The streets of the capital are particularly lively today, not only because of the festive atmosphere brought by the New Year's Day, but also because Emperor Dongxu is returning to the capital today.
Children on the street held hands and walked in circles, singing nursery rhymes praising the wisdom and might of the current emperor. Even the women at the market stopped chatting about family matters:
"Our emperor will be returning triumphantly today. The barbarians on the border will have to behave themselves when they meet our emperor. God bless Dongxu."
Compared to the cheers and neighing of people in the streets of the capital, the festive atmosphere in the palace was no less intense.
Although Empress Chen did not have the real power to hold the Phoenix Seal, Concubine Lan rarely took care of these matters due to her poor health, so all matters in the palace were handled by Empress Chen.
In order to show that she had managed the six palaces in an orderly manner, Empress Chen began preparing for the celebration as soon as she received the news that the emperor was returning to Beijing.
The harem, which had been quiet for nearly five years, suddenly became excited. Servants from all the six palaces were mobilized to assist in the celebration preparations, even the servants in the Lan Chao Palace were no exception.
"This Wang Zongguan really thinks he's so powerful. Yesterday, he transferred people from our palace without your permission. He even told you that if you have any complaints, you can report him to the Empress."
Yu'er became angrier and angrier as she spoke. It was naturally a great thing that the emperor's army had returned to the capital, but who the hell was Wang Wulun? How dare he bully them?
Yu Er felt unsatisfied and said:
"A guy who relies on the power of others!"
Zhu Er, who was standing by, glanced at her mistress and saw that her expression remained unchanged and she didn't seem angry. However, Zhu Er had served Qiao Yu for eight years and knew that the mistress didn't like servants like them gossiping.
"How dare you! Trouble comes from the mouth! You've even brought your gossip right up to the Empress!"
Yu'er then realized that she had been too outspoken and quickly knelt down to beg for mercy: "This slave deserves to die."
Qiao Yu did not let her get up immediately, but he did not intend to punish Yu'er. Yu'er was also an old employee of Lan Chao Palace. She said this because Lan Chao Palace and Changle Palace had always been at odds with each other, and secondly, she also felt sorry for the conflict she had with the emperor five years ago.
"Alright, don't say that again in the future, or others will say that I'm indulging you and even ignoring the Queen."
The light words revealed a courage that was impossible to disobey. Five years had passed, and the graceful woman in front of him had not lost any trace of her beauty. Instead, she became even more beautiful, making it impossible to look away. Yu'er was so frightened that her face turned pale and she hurriedly thanked him:
"Thank you for your forgiveness, Yu'er knows her mistake."
Seeing this, Zhu'er knew that the young lady was not going to pursue the matter, so she gave Yu'er a look to let her go, and then went forward to help Qiao Yu grind the ink:
"Lord Liu delivered news today that Lord Su and the Prince Regent have again impeached the Empress. Lord Liu, on behalf of the Empress, has appealed for Her Majesty's approval to prosecute Lord Su..."
Feeling his wrist ache, Qiao Yu stopped writing. He had almost finished practicing for the day.
"What should we do? Su Yu is not greedy or robbing, and he has no integrity. Do you think it's easy for him to go from a teacher at the Imperial College to the Prime Minister in just five years?"
Yes, Su Yu's expected time to become the Prime Minister was shortened to five years. Although it was only a one-year difference, in the court where people were surrounded by dangers and were eaten without leaving any bones, one year less was a big deal.
"But today, Su Yu was really too bullying, slandering you, Your Majesty..."
Zhu'er only knew that it was the Empress who had betrayed Su Yu, but there was no need to press him so hard. In the past, she had said that the Empress was arrogant and domineering and caused chaos in the court, but today she actually said in public that the Empress was in cahoots with the Regent.
Although what Su Yu said was right, everything the young lady did had her own reasons. How could she know how the queen was walking on thin ice without having experienced other people's suffering?
"You are not impeaching me for causing chaos in the government and seducing the Regent Prince An. I am tired of hearing these words."
Qiao Yu had no idea how miserable and pitiful Zhu'er's little brain had imagined for her in just a few minutes. Although Su Yu's words were harsh, he didn't slander her, right?
Over the years, Su Yu had eradicated the Xue family's power as quickly as Hua Yunlan remembered, and the Queen Mother's health was no longer good.
But without the Xue family, Qiao Yu was still able to stand firm in the harem. Apart from the "favor" given by the emperor far away in the frontier, what exactly did Concubine Lan rely on?
Everyone thought that it was because she was unfaithful to her husband and seduced the Regent, which was why the Regent arranged for his loyal dog Liu Qiyao to protect that slut to death.
But in fact, only Yan Qu knew that Liu Qiyao was not loyal to him.
"It is this servant who has disturbed the Majesty's mood by talking too much. Zhu'er deserves to die."
"It's okay. It's a nice day today. Come out for a walk with me."
Zhu'er skillfully took the words written by Qiao Yu on the table and burned them in the fire basin.
Although they said they were going out for a walk, Qiao Yu clearly instructed them to go to the Imperial Household Department. Wang Wulun, who was scolding the servants, did not see Qiao Yu immediately.
"Oh, who are you scolding, Eunuch Wang? Which ignorant girl deserves your anger?"
Lin Dong skillfully stepped forward and helped Qiao Yu down from the sedan chair. Eunuch Wang did not hear the danger in the other party's tone, but stared at Qiao Yu in a daze. This lady seldom went out in public, and even a eunuch like him could not help but be moved by her beauty.
That disgusting look only took a second for Lin Dong to block Qiao Yu's way. If she hadn't remembered that her master didn't like her to act on her own, she would have gone forward and dug out the eunuch's eyes.
Perhaps because of the cold look from Lin Dong, Wang Wu Lun couldn't help but shudder and quickly averted his gaze, saying angrily:
"Your Highness, be well and safe. A few ignorant maids assaulted Hua Erqiao, a tribute sent to Your Highness by the Imperial Household Department. They should have been dragged to the Ministry of Punishment and punished, but they are Your Highness's people after all, so only a minor punishment was granted."
What Qiao Yu said just now was certainly not because he was blind to who Wang Wulun was teaching a lesson, but was just giving him a chance to explain himself.
But she was quite dissatisfied with this explanation.
Qiao Yu walked up to a little palace maid kneeling on the ground and lifted her face. Her face was not fair, but it was swollen and looked even uglier because of the slap.
"Did you knock him down, Ji Shu?"
Chi Shu was first touched that her master actually asked her the reason instead of directly convicting her, and then she was touched that her master actually knew the name of her, an inconspicuous little palace maid.
Looking at her mistress's eyes, Chi Shu understood what her mistress meant. Even if she was wrong, she would have to say no. The mistress would protect them, but this matter was not caused by them in the first place.
"Your Majesty, you are wronged. Today, several of us servants have diligently followed Eunuch Wang's instructions. I carefully held this pot of flowers, Er Qiao, but I didn't know that Eunuch Wang suddenly blocked my way. I was startled and then..."
Wang Wulun quickly interrupted Chi Shu and said, "I am innocent. How dare you, little girl, confuse right and wrong? We are only showing some mercy to you for the sake of the Empress, even at the risk of offending the Empress. But how can you lie so recklessly?"
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