When they walked out of a clothing store, all three of them had changed into new outfits. In this way, when they blended into the crowd, no one would suspect their identities.
Dongfang Yi watched as Concubine Shu handled these things with great ease. No matter how she looked at it, Concubine Shu didn't seem like someone who had been raised in a deep boudoir since childhood. Moreover, in the palace on normal days, she seemed more lively and interesting than others.
So Dongfang Yi asked curiously, "Concubine Shu, how do you know so many unorthodox things?"
Hearing this, Concubine Shu seemed to have something on her mind. She lowered her head and pondered for a while, then raised her head and showed her bright smile. "Because I wasn't raised in the mansion," she said.
Then she told her story from childhood to adulthood.
Dongfang Yi felt heart - ache while listening. Concubine Shu's experience was just like that of the heroines in most hackneyed plots.
Her mother was a village girl who happened to meet a nobleman in the countryside. After a night of passion with the nobleman, she gave birth to Concubine Shu. That nobleman, who was her father, was a doctor in Shanglinyuan. How could he take a fancy to a village girl?
So Concubine Shu was raised in the countryside until she was thirteen. Suddenly one day, her biological father came looking for them. He said that he was getting old but had no daughter, so he took them into the mansion. Her mother also got a proper status because of this.
But they later found out that the reason her father took them into the mansion was to send Concubine Shu into the palace to consolidate his position. They were just a pawn in his political game.
Although Concubine Shu tried to sound as if she didn't care, Dongfang Yi could still hear the loneliness in her tone. So she said, "Concubine Shu, you've suffered."
But Concubine Shu just waved her hand with a smile and said indifferently, "I'm not suffering. I'm living in luxury every day now. The most important thing is that my mother is living a very good life now!"
After saying that, before Dongfang Yi could say anything else, she continued jokingly, "If we don't go shopping soon, there won't be any time left!"
Then the three of them plunged into the crowd.
Speaking of the banquet, for the royal family on the city tower, although the food was very sumptuous, it wasn't very lively. It could only be said to be a large - scale banquet for discussing state affairs.
But downstairs, the common people were singing and dancing. All kinds of snacks filled the long street. Because of Dongfang Yi's plan, all the wine could be drunk freely today.
There were also many folk artists showing off their unique skills, which Dongfang Yi had never seen before.
In just the time it took to burn an incense stick, the three of them were already holding all kinds of strange gadgets in their hands. Dongfang Yi liked a sugar figurine the most because it was so vividly made that it looked like a real child.
The three of them walked merrily in the crowd, as if they had forgotten all their troubles.
But Ruyi, who was following them, wasn't so relaxed. The emperor had sent him to follow them, but he didn't expect them to run to the street to attend the folk Mid - Autumn Festival banquet.
Looking at Donghua in the middle of the three, he couldn't help frowning. He really didn't expect that woman to have such a side.
They had worked together before. He only knew that Donghua was extremely skilled in martial arts and her face was always as cold as ice. When had he ever seen her act like a little woman?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help sighing and rubbing his forehead. He thought to himself, was this still the empress and Donghua he knew?
When Dongfang Yi and the others passed by a mask stall, Ruyi had just thought something was wrong when he saw the three of them put on masks one by one.
At such a lively fair, it was already difficult to follow them without blinking an eye, not to mention that they had put on masks. After all, they had changed their outfits and were no different from ordinary people. With masks on, it would be even more difficult to distinguish them.
Ruyi rubbed his eyes and felt a headache coming on, but he still stared at them without blinking.
When they came to a lantern riddle - guessing event, the three of them stopped and looked at a riddle on a lantern.
"After a long rain, the sky clears. Guess a character."
The man selling the lanterns said, "Ladies and gentlemen, if anyone can guess the answer to this lantern riddle today, they can pick any lantern from my collection and take it away."
Dongfang Yi immediately became interested and lowered her head to think carefully.
Donghua and Concubine Shu beside her saw that she was completely immersed in the lantern riddle, so they made an appointment with her to meet here later and then ran to look at other things.
Ruyi, standing outside the crowd, felt dizzy looking at the group of masked people. Then he saw three women with similar figures to theirs leave the crowd, so he took off running after them.
Dongfang Yi, still inside the crowd, was still bowing her head and pondering the answer to the riddle.
She thought to herself: After a long rain, the sky clears. Guess a character? The clear sky means the sun, so...
Just when she felt the answer was about to blurt out, a male voice suddenly sounded beside her.
"The answer is 'zuo' (yesterday in Chinese). The 'zuo' of yesterday."
"Yes! It's 'zuo'!" Dongfang Yi also shouted out.
The man selling the lanterns smiled at her and continued, "Sorry, miss. It was this young master who guessed the answer, so the lantern belongs to this young master."
Only then did Dongfang Yi look up at the man beside her. He also wore a mask on his face, a black mask of Lord Bao, which made him look very powerful.
She nodded at him and said, "Excuse me."
Then she pushed through the crowd and walked out. She was really annoyed. She clearly would have guessed the riddle in a little while.
Thinking of this, she walked a little awkwardly to a quieter place and planned to wait for Donghua and the others to find her there.
While waiting, she suddenly saw the man with the Lord Bao mask walking up to her. He was holding a very beautiful lotus lantern in his hand and said, "Miss, this lantern is for you."
Although Dongfang Yi really liked the lantern, she also knew the principle of not taking things from strangers casually. So she waved her hand and said, "Since you won the lantern, it belongs to you."
The man threw his head back and laughed a few times, then continued, "Since ancient times, lanterns are given to beautiful ladies."
Hearing this, Dongfang Yi couldn't help frowning. She could tell that his words sounded a bit strange and didn't seem to be in the language of the Dongsheng Kingdom. So she retorted, "Young master, you're joking. I'm wearing a mask. How do you know I'm a beauty?"
The man seemed not to expect her to say this, but still laughed merrily a few times. He continued in his broken language, "I just think you're a beauty."
Dongfang Yi became more and more suspicious of him and didn't want to entangle with him anymore. She also spotted Donghua and Concubine Shu in the crowd. So she hurriedly said "Farewell" to him and then disappeared into the crowd.
The black - clothed man sent by Helian Qi to secretly protect Dongfang Yi noticed this scene. It was hard to see his expression because of his veil, but it could be seen that his brows were tightly knitted.
For the time being, he couldn't guess who that man was, but his only task now was to protect the empress well.
He would tell the emperor everything after tonight.