The four of them felt a sense of relief, having just thought that the Empress Dowager would not summon them today. They quickly tidied themselves up and followed Old Lady Zhen out.

  The lunch at Chang Le Palace was all vegetarian, but the etiquette was in accordance with the Empress Dowager's status. A meal consisted of 99 dishes, and the carts were brought into the inner chamber from the small kitchen one after another. Lin Wan and others saw the grand scene and became even more cautious, bowing their heads to serve on both sides of the red wooden table like palace maids.

  The Empress Dowager wore a crab-shell green cloud-patterned linked pearl jacket, sitting at the end of the case table, watching as the palace people one by one arranged the dishes. After a moment of silence, she looked towards Lin Yu and the others, asking: "You are all quite diligent today."

  The Empress's voice was as calm and gentle as ever, her face warm and friendly, making it impossible to discern her thoughts. But Lin Yuen had not wasted her past life's experience in observing words and expressions, she actually heard the displeasure from this question.

  She faintly felt that this empress probably shared a common trait with the emperor - disliking deliberate pretenses.

  Today, the four of them came too early. The purpose of Jia Gui people is clear, it's to show their faces, to climb up by holding onto the Empress Dowager this tree, but they insist on pretending to be filial.

  It's obviously for one's own good, but they insist it's for someone else's good.

  At this thought, Lin Wan couldn't help but sneer inwardly - the Emperor and Empress Dowager, they were people who owned the world, with countless people fawning around them, how could there be anyone who truly cared for them? Yet they still insisted on being so stubborn, refusing to allow others to pretend.

  Lin Wan herself was not wearing a mask. In fact, in this palace, the people who can win the favor of the emperor and the empress dowager are not those who conform to their requirements with their true nature, but rather those who pretend best, pretending even they themselves cannot see through it.

  Because genuine people can't survive here.

  Lin Yan lowered her head and didn't say a word, but the Jia Gui Ren beside her couldn't hear the Empress Dowager's emotions, and with a smile all over his face, he hastily replied: "Replying to Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, we have come to pay our respects to you, of course we must arrive early, and dare not be late."

  The empress's eyebrows furrowed slightly, but she made no comment on this answer. After a brief silence, she raised her hand and pointed at Wang Chengyi, ordering: "You step down, change your clothes and come back. You're so young, wearing mourning attire, you look like you're the same age as my family."

  Wang Chengyi was shocked. Although the Empress Dowager was usually dignified, she rarely scolded people. This was also the first time she had displeased the Empress Dowager since coming to serve here.

  She was momentarily flustered, she had no idea where the problem lay. The Empress Dowager obviously liked Shu Jing's simple dress, and she had always dressed up to please her! Why wasn't it right this time?!

  Good heavens, could she actually be the first one among the four to be driven out of Chang Le Palace? The more Wang Chengyi thought about it, the more flustered she became, her hands and feet starting to tremble. Jia Gui Ren watched her from the side, feeling annoyed in her heart - truly a hopeless case, just because the Empress Dowager had scolded her once, without even beating or punishing her, yet she was already scared out of her wits! The Empress Dowager hadn't even said that she wouldn't be allowed to serve anymore!

  Just as Wang Chengyi was about to kneel down and beg for mercy, Jiagui Ren pulled her back in time and pinched her finger, saying softly: "Hurry up and change your clothes!" Only then did Wang Chengyi calm down, shrinking her head and stumbling out.

  Jiā Guì Rén looked at her with a wolf-like appearance, almost wanting to sigh and look up at the sky, what kind of teammate did she pick?! However, she seemed to have forgotten that in the beginning, it was just to find a good gun to order around that she found Wāng Chéng Yī, how could someone who is slightly capable be controlled by her.

  The empress dowager ignored them and turned her face to Lin Wan, saying: "Lin's family also has filial piety like them."

  Lin Wan thought for a moment and then stepped forward, saying: "The Empress Dowager returned yesterday. The Emperor came to the concubine's quarters and instructed her to visit you frequently."

  The empress's face moved slightly, and then a smile emerged from her eyebrows and eyes. Lin Yu was taken aback by the sight. She had never seen the empress smile so genuinely before.

  As expected, my previous answer was the most perfect. These concubines are just slaves in status, no matter how filial they are to the empress dowager, it's not as good as a biological son. Besides, the empress dowager and they are not real relatives, forcing them to be filial is really hypocritical.

  The Empress Dowager smiled and asked Lin Wan: "How has the Emperor been these past few days?"

  Lin Yanqiao cleverly replied with a "very good", and the Empress Dowager smiled again.

  The empress's face was smiling, but her eyes were somewhat empty and bewildered. Lin Yuan read loneliness and sadness from it.

  Her son is the emperor, busy with government affairs and cannot come to see her every day. Her daughters-in-law all have their own thoughts and bear the honor and shame of their own families, their filial piety is just a tool for flattery. She has no other hobby except worshipping Buddha.

  The Empress Dowager now has only one son, the Emperor, who is also her only child. In fact, she gave birth to more than one child. Her first son was the eldest son of the previous emperor, and at that time she was the empress. The child occupied both the position of heir and the eldest, and should have been the crown prince, but died of smallpox before the age of ten. She also had a youngest child, a daughter, who was titled Princess Duan Yang. Princess Duan Yang married into the Xiongnu at the age of thirteen as a peace offering.

  It is said that Princess Pingyang died in the rebellion of the Xiongnu tribe, beheaded, about two years after her marriage. Although the Xiongnu have now surrendered.

