see her. She was also pregnant. She hoped that I was pregnant with a girl so that she could become my in-law... I failed to fulfill her wish and gave birth to a boy. It was your mother who married later and got a precious daughter like you as her first child..."

At this point, Lu smiled and said, "Your mother was so proud at that time that she wrote to me to show off, saying that her daughter would be the Crown Princess in the future, and would have the best mother-in-law in the world and the most noble husband."

The smile on Taoti's face gradually disappeared, and he fell into thought -

After hearing about this marriage from Aunt Lu, she suddenly seemed to understand Zhang a little.

From Zhang's perspective sixteen years ago, she had indeed found the most respectable marriage in the world for her daughter.

If Empress Gu had not died young, if Pei Yan had not been ill, and if his best friend had become his daughter's mother-in-law, he would not have to worry about his daughter being bullied by her in-laws. His daughter would marry into the royal family, live a life of luxury, and even become the most noble woman in the world in the future.

If she had to blame anyone, she could only blame fate for being so harsh and shattering her plans.

I guess Zhang must be very sad too, right?

Lu continued, "Among the three of us, I am the least courageous and the least opinionated. In your mother's words, I am a block of wood. Your mother is cheerful, hates evil, and acts rashly and impulsively... If she is a blazing flame, then the late empress is like a handful of cool spring water, or like a soft cloud, the most gentle and kind."

Tao Ti immediately thought of Pei Yan and said with a smile, "Then the Crown Prince's personality must be like that of the late Queen. His Highness has a very good temper. I have never seen anyone more gentle than him."

Lu had never met the prince, but she had always heard that he was wise and upright. Now that she heard from the prince's bedmate, she wanted to meet the son of her old friend even more.

Tao Ti asked again, "They say a son resembles his mother. Your Highness is so handsome, so the late queen must have been very beautiful too, right?"

Lu narrowed her black eyes slightly, recalling the voice, appearance and smile of the late queen, and nodded continuously, "She was once the most beautiful woman in Chang'an, so of course she was extremely beautiful."

Every woman hopes to be extremely beautiful, but sometimes, being too beautiful becomes the beginning of their tragic fate.

Concerning Empress Gu's beauty, Lu was reluctant to say more and only briefly mentioned it.

Tao Ti just thought that Lu was sad thinking about her friend who passed away young, so she didn't ask any more questions.

She remembered that there were still some rice dumplings cooking in the pot in the small kitchen, so she quickly asked Linglong to bring some over.

Soon, Linglong came up with a crystal plate of rice dumplings and placed it on the table next to Lu.

Tao Ti introduced enthusiastically, "Aunt Lu, let's eat some zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival. Today, we made six flavors of zongzi. There are three sweet ones, red bean zongzi, original red bean zongzi, and candied date zongzi; there are three salty ones, pure meat zongzi, egg yolk meat zongzi, chestnut meat zongzi... Each zongzi has a different color of silk thread wrapped around it. Which one do you want to eat?"

Lu smiled and said, "Have a honey-date rice dumpling."

Tao Ti said, "The one you tied with red silk thread is the candied date rice dumpling."

Lu was not shy and picked up a plump green rice dumpling and peeled it gently.

As soon as the leaves were uncovered, the white and crystal rice dumpling appeared before my eyes like a small jade mountain, and a strong rice aroma filled my nose. I took a bite, and the tightly stuck glutinous rice was soft and sticky, and extremely sweet. There were two big dates hidden in it, bright golden red, and extremely sweet.

"This rice dumpling is really fragrant and not too sweet. The glutinous rice is sticky and chewy!" Mrs. Lu commented with a smile.

"As long as Aunt Lu likes it, you can try a salty rice dumpling after you've tried this one." Tao Ti smiled slightly and peeled a chestnut meat rice dumpling to taste it herself.

Compared to the white appearance of the sweet rice dumplings, the meat rice dumplings are attractively yellow-brown in color, and are full of meaty aroma as soon as they are opened. The pork belly wrapped in the center of the glutinous rice diffuses its fat onto each grain of crystal clear glutinous rice during the steaming process, tightly wrapping it, making each bite of the rice dumpling salty, fragrant, soft and glutinous, full of heat and happiness. When you bite into the filling, you can also see distinct brown-red meat shreds and golden chestnuts. The soft, glutinous and sweet taste is simply perfect with the rice dumplings.

Here the two of them were eating rice dumplings, drinking jasmine tea and chatting and laughing, but a hundred miles away in the Chang'an Imperial Palace, the atmosphere was particularly depressing.

Ganlu Palace.

Today is the Dragon Boat Festival and a banquet is held in the palace. Queen Zhou takes this opportunity to arrest Pei Changzhou and Pei Lingbi and interrogate them thoroughly.

Queen Zhou dismissed the palace maids with a cold face and sent her trusted palace maid to guard the door. After confirming that it was only the three of them, mother and son, she raised her hand and slapped Pei Changzhou in the face.

Pei Changzhou was stunned by the slap. He hadn't seen his mother for seven or eight days. He finally went to the palace to accompany her during the holidays, but was greeted with a slap in the face.

He looked angry and confused, "Mother, what are you doing?!"

Although Pei Lingbi was not beaten, she was frightened. She quickly hid behind Pei Changzhou and echoed, "Yes, mother, it's a big festival, why are you beating my brother?"

Queen Zhou glared at them both, "You all came out of my stomach, can't I hit you?!"

Pei Changzhou and Pei Lingbi both choked.

