"Steal?" Fuling looked at Haitang in fear and stammered, "I didn't, I clearly picked it up..."

Haitang frowned: "Alright, I am too magnanimous to bother with you, why don't you get out of here!"

"You!" Fuling's face flushed with anger. She cried, "Why do you say this is yours?"

"This rouge is of high quality, a maid can't afford it at all!" Fuling twisted her fingers and cried, "I picked it up...it should belong to me!"

As they were talking, Hua Yuanshan and others approached. Seeing this, Hua Yuanshan scolded: "What are you arguing about?"

"My lady," Haitang said first, "Fuling found my rouge and wanted to take it for herself. I was so angry that I argued with her."

"You are confusing right and wrong!" Fuling cried in anger.

Hua Yuanshan scolded impatiently: "Enough! It's just for a box of rouge! How can you cry so much?"

She asked, "Where's the eldest sister?"

"Miss, she..." Before Fuling could finish her words, Hua Yuanshan interrupted her again.

"You are the eldest sister's maid. Why are you blocking her way here instead of waiting by her side to remind her to arrive on time for the banquet? Go and invite the eldest sister to come! Do you really want Dad to wait for her?"

"Don't bother your father and sister to wait for me, I'm here, aren't I?" At this moment, Hua Yuanzhao's lazy voice sounded.

Hua Yuanshan turned around and saw Hua Yuanzhao walking towards her slowly. Even though the person in front of her was no longer the most beautiful woman in the past, her elegant and noble temperament remained unchanged.

Hua Yuanshan secretly rolled her eyes, but still kept a smile on her face: "Since my elder sister is here, let's join the feast together."

But in her heart she thought: If you misbehave in front of the Queen later, forget about marrying the Third Prince, and you will never be able to hold your head up in front of all the nobles in this city.

Hua Yuanzhao pretended to know nothing and just said, "Okay."

Prime Minister Hua walked in front with Hua Yuanshan, leaving Hua Yuanzhao alone behind, as if Hua Yuanshan was the real daughter of the Hua family.

Hua Yuanzhao, however, didn't care at all and followed Hua Yuanshan slowly and leisurely. No one noticed that the stones under her feet were rolling flexibly.

At the moment when Hua Yuanshan raised her foot, Hua Yuanzhao kicked the stone out accurately.

Hua Yuanshan let out a scream and fell to the ground.

"Miss!" Haitang was shocked.

How could her young lady fall down on such a flat ground?

Fortunately, the road was flat and Hua Yuanshan was only covered in dust.

Prime Minister Hua looked at the dusty Hua Yuanshan and could not help but scold: "Look at you, you don't look like a lady at all! You can't even walk without falling down!"

After saying that, he angrily swung his sleeves and walked ahead without even glancing over here.

Hua Yuanshan was too aggrieved to say a word and just glared at Hua Yuanzhao fiercely.

Hua Yuanzhao looked up at the sky innocently, with a look that said: What’s it got to do with me?

Haitang wiped the dust off her face and then carefully suggested, "Miss, your makeup is smudged. Should we go back and touch it up?"

"Why are you replying?" Hua Yuanshan scolded angrily, "Are you trying to make me embarrassed by being late?"

"I dare not." Haitang knelt down on the ground.

Hua Yuanshan closed her eyes and swallowed her anger.

"Where's the box of rouge?" Hua Yuanshan said angrily, "I'll put it on right here! Hurry up!"

Fuling, who had been keeping an eye on this side, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw them open the rouge box, and nodded imperceptibly to her young lady.

Hua Yuanzhao's lips curved slightly, with a smile in his eyes.

When we reach the top of the mountain, we will prepare for the banquet.

Young masters and young ladies from various families had gathered on the top of the mountain early in the morning. Hua Yuanzhao's eyes fell on the servants and maids holding brocade boxes behind the crowd and frowned.

What is going on?

Hua Yuanzhao turned his head to look at Fuling beside him, but Fuling also looked confused, wondering why everyone else came with gifts.

"Sister, why do you come here empty-handed?"

Hua Yuanshan, who had finally caught up, saw Hua Yuanzhao standing still and said sarcastically, "Sister, you must be willing to present a gift to the Queen Mother's banquet, right?"

She curled her lips sneerly, let's see what Hua Yuanzhao can do this time!

In front of the temple on the top of the mountain, there was solemn Buddhist music and the sound of wooden fish, and people were standing in front of the temple in twos and threes.

The voice of the young monk chanting scriptures is faint but it does not make people feel oppressive. Listening carefully makes people feel calm and relaxed, and all worldly worries disappear.

"When will the gift-giving segment of the Spring Banquet begin?" Fuling couldn't help but mutter.

There was no such custom in previous years!

Hua Yuanshan smiled mockingly and said exaggeratedly, "At noon, the Queen sent someone to notify us... Could it be that my elder sister has nothing to show for it, so she pretends not to know?"

Noon? Hua Yuanzhao frowned. He knew without thinking that this guy was the one behind this!

The notification for the gift-giving was so urgent this time, yet everyone came with gifts, which meant they must have heard about it long ago.

"What don't you know?"

Suddenly someone interrupted, and several people turned around and saw Gu Changsu walking towards them with a smile, looking elegant and easy-going, without any of his previous irritability.

"Your Highness." Hua Yuanshan blushed quietly, covered her lips and sighed: "Nothing, I was just talking to my sister about the gift."

She smiled faintly and said, "Shan'er is afraid that the Queen will not like Shan'er's gift!"

