"Fifth Prince, this..."
Yongqi glanced at Xiaoshunzi, "You didn't see anything!"
Xiao Shunzi immediately chimed in, "This servant knows nothing. This servant just came to ask Fifth Prince when he will go to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager?"
"Go and get me breakfast first! We'll eat first and then go!" Yongqi instructed before returning to his room.
Yongqi looked at the girl lying on his bed, feeling both helpless and happy. "Little Swallow, Lazy Cat, Madam, get up quickly!"
"If you don't get up, I'm going to kiss you..." Yongqi had just finished speaking when Xiaoyanzi jumped up, "Um, I...I..."
"Come, let me comb your hair." Yongqi pressed Xiaoyanzi to the dressing table and personally did her hair and makeup, putting on her headdress. "All done."
"Fifth Prince..." Xiao Shunzi's voice rang out from outside, "Breakfast is here."
Yongqi then opened the door, took the breakfast from Xiaoshunzi, and carried it inside. "Come on, little lazy cat, eat quickly. After you finish eating, we need to go to Cining Palace."
Xiao Yanzi nodded obediently, finished eating silently, and then followed Yongqi to Cining Palace. They didn't speak on the way, but Xiao Yanzi kept stealing glances at Yongqi, while Yongqi looked at her openly. After arriving at Cining Palace, Xiao Yanzi took a deep breath, seemingly very scared. Yongqi placed his hands on her shoulders and said, "It's alright, I'm here, nothing will happen. If things get really bad, there's always Qing'er!"
Upon hearing Qing'er's name, Xiao Yanzi's mind replayed a scene from last night, and her face turned red again. Yongqi said with a mischievous smile, "Hey, Xiao Yanzi, why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?"
Xiao Yanzi realized that Yongqi was doing it on purpose, and immediately wanted to punch him. Yongqi quickly grabbed her hand and said, "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. Let's go inside quickly."
The two then entered the Cining Palace respectfully. "Yongqi/Xiaoyanzi greets Your Majesty, may Your Majesty be well!"
The old lady spoke with an expression as usual, "No need for formalities. I heard from Qing'er that you all drank last night, and Xiao Yanzi came back drunk..."
Little Swallow immediately knelt down and begged for forgiveness, "Your Majesty, Little Swallow knows she was wrong. She shouldn't have come home drunk. Please punish her!"
“It was Yongqi who failed to stop it in time. If Your Majesty wishes to punish someone, then punish Yongqi!”
The two knelt down one after the other. The Empress Dowager looked at Qing'er, who was standing to the side, with a wronged expression. "Qing'er, when did I say I was going to punish them? Why do I feel like I'm the bad guy?"
Qing'er smiled and explained, "Your Majesty, you are usually too serious, which is why people are afraid of you. Although Xiao Yanzi came back drunk, she didn't do anything outrageous, so please forgive her!"
The Empress Dowager glanced at Yongqi, then at Xiaoyanzi, and said with a smile, "Although being drunk is not good, this is Xiaoyanzi's first offense, and Qing'er also said that Xiaoyanzi didn't do anything out of line, so we won't pursue it, but this is not to be repeated!"
Allowing princes and princesses to go out late at night was already breaking the rules, and now the princess has come back drunk. If word gets out, what will become of the situation?
"Yes, Little Swallow will remember this and will never get drunk again!"
"Alright, get up, everyone. It's almost time. You can go to the Imperial Study with Qing'er."
After the Empress Dowager spoke, the three of them bowed and took their leave, heading towards the Imperial Study.
After getting some distance from Cining Palace, Qing'er looked at Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi and teased, "Yongqi, you'd better keep an eye on Xiaoyanzi from now on. If she drinks when you're not around, that'll be a disaster!"
"Qing'er! Stop talking!" Little Swallow's face was flushed, and no one knew what indescribable scene was on her mind!
"Little Swallow, if you're going to drink in the future, make sure it's just between you and Yongqi. Don't show up in front of us, we can't handle it!" The dog food attack was too strong, they couldn't take it!
Little Swallow grabbed Qing'er's hand and glared at her, "Are you still my good sister-in-law?"
Seeing that Xiao Yanzi was angry, Qing'er finally stopped smiling. "Alright, alright, I won't say anything more! But later, I won't be the only one teasing you..."
"..." Little Swallow looked at the sky with a sense of despair. "Heavens above, I don't want to go to class!" She didn't want to be stared at like a monkey either!
Qing'er said with a mischievous smile, "Unless you pray that it rains heavily right away and the sky gets dark again, maybe you won't have to go to class today!"
Hearing this, Little Swallow shook her head, "That won't do. If a torrential rain comes, how will the people survive?"
These days, everyone depends on the weather for their livelihood. If the weather isn't cooperating, they won't have anything to eat. She can't let her little matter delay the important matters of the people!
"Fine, I'll go!" So what if she dies? She can just pretend she doesn't remember. Besides, they're framing her! Anyway, it's already good enough that they don't know what happened at Yonghe Palace!
After composing themselves, they arrived at the Imperial Study. Yongrong and Yongqi arrived one after the other, all suppressing their laughter as they looked at Xiaoyanzi. Xiaoyanzi, seeing their smiles, gave up and said, "Laugh all you want. Without me, you wouldn't have so many laughs!"
Yongrong gave a thumbs up, looking at Xiaoyanzi, "Fifth Sister-in-law, I'm absolutely in awe of you now, you're amazing!"
Yongqi chimed in, "That's right. Although you're not Manchu, Fifth Sister-in-law, your way of doing things is very similar to that of us Manchus. No wonder you were able to get together with my Fifth Brother!"
Although Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi are not married yet, in their hearts, Xiaoyanzi is already their fifth sister-in-law!
"What are you all chatting about here?" As he spoke, Ji Xiaolan and Emperor Qianlong arrived. "Little Swallow, have you rested enough?"
Everyone bowed in unison before Xiao Yanzi answered Qianlong's question, "Your Majesty, I have rested well and am full of energy again!"
Emperor Qianlong laughed heartily upon hearing this, "What a lively and vigorous spirit! I hope it really is a dragon, and really is a tiger!"
Ji Xiaolan and the others understood the implication and smiled. Then, Ji Xiaolan said, "Your Majesty, princes and princesses, let's go in for class."
At noon, school was over. Emperor Qianlong and Ji Xiaolan had already left. The twelfth prince, Yongqi, looked at Xiaoyanzi curiously and said, "Fifth sister-in-law, speaking of which, we haven't been to your Shufangzhai yet. Why don't we go there today?"
Yongrong chimed in, "That's right, Fifth Sister-in-law, how about we have lunch at Shufangzhai?"
“Okay, then let Yongqi cook a big meal for you!” Xiao Yanzi naturally had no objections, as did Xia Ziwei.
On the way back to Shufangzhai, Xiaoyanzi inquired about the recent situation of Jin Suo, Liu Qing, and Liu Hong, "Ziwei, how are Jin Suo and the others doing lately?"
Xia Ziwei laughed and said, "They're doing great. They're on their way back and are planning to open a restaurant in Beijing called Huibinlou, which will be one of our lodgings outside the palace!"
Jin Suo, Liu Qing, and Liu Hong had been sent out by Xiao Yanzi to gather information, and now they've finally returned. Upon hearing this, Xiao Yanzi thought that opening a restaurant wouldn't be a bad idea. "That's great! When we have some free time, we'll go to Huibinlou to support them!"
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