Little sister, go without worry~

"Why haven't you gotten up yet?"

The empress could not help rubbing her brow, but deep down, she was relieved.

She was not in the habit of treating the princes and princesses harshly, but for some reason, she simply could not bring herself to like Chu Haoze.

So she had chosen to leave him to his own devices and not concern herself with him.

At that moment, Jiang Yourning's secret grin practically stretched all the way to her ears.

Chu Haoze and the woman were both frantic, but no matter how hard he pushed, he could not get her off him.

Left with no choice, Chu Haoze abruptly rose, intending to fling the woman to the floor with all his strength.

Instead, he failed to push her away and staggered from using too much force, making it look as though he had impatiently pounced on her and pinned her to the low table.

In an instant, the entire gathering fell silent, with only the shattering of teacups and porcelain plates providing accompaniment.

Everyone in the acrobatic troupe dropped to their knees.

Finally, after flailing a couple of times, Chu Haoze managed to get up.

He wanted nothing more than to kill this woman on the spot, but he could not.

"I have disrupted Imperial Mother's birthday banquet. I ask Imperial Father and Imperial Mother to punish me."

Beside him, the woman also knelt, trembling as she frantically kowtowed.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, please forgive me!!!"

Jiang Yourning immediately lifted the tea before her and drained it in one gulp. Her little face all but had "I'm so happy" written across it.

[Ah... that hit the spot.]

[Isn't it time to hurry up and decree a marriage? Let this little white lotus wreak havoc on that bastard!]

[Still, this Imperial Palace leaks like a sieve. Anyone can come along and trample all over it. No wonder this lunatic eventually managed to pull off his rebellion.]

At those words, some people choked, some spat out their tea, some shattered their dishes, and some dropped their chopsticks to the floor.

For a moment, Chu Wenzong shook with cold fury.

Rebellion? An insignificant nobody like him actually had that ability?

Under so many watchful eyes, he wanted to lash out but could not. He had never felt so stifled in his entire life.

Cui Zhao'an, however, turned a thoughtful gaze toward Chu Wenzong.

She could hear that inexplicable voice, so it was perfectly normal for her to drop her chopsticks in shock. But why had the emperor suddenly shattered his dishes?

Could it be possible that...

"Your Majesty, how do you intend to handle this matter?"

The empress spoke slowly.

The word "rebellion" had struck Chu Wenzong where it hurt. He was now beginning to suspect that an immortal was offering him guidance. After all, no one could possibly know what would happen in the future.

And so he spoke calmly:

"The seventh prince behaved improperly with a common woman at the empress's birthday banquet. He ought to be severely punished.

"However, Seventh, you are no longer young. Take this woman back to your residence."

Just as I thought.

Cui Zhao'an had obtained the answer she wanted.

Not expecting to be let off so easily, Chu Haoze inwardly relaxed a little.

"I thank Imperial Father and Imperial Mother for your mercy."

Once he returned, he would certainly make this woman wish she were dead.

[Wait... the emperor actually read my mind? Not bad.]

[But look how vicious that damned lunatic's eyes were when he got up. That woman will probably die as soon as they get back. What a shame I won't get to see her and that bastard tear into each other.]

Jiang Yourning could not help feeling a little regretful.

She started searching through the System Shop again, looking for something that could make Chu Haoze fall in love with that woman.

"Seventh, you have always kept yourself free of women, without anyone close to keep you company. You must get along well with this woman. If you could have a child or two and add branches and leaves to the imperial family tree, that would be a good thing too."

Cui Zhao'an suddenly spoke, her expression softening.

Chu Haoze's face instantly stiffened, but he still answered respectfully.

"Yes!"

[Nice! Didn't that bastard's face just freeze up? Your Majesty the Empress is the best!!!]

Having saved herself some points, Jiang Yourning could not help pressing her lips together in a smile.

Hearing that praise, although the empress did not understand what "the best" meant, she could not stop her spirits from lifting.

What an interesting girl.

For the rest of the birthday banquet, everything remained peaceful.

Until... Zhen Yueyao stepped forward, her smiling gaze wandering around the room.

Knowing all too well how much vicious supporting female characters loved stirring up trouble, Jiang Yourning did not hesitate to duck down and crawl away.

Unfortunately, Screaming Chicken had a targeting cheat enabled.

Jiang Yourning had barely crawled two steps before Zhen Yueyao spoke.

"Your Majesty the Empress, I have always been close friends with the Jiang Family's sixth miss.

"For this performance, Sixth Miss Jiang has made preparations but does not dare display her humble skills. I dare to ask Sixth Miss Jiang to accompany me."

As she spoke, Zhen Yueyao turned toward Jiang Yourning and gave her a sweet smile.

"Ningning, why have you crawled onto the floor so happily?"

Ningning???

Everyone's gaze instantly converged on Jiang Yourning, who was crawling on the floor.

It felt like a sharp bone lodged in her throat.

Jiang Yourning awkwardly stood and brushed off some unidentified dirt, then obediently smiled and bowed.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I am ashamed to admit that I am not proficient in any instrument.

"On such an important occasion as your birthday, I had better not embarrass myself."

[Damn it, if you know you're being presumptuous, why call on me? Where are your manners?]

[I knew you weren't brewing any decent fart. I'd already crawled down to make my escape, and you still managed to find me?]

[You even want me to accompany you? Look at you, getting so full of yourself.]

It's over. She's been completely exposed.

Jiang Wanrong's slight frame trembled, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

My dear little sister, go without worry. Next year, when the grass on your grave is half a person tall, I'll make sure to send every one of these people down to keep you company in death.

"It's quite all right."

Cui Zhao'an looked at Jiang Yourning and immediately gave her a kindly smile.

"Child, you may perform whatever you wish. I absolve you of any offense."

Who would have thought? I'd worn out iron shoes searching in vain, only to find it without the slightest effort.

The empress decided that even if Zhen Yueyao's performance was a pile of shit today, she would praise it so extravagantly that flowers would rain from the heavens.

[Fine, fine.]

There was no escaping now, so Jiang Yourning chose to accept her fate.

"Then I shall offer my humble performance."

Jiang Yourning walked over, one step at a time.

Behind the veil covering half her face, Zhen Yueyao's smile was provocative and brazen.

Jiang Yourning knew nothing about music. Today, she would make sure Jiang Yourning thoroughly embarrassed herself in front of all these dignitaries.

"Ningning, come take a look and choose an instrument that suits you."

"Sure!"

Jiang Yourning looked around, and the corners of her mouth suddenly curled up slightly.

[You're the one who bullied me first. No crying when you make a spectacle of yourself later.]

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Jiang Yourning walked over and picked up the suona.

"I'll use this one."

The smile on Zhen Yueyao's face instantly grew even brighter.

What an idiot! There are so many instruments here, yet Jiang Yourning just had to choose this one.

She's definitely going to humiliate herself today!

Imagining Jiang Yourning becoming the laughingstock of the entire capital, Zhen Yueyao walked up to her with an expression that said she only had Jiang Yourning's best interests at heart.

"Ningning, though you aren't exactly proficient in music, you shouldn't give up on yourself like this.

"Her Majesty the Empress has already said she won't blame you if you perform poorly. Go ahead and choose something you know how to play."

[Blech~]

[Do you really think I can't tell you're trying to inform those people up there that I deliberately picked something I can't play because I want to fool them?]

[Too bad. I really can't play any other instrument, but this suona just walked straight into my line of fire.]

[Prepare to tremble, Screaming Chicken!!!]