The Empress Dowager handed Qingqing back to Xia Zhao, hastily covered her face, and said, "I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving. Enjoy your meal!"
With that, she slipped away.
Xia Zhao: ???
"No! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"
The more Xia Wanwan thought about it, the angrier she became. She hopped down again and headed over with a chicken drumstick in hand.
The emperor was happily eating when he looked down and saw a little face, along with a chicken drumstick.
He hurriedly crouched beneath the table and held a finger to his lips. "Be good, Wanwan. Whatever you do, don't tell anyone I'm here."
Xia Wanwan: ...
[So it was Uncle Emperor!]
[Why did he come all by himself?]
[Why isn't he sitting with us? Even Grandmother Empress Dowager sat with us!]
The emperor's heart lurched.
Well, well! Mother, we agreed neither of us would come, yet you sneaked here behind my back!
"Would you like to sit at our table?" Xia Wanwan asked, tilting her head.
Knowing he had been exposed, the emperor immediately lost all interest in eating.
He waved his hand. "Wanwan, don't tell anyone I was here. I have something to attend to, so I must leave!"
He had to return to the palace and lie in wait for the Empress Dowager.
Then he would act pitiful, reproach her, and make her feel guilty!
The emperor hurriedly slipped away.
Xia Wanwan took a bite of her drumstick and muttered, "How strange. The Empress Dowager had to leave, and so do you."
Both of them even headed toward the side gate.
At the side gate.
Two luxurious carriages stood waiting.
Beside the carriages, the emperor and the Empress Dowager came face-to-face, running straight into each other!
They