"Eunuch Yu, where are you from?" The maid from the Queen's Palace who was guarding outside the study room saw Eunuch Yu walking towards her with a slightly hunched back. She looked in the direction he had just walked from with her sharp eyes. The maid's eyes sank slightly, and she already understood something in her heart.
"Nothing, it's almost afternoon. I just went to the imperial kitchen to prepare some snacks for the emperor. Why did you come here when you weren't serving in the empress's palace?" Eunuch Yu made up an excuse to dodge the maid's question and then changed the subject. His shrewd eyes had already looked over the maid and he understood the purpose of her visit.
The palace maid smiled and slowly walked towards Eunuch Yu, saying with a hint of flattery, "Thank you for your hard work, Eunuch. Small things like preparing cakes are handled by the eunuchs below. You can just give them instructions. Why bother making this trip yourself?"
As he reached the last step, Eunuch Yu's face was all smiles, but his eyes showed disapproval at the maid's words. "What goes into your mouth is no small matter. Especially since it's for His Majesty, we can't be careless! What brings you here today? What's going on with the Empress?"
Seeing that Eunuch Yu refused to admit where he had just been, the palace maid snorted in her heart, but a smile spread across her face. She pulled Eunuch Yu to the flower bed in front of the study and asked in a low voice, "Eunuch, you know that ever since Concubine Rong was punished and sent to the ancestral temple, the Emperor hasn't been to the Empress's palace for a long time! The Empress sent this servant to ask if the Emperor would like to visit her palace today. The Empress knew that the Emperor had just recovered from a serious illness, so she specially ordered people to prepare a lot of food that is beneficial to his health! Of course, this servant cannot enter the study, but Eunuch, you are a popular figure around the Emperor. I believe the Emperor will listen to your words!"
As she spoke, the palace maid took out a purse from her sleeve. It looked flat, but it contained a lot of secrets.
Eunuch Yu's eyelids drooped slightly, and his gleaming eyes swept across the exquisitely embroidered purse in the maid's hand. He noticed that the gold thread used on the purse was worth a fortune. The look in his eyes softened a little, but he did not take the purse. With a hint of embarrassment, he said: "Your Majesty's thoughts, this old servant understands! But the Emperor is really busy today. He sees the green card brought by the cleaning room every day without even looking at it. What do you want me to do? Let me try to mention it to the Emperor, but no matter what the result is, you can't blame me!"
With that, Eunuch Yu pushed the purse back. He wasn't unmoved by the money, but the purse was so expensive, and the amount of banknotes inside must be considerable. If he accepted it, he feared he would be working for the Empress. And with a shrewd Emperor Yugan, how could he not notice? By then, he still had no idea whether he would be able to spend the money.
After glancing at the palace maid, Eunuch Yu quickly walked towards the study, pushed open the side door and walked in, not giving the palace maid any chance to force her purse into his pocket.
"Your Majesty!" Eunuch Yu took the ginseng tea from the eunuch's hand, walked up the jade steps, and carefully placed it on the dragon table of Emperor Yugan.
"Are you back? How is it?" Emperor Yu Gan quickly wrote his imperial comments on the memorial, then changed it without even raising his eyelids.
"The Imperial Concubine is worshipping Buddha in the ancestral temple and praying for Old Lady Chen! There are also guards guarding the ancestral temple, everything is normal!" Eunuch Yu answered in a low voice.
"Hmph!" But after hearing Eunuch Yu's answer, Emperor Yu Gan just snorted and then fell silent. It seemed that the anger in his heart would not dissipate so easily.
"What did Commander Wu find out?" Xia Ji escorted him back to the palace, while Commander Wu stayed in Puguo Temple to continue the search. So many days had passed, and it was time to give him an answer.
"Your Majesty, Commander Wu has sent someone to report that the Puguo Temple is full of Taoist nuns and female donors, and no suspicious people have been found!" Eunuch Yu spoke very carefully, and his words were very careful not to let Emperor Yugan hear any taboo words from his mouth.
After listening to Eunuch Yu's report, Emperor Yugan's expression turned cold, and he wrote even faster.
Eunuch Yu carefully observed Emperor Yugan's expression. He looked indifferent, but his eyes were sharp. He couldn't help but think of the palace maid's words, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, you must take care of your health! You have been talking with the ministers late at night these days, so you must take care of your health! The ladies in the harem are all very worried about your health!"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Yugan paused his brush on the rice paper. He immediately understood what Eunuch Yu meant. A sneer flickered in his eyes as he asked, "Is that so? It's been a while since I've been to the harem! Who do you think I should visit first?"
Seeing that Emperor Yugan didn't show any obvious anger, Eunuch Yu replied, "Your Majesty, the Empress is the head of the harem, and there's a rule in the palace that the Emperor and Empress must sleep together one day every month. You haven't been to the Empress's palace this month!"
As Eunuch Yu spoke, he paid attention to Emperor Yugan's expression. He was nervous throughout the whole process, fearing that a single mistake would anger the emperor.
"In that case, let's go!" Little did they know that Emperor Yugan actually closed the memorial in front of him, stood up, and led Eunuch Yu out of the hall.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor is coming!" The palace maid looked outside the study for a long time, and finally saw Eunuch Yu nodding to her from afar, so she immediately ran back to the palace to report the matter.
