The Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, the Emperor is deeply concerned about the hardships of the people in Chu Zhou, and the heavy losses they have suffered. He has ordered that all officials do not need to attend court to congratulate him, nor will there be a grand feast, only the palace ladies gathering together is allowed.

  A simple birthday banquet was held, with the emperor taking the lead in reducing the number of dishes. The imperial concubines and officials followed suit by donating, and wealthy merchants also assisted. The silver and money were uniformly managed and controlled by the Ministry of Revenue, and all the proceeds were distributed to the disaster-stricken people as relief, and taxes were exempted for one year.

  For a time, all the people were grateful for the emperor's great kindness.

  At the same time, many people are also praying for blessings for the emperor and the child in Zhen's womb, thanking heaven and believing that the child must be a reincarnated immortal, bringing salvation to all.

  Su Jing heard this news and just smiled, without comment.

  Since she publicly punished Yu Mei, no one dared to visit Guan Gong under the banner of "sisterly love". Even if they occasionally met on the road, all the concubines would avoid her from afar, and few people dared to approach her to seek trouble.

  The Empress Dowager's birthday banquet was held in the Taihe Hall, and Shu Guifei took charge of it.

  Su Jing finished dressing and thought for a moment, "This time, let Ting Yao and Qing Huan follow along too, Xiao Gui Zi is going as well."

  She really didn't dare to lower her guard, otherwise, the consequences were not what she was willing to bear.

  "Yes."

  Su Jing ate a simple meal and padded her stomach before heading towards the Cining Palace with the others.

  The empress dowager used to worship Buddha all year round, but that was in the past. Recently, she has been constantly showing everyone that she is going to leave the mountain.

  Often sending people to the Zhongxiao Palace to gather the three princes, giving it a beautiful name as if it were for enjoying one's twilight years and doting on grandchildren. However, intelligent people can all see that the Empress Dowager has ulterior motives towards the three princes.

  Cultivate feelings from an early age, and at the same time, avoid others having deep feelings with the Third Prince.

  Zhenxiu entered with the eunuch's high-pitched voice, "Her Highness Zhenxiu has arrived."

  "Your servant pays respects to Noble Consort Shu," Su Jing said with a faint smile as she stepped forward and curtsied.

  Shu Gui Fei was as usual and didn't make things difficult for her, "Quickly get up, dear sister Zhen."

  "Thank you."

  Although the Empress Dowager's banquet was simple and reduced in scale, with fewer people coming to congratulate her on her birthday, the actual size of the event was still quite large, with almost all the imperial consorts attending, accounting for more than half of the total number.

  Su Jing swept a glance around and found that most of the low-ranking consorts had arrived, except for Yu Xunmei who was confined to her quarters yesterday.

  She must have hated herself to death.

  But what's the difference?

  As a mother, she must consider her own child in her womb, and others who are irrelevant should step aside as soon as possible.

  One after another, high-ranking imperial consorts came in, exchanged greetings and chatted for a couple of sentences.

  "Zhen sister has been doing well recently?" Shun Fei sat down, and her seat was arranged right next to Su Jing's. She said with a smile.

  Su Jing hooked up the corner of her mouth, "I'm fine, and Second Sister?"

  "This palace is just like that," Shun Fei's tone had a hint of subtle detachment, she leaned in and whispered, "Now that you're pregnant, you should be careful everywhere, absolutely cannot be careless, let alone sloppy."

  Su Jing saw a few points of sincerity in her eyes and nodded after hearing this, "Sister knows."

  Shun Fei nodded, "As long as you know."

  She thought of her own past and couldn't help but want to remind this young man a few words, whether she accepted or not, after all, it was just a few words that didn't cost money.

  At first, she was also pregnant and almost became a mother. During those days, she could slowly feel that there was really a life jumping in her belly, with blood flowing together, and she looked forward to it very much.

  But later on, just like other women, she still got pregnant despite all precautions.

  The child is gone, and her heart has died. She has no mind to deal with the emperor, and the emperor has no patience to comfort her. After a few times, she completely lost favor and often worshiped Buddha, superstitious about the infant's spirit, also seeking an excuse for her own escape.

  "His Majesty has arrived, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has arrived."

  "The concubines and maidservants pay their respects to Your Majesty, may Your Majesty live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, and forever. They also pay their respects to the Empress Dowager, may she live for a thousand years, a thousand years, and forever." The soft and weak voices echoed throughout the grand hall.

  "Sit down," Zong Zhengjin walked up to his position and sat down, saying.

  "Thank Your Majesty," he rose and took his seat.

  "Today is Ah Jia's birthday, you all came to celebrate, how thoughtful," the Empress Dowager said with a smile as she swept her gaze over the people below.

  Everyone says it should be so.

  The empress's gaze stayed on Su Jing's body, "At the beginning, I said you have good fortune to give birth to the imperial heir, but didn't expect that my words would really come true. It can be seen that both you and the child in your belly are blessed with good fortune, just as the emperor said."

  Su Jing stood up and glanced at that position, seeing him looking at her with a smile on his face. He bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for the auspicious words of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, I am deeply grateful."

  At first, Empress Dowager wanted her to give birth to an imperial heir, and in what way she forced her, she would not forget.

  Even if the Empress Dowager's words were pleasant, many people present at that time still remembered clearly, but just kept it in their hearts and didn't mention it.