  In fact, the Empress Dowager was originally unable to make decisions on many matters despite being the Empress because the late Emperor's favorite was Concubine Li. She couldn't ask the late Emperor to keep her eldest son in the palace for medical treatment when he was dying, and could only move him out of the palace according to the rules to avoid endangering the dragon body; she also couldn't stop Duanyang from going on a diplomatic marriage.

  The empress dowager is old now, those things are all like fleeting clouds, the people she hated and loved are no longer around.

  Actually, the old lady's personality is very strange. On the surface, she seems to be a bit reclusive, but in her heart, she longs for excitement - Lin Yu thought so, judging from the unusual smile on the empress dowager's face.

  Furthermore, the empress dowager would often say that she liked to be alone and didn't like to be disturbed, but she still ordered four new consorts to attend to her. Lin Yu thought that no matter what her purpose was, there must be a part of it that was for her own amusement. Whether it was true or false, seeing the lively vitality on the young people's faces would make her feel happier.

  Because Empress Dowager's heart was bitter, the entire Chang Le Palace had a dead atmosphere. However, she still held onto her hope for life, so she yearned for excitement.

  People like this are the most difficult to serve, Lin Yuen thought to herself as she analyzed the situation. Sometimes she would be very quiet, and if you disturbed her it was a great sin; sometimes she would complain that you were too quiet and boring, not making her happy. The old lady's eccentric temperament was just like a child's spoiled nature.

  The BOSS with "empress" written on his forehead is a bit hard to brush.

  At this time, all the dishes had been served, and the empress dowager no longer asked Lin Yuen and the others any questions.

  The eunuch in charge of the meal announced, "Please invite Her Majesty the Empress Dowager to dine." Lin Yu and the other two maidservants hurried forward to serve. The Empress Dowager sat facing north with her back to the south, while Lin Yu and the others stood on either side of her. Across from the Empress Dowager was a eunuch who tasted the food.

  Jia Gui Ren first served the Empress Dowager a bowl of red bean rice, which she accepted with a nod. Then Ye Cheng Yi picked up her chopsticks to serve the Empress Dowager some dishes, but hesitated and didn't dare reach out. She had no idea what the Empress Dowager liked to eat, and was afraid that if she made a mistake, it would displease her. Unfortunately, Jia Gui Ren had taken over the task of serving rice, so Ye Cheng Yi could only help Lin Yuan arrange the dishes.

  Jia Gui Ren is a competitive person, seeing Ye Shi hesitating, she herself picked up her chopsticks to pick the dishes. Lin Wan knew that she had always been like this, seeking victory but not stability, eager to perform well without considering risks. At the beginning when they first met the Empress Dowager, Xiang Fei and Rou Fei were competing with each other to serve the Empress Dowager, while others did not dare to show off; only Jia Gui Ren deliberately wore plain clothes to impress the Empress Dowager.

  Actually, Jiagui dared to stretch out her chopsticks and it wasn't a gamble, but because she had confidence in her heart - her father was an official in Yu State, a not-so-prominent fifth-rank official, but he managed the salt tax, which was the most lucrative. She brought tens of millions of silver notes given by her family to bribe people in the palace and lived a much better life than others, also buying the emperor's and empress dowager's favor at a high price.

  She picked up a piece of eggplant and put it in the small white dish, after tasting it herself, she picked another piece to offer to the empress dowager.

  The Empress Dowager glanced at Jia Gui Ren twice, stretched out her hand to push away the eggplant box, and raised her face to say to the eunuch by the door: "Liu Sheng, go and issue an edict, relieving Zhang Shang Shi of his duties."

  The Empress Dowager's words came out, and all the palace maids in the house knelt down. Jia Gui Ren was also shocked and followed suit, but she was puzzled in her heart. The Empress Dowager looked at her and shook her head secretly. As the Empress Dowager, what the Emperor liked or disliked to eat were taboos in the palace, and there was a rule of "not more than three" when serving meals, for fear that someone with ulterior motives would know their preferences and poison them. The eggplant box incident was a message she had deliberately spread, and if one day someone really brought her an eggplant dish, she would be on guard against that person being an assassin.

  However, the noble person in front of her can be at ease. The noble person's ancestors for eight generations were all investigated clearly by her, except for her father being greedy with wealth, the rest were all innocent. This news was able to reach the noble person because a palace maid from the Imperial Food Bureau had a loose tongue, so the Empress Dowager only demoted the head of the Imperial Food Bureau, Auntie.

  The empress thought about these things, and her heart couldn't help but feel a little helpless. So many years had passed, yet she had never eaten a comfortable meal, nor could she ever indulge in the foods she liked. She and the emperor were both like this, fearing that Mu Wu Wang and Duan Xu Wang would not die of treachery.

  The Empress Dowager thought of Mu Wu Wang and felt annoyed in her heart, and she was even more displeased with the kneeling Jia Gui Ren. She then looked at Lin Yuan and Ye Xiu Xin.

  The two of them knew they had to serve the dishes now. But Ye Xiu looked at the Empress's slightly angry expression just now, and although she couldn't guess what happened, she understood that serving the dishes was a hot potato, so she didn't dare to pick up her chopsticks.

  She was cautious, but there must be someone to serve the empress. If neither of them moved, they would both be in trouble together. Lin Yu thought for a moment, then stole a glance at the empress and scooped a small bowl of Fujian-style swallow's nest soup with a spoon.

  The empress dowager took it over, her face slightly clearing. In fact, she didn't like the lotus and swallow vegetable soup, but what she wanted to eat was this very dish. Just now, she had only glanced at the soup, and Lin Shi was very clever, knowing her meaning.