The Queen Mother's eyes sparkled with light.
She was already ecstatic when she saw a woman beside the emperor, because the emperor had not allowed any woman to get close to him for many years.
Unexpectedly, the woman was Xu Lingyi.
Thinking of what the master said before his death, the empress dowager looked at Xu Lingyi with an especially hot look.
"Yier!"
"How did you end up with the Emperor?"
The Queen Mother couldn't believe it and quickly took Xu Lingyi's hand.
"I went hunting that day and fell off a cliff... and met Your Majesty at the bottom."
With just this one sentence, the Queen Mother understood everything.
The empress dowager looked the emperor up and down, then looked at Xu Lingyi, who was holding her hand.
Seeing that the emperor's eyes were always on Xu Lingyi, she thought about how they had been together as a single man and a single woman for the past few months.
The Queen Mother was overjoyed and couldn't help but smile.
"The emperor was all I had in my mind for this entire time, and I didn't realize you had fallen down there too."
The Queen Mother sounded apologetic and had already considered Xu Lingyi as her daughter-in-law.
In the past few months, she cried every day. On the one hand, she was worried about the emperor, and on the other hand, she had to fight against the court officials. It is no exaggeration to say that she was overwhelmed.
Xu Lingyi shook her head and smiled faintly, "How can you be blamed for this? I was the one who frightened the horse and fell off the cliff."
The Queen Mother gently stroked Xu Lingyi's hair.
She felt both scared and extremely relieved.
"A cliff this high is like a bottomless abyss. If anyone else fell down, they wouldn't be able to survive."
"You and the Emperor were able to return safely, which shows that you are both blessed with great fortune. Now that you have survived a great disaster, you will surely have good fortune in the future."
The Empress Dowager was glad that neither Xu Lingyi nor the Emperor had any physical defects.
The emperor looked particularly energetic, with a faint smile on his face, and it was obvious that there was nothing wrong with him.
"It was just a coincidence that there was a lake at the bottom of the cliff. Your Majesty and I both fell into the lake and saved our lives." Xu Lingyi smiled faintly.
"You two are both blessed with good fortune."
The Queen Mother took Xu Lingyi's hand and said, "Please stay in the palace today. I also want to hear about your experiences during this period."
After the Queen Mother finished speaking, she looked at the Emperor and deliberately asked tentatively, "Your Majesty, do you agree that I may keep her in the palace to accompany me?"
The emperor was worried about how to keep Xu Lingyi. "Mother, of course I agree, but I don't know if Yi'er is willing."
Seeing that the emperor agreed so readily, the empress dowager felt relieved.
The emperor had spoken so righteously in the imperial garden that he would never obey even if he died.
She thought he would never fall in love with any woman in his life, and even suspected that he had a homosexual tendency.
As a result...it was obvious that she was worrying too much.
She said that the emperor was still a man after all, and it was impossible for a man not to be attracted by such a beautiful woman.
When she saw Xu Lingyi for the first time, she felt the whole room was bright.
"Yier, please stay with me for one night. If you are worried about your family, I will send a message to your home to let them know they are safe."
Facing the empress dowager's earnest gaze, Xu Lingyi nodded.
Although she also wanted to go back to the Xu Mansion to see her stepmother and sister, there was no harm in delaying one day.
The Empress Dowager took Xu Lingyi back to her residence, and the Emperor of course followed.
"Emperor, tell me what happened at the bottom of the cliff. Weren't you forbidden to get close to women at the beginning? How come you can... allow Yi'er to get close to you now?"
There was a hint of subtle ridicule in the Queen Mother's eyes.
The emperor knew that the empress dowager liked Xu Lingyi, but he still wanted her to be a little more attractive.
Plus these are indeed facts.
"Yier saved me twice at the bottom of the cliff."
The smile on the Queen Mother's face disappeared. She was quite nervous. "What happened then?"
The emperor then told the story of his two encounters with snakes.
In fact, there was another time when he was drugged with an aphrodisiac, but the emperor would not tell anyone about it without Xu Lingyi's consent.
The Queen Mother quickly grasped Xu Lingyi's hand, her eyes red as she looked at her: "I knew you were a good child the first time I saw you. The master said that you two were destined to be together. If it were true, if it weren't for you, I don't know if I could have met the Emperor. Yi'er, I thank you."
The Queen Mother's voice choked with sobs. She held Xu Lingyi's hand tightly, and her tone was extremely solemn.
"If Yi'er wants anything, just tell me. As long as I can do it, I will do it for you."
Xu Lingyi shook her head gently, a faint smile in her beautiful eyes.
"Your Majesty, this is what I should do when your Majesty is in trouble. Moreover, your Majesty took care of me before, even under the cliff. Your Majesty and I owe each other nothing, and your Majesty doesn't need to make any promises to me."
When the empress dowager heard Xu Lingyi's words, she felt that she was well-educated and well-mannered, but she also felt that the emperor was not living up to his expectations.
Xu Lingyi seemed to want to draw a clear line between herself and the emperor.
Come to think of it, the emperor hadn't had any contact with any young women for decades, so he certainly wouldn't be able to get along with women, let alone please them.
The Queen Mother thought for a moment and decided to test the intentions of her obscure son again so that she could plan how to help him next.
"This is a life-saving favor, how can I just brush it off? In my opinion, it wouldn't be too much to ask the Emperor to pledge his love to me."
As the Queen Mother spoke, she glanced at the Emperor inadvertently.
The emperor was not as resistant as before. Instead, his eyes were full of anticipation.
Seeing Xu Lingyi lowered her head and didn't speak, the empress dowager changed the subject and spoke deliberately.
"But my son has no heart for love and only wants to be a monk. So forget it. I can't bear to delay Yi'er, so I will find a good match for her."
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