Inside the Deyang Palace, Liu Hong frowned as he silently looked at the sheepskin map and letter on the table. Lü Qiang, Zhao Zhong, and Song Dian stood there, not daring to utter a sound.
After a long while, Liu Hong's brows relaxed, and he then took out paper and pen to write a secret letter to Jia Xu.
Soon, a member of the Imperial Guard left Luoyang with the Emperor's secret letter, a sheepskin map, and the letter itself, speeding towards Youzhou.
On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yuan Feng, along with craftsmen from the Engineering Academy and laborers recruited from around Luoyang, began the renovation and expansion of the Chongzheng Hall.
Therefore, Dou Miao issued an imperial edict to suspend court for two months, with the court to resume on the first day of the second month of the following year.
Dou Miao's imperial edict once again aroused the dissatisfaction of the officials.
The emperor has always been diligent in his duties and has never missed a court session since he ascended the throne. But the empress dowager is different. She has taken a two-month break from court, and it is during the busiest time of the year, at the end and beginning of the year. What does this mean?
With the year drawing to a close and nothing major happening in the court, Liu Hong dumped all the tedious administrative affairs on Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Zhou Yi, and others, leaving himself to simply draw a circle.
With court sessions suspended, Liu Hong had a rare period of leisure, spending his days either teasing the palace maids or wandering around the palace, looking just like a street urchin.
Inside Deyang Palace, it was lunchtime, and Xiao Hong led a group of palace maids in carrying food boxes.
"Tsk tsk tsk... Such a feast for the eyes! Looking at these beauties, I feel like I don't even need to eat!"
Liu Hong looked at the several beautiful palace maids in front of him with a smile, looking every bit the spoiled young master.
Liu Hong's appearance made the palace maids blush, lower their heads and look at the ground, not daring to respond.
"Your Majesty, no matter how beautiful a woman is, you still need to eat, otherwise you won't have the energy to appreciate her!"
Seeing Liu Hong staring blankly at the palace maids, Xiao Hong couldn't help but chuckle and remind him to eat.
"Ah, yes, yes, Xiaohong is right. Let's eat, let's eat!"
Just as Liu Hong brought the rice bowl to his lips, he seemed to suddenly remember something, and then put down the bowl and chopsticks again, looking at the palace maids who were bowing their heads in front of the table.
“All of you, lift your heads!”
Upon hearing this, several palace maids raised their heads and faced Liu Hong.
"Hehe~, that's more like it~!"
Looking at the pretty faces of the palace maids, Liu Hong chuckled and then asked, "Can any of you sing?"
Upon hearing this, several palace maids paused for a moment, then shook their heads.
"Do any of you know how to play the zither?"
The palace maid shook her head.
"Can you dance?"
Several palace maids shook their heads again.
"You can't do this, you can't do that, what can you even do? What else can you do?"
Liu Hong frowned as he looked at the palace maids in front of him, his expression showing a hint of displeasure.
"Your Majesty, we...!"
Sensing the emperor's displeasure, several palace maids quickly lowered their heads, wanting to kneel down and beg for forgiveness.
"Oh well, never mind, just lift your head!"
Liu Hong stopped them from kneeling with a bored expression, then looked at Xiao Qiong, the most beautiful palace maid standing in the middle.
"You, come and feed me!"
"promise!"
Xiao Qiong responded softly, then moved her feet lightly and knelt down beside Liu Hong. She then stretched out her delicate, jade-like hands, picked up the bowl and chopsticks on the table, and looked at Liu Hong with her big eyes.
"Ah~!"
Liu Hong smiled slightly as he looked at Xiao Qiong's shy expression, and then opened his mouth.
Seeing this, Xiaoqiong quickly picked up a few grains of rice and gently fed them to Liu Hong.
"Tsk...it smells so good!"
Liu Hong closed his mouth, took a deep breath, and while chewing, turned his head to look at Xiao Qiong and praised her highly.
After chewing a few times, Liu Hong looked down at a dish on the table. Seeing this, Xiao Qiong quickly picked up the dish and fed it to Liu Hong.
"Hmm, not bad, not bad!"
Liu Hong nodded repeatedly as he ate, his gaze always fixed on Xiao Qiong.
Xiao Hong looked at Liu Hong's expression and shook her head with a light laugh.
Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, and Song Dian kept their heads down and stood far away, not daring to look or listen.
After a full half hour, Liu Hong finally waved to Xiao Qiong with satisfaction. Xiao Qiong lowered her head and stepped aside, while the other palace maids hurriedly stepped forward to clear away the dishes.
"Since Your Majesty has finished eating, we will take our leave now!"
After getting herself ready with the palace maids, Xiao Hong respectfully took her leave from Liu Hong.
"Yes, go ahead. I will thank the Empress Dowager! Today's meal was very delicious..."
Liu Hong nodded with a smile, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally falling on Xiao Qiong.
After Xiao Hong led the group of palace maids away, the frivolous look on Liu Hong's face vanished instantly.
Then Liu Hong turned to Zhao Zhong and said in a deep voice, "Go tell Lü Qiang to send some rewards to that palace maid!"
"promise!"
"Come with me for a walk!"
Afterwards, Liu Hong led Zhang Rang and Song Dian away from Deyang Palace and headed towards the area with the most palace maids in the inner palace.
Faced with the emperor, who had changed from his usual serious demeanor to a frivolous one and was flirting with the palace maids everywhere, Dou Miao and Dong Shi not only showed no dissatisfaction, but also revealed a motherly smile.
My son is all grown up and knows how to flirt with women now, that's a good thing!
Listening to Xiao Hong's report on the day's events, Dou Miao smiled and nodded, then looked at Xiao Qiong, who was standing in front of her with her head down, and carefully examined her.
"What does the Holy Mother think of this woman?"
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