Recalling Jin Momo's reminder, Zong Zhengya walked over, pulled the empress's arm and knelt down, "Empress Dowager, don't you want me anymore?"

  Although Zong Zhengya was young, she had already learned about the dangers of the harem from the empress's words and deeds. The empress was extremely strict with her, but she knew it was for her own good and had grown accustomed to it, without any resentment towards her.

  She also deeply knows that if there is no empress, even if she is the eldest legitimate princess, it will be difficult for her to survive in this palace. She can have everything now because of what the empress brings to her, not her father emperor.

  "Mom, please don't abandon Ya Er, okay? Ya Er has no one else to rely on and will be bullied by others. Ya Er doesn't want to leave Mom, does Mom really not like Ya Er anymore? Waaahhh..."

  The queen was moved by her crying, seeing that small face already tear-stained, and couldn't bear it, picking her up and crying said, "Mother Empress won't abandon Ya'er, Ya'er don't be afraid, Mother Empress is here"

  "Yah likes her mother-in-law, Yah doesn't want to leave her mother-in-law"

  "Alright, don't leave"

  Jinmomo looked at the mother and daughter hugging each other in tears, and couldn't help but feel a little moved, shedding a few clear tears. "Your Majesty, Princess, it's all right now, Your Majesty should take more care of yourself for the sake of the princess."

  Huìlín hastily put away the meal that had been brought up again.

  The queen wiped away her tears, "Yes, I must eat more, for Yaya's sake, I have to live on."

  She was originally confused by the emperor's words, her heart as dead ashes, and she had no interest or energy to participate in the struggles of the harem. She only thought about how she and the emperor were, but forgot about her daughter.

  If she's gone, I'm afraid the child she gave birth to after ten months of hard work will be eaten up in this palace without even leaving any residue. Even for her own flesh and blood, she must think of a way to live a few more days, at least to arrange a good future for him.

  Zichen Hall

  "Is His Majesty in?" Minister Su asked as Meng heard footsteps approaching and inquired.

  Su Shun hastily came over, "Lord Meng, today is a day when the Emperor is not here."

  Meng Wen Tian let out a bitter laugh, "I should have thought of it earlier, but I didn't believe it. I wanted to come and take a look, forget it, I'll go find him instead."

  "Yes, Lord Meng can try to persuade him properly."

  "I'll try my best," Meng Wentian said with a wave of his hand as he walked away.

  Changle Palace

  Zong Zhengjin stood in the hall, silently pondering.

  "In a few days it will be Jin'er's birthday, what gift does Jin'er want?"

  "Can I have everything?"

  "En, Queen Mother will definitely try her best for Jin'er. Latest chapter of this book, search 800."

  “”

  “”

  These conversations are still vivid in his mind, that was the last birthday he spent with his mother, at that time he seemed to have asked for a set of stationery, because he wanted to study hard and make his mother happy.

  Unfortunately, she never had the chance to see it.

  Meng Wentian stood outside the hall, facing this direction, knelt down and solemnly kowtowed three times.

  The moonlight shrouded, and his figure could be vaguely seen standing in front of the window, desolate and solitary, cold and quiet, yet he couldn't take a step forward.

  This Changle Palace was where his mother, Empress Xi, originally lived. She only stayed for five years and after her death, the place was reduced to ashes due to a mysterious fire and has been abandoned for a long time.

  The emperor ascended to the throne, reclaiming his own power. After taking control of the military, he ordered the reconstruction of this place, with every blade of grass and tree restored to its original state. Even the purple sandalwood carved peony mirror screen used by Empress Xi was specially remade by the emperor's order. Every object and item was restored to its original appearance.

  For this, he didn't mind having his first falling out with the empress dowager and being labeled "unfilial", but unfortunately, he had always been doing his own thing and didn't care at all.

  His Majesty's mood is particularly bad every year during these few days, and he usually comes here to sit for a while, either reminiscing or recalling. Perhaps this can make him feel better in his heart. If it weren't for something special, His Majesty would probably hate to cut down the enemy with his own hands at this time, cutting them into pieces.

  After a long time, Zong Zhengjin finally came out and, as expected, saw the person standing like a pine tree here. "You've sneaked into my harem again."

  "I know I'm guilty, Your Majesty can punish me again tomorrow," Meng heard Tian raised the wine jug in his hand, "Let's have a good drink with me today first."

  "Drunk before returning."

  "Drunk before returning."

  Cining Palace

  "The Emperor has gone there again." The Empress Dowager glanced at the sky outside and spoke calmly.

  Liu Mu responded with a sound, "Yes, I've been there for some time already."

  "Hmph, what's the point?" The Empress Dowager coldly snorted, "She ultimately lost to the Ai family, not just her son, but also her own lifeless body. Her son can only go there to pay his respects."

  Liu knew that the Empress Dowager was cunning and ruthless, but in this matter of facing Consort Xi, she still had some reservations and sighed.

  At first she was just a big palace maid beside the Empress Dowager, but in the entire palace, there wasn't a single servant who didn't praise Consort Xi when mentioning her name, including herself.

  Such a beautiful and pure woman entering the palace is destined to enjoy the emperor's favor, the resentment of concubines, and ultimately cannot escape death.