Queen Zhou narrowed her beautiful eyes, her scrutinizing gaze lingering between the two of them. After a moment, she lowered her voice and said, "Tell me honestly, did you two have any involvement in the assassination of the Crown Prince in Luoyang?"

When these words were spoken, Pei Changzhou and Pei Lingbi's faces changed.

When Queen Zhou saw their reactions, she felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground. "You, you two... idiots..."

Pei Changzhou and Pei Lingbi hurriedly helped Queen Zhou to sit on the couch, "Mother, don't get angry. Be careful not to hurt yourself."

After Queen Zhou sat down, she shook off their hands without any hesitation, and her beautiful, well-maintained face was tightly wrapped around her chest.

She looked at the brother and sister, "You are so bold now. You didn't even discuss such a big matter with me and your uncle?"

Pei Changzhou and Pei Lingbi both lowered their heads, pursed their lips and remained silent.

Seeing this, Queen Zhou became even angrier. She slammed the table and scolded, "Who came up with this bad idea, and how did you arrange it? Hurry up and tell me! The prince is safe now. If he has any evidence in his hands and returns to Chang'an, you will all be dead!"

After all, Queen Zhou had been the queen for so many years and had accumulated great prestige. When she got really angry, Pei Changzhou and Pei Lingbi, the brother and sister, would tremble with fear.

Pei Lingbi bit her lip, pushed Pei Changzhou, and urged him like a mosquito, "Royal brother... hurry up and tell me..."

Pei Changzhou frowned and glanced at Pei Lingbi, feeling angry and annoyed, "You want me to tell you now? Wasn't it you who came up with the bad idea in the first place?"

When Pei Lingbi heard this, she raised her head angrily and said, "I said that the Seventh Uncle should find a way to deal with Tao Ti. I didn't think of touching the Crown Prince! Who knew that the Seventh Uncle would take action against that sickly person!"

Pei Changzhou was also a little depressed, and said to Queen Zhou with an innocent look, "Mother, you believe your son. Your son did write a letter to the Seventh Uncle, but the letter only asked him to find a way... to deal with the Crown Princess..."

Speaking of this, he was obviously a little embarrassed.

Queen Zhou was so angry that she was shaking all over. She gritted her teeth and said, "If you were the one who ordered the assassination of the crown prince, I would at most think you were stupid, but I would also think you were quite courageous... But now you tell me that you wrote a letter to Prince Mu's mansion just to deal with a little girl? You are so narrow-minded, really, really..."

Queen Zhou was so angry that her head felt dizzy. She couldn't think of any words for a moment. She just covered her chest and gasped for breath.

How could Zhou Mingmiao, who had been scheming all her life, give birth to two such idiots?

Pei Changzhou did not dare to speak, and waited until Empress Zhou calmed down before he spoke sullenly, "And I specifically said in the letter that we don't need to take her life, as long as we take her...innocence, that's enough. I don't know what the Seventh Uncle did. Is it possible that he gets more confused as he gets older?"

Queen Zhou said in a deep voice, "According to the news I received, Prince Mu's Mansion and Luoyang Prefecture Governor Sun Zhengguo were wiped out. Prince Mu's son raped and murdered a commoner girl, and was imprisoned by the Crown Prince. Princess Mu was resentful of this and found a group of pirates to assassinate the Crown Prince. Prince Mu also sold salt privately and forged weapons... He was punished for multiple crimes. Whether he can keep his life depends on how much your father loves this son."

Pei Changzhou said, "In that case, then the assassination has nothing to do with us, right?"

Queen Zhou snorted coldly, "Do you think King Mu is stupid? If he can't survive, will he let us off easily? He can just say that you sent a letter and told him to do this, what can you do?"

Pei Changzhou's expression suddenly changed, and he looked at Queen Zhou in panic, "Mother, what should we do?"

"Now you know it's urgent?"

"Mother, please help your son. I am truly innocent this time!"

Queen Zhou had a stern face and frowned. She stroked the cup with her slender fingers and said after a long pause, "I will discuss this matter with your uncle."

After a pause, she remembered another worrying thing -

If nothing unexpected happens, Zheng Xuan will most likely be promoted to the position of Luoyang prefect this time.

Who is Zheng Xuan? A well-known wife slave in the officialdom of Dayuan Dynasty!

In order to marry Lu Minyue, he went through many tests and finally won her heart. After marriage, he and Lu Minyue were deeply in love and had three sons. He never took a concubine or a maid. If Lu Minyue said east, he would not go west; if Lu Minyue wanted a star, he would try his best to pick it for her.

Lu Minyue and Gu Yuan are of the same mind. If Zheng Xuan really becomes the prefect of Luoyang Prefecture, then Luoyang Prefecture... wouldn't it become a helper of Pei Yan?

Queen Zhou felt heartbroken when she thought that Luoyang was originally a force under her Zhou family, but suddenly became their rival.

She told Pei Changzhou about this, and Pei Changzhou's face turned pale after hearing it, "Mother, what should we do then?"

Queen Zhou pinched her fingers, pondered for a moment, and said, "Now it depends on which royal relative your father plans to send to be the governor of Luoyang Prefecture after King Mu falls... This governor must be one of ours, so that he and Zheng Xuan can check and balance each other."

Pei Changzhou understood and hurriedly bowed, "Don't worry, mother. I have always been on good terms with the royal relatives and dukes. Even if I am not familiar with them, I will find a way to get to our side."