Upon hearing this news, the Queen's teacup tilted slightly, and the slightly scalding tea splashed down the rim onto her hand. However, she felt no pain and stood up with a look of joy on her face. She raised her voice slightly and asked, "Really?"
"Really? The Emperor is coming towards our palace!" The maid approached the Queen, took the teacup from her hand and placed it on the table, then took the handkerchief beside her and wiped the tea stains off her hands.
But the queen didn't care about all this. She immediately rushed to the bronze mirror, grabbed the comb on the dressing table and carefully combed her soft, shiny and smooth hair, fearing that even a single hair would not please the queen.
When Emperor Yugan entered the palace, the Empress had already led everyone in the palace to greet him at the door, "Your Highness, long live the Emperor!"
"Get up!" Emperor Yugan glanced at the queen indifferently, then walked into the bedroom.
The queen only felt that the pair of bright yellow boots paused slightly in front of her eyes and then walked away. A trace of disappointment and sadness flashed through her heart, but she could only smile and stand up, following Emperor Yugan into the bedroom with a graceful posture. After Emperor Yugan sat down, she carefully sat beside him.
"Your Majesty, it's getting late. Why don't you have dinner in my palace? You don't have to run back and forth!" Staring at Emperor Yugan's indifferent expression, the Queen smiled like a flower, but spoke with a hint of caution in her heart.
Emperor Yugan glanced around the bedroom before his eyes fell on the empress's pretty face. However, the stunning face of Concubine Rong emerged in his mind, and he couldn't help but frowned slightly.
No matter how beautiful Rong Rong was, she did not observe the virtues of a woman. Although she was still a virgin when she was checked, the incident at Puguo Temple had happened. In Emperor Yugan's heart, Rong Rong was no different from a Dang woman. If she did not have the Rong family behind her, how could he have let her live until today?
Although the queen looks plain, she sticks to her duties. It seems that I have neglected her for a long time.
Thinking of this, Emperor Yugan took the Queen's right hand that was resting on her knees and said with some seriousness, "You are so comfortable!"
Hearing this, the Queen's eyes reddened slightly, tears welling up in her eyes. She lowered her head and spoke in a trembling voice, "It is my honor that the Emperor likes it!"
Seeing this, Eunuch Yu realized that the emperor was going to have dinner in the queen's palace tonight, so he immediately winked at Xiao Luzi, who was beside the queen, and asked him to go down and prepare dinner.
"Your Majesty, have you been worried about something recently? If you are in a bad mood, why not come to my palace more often? Although the harem is not allowed to interfere in politics and I cannot help Your Majesty, I still have Yao'er in my palace. Your Majesty will definitely feel better when he sees her." The Queen took the opportunity to speak and even mentioned Princess Yao, asking the Emperor not to forget his own daughter.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Yugan patted the back of the Queen's hand and smiled faintly, but did not respond. It seemed that he was still thinking about other things.
The Queen naturally did not dare to say too much, otherwise it would offend Emperor Yugan and would be counterproductive.
At this time, a figure slowly approached the door of the hall. Seeing this, Eunuch Yu glanced at Emperor Yugan, then silently left the bedroom and listened to the report of the young eunuch.
"Little Yu, what happened?" How could Emperor Yugan not notice? Before Eunuch Yu even stepped over the threshold, he asked.
The Queen watched Eunuch Yu return to the bedroom. The pitiful look on her face suddenly disappeared, replaced by a hint of nervousness that rose from the bottom of her heart. She stared at the approaching Eunuch Yu with her eyes, and her left hand gradually grasped the skirt on her leg. She became extremely uneasy.
Eunuch Yu glanced at the Empress, but could only answer Emperor Yugan's question truthfully, "Your Majesty, Prince Chu and Prince Chen have escorted the Crown Prince back to the palace! The Crown Prince just went to the Upper Study to pay his respects, but unexpectedly, the Emperor came to the Empress's place, so he went to Consort De's palace."
"Really?" Emperor Yugan let go of the Queen's hand, picked up the hot tea on the table and took a sip. He then asked, "Where are Prince Chu and Prince Chen now?"
"The two princes left the palace first after seeing that the emperor was not there!"
After listening to Eunuch Yu's report, Emperor Yugan slowly turned the teacup with a phoenix pattern in his hand and stood up after a while.
"Your Majesty, dinner should be ready!" The Queen had already seen Emperor Yugan's next move, so she stood up immediately after Emperor Yugan and hurriedly spoke to persuade him to stay.
But how could Emperor Yugan listen to a woman's opinion? He turned his slightly cold gaze towards the Queen, but found a hint of pleading hidden deep in her eyes. His gaze softened slightly, but he would not allow the Queen to question his decision. "I still have government affairs to attend to. Queen, please have dinner by yourself!"
As he spoke, Emperor Yugan led Eunuch Yu out of the bedroom.
"Your Majesty..." The Queen's words were stuck in her mouth but she couldn't shout them out. She watched Emperor Yugan leave her palace.
"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself!" The palace maid immediately stepped forward to support the queen and whispered something in her ear.
"Is this true?" The queen's aching heart was stabbed again with a knife. She turned to the palace maid with hatred in her eyes and confirmed.
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