"Then... I'll eat vegetables."
Yun Shuyue put her chopsticks away and lowered her head to eat her rice.
The people at the table fell silent.
The aroma of roasted meat still wafted through the air, but Yun Shuyue's bowl only contained white rice and a few green vegetables.
She ate very quickly, not daring to reach anywhere else with her chopsticks, not even touching her favorite sweet soup.
" Uncle Fu," Gu Moran said.
Uncle Fu, who was standing at the back, immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Highness."
"Tell the kitchen to stew another pot of pork ribs, with plenty of honey. Send it to the east courtyard; Miss Yun can eat as much as she wants tonight, as long as she closes the door."
The Yun Shuyue rose, and a grain of rice still clung to her lips.
Murong Xue paused, her chopsticks still in her hand, a little embarrassed. "Husband, I didn't say she couldn't eat."
"I know." Gu Moran picked up the soup bowl and took a sip. "You meant well."
Murong Xue felt her ears burning when she heard this.
He turned his face to the side, reached out and pulled the plate of ribs back, stopping it right in front of Yun Shuyue.
"Eat up. Don't blame me if you're stuffed."
Yun Shuyue looked at the plate but didn't touch it.
Gu Moran put down his bowl. "What, you think there aren't enough ribs?"
"No." Yun Shuyue bit her lip, lowering her voice, "I'm not eating tonight. I won't be able to run if I eat too much."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Qingdai looked up.
Yun Shuyue put the chopsticks down and stood up, the chair legs brushing against the floor.
She picked up the snowman hat, cupped her hands in a gesture of respect to the crowd, and said, "I'm going to check the couriers' orders for today. You all enjoy your meal."
"Stop." Gu Moran called out to her.
The Yun Shuyue remains frozen in place.
"I'll look at the list tomorrow," Gu Moran. "Go back to the east wing tonight. If I find out you've climbed over the wall again, I'll have Uncle Fu hang your snowman hat on the tallest tree in the manor tomorrow."
Yun Shuyue hugged her hat tightly, Gu Moran, glanced at Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue, and ran out of the warm hall.
The moon gate closed, and the footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Murong Xue poked at the rice in the bowl with her chopsticks, making several dents.
Seeing her expression, Gu Moran couldn't help but laugh, "It's just a plate of ribs, is it really that big of a deal?"
Murong Xue put down her chopsticks. "What's wrong? Are you feeling sorry for me?"
Su Yao wiped her fingertips with a handkerchief. "Alright, I think you're all really full."
She then turned to Uncle Fu and said, " Uncle Fu, after dinner, light all the lanterns in the courtyard. Prepare fruit, warm tea, and cushions for the waterside pavilion."
Uncle Fu bowed and replied, "Whom would you like to invite, Madam?"
"Please invite these sisters." Su Yao looked up, " Ruyan, Ling'er, Wanqing, Qingdai, Murong Xue."
"With the year-end approaching, it's time to sit down and clarify the future rules of the Prince's Mansion."
Gu Moran looked at her.
Su Yao remained calm.
"Husband, please continue eating." She placed a piece of fish into Gu Moran's bowl. "We'll settle the accounts of the inner quarters ourselves tonight."
Gu Moran looked down at the fish in the bowl and suddenly realized that this sentence might be even more troublesome than Subduing Fire Thunder.
After the meal, one lantern after another was lit up in the courtyard.
Red lanterns illuminated the corridors, and the wooden railings beside the canal were coated with tung oil, carrying the scent of wood and the dampness of the night breeze.
Su Yao led the group toward the irrigation canal.
A stone table was set up by the irrigation ditch, with six teacups laid out in a row, and a fruit plate containing roasted chestnuts, hawthorn cake, and sliced pears.
In the distance, the lantern market in the south of the city is testing red lanterns, with craftsmen climbing wooden ladders to hang strings of lanterns along the long street.
The lamplight reflected in the canal water, the surface of the water rippled by the wind, and the red light flickered accordingly.
Su Yao sat down in the main seat and placed a piece of paper on the table.
The paper was filled with names of businesses, salt wells, checkpoints, former military personnel, and several names circled in red ink.
Murong Xue glanced at it and spoke first, "You called everyone here so late at night just to look at the accounts?"
