Moreover, Wen Tingyun made outstanding contributions in the last war against the emperor, and Gu Linchao directly appointed him as a general and granted him military power. Wen Tingyun is now the youngest commander of the Great Ye after Gu Linchao.
The Wen family's power and status in Beijing and even in Daye became increasingly prominent.
Therefore, when the Wen family appeared, the court officials and women present flocked to them, hoping to build a good relationship with them or gain their favor.
Compared to Madam Wen, Madam Xu was also surrounded by a group of noblewomen.
While sizing up the young and handsome Wen Tingyun, they subtly hinted that they had daughters of marriageable age.
Mrs. Xu naturally understood what they were up to, so she patiently dealt with them.
Lu Yingying, who was holding her son, was also annoyed, so she made an excuse to slip out of the Imperial Garden and went directly to Wen Nongnong's Luanfeng Palace.
When she arrived, Wen Nongnong was sitting in the courtyard, drinking tea with Si Lan, Lu Yingying, Su Qianqian, Guo Yuzhen, and a few others.
Wen Nongnong had changed out of her empress's robes and phoenix crown, and was now wearing a light and loose long dress, chatting comfortably with the others.
Upon seeing Lu Yingying approach, he immediately invited her to sit down.
"Sister-in-law, did you just enter the palace?" Wen Nongnong personally served her a cup of tea.
“Yes.” Lu Yingying nodded with a smile. After sitting down, Lu Yingying took the child from her.
“When you went to Xiangzhou last year, you were pregnant. I never imagined that Yan’er would grow up so much in the blink of an eye.” Lu Yingying said with emotion, taking a soft and glutinous pastry from the plate on the table and feeding it to Wen Yan.
When Wen Yan was born, he lacked the element of fire in his Five Elements, so Wen Tingyun named him Wen Yan.
Wen Yan and Gu Siyuan were born around the same month, and Guo Yuzhen happened to be sitting next to Lu Yingying. The two little ones looked at each other, then waved their little hands and made sounds that adults couldn't understand.
"Are they greeting each other?" Su Qianqian found it extremely amusing and reached out to hug Gu Siyuan.
Gu Siyuan is not shy and is a very easy baby to take care of. When someone wants to hold him, he immediately reaches out his hand, which surprises Su Qianqian with his friendliness.
“I have a cousin whose son is about the same age as him, but he doesn’t like being held. Every time I try to hold him, he immediately turns his head away and ignores me. Sometimes he even cries, which makes me afraid to ask to hold him anymore.”
As she sighed, she hugged Gu Siyuan and, like Lu Yingying, fed him a piece of pastry.
Upon hearing this, Si Lan tentatively reached out her hand to Wen Yan.
"Yan-ge'er, let Auntie hug you, okay?"
Wen Yan was eating pastries when he heard this. He turned to look at her, then shook his head. He looked around again, and finally fixed his gaze on Wen Nong Nong. He immediately grinned and said, "Goo goo...hug."
Although he could call out to people, his pronunciation was not yet standard. However, Wen Nongnong knew immediately that her nephew was calling her.
"Yan'er, it's been almost a month since you last saw your aunt. I thought you didn't recognize your aunt anymore," Wen Nongnong said with a smile, then handed Gu Yaoyao to Si Lan and turned to hug Wen Yan.
However, as soon as Wen Yan sat down on her lap, little Gu Yaoyao became upset and immediately burst into tears.
"Our little princess doesn't want her mother to hold her cousin, does she?" Si Lan quickly picked up a rattle from the table to tease her.
But at this moment, the little princess was determined not to take the rattle drum, but to take her mother.
"Yaoyao is jealous." Lu Yingying was both amused and exasperated, and had no choice but to quickly bring her son back.
Wen Nongnong was also helpless and had no choice but to take her daughter back from Si Lan's arms.
After Gu Yaoyao's crying and fussing, everyone's attention was focused on her, and no one noticed anything unusual about the surroundings.
Therefore, when a palace maid carrying tea and snacks came over, pulled out a dagger from under the tea tray, and stabbed Wen Nong Nong, everyone was so frightened that they forgot to react.
With a "slice" sound, the sharp dagger sliced through Wen Nongnong's sleeve, cutting off half of it.
Everyone gasped, and only then did they react, shouting in alarm. Su Qianqian, who was closest to Wen Nongnong, saw that the palace maid was about to stab again. Before her mind could process it, her body reacted and she rammed into the palace maid.
The palace maid was knocked to the ground by her collision, and the dagger in her hand flew out of her hand.
When she tried to get up again, Su Qianqian pressed down on her.
Despite her pampered upbringing and being spoiled by her parents, she had gained a lot of weight recently. When she suddenly pressed down on the palace maid's thin body, she almost crushed the maid to death.
When Bai Li and Si Yi heard the cries for help and rushed in, they saw two people twisted like pretzel on the ground.
Without a word, Bai Li stepped forward and kicked the palace maid to the ground. At the same time, with a "clang," she drew her sword and pressed it against the maid's throat. "How dare you attempt to assassinate the Empress! Who are you?"
The palace maid collapsed to the ground, trembling all over.
She attempted to assassinate Wen Nong Nong with sheer courage, but unexpectedly failed.
She knew what awaited her, but a chill still ran through her, and she clenched her teeth tightly.
"Are you alright?" Si Yi glanced at her quickly before walking towards Wen Nongnong and asking anxiously.
Wen Nongnong held her daughter, still shaken, because the palace maid had appeared so suddenly, and her attention was focused on her crying daughter, so she hadn't noticed the maid's approach at all.
If the palace maid hadn't been so inaccurate, only managing to tear her sleeve, she would surely have been stabbed by now.
After a long while, she shook her head, her face pale, and said, "I'm fine." Then, thinking of her daughter in her arms, she quickly suppressed the fear on her face, looked down at her daughter, and saw that her daughter was just staring at her blankly and was not frightened. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
The others came to their senses and stepped forward to ask.
"I'm fine." Seeing everyone's serious expressions, Wen Nongnong could only put on a smile to reassure them. Then she looked at Su Qianqian and said with a smile, "This time we really owe a lot to Qianqian. I didn't expect Qianqian to be so brave at such a critical moment."
Su Qianqian had already gotten up from the ground and was brushing the dust off her dress. Hearing this, she joked to herself, "Luckily, my fat body didn't go to waste."
Her self-deprecating remark instantly eased the tense and solemn atmosphere, and everyone was amused by her.
Wen Nongnong looked at her with a smile. Compared to last year, Su Qianqian had indeed gained a little weight, but not as much as she had said. "You look just right, neither fat nor thin."
Su Qianqian stepped forward and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is so good at comforting people. My mother hates me to death." As she spoke, she reached out and pinched the flesh on her face, saying with distress, "I don't know why, I've suddenly gained so much weight this year."
Because of her weight, her parents were supposed to arrange a marriage for her this year, but after people found out how fat she was, they all backed away. As a result, she is sixteen years old this year and still no one is interested in her.
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