Dongfang Yi was taken aback by her words. She couldn't help but mutter to herself, "What does whether I have you in my heart have to do with being the queen of the Dongsheng Kingdom?"
But on the surface, she still pretended to be extremely respectful and said with a smile, "Empress Dowager, look at what you're saying. How could I not have you in my heart? It's just that I got injured, so I haven't been able to visit you often."
Dongfang Yi didn't hide her foot injury from the Empress Dowager because she knew that the Empress Dowager had survived the most terrifying harem struggles to reach her current position.
So she couldn't be deceived by ordinary tricks. Moreover, the harem was full of her informants. Her foot injury might have already been well - known to the Empress Dowager.
"Humph." The Empress Dowager let out a cold snort and glanced at Dongfang Yi's foot. Her expression seemed to indicate that she had known about it all along.
Dongfang Yi understood immediately. It was indeed an extremely correct decision not to try to deceive her.
"You've been back from outside the palace for about three months. How come you don't even think about coming to pay your respects? I think you're just unruly!" The Empress Dowager continued, with a face full of dissatisfaction with her.
Just as Dongfang Yi was about to say something to prevaricate, she heard the announcement of the eunuch outside the palace.
"His Majesty the Emperor is arriving—"
Hearing this announcement, Dongfang Yi suddenly felt a little flustered. Subconsciously, she wanted to find a place to hide, but then she remembered that this was the Empress Dowager's palace. There was simply nowhere to hide!
Before long, Helian Qi, wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, walked in. Perhaps he had rushed here right after the court session and hadn't even had time to change out of his court clothes.
Dongfang Yi looked up and saw the man in front of her. His breathing seemed a bit rapid.
As soon as Helian Qi finished the court session, he heard that Dongfang Yi had been urgently summoned by the Empress Dowager. Immediately, he recalled the incident of the poisoned wine. His heart couldn't help but be filled with anxiety, and his steps became hasty. By the time he came to his senses, he was already in front of the Empress Dowager's palace.
Looking at his still - unchanged court clothes, he couldn't help but mock himself. He thought that he prided himself on being calm and decisive, but he always lost his composure when it came to that woman.
Recently, the palace had been very peaceful. There was no reason for the Empress Dowager to harm her. His anxious appearance was really embarrassing.
"The Emperor comes quite quickly. Why, are you afraid that I'll do something to your queen?!" The Empress Dowager roared with anger in her voice.
Dongfang Yi had been keeping her head down and didn't dare to look up again. She still hadn't figured out how she should act when seeing Helian Qi again.
He always seemed to catch her when she was in a mess and embarrassed. She didn't know what kind of bad luck she had.
The Empress Dowager's words startled her. Although she had controlled her heart well, when she heard such words, her heart still couldn't help but beat wildly a few times.
"Mother, you're overstating it. I just heard that you've been in poor health recently. The Imperial Hospital received some fresh ginseng today, so I fetched some top - grade ginseng tea for you from the Imperial Hospital," Helian Qi said, with no fluctuation in his tone.
Then he waved his hand to signal the eunuch behind him to place the ginseng tea on the table in front of the Empress Dowager.
Only then did Dongfang Yi look up at the man standing in the middle of the room. His starry eyes were looking coldly at the Empress Dowager, and his tone was neither too warm nor too cold.
"The Emperor is so thoughtful." The Empress Dowager's expression softened a bit. She looked at the handsome man in front of her with a bit of gratification.
Her whole life had been spent in the harem. After giving birth to Helian Qi, the second half of her life had been spent planning for his future.
Now that Helian Qi had become the emperor as expected, the most gratified person should be the current Empress Dowager.
Just as the bedroom was about to fall into silence, they heard the eunuch outside the palace announce again, "The Prince of Nanping pays his respects—"
"Yo, it's really lively here today," the Empress Dowager said.
As she finished speaking, Helian Rong walked in.
Dongfang Yi had just been thinking that the Prince of Nanping was the general who was popular in the palace. When she looked up, she was startled by the man in front of her.
Helian Rong was also startled for a moment. Both of them exclaimed in their hearts, "It's you?!"
But Helian Rong quickly regained his composure. Then he said to the woman in front of him, "I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager."
He bowed slightly to the man beside him and said, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty the Emperor."
The brief eye contact between Helian Rong and Dongfang Yi, although barely noticeable, still caught Helian Qi's eye. His brows furrowed slightly, and a strange feeling rose in his heart.
Did they know each other? When did they get to know each other? He remembered that Helian Rong rarely entered the harem after returning to the capital. Counting the time of the celebration banquet last time, this was only the second time. Did they get acquainted then?
Thinking of this, Helian Qi couldn't help but feel a bit displeased. But he couldn't say anything about this matter here. So he said to the Empress Dowager, "I still have a lot of official documents to approve. I won't stay here any longer."
After saying that, he turned around and walked out of the Cining Palace.
Dongfang Yi watched the receding back, and an indescribable emotion kept entangling in her heart. Then she lowered her eyes.
All this was seen clearly by Helian Rong beside her.
"Rong'er, why did you suddenly come to see me?" The wrinkled face of the Empress Dowager was almost beaming with joy.
She had always doted on this youngest son the most. But unfortunately, this youngest son was only interested in martial arts and it was difficult for him to achieve other ambitions. But seeing her youngest son at this moment, she couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
Dongfang Yi saw that the old lady beside her was in a good mood. She probably wouldn't have the mood to care about her business anymore. So she stood up, bowed slightly, and said, "Empress Dowager, then I'll take my leave first."
The Empress Dowager had almost forgotten that there was such a person beside her. But as soon as she saw Dongfang Yi's face, she couldn't like her. She just grunted with disgust and then looked at her son again.
Only then did Dongfang Yi turn around. After taking a long breath, she walked out of the Cining Palace.
Inside the palace, Helian Rong stared fixedly at her back until she completely disappeared from his sight. So she was his elder brother's concubine, he thought to himself. An indescribable feeling rose in his heart, but it was soon interrupted by the Empress Dowager's words.
"Rong'er, how have you been recently? I still think it's better for you to stay in the palace to assist the emperor. Why do you have to go to the battlefield?" The Empress Dowager said earnestly.
After all, she was old and didn't want to see her children do anything dangerous.
But Helian Rong just laughed twice, then stroked the Empress Dowager's hand and comforted her, "Mother, your son won't leave. I'll stay in the capital to accompany you more."
Hearing this, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. Her wrinkled face seemed to come to life.
For a moment, the Cining Palace was filled with an atmosphere of mother's kindness and son's filial piety, envied by everyone.