"It depends on the person." Su Yao pressed her fingertips against the edge of the paper.
"I'd like to ask, ladies, do you think six wives in the Prince's mansion are enough?"
Xie Wanqing paused, her hand still holding the teacup.
Lin Qingdai's gaze fell on the few red circles on the paper, but she did not speak immediately.
Liu Ruyan pulled her cloak tighter.
The night breeze blew across the canal, and she smelled the dampness. Today, she also heard about the former members of the Liu Clan Army.
His mind was filled with thoughts of the more than two hundred members of the Liu Clan who had died.
Murong Xue snorted first, "Six is enough. If there's one more girl who can act cute, climb walls, and run around the city wearing a snowman hat, the roof of the Prince's mansion will be trampled down."
"Just say Yun Shuyue," Su Yao said softly.
Murong Xue's ears burned, and she immediately changed her words: "I didn't mean anyone. Anyway, you can't just put any kind of person around your husband."
"Today a errand boy comes, tomorrow a tea seller comes, and the day after tomorrow a singer comes. What kind of place has the Prince's mansion become?"
Lin Qingdai picked up her teacup, and the tea swirled inside.
"One more person means one more problem," she said. "Especially someone who can't even protect their own life doesn't deserve to stand beside him."
These words, though not harsh, brought silence to the area around the stone table.
Shen Ling'er took a sip of tea but didn't reply immediately.
She had seen the bruises on Yun Shuyue's back, and she had also seen this girl surrounded by guards while holding five cups of fruit tea; when the sticks fell, not a single drop of tea was spilled.
People who can't even protect their own lives always rush to protect others.
Liu Ruyan took out an old copper coin from her sleeve.
She placed the copper coin in her palm, pressed her fingertips over the old mark, and after a moment, placed it in the center of the stone table.
Sisters, things are different now.
"With my husband in this position, he's destined to face no shortage of trouble."
"Our Liu Clan once had disciples throughout the Six Ministries, and our old subordinates scattered across the land," Liu Ruyan began. "But when the imperial edict was issued, no one could stop it."
She looked up at Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue.
Unlike my sisters, I don't hold significant power in the family.
Therefore, I would not object if my husband could have more powerful backers.
If my husband doesn't want to fight, he can stay in Yi Prefecture and just take care of the six of us; we can manage to get by.
But what I fear is, on the day the imperial power changes hands, will the new emperor be lenient?
Murong Xue curled her fingers.
Liu Ruyan's voice was unhurried, each word landing heavily on the table.
"If someone is willing to send grain, deliver messages, or gather troops, and is willing to stand by my husband's side in this crisis, I will not stop them."
Whether she can be admitted is another matter. But the Prince's mansion cannot turn away its capable people first.
Lin Qingdai lowered her eyes.
The soft sound of water splashing came from the ditch.
She thought of the Tubo spies who had infiltrated the city, and how, once the fireworks festival began, people would have to be deployed everywhere—along the riverbanks, the lantern market, and the city towers.
The knife in his hand could protect Gu Moran for a while, but not in all directions.
Not to mention the power struggle her father personally participated in back then.
There is no brotherhood before Black Tortoise Gate.
Shen Ling'er placed the medicine pouch on her lap and pressed her fingertips against the opening.
"We haven't even gotten to the last bit of the old case files in my parents' case yet," she said. "If my husband doesn't have enough people and influence, he'll have to be beholden to anyone who wants to investigate a single file."
The night breeze lifted the stray hairs from her forehead.
"I don't want my husband to have more and more people around him, but I'm even more unwilling to wait for the enemy to strike first when the palace is surrounded."
"I hope my husband can rise to even greater heights."
Xie Wanqing looked at the water and after a long while spoke, "I only hope that my husband will be happy."
He needs help to accomplish great things.
Her ears were slightly red, but her voice didn't fade.
As for how many wives to marry... I won't stop you.
"It's just that Younger Sister Ling'er needs to take good care of her husband, make sure he takes his medicine on time, and not stay up all night."
(˘͈ᵕ ˘͈❀)
[Thanks to Daozun, Ma Dan, and Good Girl for the likes, Taylor, Captain, and Morning Milk Tea, Li Chuan for the flowers, Yun Jiu Meng for the likes, Capsule and Character Summoning! And thank you to all the esteemed players for your support!]