After the Lesser New Year, it was almost the real Spring Festival. The whole palace was filled with a festive atmosphere. Even Dongfang Yi felt refreshed these days.
One day, she went out of the palace and bought many things in the market that were only needed during the Chinese New Year in the civilian world. Now she had brought them all into the palace. She had long complained that the palace was too plain. Now that she had bought these things, she immediately ordered the palace servants to arrange them. Some were pasting window decorations and Spring Festival couplets, while others were hanging colorful ribbons and lanterns. It was truly a scene of festivity.
While tidying up the things, Dongfang Yi finally found the deck of poker cards she had gotten from Mr. Shen outside the palace. It was strange. After she got drunk and came back that night, the first thing she did when she woke up the next day was to look for it. But no matter how she rummaged through, she couldn't find it. Unexpectedly, now it was thrown into the pile of sundries.
As soon as she got it in her hand, she couldn't hold back her excited little heart. She immediately asked Donghua to invite Concubine Shu over. After all, she couldn't play poker alone.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Concubine Shu rushed over. In a hurry, she thought something had happened. But then she saw the Empress smiling at her proudly. She stammered and asked, "Um... Your Majesty, do you have something to tell me?"
"I've got a new thing here. Let's play together," Dongfang Yi replied.
Her proud look made people feel uneasy. It even made Donghua burst out laughing.
"Donghua, what are you laughing at? Come here too!"
"Ah? Me too?!"
She couldn't believe her ears. She thought how could she be involved in this? But she still obediently walked over.
The three of them sat around the table in front of the fireplace. Dongfang Yi took out the small box containing the poker cards and slapped it on the table. Then she poured all the cards into her hand and started shuffling them.
"What is this?" Concubine Shu couldn't help asking. She had never seen such a thing before.
"This is called poker. It's an intellectual game. Let me tell you the rules!" Dongfang Yi said.
So she started dealing the cards while explaining the rules of the game. Concubine Shu and Donghua were quite smart. They soon understood the rules of the so - called "Fight the Landlord" game.
When they first started playing, Dongfang Yi often won because they were new to the game. But later, after the other two got the hang of the rules, she was completely defeated.
"Hahaha, we won again! The landlord is bankrupt!"
After another round, Donghua laughed wildly. The landlord she mentioned, of course, was Dongfang Yi.
"How come you always have such good luck? You get the big and small jokers every time. Are you cheating?!" she asked angrily.
"What does 'cheating' mean?" The other two tilted their heads in confusion and asked.
Dongfang Yi sighed. She thought she didn't even have the right to accuse them of cheating because they didn't even know what cheating was. They just really had good luck, while she was the landlord every time, and always the poorest one.
"Let's play again! Let's play again!" she shouted and started shuffling the cards resignedly.
They had an agreement that the loser would shuffle the cards.
When Helian Qi arrived at the Empress's palace, he saw this scene. The three of them were sitting around the table, shouting and laughing from time to time. People who didn't know might think they were gambling.
After seeing this, he couldn't help frowning. He coughed lightly twice. But unfortunately, the three people not far away were so absorbed in their "business" that they didn't notice anyone coming. So he coughed loudly twice again, but still no one noticed him.
Ru Yi, standing behind him, saw that the Emperor's face was about to change. If this continued, something bad might happen. So she immediately announced loudly, "His Majesty the Emperor is coming..."
After hearing this, the three people not far away froze for a moment, then immediately turned around. Especially Concubine Shu and Donghua. After seeing who it was, they immediately knelt down and shouted.
"I pay my respects to Your Majesty..."
"This humble servant pays her respects to Your Majesty..."
Dongfang Yi happily ran over. Standing in front of Helian Qi, she swayed back and forth and said, "We're playing a very interesting game. Do you want to join us?"
Helian Qi looked over and immediately saw the poker cards spread out on the table. He also recognized that it was the thing he had taken from Shen Fu outside the palace.
But he had clearly thrown it away for her. How did she find it again?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help frowning and asking, "Where did you find this?"
"I found it in the pile of sundries. I'm also very curious. How did it get there by itself?..." As she spoke, her face became full of confusion.
Helian Qi immediately coughed lightly to stop her from thinking. He was afraid that she would remember that it was he who had thrown it away. After all, he was the Emperor of the Dongsheng Kingdom. If he was regarded as a jealous man, it would be a laughingstock.
So he immediately changed the topic and asked, "Have you had dinner?"
"Dinner?!"
Dongfang Yi was startled after hearing this. She turned her head and looked out of the window. Sure enough, it was already getting dark. When they were playing poker together just now, it was only noon. How could it suddenly be evening? It seemed that gambling really wasted time!
Then she also felt an emptiness in her stomach. She replied, "I haven't had it yet. Let's have it together!"
Then she turned her head and looked at Concubine Shu not far away. She saw that Concubine Shu was looking at her in horror and shaking her head.
What Concubine Shu was thinking at this moment was that the day she had dinner with the Empress while the Emperor was watching, she had been so nervous during that meal. Even now, just thinking about it made her feel scared.
Dongfang Yi also remembered the time when Helian Qi had played a trick on her. So she didn't dare to keep anyone else for dinner. So she said to the woman not far away, "I won't keep you for dinner, Concubine Shu. You can go back first. Come again when you're free tomorrow!"
Concubine Shu nodded heavily as if she had received a pardon. She also let out a long sigh. Then she left the Empress's palace with Xiang'er beside her.
Now there were only the two of them left in the palace. Helian Qi walked over to her happily and asked, "Do you have any dishes you want to eat?"
Dongfang Yi tilted her head and thought for a while. Then she looked up and answered seriously, "Let's eat meat!"
"Hahaha, Dong'er, are you stupid?" Helian Qi couldn't help laughing at her. He had never seen a woman who loved meat so much. Ordinary women paid attention to having a slender figure. There was no one who shouted to eat meat every day. She was the only one in the whole world.
"What are you laughing at!" Dongfang Yi rolled her eyes at him. She thought in her heart that wasn't he the one who asked what she wanted to eat? Why couldn't she eat meat?