"Long live the Emperor for ten thousand years! Long live the Empress Dowager for a thousand years! Long live the Empress for a thousand years!"

  Everyone knelt down and kowtowed, shouting congratulations from their mouths.

  Nan Jiu was a bit slow and was easily pulled down to his knees by Nan Yi, only then did he suddenly come to his senses, almost making a mistake.

  "Your Majesty's subjects bow down."

  Wei Wei Da stepped forward with big strides, and because everyone was bowing their heads in respect, no one noticed the arrival of Xia Ying Shen.

  Xia Yingxin let out a sigh of relief when he saw Xia Tianmeng kneeling beside the Empress Dowager, as he had been worried that Mengmeng would be bullied by someone. Now, seeing her follow the Empress Dowager together, it can be seen that the Empress Dowager is in favor of her.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty!" The crowd chorused in unison and bowed their heads, then slowly stood up.

  At night, when Ye Feng got up, she still felt suffocated and uncomfortable in her heart. She thought about Ye Feng's identity, kneeling to heaven and earth, not even having knelt to her parents before, now actually wanting to kneel again? This evil feudal etiquette!

  Yexu Wei, who was standing beside her, saw that she was displeased and, although she didn't know why, also hastily pushed her and whispered: "Third sister, pay attention to etiquette! Everyone has to put on a happy face in front of the Emperor, let alone today being his birthday."

  Although Ye Suwen's voice was low, it still sounded a bit out of place in such a quiet setting.

  The Empress Dowager immediately looked over at them, saw that it was Ye Ruxue, and smiled slightly. With Xia Tianmeng's support, she sat down in the high seat and said slowly: "I see that Miss Ye seems to be unhappy about something, I wonder what's wrong?" On a day as joyful as Wan Shou Jie, why is she still wearing a long face? Does she think she's some kind of noble person?

  Others still didn't know about the scolding Ye Ruoxin received at Cining Palace, and now they're all bewildered and confused. This Empress Dowager is famous for her kindness and mercy, never quarreling with juniors over trivial matters. So why did she look down on Ye San today? Not to mention that Ye San is the fiancée of the Second Prince? Wouldn't this make the Second Prince lose face?

  Nan Yi Xian calmly accepted the strange gazes of the crowd, smiling faintly without saying a word.

  In his opinion, since he had already cancelled the engagement with Ye Ruxue, then the Empress Dowager was just making things difficult for Ye Ruxue and had nothing to do with him! Moreover, he never had a good impression of Ye Ruxue, who didn't understand etiquette and was an arrogant 'woman', how could she be worthy of marrying him?

  With such a handsome and elegant good man, he should marry a woman with a beautiful figure, who is charming and has many talents. She can be taken out to make people envy, and at home, she can take care of the household and treat her sisters-in-law well. Only this kind of woman is worthy of him!

  At night, like frost, I didn't expect that just in Cining Palace, I was too ashamed to show my face. In such a grand hall with so many people, the Empress Dowager actually did this as well! She couldn't help but clench her fists and say in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, has misunderstood. This humble woman simply saw Your Imperial Majesty's dragon countenance and was overjoyed, momentarily forgetting etiquette! I hope that Your Majesty will see clearly!"

  In Ye Rong's view, she had already made a big concession and even acknowledged the unreasonable behavior of the Empress Dowager. However, in other people's eyes, it was extremely unorthodox! Who would dare to respond to the Empress Dowager's words with such calmness and direct gaze, without even performing a kneeling ceremony?

  Wei Wei slightly raised an eyebrow, a mature and handsome face full of amused smile. He looked at Ye Guang who had been anxious and helpless, and said: "Xiang Wang, what's going on here?"

  Ye Guang was startled to hear his own name, and as soon as he stood up, he heard the intimidating Emperor's voice with a hint of a smile but icy cold tone: "The Wang Fu of a different surname doesn't even have a proper queen, so they don't even have any rules or etiquette? Who allowed her to stand while answering the Empress Dowager?"

  A deep and meaningful "hmm" made Nǐguǎng kneel down, hastily knocking his head: "I am guilty! I'm just a simple-minded 'girl', young and ignorant of the world, didn't learn any rules, really not my true nature! Still hoping for Your Majesty to show mercy!" No matter how suspicious he was about why Nan Yi Ke could remain unscathed, even if he understood that perhaps Frost had done something wrong, after all this was also a matter of face for Nan Yi Ke. He looked at him and said: "Second Prince, you must know too!"

  Nan Yi didn't think Ye Guang would ask him, so he slightly raised an eyebrow and smiled, looking quite pleased with himself. He said, "Is the king of a different surname trying to curry favor with me? I merely had a marriage agreement with your family's third miss, but we didn't really understand each other. Otherwise, how could your precious daughter say in front of the empress dowager that she wanted to dissolve the engagement because she didn't have feelings for me?" Seeing Ye Guang's pale face, he slowly added insult to injury, "Although I'm a carefree and leisurely person, I've never seen a girl personally ask to dissolve an engagement. If it were just parental orders or matchmaker's words, that would be one thing, but this was arranged by the late emperor. However, I'm not someone who doesn't understand things. Since your precious daughter is making such a request, I will naturally agree!"

  Others were in an uproar, although they spoke softly, and began to whisper to each other.

  "What kind of upbringing did Miss San get? Which family with a daughter would be like this?"

  "Tsk, tsk, tsk, it's clear what kind of rules and etiquette exist in the Wang family! And yet, with such behavior, they still dare to hope to marry into the imperial family? Isn't that just humiliating for the imperial family?"

  "Hmph, saying that she and the Second Prince have no feelings for each other so they should cancel the engagement, without even looking at her own appearance! Being able to marry the Second Prince is a blessing accumulated over three lifetimes! It's clear that some people just don't have good fortune!"

  "This is exactly what it means! Now that it's said, it can be seen that the imperial family is already dissatisfied with her. She herself was once ill, and who knows if she'll even be able to get married in the future!"

  "In any case, our family will never marry a 'woman' like that into the family. If there's such a daughter-in-law in the future, I'll have to fight with her till the sky falls."

  "I'm afraid that in the capital, people with a good reputation and social standing wouldn't dare to marry her! If it were a family of a different surname, they would marry her off to a faraway place! Out of sight, out of mind!"

  "Yes, otherwise wouldn't she know that it was the Empress Dowager who had personally scolded her, and yet still treated her well?"

  "Heh heh, I don't know how much Concubine Mei has to be grateful for this month. It's not easy being the Emperor's niece, yet she doesn't know how to do anything. The imperial family is already dissatisfied with her, and she still manages to get benefits?"

  The moon-faced woman's complexion was unattractive as she glared at Ye Ru Shuang, and seeing that she only had a cold face made her want to go up and slap her. However, knowing that in such a crowded gathering she must pay attention to etiquette, she knelt down and said pitifully: "Your Majesty, Shuang'er is the daughter of my sister-in-law, and also her only thought. Shuang'er was injured as a child, and I'm afraid she's still not clear-headed now. If you can cure Shuang'er's injury, I will repay you by carrying grass in the next life!"

  Ye Guang's face changed color, did Yu'e mean that Frost was mentally ill and needed to be locked up? She had helped her for so many years because she was her younger aunt, but she treated Frost like this?

  The Emperor's face changed color as he looked at Ye Guang, then saw the pitiful look on Yu'e's face. His expression unreadable, he turned to Ye Ruoxue who had been quietly lowering her head without speaking: "Third Miss Ye, why don't you tell me clearly, why do you want to dissolve the engagement?"