Gu Changsu smiled nonchalantly: "As long as your heart is sincere."

Arranging offerings in the temple was just for the sake of novelty, and also to test the reaction ability of this group of people.

"Shan'er is of course sincere. I only wish the queen good health and longevity." Hua Yuanshan smiled sweetly, her voice full of charm to the core.

Hua Yuanzhao stood beside them, feeling difficulty breathing, chest tightness and nausea, so he hurriedly took Fuling away.

Gu Changsu frowned slightly when he saw this scene out of the corner of his eye.

This woman came to him and wouldn't leave him a few days ago. Even if she didn't say anything, she would stay by his side to show her presence.

But what happened today?

Just at this moment, the eunuch sang loudly, and the emperor and empress came hand in hand, and the sound of wooden fish in the Buddhist hall stopped suddenly.

Hua Yuanzhao followed the crowd and knelt down to pay his respects with great effort, when suddenly an outrageous idea came to his mind.

——Buddha also fears imperial power.

Sitting on a makeshift platform, the emperor spoke with a smile, without any of the dignity of a superior. Instead, he seemed like an easy-going uncle.

"My dear ministers, you received the letter at noon, and I'm sure you must be worried, right?"

But everyone just said they didn't dare, and no one dared to continue what he said.

"This last spring banquet on An Guo Day is originally meant to thank you all for your hard work and prayers." The emperor said it kindly, but the people kneeling on the ground only lowered their heads even lower.

"Praying for the country is an honor for us ministers. How dare we say it is hard work?" Prime Minister Hua kowtowed.

The emperor looked at him, smiled and waved his hand to signal everyone to stand up, and then said: "I have made this offer in a hurry, but it is just to see your intentions. You don't have to be nervous, just think of it as mutual appreciation and fun."

After these words were spoken, instead of being comforted, everyone was frightened and broke into cold sweats.

——What the emperor meant by this is that just because they can’t produce anything decent it means they don’t have any intentions?

For a moment, you could hear a pin drop in the field, and no one dared to be the first to step forward.

After a brief silence, the Fourteenth Prince Gu Ci stepped forward first, waving his folding fan and saluting in a casual manner.

"Brother, sister-in-law, how about we start with me?"

The Fourteenth Prince is the youngest son of the late Emperor. Although he is the Emperor's uncle, his age is not much different from the other princes.

In the past, I didn’t like political affairs and was used to being idle, so I liked to tinker with interesting things.

The Queen nodded with a smile, turned sideways and said jokingly to the Emperor: "The things sent by Fourteenth Brother must be extremely interesting."

Gu Ci raised his eyebrows and said without any modesty: "That's it!"

"Look at him, he's showing off, he's not a decent person at all!" The emperor laughed and scolded, "If you are outdone by others, I don't know where you will put your face!"

Gu Ci smiled and said, "As long as my brother and sister-in-law say it's good, who dares to say it's not good?"

As he spoke, he tapped his palms with his folding fan, and suddenly a little fox jumped out of the cage covered with red cloth held by the servant behind him.

The little fox's back fur is fiery red and its belly is ginger yellow, but its four paws and the tip of its nose are as black as ink.

Its tail is fluffy and trails behind it, and its eyes are clear as gems.

It was not afraid of people. After landing, it stood obediently beside Gu Ci, looking at the queen curiously.

"What are you standing there for? Go!" Gu Ci leaned over and tapped the fox's head with a fan.

Grandma Fox let out a howl and walked forward in small, obedient steps until she reached the feet of the Emperor and the Empress, where she sat down, looking up at them.

"Is this fox so psychic?" the queen was surprised.

She tentatively reached out and touched the fox's head. The fox squinted its eyes in enjoyment and rubbed her palm obediently.

"Be good." The queen's eyes lit up. If she hadn't been concerned about her image, she would have held the fox in her arms and played with it.

"Yesterday, I was watching the moon at the back of Huguo Temple, and this fox suddenly stayed by my side and refused to leave."

Gu Ci smiled gently: "I didn't understand the reason yesterday, but today I found out that this little fox wanted me to introduce him to you."

With his lead, the rest of the people gradually became bolder and came forward one by one to present their gifts.

But with the best in front of us, the rest can only be considered ordinary.

Six out of eight people gave Buddhist scriptures or jade Buddhas as gifts.

Hua Yuanshan looked at these ordinary gifts and smiled confidently. She glanced at Hua Yuanzhao who had nothing in his hands and lowered her voice to sneer.

"The Emperor said that the most valuable thing about a gift is the thought behind it. Is it possible that my elder sister can't even give a little bit of thought?"

After she finished speaking, she straightened her dress and prepared to step forward.

Fuling's face turned pale, and her eyes turned red with anxiety: "Miss, what should we do!"

Not hearing the answer, Fuling grabbed Hua Yuanzhao's hand and said through gritted teeth: "Miss, if the Queen asks you to hold me accountable, you can say that I didn't inform you!"

Fuling gritted her teeth and glanced at Hua Yuanshan's back gloomily.

"Don't worry, young lady. Even if I die, I will drag the second young lady down with me!"

Hua Yuanzhao was so amused by the sudden fierceness of this little crybaby that he patted her hands and whispered to comfort her: "It's okay, trust me."

She thought for a moment and said, "Stay here and don't walk around or come out. I'll be back soon."

After saying that, she clenched her fists and quietly left the crowd, then turned and ran towards the forest behind the mountain.