"You! How unfilial you are! How dare you shout at me like this! I've raised you for nothing!" The Empress Dowager pointed at Di Yunjian, clutching her chest in anger.
"Mother, I'm already the Emperor. All these years, I thought you knew me well. I never expected you to drug me."
"I'm the Emperor! How can I swallow this humiliation!"
Di Yunjian gritted his teeth. Seeing his mother in such a state, his heart softened a bit.
But as soon as he thought of how Shuer threw herself into his arms last night with tears in her eyes, saying those aggrieved words, the anger in his chest welled up again.
If the Lady Tang had succeeded last night, he didn't know how he could face Shuer.
"I'm your mother! I'm the Empress Dowager of Dashun! I'm thinking about your heirs. You're so determined to dote on only Concubine Zhen. Where do you put the Empress? Where do you put all the other concubines?!"
The Empress Dowager gasped for a few breaths and finally calmed down. She pulled the wronged Empress beside her and pointed at Di Yunjian, scolding him sharply.
"Since I came back, have you ever visited the Empress's palace? Aren't you deliberately making her a laughingstock among the other concubines?!"
"Have you ever visited the palaces of other concubines? Are they just supposed to waste their youth in the palace?!"
The Empress Dowager pointed at him, every word filled with disappointment.
Di Yunjian clenched his fists and roared, "Mother! I'm the Son of Heaven! Do I need someone else's permission to dote on someone?!"
"You and the Empress joined hands to drug me, harming my imperial body. I haven't punished you yet, but you're here accusing me one by one!"
"I said I would go to the harem! You just didn't believe me! I didn't know there was such a thing as forcing a cow to drink water!"
Veins popped out on Di Yunjian's forehead. His aura was so tyrannical that it made people tremble.
He had agreed to go to the harem when he had dinner yesterday. He never expected that meal to be a trap.
"Guards!"
He roared.
Li Dahai rushed in in a hurry, wiping the cold sweat off his forehead. "Your Majesty, this servant is here!"
"Confine the Empress to her palace for a month. Hand over the power to assist in managing the six palaces to Concubine De."
"Lady Tang... Demote her to a maid and send her to the Cold Palace. All the maids and servants involved in this matter shall be dragged out and beaten to death!"
After saying that, Di Yunjian's eyes fell on the Empress Dowager. "Mother, you can rest well in the Cining Palace for the next two months!"
With that, he snorted and left with a flick of his sleeve. His tall back was full of determination.
The Empress Dowager pointed at his back, her chest heaving with anger. Her face turned pale.
"Unfilial! Unfilial son!"
"I've been thinking about him wholeheartedly! And this is how he treats me! This is how he treats me!" The Empress Dowager's eyes were red. She slapped the table beside her so hard that it made a loud noise.
"Mother, please calm down. Don't be angry," the Empress wiped her tears and helped the Empress Dowager up.
"I didn't expect that he would even send Lady Tang to the Cold Palace. It seems that His Majesty is really angry."
The Empress sighed. She didn't expect that His Majesty would ignore the friendship between Yan Qingshu and Tang Yinmian and directly send Lady Tang to the Cold Palace. It seemed that this pawn was really useless.
It was a pity that it was wasted before it could be used at the most critical moment!
"What do you mean?" The Empress Dowager tried to calm herself down. She was a bit curious when she heard what the Empress said.
"The concubine who was supposed to serve His Majesty last night was on good terms with Concubine Zhen. I didn't expect that His Majesty wouldn't even give Concubine Zhen any face and directly sent her to the Cold Palace."
The Empress Dowager lowered her eyes and didn't say a word.
"Empress, you can go back first. I want to be alone for a while."
The Empress Dowager closed her eyes. She felt very tired.
The Empress nodded. She felt relieved. Fortunately, it was only for a month.
On her way back to the palace, she said with a straight face, "Go back to the palace and find the Phoenix Seal and send it to Concubine De's palace."
"Your Ladyship, His Majesty is really angry this time. It will be very difficult to get back the power to manage the six palaces," Qingzhu said worriedly.
"Of course I know. But His Majesty has already given the order. What else can I do but obey?"
The Empress snorted. She was really unwilling to hand over the power to manage the six palaces like this.
"By the way, how is the one in the Cold Palace?" The Empress raised her eyebrows and remembered the person in the Cold Palace.
"Your Ladyship, don't worry. It's already been two months. No one knows," Qingzhu replied in a low voice.
"That's good. Take good care of her. She will be useful in the future."
The Empress nodded and rushed back to the Fengyi Palace with a straight face.
---
Not long after Yan Qingshu returned to her palace, she was reading a book. She was so absorbed in it that she didn't notice someone standing behind her.
When she was getting tired of leaning and was about to change her posture, she saw the person who had been smiling at her behind her.
"Liulang!"
Yan Qingshu threw the book away and crawled into his arms.
"It's getting colder as autumn approaches. You should wear a cloak when you come out, Liulang," Yan Qingshu pulled his arm and asked him to sit down.
Di Yunjian didn't say a word. His eyebrows were tightly knitted. He looked very tired.
He sat on the heated kang following Yan Qingshu's movements. Before he could react, he was hugged by the person in front of him. He leaned on her chest like a small bird.
"Liulang! I'm here," she said.
She stroked Di Yunjian's hair clumsily, again and again. It was like magic. It soothed the restlessness in his heart.
Di Yunjian's eyes got hot. He hugged her tightly and buried his head in front of her small body. It looked a bit strange.
"Shuer..."
He sighed and closed his eyes. All he could see and hear was his mother's expression and the scolding just now.
When he came to the Guanghan Palace just now, he also wondered if he had really done something wrong. He even turned around and wanted to go to the palaces of other concubines.
But as soon as he was about to go in, he just couldn't take that step.
In the end, he turned around and left. He came to the Guanghan Palace.
When he saw her sitting in front of the window, reading a book seriously, the slightly curved corners of her eyes were like the stars crushed in the sky. His heart, which had been cold and hard because of anger, suddenly softened.
All his anger disappeared. When he saw her, all he felt was grievance...
"Liulang..."
"Shuer, I want you to learn how to manage the household," Di Yunjian sat up straight and looked at her seriously.
"Manage the household? But I've never learned it before," Yan Qingshu pursed her lips and lowered her eyes.
"It doesn't matter. I'll send someone to teach you. Do you want to learn?" Di Yunjian looked at her seriously. He wanted Shuer to learn how to manage the household. In the future, when she was promoted to a concubine or a noble concubine, she could assist the Empress.
Or... sit in that position and become his true wife...
Yan Qingshu looked up at him and finally nodded. "I'll learn."
This was such a good opportunity. There was no way she could refuse.
After learning how to manage the household, when her child was born and she was promoted, the power to assist in managing the six palaces would also fall into her hands.
She smiled softly and leaned gently into his arms.
"Liulang, read a book to me," she said.
She picked up the book beside her and put it in his hand. Her beautiful eyes curved into crescent moons.
Di Yunjian smiled softly. He opened the book and started reading the content.
His voice was very nice, hoarse and magnetic. It was so intoxicating when he was reading.
Soon, Yan Qingshu felt sleepy. Finally, she fell asleep in his arms.