As her voice faded, a woman in a red brocade robe strode into the palace hall. The golden-thread embroidered phoenix on her robe seemed to come alive, its tail feathers fluttering with her steps.
The woman was well-maintained. She had a pair of almond-shaped eyes with slightly upturned corners, a straight nose, and thin lips, exuding an air of determination and sharpness, grand, assertive, and yet elegant and noble.
This was the legitimate daughter of the Empress Dowager, Princess Zhaohua.
Moreover, she was the only princess in the history of the Jiang Kingdom to hold power. Before she got married, her vision and breadth of mind far exceeded those of her brothers. The late emperor doted on her extremely and once said that if she were a man, the position of crown prince would surely belong to her. He even broke the rule that princesses were not allowed in the court and let her enter the imperial study to discuss state affairs.
Behind her followed a young girl who resembled Zhaohua about fifty to sixty percent. She was Zhaohua's daughter, County Princess Jianing.
"Zhaohua pays respects to Your Majesty," said Princess Zhaohua.
"Jianing pays respects to the Empress Dowager, Uncle, and Aunt," said County Princess Jianing.
Princess Zhaohua's gaze fell on the empress beside Emperor Jiang Jing, and a flash of surprise quickly crossed her eyes.
Emperor Jiang Jing said with a beaming smile, "Sister and Jianing, there's no need for such formalities. Quickly take your seats. The banquet is about to begin."
Princess Zhaohua looked at the empress sitting on her seat. "It's been many years since I last saw the empress. After all these years, the empress has lost a lot of weight."
The empress forced a smile. "With so many things weighing on my mind, it's natural for me to look haggard. I can't compare to you, sister, who still looks as radiant as ever."
Princess Zhaohua looked down on the empress for her humble background, but the empress was not a weak person and gently retorted.
Wasn't Princess Zhaohua free and easy now that the emperor had gradually taken back her power over the years?
After this simple exchange, both of them pretended as if nothing had happened. What they thought in their hearts didn't matter; as long as they maintained a good facade.
After the banquet, Princess Zhaohua sat in the carriage, pondering the abnormalities these days.
These days, the emperor had actually been investigating the matter of the battle against the Northern Rong tribe. Although his actions were not obvious, she still noticed. And now the empress had also appeared...
The empress, with her gentle and soft personality, had only been concerned about her lost daughter. It was said at the beginning of last year that she was on the verge of death. How could she appear at the palace banquet this year, and she didn't look like someone on the verge of death at all.
Putting all these things together, the most unlikely possibility was often the answer.
There was a high chance that there was news about the little princess who was lost back then.
"Mother, what are you thinking about? You didn't even hear me talking to you," County Princess Jianing pouted, dissatisfied.
Princess Zhaohua naturally doted on her only daughter. When she first got married, she had spent some sweet time with her husband. But after a few years, she discovered that he had taken a mistress outside, claiming that she had only given birth to Jianing and no son.
After learning about this, Princess Zhaohua directly had his manhood cut off and thrown in front of the mistress. Then she asked Emperor Jiang Jing to preside over the divorce, forced him to marry the mistress, and raided the husband's family overnight.
After that, Princess Zhaohua never remarried and was unwilling to have children with those lowly men, so she only had County Princess Jianing as her daughter.
"Nothing. What did you just say?"
"I said that the Empress Dowager rewarded me with a lot of nice things this year. After the New Year, how about I go and ask for a peace talisman for the Empress Dowager?"
Princess Zhaohua said, "That's a good thing. If you want to go, go. Bring more guards with you."
Looking at her lively and well-behaved daughter, Princess Zhaohua couldn't help but think that if the little princess of the emperor and the empress came back, would her Jianing still be the most favored one?
Firecrackers went off one after another, continuously. This night was another sleepless night.
After tossing and turning until the middle of the night and inviting one doctor after another, Jiang Chan still lost her baby.
The old lady was so angry that tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't help but scold Xu Yanchi.
"With such a mess, how can I have the face to meet your father in the underworld?!"
Xu Yanchi didn't even know that Jiang Chan was pregnant. He felt aggrieved but couldn't refute. Losing two children in one go, his grief was genuine.
The doctors who came also thought they were unlucky.
The strife in the noble families was really terrifying. But doing this on New Year's Eve was just asking for bad luck. They had to step over a brazier before entering their own homes.
In Zhuoying Courtyard, Shen Qing and Ji Junye ate dumplings and went to bed early.
Shen Qing was really sleepy, while Ji Junye had to go to the Ancestral Temple the next morning.
But in the middle of the night, Shen Qing was shaken awake. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Ji Junye's enlarged face.
"Qingqing, it's midnight. I'll take you somewhere."
Shen Qing was still drowsy and hadn't reacted yet when she was already dressed by him, wrapped in a cloak, and taken to the rooftop.
A cold wind blew, instantly waking Shen Qing up from her sleep.
"What are we doing here?"
Waking her up in the middle of the night just to let her catch a cold...
Shen Qing was a bit dissatisfied as she had been woken up. But as soon as her voice fell, rainbows streaked across the night sky and exploded at the highest point, extremely gorgeous, instantly lighting up the entire night sky.
"It's fireworks!"
"How beautiful!"
"Do you like it?" Ji Junye asked.
Shen Qing nodded vigorously. "I like it."
That's good. It was worth all the effort he had put in.
In the gorgeous fireworks, Shen Qing suddenly turned her head and saw Ji Junye looking at her.
In their eyes, besides the light of the fireworks, there was only each other.
Suddenly, Shen Qing hooked his neck, stood on tiptoe, and kissed his lips.
Surprise and joy flashed through Ji Junye's eyes and quickly disappeared. He unconsciously tightened his embrace and passionately responded to the kiss.
This firework display lasted for a full half an hour.
The common people thought it was to celebrate a bountiful New Year, but they didn't know that it was their young emperor who, in order to please his sweetheart, had extended the originally one-incense-burning-time firework display to half an hour.
Ji Junye gently placed Shen Qing on the bed and planted a kiss on her forehead.
It was quite funny. The atmosphere was so good just now, and when passion was at its peak, just as he was about to take her down and take things further, he lowered his head and found that she had fallen asleep in his arms.
It made him smile incredulously.
Since he had to go to the Ancestral Temple and set off early, Ji Junye returned to the palace after putting Shen Qing down. Otherwise, if others found that the emperor was not in the palace during the ancestor worship ceremony tomorrow, it would surely go down in history.
...
Meng Hanqing's place was as cold and quiet as usual. Although there was A Zhuo this year, A Zhuo didn't talk much either.
"Let's start dinner," Meng Hanqing said.
As soon as his voice fell, before they could start eating, there was a knock on the door.
The medicine boy quickly went to open the door.
Shen Si appeared with a beaming smile. Behind him, Ling Feng was carrying large and small packages. "Don't mind if I come and have a meal with you, cousin?"
"And me!"
Qin Ye suddenly popped out from some corner, carrying two jars of good wine. "Don't mind if I also come and have a meal, junior brother?"
A Zhuo knew Shen Si but didn't know Qin Ye. Since Qin Ye appeared, A Zhuo had been staring at him warily.
Meng Hanqing paused for a moment, then turned to instruct the medicine boy, "Add two more sets of bowls and chopsticks."