Chapter 224: Bo Qiaohui 36
We won't go into how Mo Xueyuan silently thanked the Empress and her family since the day Mo Li and her niece recognized each other. Let's just say that she sneaked into the Empress Dowager's palace that night and said something, and Empress Dowager Dou sent someone almost the next morning to ask to see the Empress and her family.
"Like, so similar..."
Dou Yifang stared at the familiar face, feeling a mixture of emotions. The empress dowager's eyesight had been deteriorating recently, and her nephew, sitting not far from her, had naturally seen her expression, and her doubts were growing.
There was something wrong with my mother before she entered the palace. After entering the palace, Aunt Xue Yuan and the Empress Dowager became more and more weird than the other.
"What is the Queen Mother saying?"
Bo Qiaohui pretended not to know and drew Dou Yifang's attention back.
"Oh, I mean, my nephew misses an old friend of mine very much." Dou Yifang and Mo Li looked at each other and tacitly chose to conceal it. This was because it had happened a long time ago and it would easily involve Mrs. Lu and Madam Shen. It would be better to bury the past and let the living live well and just look forward.
Perhaps because Dou Yifang still felt guilty about Shen'er, she doted on her nephew as much as she did on Guan Tao. It was rumored that Mo Li was looking for a man for her, even taking the initiative to find a number of talented young men of outstanding character among the royal family and nobles, and specifically letting her nephew choose for herself. Unfortunately, the young woman was still immature and didn't seem to care much about the matter. She had no interest in those elegant young men.
Mo Li and her nephew Bo stayed in the palace for a month. Seeing that the Empress was busy with government affairs and that her nephew disliked the constraints of the palace, they decided to leave. Empress Dowager Dou, unable to persuade them to stay, gave her a token, allowing her to enter and leave the palace freely.
From then on, Bo Qiaohui experienced the most delightful months. Everyone in the palace, from top to bottom, carefully considered her feelings. Not only were new people sent to the Emperor, but even the old servants in Weiyang Palace were severely reprimanded by Empress Dowager Dou, forbidding them to become an eyesore in front of the Empress. Xue Yuan diligently carried out most of the palace duties for her, and the few she had to do was just a matter of talking.
"Your Majesty, is this performance entertaining?" Xue Yuan asked the empress, smiling, pointing at the dancers dancing on the podium. Bo Qiaohui wasn't sitting properly, but leaning casually, looking somewhat uninhibited. Le Chi, kneeling beside her, fed her peeled grapes. Qiaohui smiled, her graceful demeanor revealed as she raised her eyes.
"Thank you for taking the trouble to dance for me, Auntie. This dance is really good. I appreciate it."
Even so, looking at her tired eyes, it was clear that the performance had not aroused her interest. As expected, after she said this, she stretched out her hand, and Ah Man beside her hurriedly helped the queen up carefully.
"I'm a little tired today, let's watch the rest tomorrow." Honestly, while these performances were beautiful, none of Bo Qiaohui's three worlds lacked them. What she needed was fun. Unfortunately, only fearless fools in the palace would dare to bring such trouble to her face.
Holding her belly, Qiaohui was lost in thought, but she almost bumped into someone head-on. Looking up, she was delighted. Isn't this the veiled sister, Li Huaixu?
Huh? She's not wearing a veil today? Is she abandoning the mysterious look? Or has she already succeeded in that direction?
"How dare you! Don't you know where you're going? How dare you bump into the Empress!" Xue Yuan hurried over from behind and carefully examined the Empress. Seeing that the Empress was fine, she finally looked at the musician kneeling on the ground. Her brows were furrowed. "It's you! What's wrong? Didn't the people in the Music Bureau teach you the palace rules properly? Or do you dare to ignore the palace rules just because you have decent piano skills?"
Li Huaixu knelt on the cold stone floor, his voice relatively steady: "I dare not, but your Majesty has summoned me, and I am afraid I will be late."
Xue Yuan's expression immediately turned cold. She glanced at the Queen first, and seeing her calm expression and slight nod towards her, she turned back and said, "Since His Majesty has summoned you, then you can go." Without waiting for Li Huaixu to relax, Xue Yuan added leisurely, "When you're done, go and receive your punishment."
Li Huaixu paused, but still agreed obediently.
"Your Majesty, he is not..."
"I know why His Majesty summoned her."
Bo Qiaohui did know that Liu Qi had not concealed his actions. These days, Liu Qi often recruited people to the Xuanshi Hall, most of whom were young and beautiful palace ladies with families to support them.
Many in the palace speculated that the Empress's pregnancy prevented His Majesty from caring for her, prompting him to revisit the palace's beauties. Several other concubines in the Weiyang Palace had also flirted with them, but all were unsuccessful. The palace then speculated that His Majesty had grown tired of his old flames and was seeking a new lover.
Looking at Li Huaixu's expression just now, it was clear that she had also made some thoughts, but the failure of her first appearance probably left a big shadow on her. When she finally got the chance, she directly revealed her greatest reliance.
It has to be said that in terms of beauty, no one in the palace can compare with her except the queen.
Unfortunately, the emperor's selection of beauties was for the Empress Dowager's birthday celebration next year. These palace beauties were merely appetizers; Liu Qi had revealed that he was planning to give each of his brothers and uncles, who had traveled from afar, four beauties. Firstly, this was to support Bo Xiang's proposed Enfeoffment Order, encouraging them to prosper; secondly, it was to disgust them. After all, the emperor's women would naturally raise suspicions of spies, and it was hard to believe that four of them would all die suddenly. Crucially, Liu Qi was truly adept at planting spies among these individuals. True to his ancestry, he was a master at disgusting his own family.
Of course, Liu Qi's primary goal was to use this banquet to test who else, besides King Wu Liu Bi, harbored rebellious intentions. He had never spoken directly about reducing the power of the feudal lords in this lifetime, so secretly, he hoped there would be two or three more fearless individuals. Then, under the pretext of righteousness, he could quickly and easily eliminate them without dirtying his hands, allowing the Enfeoffment Order to be implemented more smoothly.
After all, he and Aqiao already have their own children. What if they have more children in the future and their fiefdoms are not large enough or good enough? Could it be that our children will have to live in poverty even more than those bastards?
Liu Qi glanced at the several wealthy areas on the map, hoping that his cousins there would be more understanding. It would be best if they could realize that they had failed the emperor's grace and commit suicide to atone for their sins.
"Your Majesty, the actors and musicians you summoned have arrived. Would Your Majesty like to see them?"
When Liu Qi came out of the study after sorting out the map, he saw some of his favorite people kneeling in the main hall.
The leader was Li Huaixu, who was holding the Luqiqin.
"Play yesterday's song and dance."
Liu Qi propped up his forehead, leaning back on the throne, listening to the captivating music and watching the beautiful dancers twisting their lithe waists passionately and boldly, nodding secretly. Apart from other things, even among his idiot relatives, some probably wouldn't be willing to kill these beauties even if they knew they were spies.
Although it is vulgar, it suits their taste.
My Aqiao is still the best.
Liu Qi did not forget to criticize the princes' taste in his heart, and he just wanted to finish watching it quickly and accompany his queen.
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