  "Since the Empress Dowager said you have good fortune, then come sit by my side and bask in the Empress Dowager's joyful aura," Zong Zhengjin spoke up after she stood up, saying with a smile.

  Su Jingxi's heart was delighted, she sat in the lower position, although it belonged to a slightly upper position, but after all, it was not as good as being behind him.

  The most important thing is that she was behind him and the food she used was his portion, which was personally served by Su Shunxian, and someone had tried to poison it.

  So she was much safer then.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty," Su Jing curtsied and walked forward gracefully.

  The empress dowager glanced at the concubine's resentful appearance, pretending to be unaware. "Since the emperor let Zhenxiu come to share the joy of the Ai family, the Ai family would like to have Gui Ren also come over together. What does the emperor think?"

  "The Empress Dowager's birthday, the Empress Dowager is in charge, that's all," Zong Zhengjin said indifferently. As Su Jing'an passed by him, he smiled lightly.

  Others saw it and were even more indignant in their hearts, but they had no way to vent their anger.

  Su Jingxiao listened to the Empress Dowager's words, seemingly equating her with Qi Guiren, and snorted in disdain. The Empress Dowager was indeed getting more and more muddled as she aged.

  Looking at His Majesty, it seems that the relationship with the Empress Dowager is becoming increasingly tense. Not only is she referred to as "Empress Dowager", but also no longer as "Motherly Empress". By reason, it's not impossible either.

  After all, the emperor was just fostered by the empress dowager at first, rather than being raised by her.

  Foster care and memory care differ greatly.

  As the name suggests, Ji Yang is to raise and nurture by remembering names. If the imperial jade disc were changed, like the current Third Prince, then the historians of the future would record that the birth mother of the Third Prince was An Shu Yi, not Du Wan Ru; foster care would truly be just temporary fostering, a temporary nurturing, which could change to another place at any time.

  It wasn't just Su Jing who felt the unusual atmosphere between the two, but also the people below who naturally heard it, especially Shu Gui Fei and Xian Fei.

  No matter what they thought, the Emperor and Empress Dowager remained indulged in self-deception, pretending to be as harmonious as ever with their filial piety.

  Su Jingxiang didn't care how they acted, she sat in her seat and after listening to Yao's careful identification, picked out some simple dishes that looked good to her from the presented food, and only had two mouthfuls, not eating much.

  In the distance, the viewing platform was bustling with a thousand identical joyful tunes, the sound came over, Su Jingfan only glanced at it for a few moments and lost interest.

  Sitting behind him, she unconsciously fixed her gaze on him.

  He sat upright like a pine tree and still like a clock, that's exactly what he looked like, sitting properly on the dragon chair, his two hands hanging naturally, like a straight white poplar, with an indescribable charm.

  Zong Zhengjin was also indifferent to food, the Empress Dowager and Shangguan Mei were chatting idly, he was happy to be free from distractions, and his gaze fell on the opera performers, in a moment, he felt that there was a gaze lingering on him from behind.

  He pretended not to notice, thinking that she would move away after a while, but her gaze remained until the end of the play.

  Helplessly turning back, he saw her looking at him with eyes full of admiration. The two locked gazes, she felt a little shy and quickly looked away.

  It seems that such a banquet is also not unbearable.

  Su Jing couldn't help but turn his head back suddenly, sneaking a peek at others being caught on the spot, it was really too embarrassing.

  This scene fell into the eyes of Shu Guifei, who was sitting at the head of the imperial table. She faintly turned away her gaze, but in her heart, she felt a mix of emotions.

  It turned out that when he was with her, he was like this.

  "Shu sister, what's wrong? You don't look well," Xian Fei said, breaking her silence with a concerned tone.

  Although the voice was not loud, it was enough to attract the attention of the people present. The empress's face suddenly turned cold without any concealment.

  Her birthday banquet, on the pretext of being unwell, was purely an excuse to avoid bad luck.

  Qiao Jingyu suppressed the emotions in her heart and said, "Nothing, why does my sister think that I am unwell?"

  Xian Fei pinched her handkerchief, seemingly unaware of anything else, and revealed a smile. "Isn't this because Sister's complexion doesn't look good, so I asked an extra question? Shu Jie, you're in charge of preparing the longevity banquet for Empress Dowager, don't overexert yourself."

  Before Consort Shu could speak, the Empress Dowager said directly, "Yes, Consort Shu, after all, you are not the Empress, and many things lack experience, it is understandable to explore more, just don't exhaust yourself, otherwise, it would be my fault."

  This sentence is really not giving Shu Gui Fei any face, it's extremely hurtful.

  If Shu Gui Fei wants to be the Empress, then today's remark from the Dowager Empress "You are not the Empress after all" would make her lower her head in front of the late Empress for the rest of her life, putting her at a disadvantage.

  Su Jing sat on the periphery of the commotion, quietly watching, and glanced at his profile, seeing that he had no intention of speaking up to help.

  "The Empress Dowager smiled and said, 'Although I am not as good as Empress Yu, but when I was at home, I also learned about managing the household affairs.'" Before they could respond, Consort Shu calmly spoke up.

  "I am aware that the Imperial Palace is not comparable to our humble abode, but Your Majesty has always cautioned me against belittling myself. That's why I dared to temporarily take on the role of Empress and exercise the authority of the Six Palaces. Although I am incompetent, fortunately, things have been relatively peaceful in the palace, and no mistakes have occurred. Otherwise, it would truly be my fault."

  Palace Concubine (Yi Shu)

  Gong Shu