General, your wife has gone to deliver another calf for your horse.

When Baozhu knocked over the bird's nest soup that the Empress Dowager was about to eat for the third time, the newly promoted Imperial Concubine finally lost her temper:
"Li Baozhu! No, Xuan Baozhu! Today I'm going to skin you alive!"

"Guards! Seize this unruly brat!"

The palace servants around looked at each other, none of them daring to make a move.

"Your Majesty, that's Princess Chang Le." The personal maidservant swallowed hard, glanced at Bao Zhu, and shrank back a step.

Putting aside the fact that Princess Chang Le is now the emperor's darling, even this little girl is quite troublesome.

At first, everyone thought she would be easy to handle, even the Empress Dowager thought so; they figured it was just a matter of taking some of her allowance to curb her arrogance. Who knew she would turn out to be such a formidable person, going straight to the Empress Dowager and overturning the table.

The Empress Dowager had tried to intimidate her, but she was completely unafraid; this tiny girl could shatter a table with a single slap. The Empress Dowager had tried to reason with her, but she just blinked her big eyes and said she didn't understand. The Empress Dowager even led them in a fight with the people in her courtyard—well, they were the ones who ended up with bruised and battered faces, thrown out. The expert on the other side was a female general who had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Emperor during the palace coup; how could they possibly be a match for her?
The old woman couldn't understand it. Wasn't it said that people from the countryside were timid, cowardly, and lacked common sense? Why was this Princess Chang Le completely different?

Right now, she shoved aside the little eunuch who tried to stop her, her legs moving incredibly fast as she ran, shouting, "Emperor brother! Emperor brother! Look! The Empress Dowager is going to kill someone!"

The old woman turned back and saw that her Empress Dowager was so angry she was almost fainting. She quickly stopped her, saying, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please calm down. Princess Chang Le is still very young, and the Emperor dotes on her immensely. Especially since she has a war god father who died for his country, and that Jiang Nuanzhi... she's truly someone we can't afford to offend now!"

"Bah!" The Empress Dowager was so angry that she forgot all about etiquette: "I am still the Emperor's own mother!"

The old woman wiped the sweat from her brow, thinking to herself, "You're not the Emperor's birth mother either." But she dared not say it aloud.

"Let's go! Today I want to see how the Emperor will continue to favor her!"

"I am no match for that Jiang Nuanzhi, and now I'm not even as good as a wild girl? This is simply outrageous! I will never let this go!"

Seeing Baozhu howling as she entered the Qianqing Palace, the Empress Dowager immediately followed her in.

Before she could even finish speaking, Xiao Baozhu suddenly knelt down with a "bang".

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager doesn't like me, and nobody in the palace likes me. I might as well go back to the Great Wilderness!"

"You, you, you! What did you say?!" The Empress Dowager stepped forward angrily, glaring at Baozhu. "It was clearly you! You dare to insult me! Your Majesty, it was Princess Changle who knocked over my food several times! Your Majesty, if you don't believe me, send someone to my palace to check. Are you still going to protect this unruly girl?!"

Xuan Ting frowned deeply, but before he could speak, he heard Bao Zhu's clear voice.

"Your Majesty, rest assured! Since you dislike me, I will leave now! Consider it my duty to fulfill my filial duty!"

After saying that, she wiped away her tears and grinned widely, then tugged at Dongzang, who was standing next to her and behind her: "Master, quick, we can go home!"

The Empress Dowager was furious and glared at her, saying, "Look, look! She's not pretending anymore."

Just then, Little Baozhu walked up to the stunned Empress Dowager and gave her a sly smile: "Thank you!"

Then, in the blink of an eye, he ran out.

From afar, her clear voice could still be heard: "Master, hurry and prepare the horses. Also, the gold I've recently saved up is all wrapped up and I'm going to take it to Mother. Mother loves gold the most."

The Empress Dowager was so angry that the veins on her forehead bulged, and she gritted her teeth as she said, "Your Majesty, are you just going to let her go like this?"

"Yes! We absolutely cannot leave like this!"

