Lord Yao was indeed a little drunk, but he was not unconscious as he appeared in front of Qi Xinyuan.
Master Yao drank the hangover soup his wife had just prepared for him and said to the housekeeper beside him:
"Prepare the car and park it at the side door. I'll go into the palace later."
The housekeeper responded and went to do it.
Madam Yao was helping Lord Yao put on his official uniform while she said:
"Your Excellency has worked so hard, yet His Majesty still demotes you. It's really not worth it."
Lord Yao glared at Madam Yao and said, "Watch your words and actions. Never speak ill of His Majesty behind his back. His Majesty is not like those fool emperors before him.
If His Majesty knew that you were slandering him behind his back, our Yao family would be in dire straits in the future."
Madam Yao glanced at Master Yao and softened her tone:
"Yes, yes, I just feel sorry for you! You're already old, and you still have to go to the palace in the middle of the night."
"I am loyal to the emperor and I will go even if His Majesty summons me, not to mention the middle of the night!"
Madam Yao had already helped Master Yao put on his clothes. Upon hearing this, she patted Master Yao on the back and said, "What nonsense are you talking about! Pah, pah, pah!"
While the two were flirting, a young man entered the house.
"Sir, the carriage is ready!"
Lord Yao followed the servant into the carriage and entered the palace overnight.
In Fenglan Palace, Qu Cheng'an had been waiting for a long time.
"Your humble servant pays respect to His Majesty!"
"My dear, please get up quickly. Did everything go well tonight?"
"Your Majesty, although Qi Xinyuan appears to be on good terms with me, he is still wary of me. I'm afraid it won't be easy to gain his trust."
Qu Chengan said indifferently:
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether you have his trust or not. As long as he needs someone and you are the only one around him, he will have to use you.
You can then tell me his plan."
"Yes, if Your Majesty has nothing else to do, I will take my leave."
Qu Cheng'an nodded and said, "You go back first. Report to me any movement from his side."
When Qi Xinyuan proposed to Qu Cheng'an that Lord Yao's daughter be sent to the palace, Qu Cheng'an did have some doubts about Lord Yao.
But later it was discovered that Lord Yao and Qi Xinyuan were not familiar with each other before, and Lord Yao had always been loyal to him.
Qu Cheng'an felt that this matter was a bit strange. In addition, after he removed Lord Yao from the position of Shangshu to Shilang, many people began to recommend an official he was not familiar with to replace the vacant position of Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice.
Qu Cheng'an began to doubt Qi Xinyuan.
Originally, he didn't think Qi Xinyuan would be willing to work under him.
Upon investigation, they found some clues that Qi Xinyuan was forming a clique for personal gain.
Qu Cheng'an took advantage of the situation and asked Lord Yao to approach Qi Xinyuan to find out Qi Xinyuan's plan.
Sure enough, when Qi Xinyuan needed people, he took Lord Yao under his command without much thought.
After waking up in the morning, Qu Xiaotan was lying on her big bed, bored and reading a storybook. While reading, she imagined Qi Xinyuan's appearance on the body of the handsome man in the storybook.
Just when I was getting bored, I suddenly heard palace maids gossiping outside.
Qu Xiaotan sat up from the bed and ran to the window to eavesdrop.
I didn't expect to hear them say that someone wanted to marry Qi Xinyuan. Yesterday, the woman's father even mentioned this matter directly in the court.
Qu Xiaotan couldn't sit still anymore.
However, she still had some brains and knew that Qu Cheng'an disliked Qi Xinyuan, and she couldn't go to Qu Cheng'an to ask about this matter.
Her eyes turned and she thought of Sudan Ruo.
Judging from how she saw the two of them yesterday, they should have some feelings for each other. If that's the case, Sudan should be more anxious than herself.
Qu Xiaotan didn't even bother to bring her maid with her and ran straight to Sudanruo's bedroom.
"Sister-in-law of the Emperor, Sister-in-law of the Emperor!"
As soon as Su Danruo heard the voice, he knew it was Qu Xiaotan.
In the entire palace, only Qu Xiaotan would call her that.
Just as Sultan was about to send Sonny out to greet her, she went into the house herself.
"Your Highness is running so fast, is there something urgent?"
"Sister-in-law, I just heard from the maid in my palace that Qi Xinyuan is planning to get married!"
Sultan lowered his head and the corners of his lips twitched. Rumors are really terrible.
It was just that someone mentioned it to Qu Cheng'an in the court last night, and Qi Xinyuan himself hadn't agreed yet, but everyone started spreading the rumor that Qi Xinyuan was going to get married.
"You are talking about this matter. I have already heard about it from your royal brother last night."
Qu Xiaotan was shocked. It turned out that the emperor's sister-in-law had already known about this matter from her brother.
The emperor's brother should know the relationship between the two, but he actually uses this kind of thing to provoke the emperor's sister-in-law. The emperor's brother really doesn't understand girls' feelings at all.
Qu Xiaotan cautiously probed:
"So, you guys didn't have a fight last night... did you?"
Su Danruo glanced at Qu Xiaotan and saw that she was genuinely concerned about the relationship between him and Qu Chengan, so he said:
"Why would I quarrel with him?"
Qu Xiaotan felt relieved when she knew that their relationship was not affected. She quietly observed Su Danruo.
"Master Qi is getting married, isn't there any ripple in the Empress's heart?"
"He and I were only friends to begin with. I made him my imperial consort only for the sake of our unborn child. It's me who has damaged his reputation in this matter."
Seeing that Su Danruo really only felt guilty towards Qi Xinyuan and there was no mixed feelings between men and women, Qu Xiaotan believed what Su Danruo said.
It seems that these two people are like flowing water with affection but falling flowers are heartless.
The Sultan asked doubtfully:
"You're reacting so strongly to Master Qi getting married. Do you like Master Qi?"
Qu Xiaotan's face flushed instantly as she was hit by what he said. She stammered:
"Empress...Sister-in-law, don't...don't talk nonsense. I'm not like that."
Su Danruo became even more certain of Qu Xiaotan's feelings.
Su Danruo looked at Qu Xiaotan and thought that if Qi Xinyuan really didn't want to go with him, Qu Xiaotan might be able to protect his life.
Thinking of this, she said:
"Since you like him and heard that he was going to get married, why didn't you try to stop him from getting married? Instead, why did you come to me? Do you want me to persuade him not to get married?"
Qu Xiaotan's thoughts were touched and she lowered her head in shame.
Sudan continued with a slight curl of his lips:
"If you like it, go for it. If you don't fight for it, no one knows what the final outcome will be, right?"
Qu Xiaotan looked worried. She knew very well that if someone liked someone, she should fight for it.
But as soon as she saw Qi Xinyuan, she didn't know what to say, and the cleverness that usually helped Qu Chengan to come up with ideas was gone.
I didn't even know how to put my hands.
"Sister-in-law, do you know what kind of woman he likes?"
Just as Qu Xiaotan asked, she heard the voice of her royal brother suddenly coming from outside.
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