This year was destined to be an uneasy one. There was war in the north, Dongchen was destroyed, Concubine Lin died, Prince Ning rebelled and was imprisoned, and the mother and son of Concubine Lin, who were once the most favored, disappeared in the imperial city.

Lu Yanluo got off the carriage, listened to the sound of firecrackers coming from time to time, and slowly exhaled. This year was finally almost over.

Early this morning, Lu Yanluo went to Cheng Ruoxue's place.

Ever since Cheng Ruoxue divorced the Marquis of Zhenbei, Lu Yanluo helped find a three-story courtyard in the capital and found a few reliable servants. But as the year was coming to an end, Cheng Ruoxue was alone there, and Lu Yanluo was worried about her, so she went there to help early in the morning.

As soon as she entered the door, Chu Yao and Chu Yuan came out from the house excitedly to greet her, and Chu Yuan even threw himself into Lu Yanluo's arms and acted coquettishly.

"Mother! Mother is back!"

Lu Yanluo gently raised her hand and rubbed Lu Yuan's cute little head: "Where did you go to play today? You look so happy."

The New Year is coming soon, and the two little darlings, Chu Yao and Chu Yuan, are so happy that they follow their father Chu Xuan and play around in the yard whenever they have nothing to do.

When Chu Yuan heard his mother's question, he immediately happily shared the interesting things he had encountered today.

"Today, Yaoyao and I went to the palace to see Grandpa Emperor. I saw a lady I didn't recognize. She was very nice to me and gave me many beautiful stones, delicious candies and cakes!"

Chu Yuan spoke with great joy, and it was obvious that what she most wanted to tell Lu Yanluo was that she had eaten delicious candies and cakes given to her by a strange lady today.

Chu Yao, who was standing behind him, slapped Chu Yuan on the head: "You only know how to eat, you have no future."

Chu Yuan immediately frowned his cute little brows, hid in Lu Yanluo's arms and sulked, ignoring Chu Yao.

Lu Yanluo felt amused and watched Chu Yao recount his experiences of entering the palace today like a little adult.

"Someone came to the palace today and took Yuanyuan and me into the palace. We met an unfamiliar lady there. She said she was the mother of the Sixth Prince and asked us to call her the Imperial Concubine. She..."

Chu Yao is still young after all. Although his mind is much more mature than that of ordinary children, the cunningness of human nature is still somewhat unfamiliar to him.

He frowned and said uncertainly, "Her attitude towards us is weird and makes us uncomfortable."

The Sixth Prince's mother? Lu Yanluo had heard of her.

The mother of the Sixth Prince Chu Han was Concubine Xian. Although she was a concubine, she was above Concubine Lin and was not favored by the emperor on a daily basis, so she was basically ignored in the harem.

Unexpectedly, not long after Concubine Lin died, this virtuous concubine emerged and was named a noble concubine overnight.

Lu Yanluo sneered in her heart, thinking that the emperor must have been behind this.

Everyone in the palace knew that Concubine Xian had a grudge against Chu Chen's biological mother, Concubine Han. It was too obvious who they were targeting by bringing Concubine Xian out at this time.

Ever since Ning Wang Chu Zhen's rebellion, everyone in the capital knew about the deep brotherly love between Su Wang Chu Chen and Ye Wang Chu Xuan. Even when threatened, Chu Chen was unwilling to take action against his brother.

Obviously, this deep brotherly love became a thorn in the emperor's side.

I’m afraid that the two brothers Chu Xuan and Chu Chen will be in trouble in the future.

During dinner, Chu Xuan also mentioned the virtuous concubine whom he had met in the palace today, and his words were full of disgust.

"She will definitely attend tomorrow's banquet. If she is blindly targeting you, don't be polite to her. You are just taking advantage of the power of others." Chu Xuan said coldly.

It is the end of the year, and tomorrow is the last day of the year, New Year's Eve. According to custom, the emperor will hold a banquet in Jiaotai Hall to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new with his court officials.

In previous years, Concubine Lin attended the ceremony with the emperor. Now that Concubine Lin has passed away, tomorrow it will certainly be the newly appointed Concubine Xian who will accompany the emperor.

Lu Yanluo didn't care: "In public, besides talking nonsense, what else can she come up with? Don't worry, we'll talk later."

Lu Yanluo smiled at Chu Xuan: "Besides, with you here, who can let me suffer any injustice?"

Chu Xuan felt relaxed and happy after hearing this. A bright smile appeared on his face, and he held Lu Yanluo's hand tightly in his palm.

On the second day, the two packed up and prepared to enter the palace. Before leaving, Lu Yanluo called Shen He.

"You can stay in the mansion today and don't have to follow us into the palace. Please help me protect the prince and the young lady."

After much deliberation, Lu Yanluo decided not to bring the two children into the palace. The emperor's attitude seemed to be that he wanted to get rid of the Night Prince's Mansion as soon as possible. If she rashly brought the children into the palace and something unexpected happened, she would regret it.

"Yes." Shen He bowed and nodded: "I will definitely fulfill your mission."

After everything was arranged, the two of them felt relieved and went into the palace for the banquet.

At the banquet, the eunuchs shouted loudly: "Your Majesty has arrived! The Imperial Concubine has arrived!"

In the Jiaotai Hall, many noble ministers knelt down to welcome the emperor. The emperor was obviously in a good mood today and was full of energy. Concubine Xian was dressed in gorgeous clothes and jewels, and sat beside the emperor.

When she stood up, Lu Yanluo took the opportunity to glance at the newly promoted imperial concubine and secretly curled her lips. No wonder Chu Xuan said that she was relying on the power of others.

I saw Concubine Xian sitting at the top, constantly posing and flirting, without any trace of dignity or composure. She was like a nouveau riche who had won the lottery and was afraid that others would not know she was rich. Her hair was full of pearl hairpins, which were so dazzling that they were blinding.

In the hall, everyone was laughing and talking to each other. Concubine Xian glanced at Lu Yanluo, snorted disdainfully, and started to make trouble.

"Princess Ye is attending the banquet today. Why didn't you bring the prince and the young lady with you? I like both of them very much. Why don't you bring them to the palace so that His Majesty and I can meet them?"

Lu Yanluo stood up calmly and said, "Your Majesty, the two children are too naughty. I am afraid that bringing them into the palace rashly will disturb Your Majesty and Your Majesty."

Concubine Xian chuckled and said in an ambiguous tone, "Why is Princess Ye so cautious? Do you think that I and Your Majesty are wolves and tigers? They are just two children, and they are your Majesty's and my grandchildren. Even if something happens, who can really blame them? Don't you think so, Your Majesty?"

Sure enough, after hearing what Concubine Xian said, the emperor's face turned a little ugly and he looked at Lu Yanluo unhappily.

Lu Yanluo bowed her head and said, "I didn't mean that. I just didn't want the two children to mess around on such an important occasion. Besides, children are naughty and it's always inconvenient to bring them around."

[Psychopath, I know you have bad intentions. A pheasant has taken over a phoenix's nest, what's there to be so arrogant about! ]

Lu Yanluo kept complaining in her heart, feeling a little annoyed. She hated it most when others used Chu Yao and Chu Yuan as targets.