After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned his head to Xu Shi and said, "It's been a long time since I've seen you. Mother-in-law seems to have become distant from me."
Madam Xu was taken aback, then laughed, "Your Majesty is overthinking it, this humble woman would not dare."
“Mother-in-law, there’s no need to be so polite. It’s the same as before, and it will be the same in the future,” Gu Linchao said gently.
Upon hearing this, Madam Xu breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems she had worried unnecessarily. The Emperor hadn't changed at all despite his new status; he was still as spoiled and pampered as ever. Now she was relieved.
Having figured this out, she felt relieved and turned to greet everyone, "Are you all hungry? Come on over, the feast is about to begin."
The atmosphere relaxed again, and everyone relaxed.
Everyone moved to the table.
Si Lan followed Si Luo. Suddenly, she noticed the shoes Si Yi was wearing. Overjoyed and excited, she grabbed Si Luo's left hand and said, "Brother, Second Brother is wearing the shoes I made."
Upon hearing this, Si Luo withdrew his gaze from Wen Nongnong and turned to Si Yi, then sighed, "It seems that in your heart, your second brother is above me. From childhood to adulthood, I remember you only made one pair of shoes for me."
Si Lan stuck out her tongue. "That's different. We grew up together. You haven't suffered much, but my second brother suffered so much when he was young. Of course I have to be good to him."
Si Luo smiled wryly, "No wonder people say that things smell better when you're far away than when you're close by. You're just looking down on me."
Si Lan patted her brother on the shoulder and said with a smile, "It's good that you know, so you should hurry up and marry a wife who will be devoted to you."
Seeing that she had brought up this topic again, Si Luo was quite helpless. "You should mind your own business."
Si Lan shrugged and ignored him. Instead, she walked to the empty seat next to Si Yi and asked nervously, "Second Brother, may I sit next to you?"
Si Yi glanced at her indifferently and said nothing.
Si Lan assumed that his lack of outright refusal meant he had agreed, so she gladly sat down and said, "Thank you, Second Brother."
Si Yi's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing. But when he turned his head, he met Lü Qiao's smiling eyes.
He frowned. "What are you laughing at?"
"No, I wasn't laughing." Lü Qiao quickly suppressed her laughter and shook her head in denial.
Si Yi snorted coldly and didn't bother to argue with her.
Si Luo sat down on the other side of Si Lan.
As he sat down, his empty right sleeve brushed against the back of the chair.
Si Yi saw it and frowned.
Wen Tingyun also noticed Si Yi's empty right sleeve and said with some regret, "I was hoping to have a friendly spar with you."
Si Luo chuckled, "I was defeated by you in the Battle of Tunzhou. Do you want to see me lose again?"
Wen Tingyun looked at him thoughtfully, "But that time, why do I feel like you deliberately went easy on me?"
"You're overthinking it." Si Luo's dark eyes closed slightly, then she changed the subject, picked up the wine glass in front of her, and looked at everyone. "In the past, I did many bad things. I'm punishing myself with a drink. Today, I hope we can all let bygones be bygones."
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this. In the past, they were all enemies, but they never expected that one day they would be able to sit together and drink.
The atmosphere at the table froze for a moment.
Seeing that no one responded, Si Luo smiled slightly and tried to finish the wine in his cup.
But then, Gu Linchao suddenly said, "Since this is a self-punishment, one cup is not enough! Bring me a wine jar!"
Wen Tingyun and the others immediately came to their senses and echoed, "Yes, yes, one cup is not enough, that's too stingy. We should drink a whole jar."
This interruption livened up the atmosphere at the table again.
Si Luo glanced at Gu Linchao with some surprise, then chuckled softly, "Your Majesty did this on purpose, didn't you?"
Others didn't understand why he said that, but Gu Linchao felt somewhat uneasy.
Because he did it on purpose, since Nong Nong was getting close to him.
"You're overthinking it," he said calmly.
Si Luo smiled, neither confirming nor denying.
"Hey, hey, hey, I'm telling you, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you? You know I can't drink right now, and it's one thing for you to drink, but you're even drinking from a wine jar right in front of me," Wen Nongnong said, feigning anger.
Wen Tingyun chuckled and put a piece of meat on her plate, saying, "You should eat more vegetables."
Before Wen Nong Nong could speak, the others also put food into her bowl.
"That's right, the wine doesn't taste good at all, you should eat more food."
Wen Nongnong's face fell when she saw the mountain of food piled up in her bowl. Not only was she not allowed to drink alcohol, but she was also being forced to eat so much. Seeing that Gu Linchao was also picking up food and seemed to be adding more to her bowl, she quickly stopped him, "Don't put any more in my bowl, there's enough already."
Gu Linchao paused for a moment, then patted her head. "Good girl."
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, even Wen Nongnong, with her thick skin, couldn't help but blush.
Everyone was looking at her and Gu Linchao with surprise.
They certainly didn't expect that Gu Linchao treated her like a child in private.
It makes me feel so ashamed just thinking about it.
She couldn't help but pinch the man's leg with her hand under the table.
Unexpectedly, Gu Linchao let out a muffled groan and turned to look at her.
Wen Nongnong: "..."
Now everyone knew what had happened, and their gazes were filled with amusement.
Wen Nongnong glared angrily at Gu Linchao, but dared not say another word. She quickly buried her head in her food and pretended to be very serious.
A smile flickered in Gu Linchao's eyes; at least she had stopped thinking about drinking.
Everyone was laughing happily, but a hint of melancholy flashed in Si Luo's eyes.
Considering that Wen Nongnong and Gu Linchao would be setting off back to the capital the next day, everyone left without lingering after the banquet.
As Chen Lingsu followed Chen Mubai and Qiao Shi out, Wen Tingyun suddenly came over and stuffed something into her hand. By the time she realized what was happening, he was already far away.
She paused for a moment, then gripped the object in her hand.
Out of curiosity, I opened the package to take a look.
She was genuinely taken aback when she saw the sugar figurine inside the paper package.
Why did that person give her this?
She suddenly felt like she was holding a hot potato, unsure whether to throw it away or not.
Just then, Chen Mubai turned to look at her, wondering if she had followed, but he inadvertently noticed that she was holding a sugar figurine in her hand. He was quite surprised, and then said gently, "So Susu likes sugar figurines? Did you not eat enough at the banquet?"
Considering the stepdaughter's personality, it's quite possible.
She was simple and honest by nature and disliked associating with people from high-ranking families. In such an occasion, she would most likely not have enough to eat.
Chen Lingsu was taken aback. It was true that she liked sugar figurines, but she hadn't eaten enough at the banquet?
“I’m full, I’m very full,” she emphasized.
"Then why do you still carry sugar figurines with you?" Chen Mubai said with amusement, feeling that his stepdaughter was a little different tonight, especially the way she was kneading the sugar figurines, which showed more of the vitality that a girl her age should have.
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