In the evening, after finishing his work, Yuan Bohua returned home, washed his hands, changed his clothes, and went to the main courtyard to see his two sons first.
He came back from having dinner with the second prince outside.
So when he arrived at the main courtyard and saw Zhou Qiongyue having dinner, his brows furrowed involuntarily, and he asked with concern, "Why are you having dinner so late?"
"I ate too much at lunch with Princess Yongchun, so I wasn't very hungry at night, so it was a bit late."
Zhou Qiongyue knew that Yuan Bohua saw her and Princess Yongchun in the carriage, so Yuan Bohua should understand as soon as she said it.
When Yuan Bohua heard Zhou Qiongyue mention what happened during the day, he took out a sign from his pocket and placed it in front of Zhou Qiongyue, "This is the sign for the private room upstairs in Tianxiang Tower. You don't need to make an appointment in advance when you go there next time."
Yuan Bohua's words really piqued Zhou Qiongyue's interest. She put down her chopsticks, picked up the food and looked at it, "Where did the prince come from?"
"Tianxianglou is also part of the palace, but it's not listed in the backyard's accounts. It's listed in the front yard's accounts, but the princess comes and goes as she pleases. Remember to keep it secret."
After saying this, Yuan Bohua looked at his princess proudly.
Zhou Qiongyue just smiled and nodded, gave a flattering compliment, and happily continued eating with her chopsticks.
As for asking Yuan Bohua to hand it all over, that was unrealistic. In this era, men were supposed to be out in the government and do important things. This wasn't playing house, so how could he not have his own little stash of cash he could use at any time?
Moreover, for someone of Yuan Bohua's status, the fewer people who know what he does with the money, the less likely it is to be exposed.
In addition, there is a lot of silver and farms and shops in the accounts in the backyard of the palace. Those alone are more than enough to maintain the operation of the entire palace.
After Zhou Qiongyue had eaten for a while, she saw that Yuan Bohua did not go to see his son, but sat next to her and stared at her.
There was someone staring at you while you were eating, and Zhou Qiongyue felt a little uncomfortable.
Zhou Qiongyue could only ask again, "Your Highness, why don't you go see your son? Is there something else?"
"I thought you would be angry about this!" Yuan Bohua didn't know whether he wanted Yue'er to be angry or not.
The look Zhou Qiongyue gave Yuan Bohua at this moment meant, "Stop messing around."
"What's there to be angry about? I haven't told the prince what my dowry is! Besides, the prince is always out and about, so he always needs money.
You can't expect me to agree to everything you do! I don't understand what's going on outside, and if I disagree, will we end up arguing? It's better not to be an 'outsider guiding the experts.'"
Yuan Bohua immediately went forward to hug Zhou Qiongyue, but Zhou Qiongyue clapped her hands and said, "Stop it! I still need to have dinner!"
Yuan Bohua could only stand up in disappointment and go to the next room to hug his sons. Following the principle of fairness, he hugged the eldest son Yuan Chaochang for a while, and then hugged Yuan Chaokang for a while.
Then he came over and chatted with Zhou Qiongyue about what happened today.
In the next few days, Yuan Bohua still went out early and came back late, and Zhou Qiongyue just sent people to keep an eye on the movements of the Shenggan Kingdom delegation out of curiosity.
Originally, Zhou Qiongyue thought there would be some excitement to watch, but the Shenggan Kingdom delegation was very quiet, except for the day they arrived when they presented the Shenggan Kingdom's letter to the emperor.
For the rest of the time, the entire delegation was very well-behaved and stayed in the Honglu Temple without going out.
On the fourth day after the delegation arrived in Yuan'an, the emperor finally issued an imperial decree to hold a welcoming banquet for the delegation from Shenggan Kingdom.
All the noble ministers of Yuan'an had to be present with their wives, and even Princess Yongchun, who was about to give birth, could not be absent.
Zhou Qiongyue was really worried about Princess Yongchun. She thought to herself that she should pay more attention to Her Highness at night.
Before Zhou Qiongyue and Yuan Bohua went out, they saw Zhou Zhiquan coming on horseback.
When Zhou Qiongyue and Yuan Bohua saw the person walking in quickly, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
They were indeed worried about Yuan Chaochang and Yuan Chaokang staying in the mansion, and although they had properly arranged for servants, they were still not so reassured without a master to keep an eye on them.
As soon as Zhou Zhiquan saw Zhou Qiongyue and Yuan Bohua, he immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Greetings, Your Majesty and Your Majesty!"
Yuan Bohua immediately stepped forward to help Zhou Zhiquan up, "We are family, why are we being so polite?"
Yuan Bohua was grateful from the bottom of his heart for his fifth brother's visit. His fifth brother had been sent to the academy by his father-in-law to avoid the envoys from Shenggan Country.
Fifth brother must have come back from the academy specifically to reassure Yue'er.
Zhou Zhiquan knew it was getting late, so he hurriedly said, "Sister, Prince, please go to the palace first! I'll be looking after Chang'er and Kang'er in the mansion."
"Then I'll trouble you, Fifth Brother." Yuan Bohua knew that Fifth Brother was really good to his sister, so he didn't bother to be too polite with him.
After saying this, he directly pulled Zhou Qiongyue away.
If you are late for such an occasion, the emperor will remember it. Because being remembered for such a thing is not a good thing.
When Yuan Bohua and Zhou Qiongyue arrived, most people had already arrived, but he and Zhou Qiongyue were considered to be the first among the princes and princesses to arrive.
The high-ranking ministers of Yuan'an had already taken their seats below with their wives.
The envoys from Shenggan Kingdom arrived earlier than Zhou Qiongyue and her group. When Zhou Qiongyue arrived, she saw Princess Tianci of Shenggan Kingdom already sitting in the envoys' seat.
When Yuan Bohua and Zhou Qiongyue passed by the Shenggan Kingdom delegation, he didn't even glance at them and just took Zhou Qiongyue straight past.
Just as Zhou Qiongyue and Yuan Bohua sat down, Princess Yongchun arrived with her husband, Sun Yuma. Then the eldest prince, the second prince, the third prince, the fourth prince, and the fifth prince, five adult princes, came in together.
No matter what their relationship is like on a daily basis, they all look like brothers at this moment.
Then the high-ranking concubines in the emperor's harem began to arrive one after another. Finally, when everyone was present, the emperor and the empress came in hand in hand.
The banquet officially began only after the emperor and the empress arrived. The emperor gave a speech first, expressing his welcome to the envoys from the Shenggan Kingdom, and then expressed his willingness to maintain peaceful and friendly relations between the two countries.
He also expressed his support for the proposal of the Saint Gan Kingdom to form a two-nation alliance.
After the emperor finished his long speech, Princess Yuwen Tianci of Shenggan Kingdom immediately knelt down to express her gratitude.
After Yuwen Tianci finished thanking him, he immediately said, "Your Majesty, since it is a joint smoke, I wonder who your country plans to send to conduct the joint smoke."
After Princess Yuwen Tianci finished speaking, she even looked around at the people in the hall. Her eyes were as naked as those of the servants picking vegetables in the vegetable market.
The faces of the princes opposite instantly turned ugly.
The eldest prince was an impulsive man. He immediately stood up with a fake smile, bowed to the emperor, and then said:
"This prince's palace is still lacking a concubine. I am willing to contribute to the peace between the two countries. However, if Princess Tianci becomes my concubine, I will not engage in such frivolous activities."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