Suddenly hearing someone echo her, the Empress Dowager paused, then looked over.

Princess Xiao Nianjun, who was always on good terms with Jiang Nuanzhi, stepped forward, clasped her hands, and said, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager's words are very reasonable. It's not safe for Princess Changle to go back alone. Your Majesty, I request permission to escort Princess Changle back to the Great Wilderness. Your Majesty, I have nothing else to do right now, so I will make preparations immediately!"

Princess Xiao, now dressed in military attire, solemnly clasped her hands in greeting. Before leaving, she also bowed to the Empress Dowager.

Then, as soon as she stepped out, she called out, "Hey, little treasure, little darling, wait for your auntie! Auntie still has a bunch of treasures to take back!"

Empress Dowager: "!!!"

"Your Majesty! Are you really not going to do anything about it?!"

"That's outrageous!"

Before Xuan Ting could speak, Chi Heng frowned and said, "Your Majesty and Empress Dowager, please rest assured that I will catch up with her now. On the way to escort the princess, I will teach her every day to prevent her from becoming more and more presumptuous in the future."

Saying this, he turned and stormed out. The Empress Dowager frowned, looking at him suspiciously: "Chiheng, you..."

"Your Majesty, you need not say any more, I will go immediately!"

After saying that, he ran out as well.

"Madam, Madam, Little Pearl, slow down! Wait for me! Let's go back together in that improved carriage!"

Seeing that the group had vanished in the blink of an eye, Li Junping glanced at them, then stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting: "Your Majesty, this humble subject..."

"What?" Xuan Ting squinted at him. "You're going back too?"

Enraged, Xuan Ting gritted his teeth and shoved the mountain of memorials piled up in front of him forward. The memorials immediately scattered all over the ground with a clatter.

"So you're leaving all of these to me, huh?"

Li Junping glanced at Xie Liangchen, who was already picking up memorials in front of him: "Your Majesty, isn't Lord Xie still here?"

Xuan Ting: "..."

Xie Liangchen paused in picking up the memorials, then clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Actually, this humble subject..."

Xuan Ting glanced at him coldly: "Don't tell me you also want to go back to the Great Wilderness!"

Xie Liangchen then lowered his eyes: "Yes, I have some things I wish to take back to the Great Wilderness!"

Xuan Ting snorted, pursing his lips in frustration and remaining silent.

Li Junping stepped forward and bowed to the Emperor with a smile: "Your Majesty, I will go back and take a look. I promise I will return within ten days. I have just passed the imperial examination and have not yet returned home to congratulate my father and mother."

So, under Xuan Ting's sinister gaze, Li Junping smiled and picked up the memorial, putting it away: "Well, this humble subject needs to go to the Imperial Preceptor's residence to fetch Xiao Er. Since we're going home, we can go back together, so we can look after each other."

Your humble servant thanks Your Majesty for the generous gift. When I return, I will certainly bring Your Majesty your favorite instant noodles and beef jerky.

Then, he bowed deeply, turned around, and left.

The divine physician beside him scratched his head for a moment, glanced at the emperor, swallowed hard, and leaned forward: "Your Majesty..."

"roll!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After saying that, Doctor Que, beaming with joy, grabbed Sanqi and said, "What are you watching? Let's go. Quickly take the notebook with you and ask Doctor Jiang for advice later!"

With that, the two of them disappeared in a flash.

"Well, this humble servant is also going to the residence to fetch something," Xie Liangchen said apologetically and then left.

Finally, the room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The Empress Dowager stared blankly at the departing hall, and after a long while, she gritted her teeth and said, "Your Majesty! Are you really just going to abandon us like this?!"

Xuan Ting glanced at the Empress Dowager, and after a long while, he sighed, "Mother, do you know?"

"Huh?" The Empress Dowager was taken aback.

"I also want to return to the Great Wilderness."

Empress Dowager: "!!!"

Vast wilderness!

Every day is a vast wilderness!

Who exactly is in the Great Wilderness?! (End of Chapter)