People are all busy with life; how many people can remain devoted to a past relationship for a lifetime?
And she's such a formidable woman.
Now that Zhou Yanhui Zidu, she's probably thinking about how to raise him well and how to manage her country effectively.
As for Emperor Wen, at most it was a fleeting moment of melancholy when recalling the past.
Tang Zhuyun was well aware of Zhou Yanhui's feelings for Emperor Wen.
Zhou Yanhui even more aware of Emperor Wen's feelings for Tang Zhuyun.
Therefore, someone as clever as her would certainly not come to the capital to avoid any possible misunderstandings.
What right do small countries have to be so boastful?
If she caused any discord between the emperor and empress of the Central Plains, Emperor Wen was fully capable of doing something as simple as overthrowing the Xia Kingdom to show his intentions.
Even if the probability is very small, Zhou Yanhui will not take the risk.
This is a truly intelligent person.
"How did you know?" Ren Yingying asked.
Tang Zhuyun yawned. "Recently, at the end of the year, there have been so many memorials from all over the country, I was forced to help him review them."
Therefore, she roughly knew which delegations were coming.
People from the Xia Kingdom also came, but Zhou Yanhui.
"Ruling from behind the curtain, huh?"
Tang Zhuyun rolled her eyes. "You think I want this? Isn't it just because you feel sorry for the man staying up all night?"
Even the village donkeys wouldn't be willing to use them like that.
"Tsk tsk, staying up all night, it's affecting your benefits, isn't it?" Ren Yingying said with a grin.
"You think I'm like you?" Tang Zhuyun rolled her eyes at her.
"That shouldn't be the case, after all, we're newlyweds, while you two are an old married couple."
"You're so shameless."
"Shall we exchange experiences?"
"Not interested!"
As they were talking, Yanran excitedly entered, followed by Jiaojiao.
Before the truth about Dowager Consort De was uncovered, she was unable to leave the palace; now that the truth has come to light and the culprit is dead, she can finally go out and play again.
"Did you leave the palace?" Tang Zhuyun straightened her clothes and asked, trying to sound serious.
She felt inexplicably guilty. Yanran walked in just as they were discussing topics unsuitable for children, giving her the feeling of being caught reading erotic novels.
"Hmm." Yanran placed the pastries she brought from outside the palace on the table.
"Did you go find that ball?" Ren Yingying asked jokingly, resting her chin on her hand.
"Yeah, I went to see Cui Xiaoqiu."
"What did you two do when you were together?" Tang Zhuyun asked casually.
"It's nothing, I just went to the Cui Family." Yanran had no idea that her mother had so many thoughts on her mind, and she spilled the beans.
It turned out that she went to find Cui Xiaoqiu and discovered that he was depressed.
If your friend is unhappy, then you should naturally show concern.
"What's wrong?"
"It's still because of my mother."
"Your mother? Wasn't it proven that your mother was innocent? She hasn't been released yet?"
"She's been released, but my mother is still traumatized and constantly feels uneasy, thinking she might be locked up again at any moment."
Yanran: "Oh no! What should we do?"
In truth, Madam Cui suffered an undeserved calamity this time.
"Yanran, can you do me a favor?" Cui Xiaoqiu looked up at her, her eyes pleading.
Yanran: "Sure! Just say so."
"It's nothing. It's just that as a princess, you represent the royal family. Could you please help me comfort my mother and tell her that this incident was purely accidental and will definitely not happen again?"
"What's so difficult about that? Come on, I'll go right now."
So Yanran went.
But strangely enough, Madam Cui burst into tears upon seeing her.
Yanran: I was really startled, I'm a little embarrassed.
Madam Cui: My dear, from this moment on, you are my family.
Yanran comforted her a few more times, following the script Cui Xiaoqiu had prepared, but Madam Cui cried even harder.
Yanran: "..."
She looked at Cui Xiaoqiu innocently.
See, it's not that I didn't want to help, but I meant well but did something wrong.
Cui Xiaoqiu nodded firmly.
"My mother was crying tears of joy. Mother, wasn't she?"
Madam Cui nodded repeatedly.
Yanran: "Oh."
She felt something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Forget it, Cui Xiaoqiu is so smart, let him worry about it by himself.
After hearing what she said, Tang Zhuyun felt terrible.
She felt that Cui Xiaoqiu was deliberately trying to reconcile Yanran's relationship with his mother.
The intention was quite good, but as Yanran's mother, I always felt it was so awkward.
Couldn't we just find a mother-in-law who likes Yanran?
For example, someone like Ren Yingying.
It's a pity that none of her close friends have sons of marriageable age.
Yanran said, "Actually, I didn't think anything of it at first, but on the way back, the more I thought about it, the more something seemed off."
Tang Zhuyun was almost moved to tears.
My daughter, have you finally come to your senses?
As a result, Yanran said, "I suddenly realized, why didn't Dowager Consort De frame someone else? Why did she have to frame Madam Cui? What grudge does she have against Madam Cui? Mother, do you think I've discovered some new clue?"
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
Isn't it because you and Cui Xiaoqiu got too close, and your face is exactly the same as Xiao Wu's, that made Dowager Consort De hate you because of your appearance?
Dowager Consort De wanted to destroy Yanran's happiness.
Yanran knew that Dowager Consort De hated Xiao Wu and herself, but she never imagined that her relationship with Cui Xiaoqiu was already considered very close by others.
But Yanran kept pressing, "Why are you targeting Madam Cui? What's her connection to the Cui Family?"
Ren Yingying chuckled.
"What's wrong?" Yanran asked, puzzled.
Ren Yingying: "It's nothing. I just remembered a joke."
"What joke?" Yanran was immediately led astray.
Once upon a time, there was a pig, and it died.
"Huh? And then?"
"It's over."
How did the pig die?
"You're so stupid."
Yanran: "..."
Why did she feel that they all knew something but were just keeping it from her?
These adults are so mean.
Ren Yingying patted Jiaojiao's back and said, "You're always coming and going with a tiger, it's so impressive. When you have cubs, you can give me one."
"It's a male, and he doesn't have any cubs," Yanran said. "But I heard that the Nanyue delegation will be bringing many rare animals with them to the capital. If there are tigers, I plan to breed one with a Jiaojiao for Jiaojiao."
How many kittens can a litter have?
There should be four or five.
"Then give me one when the time comes."
Seeing the two squatting on the ground, enthusiastically discussing these matters, Tang Zhuyun was speechless.
Yanran, oh Yanran, shouldn't you think about Cui Xiaoqiu properly?
That ball had way too many tricks up its sleeve.
If he sells you out later, you'll probably still be helping him count the money.
Just then, Zhao Kuo arrived with his men to deliver a memorial to the throne.
Upon seeing Yanran there, Zhao Kuo blushed, bowed his head, and stood respectfully at the door, saying, "Your Majesty, the Emperor will be back tonight. He instructed me to bring these memorials over first."
"Let it in," Tang Zhuyun said.
The desk was suddenly piled high with memorials to the emperor.
Zhao Kuo bowed respectfully again and led his men away.
Yanran remained squatting there playing with Jiaojiao, without turning around.
Seeing that the two were still engrossed in their conversation, Tang Zhuyun walked to the desk and began to read the memorials.
She first filtered out the useless memorials and petitions, saving herself the trouble of looking at them.
However, some of the memorials were really... too jarring to look at.