  She guessed the ending, but didn't guess that it would be in such a miserable way. She died of severe poisoning, heart failure and death, and after her death, there was no trace left, a big fire burned away all the marks she had been to, without leaving any residue.

  In this world, the only thing that can prove the existence of that woman is her sole blood relative, her child. There is no corpse and no historical record.

  She remembered that when the emperor first heard that Xi Fei had taken her own life to prove her innocence, he rushed there in a hurry. A big fire was spreading at that time, and the palace people were busy putting out the fire. The emperor didn't care about everyone's obstruction and wanted to go in to save people, shouting hoarsely. The scene at that time was still vivid in her mind. At that time, she actually wanted to tell him that such a beautiful woman had already died.

  She thought, the previous emperor must have loved that woman too, so he tried his best to pamper and love her, renovating the Changle Palace for her, creating a prosperous scene in Jiangnan, because she was from the south and rarely saw plum blossoms, when he heard she liked them, he gathered all the rare treasures in the world and presented them to her, just to make her smile.

  But such a prominent favor ultimately led to the deep jealousy of all the concubines, and even the empress dowager and the empress at that time joined forces to plot against her, with the tacit consent and assistance of Concubine Yu and other concubines, causing the previous emperor to be furious and banishing her.

  After that, with time and opportunity, under the joint efforts of everyone, a beauty like her quietly disappeared from the world.

  The Longevity Festival is not a traditional festival of the Chu Zhou Kingdom. The time also changes with the birthday of each emperor who ascends to the throne. What remains unchanged is that it lasts for three days each time, and the emperor will decide which day of the three days is his birthday when he announces the time. This is done to prevent someone from stealing the emperor's eight characters of birth and to prevent someone from performing witchcraft on the emperor.

  During the Wan Jie period, folk slaughter is prohibited, official execution of criminals is prohibited, and folk are uniformly prohibited from wearing plain-colored clothes, which must be bright.

  On the first day, the emperor will ascend to the city gate tower, where officials will offer congratulations and join in festivities with people from all over the country. On the second day, he will pay respects at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, expressing gratitude to his ancestors for their blessings and reflecting on his own mistakes, as well as kneeling down to thank his parents for raising him. On the third evening, a grand banquet will be held, where all the imperial consorts will present performances and gifts to the emperor.

  On the first and second days, Zong Zhengjin was busy in the front court and did not come to the rear palace. Everyone was looking forward to the third day.

  The Hall of Supreme Harmony

  Zhen Pei arrived, and just as Su Jing stepped into the grand hall, a sharp voice of a eunuch rang out.

  This time Su Jing came a little earlier, as there were not many people in the hall, or it took too long to dress up, and the later ones had a more oppressive atmosphere.

  "The concubine and servant girls pay their respects to Zhen Hou. Everyone present is of a lower rank than her, so they must bow."

  Su Jing swept a glance over them, her eyes lingering on Du Wanru's body for an instant, and smiled lightly. "There is no need for the ladies to be so polite, please get up."

  "Miss Yang arrived quite early today," Su Jing said as she took her seat and looked at Yang.

  Yang Guihua was taken aback for a moment, then looked somewhat embarrassed, "Yes, sister has nothing to do in the palace, so she came a bit early."

  "Is Princess Shun doing well lately?" Su Jing asked casually, she didn't mean to make things difficult for her.

  Yang Gui had been a slave for a long time, so she had learned to observe people's words and expressions very early on. She knew what was meant, so she smiled and said, "The body of Princess Shun is not bad."

  Su Jing nodded and didn't say anything more.

  As they spoke, others arrived, and after exchanging greetings, there is no need to elaborate further.

  "Today, my dear sister arrived early, but I'm late," Xiang Yuxiao called out after her, laughing.

  There's a hint in his words, everyone present is no fool and can naturally hear it out, this is a veiled satire that she only came early to fawn because of the emperor's birthday, otherwise who doesn't know that Su Jingxian is a typical non-socializer.

  Su Jing had long been accustomed to repeating the words of these women in the harem several times in her mind before responding, at least to grasp the implicit meaning behind them. "Yes, today is the Emperor's birthday, and my sister is very excited and thrilled, so she wanted to come here early, but when she came, other sisters hadn't arrived yet."

  This sentence includes many future consorts, and the number of people who are offended is considerable. At least it includes Xiang Guiyu, at least others will think that she has always been brainless.

  As expected, Xiang Jieyu's gaze contained a hint of disdain, "Not only is my sister delighted, but I am also very pleased."

  In short, we have to bring the conversation back on track, so that His Majesty won't think that in the future, people will be indifferent and unenthusiastic about his birthday.

  "Yes, the Emperor's birthday is a joyful occasion for all of us sisters. I'm afraid Chen sister is overjoyed," Shun consort walked in and rarely made a joke.

  They greeted each other and parted ways.

  Su Jingxiang didn't know why she wanted to speak up for herself, but reacted quickly and said, "It's still better if Concubine Shun understands the imperial consorts."

  Shun Fei smiled slowly and sat down without a word.

  Palace Concubine (Yi)

  Gong Shu