After traveling through time, I became the aunt of the loyal dog emperor

"Although this Xiang Wanxuan looks shabby from the outside, I didn't expect to come in and take a look."

"Princess, what do you say?"

"It's even more dilapidated inside. It's so desolate that I can't bear to look at it."

With her hands on her hips, Su Wan Ning stood like a compass in the corridor leading to the inner courtyard. She looked at the lush weeds in the courtyard with disappointment and couldn't help but sigh. The maid brought from Prince Qi's mansion had naturally never seen such a scene in the royal family. She hugged the package tightly to her chest and stuck to Wan Ning's back like a chicken without saying a word, waiting for the princess to give orders.

He was instantly filled with anger, but when he turned around and saw the helpless expressions on their faces, he suddenly felt a sense of responsibility to lead them to a good life. He said sternly, "How can we live like this? Just wait, I'm going to go find the Emperor and the Empress Dowager to ask for an explanation!"

Several people hurriedly grabbed Wan Ning's sleeves, fearing that she would cause trouble due to her impulsiveness. Zhu Ying, who was older, was the first to stand in front of the princess and comfort her, "Princess, let's go further in. Maybe there is another cave in there."

Wan Tao also helped to persuade her: "Princess, calm down. You have just returned to the palace. If you offend the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, your life will be even more difficult in the future."

Zhu Zi and Shui Yue nodded their heads timidly, "I heard that the Emperor and Empress Dowager had already abdicated and were devoted to worshipping Buddha. They may not know what's going on here. It would be bad if the princess went to ask for an explanation and wrongly accused someone."

"Then let this old man and old lady go. Since they are not in charge of this palace, then the emperor should be in charge." Wan Ning took a piece of luggage from Wan Tao and walked in on her own, still muttering: "If I have the opportunity to see the emperor in the future, I must ask him clearly. Is this the treatment of the most noble princess of the Chu Kingdom?"

Although the road was overgrown with weeds, one could still see the original owner's careful layout. Every tree and every flower seemed to be carefully designed. Now that they were all surrounded by weeds, it was a pity. At this time, there was no one in Xiangwan Pavilion. It was unknown whether the original maids had found another place after the princess disappeared, or there was no maid here in the first place. But either way, it proved that Princess Le Yan's life was not as good as the world thought.

After she came to this conclusion, another terrifying thought came to her mind: Since Princess Le Yan was not valued and taken seriously, why did they go to so much trouble to let her leave the palace? And why did they go to so much trouble to find her after she disappeared?

Wan Ning stood there in a daze, feeling a chill on her back. She only hoped that all these thoughts were just her petty thoughts. Seeing this, Wan Tao gently touched her arm, took the luggage from her hand, and led her through the narrow corridor. The moment she crossed the corridor, her vision became wider. Facing the house was a large courtyard. In the southeast corner of the courtyard, there were seven or eight cannas and banana trees. They were growing well and were much taller than the weeds. They stood out from the crowd and added a bit of tranquility and elegance to the courtyard.

Just accept what comes. In life, the most important thing is to go with the flow.

The most important thing now was to assign the rooms. They visited every room around the courtyard. Finally, Wan Ning assigned the room close to the main house to Wan Tao so that she could ask questions later. Zhu Ying chose the room close to the kitchen so that it would be easier to manage the house. Zhu Zi and Shui Yue were more playful and chose their favorite rooms. After everything was settled, the most important thing became cleaning Xiang Wan Xuan. At least the room had to be cleaned first, and the rest could be dealt with later.

"What kind of hygiene is this? The princess has to clean it herself?" Wan Ning complained while sweeping the floor.

After seven days and eight hours of diligent cleaning, the palace that had been abandoned for half a year was finally completely tidied up. At this time, the previous owner's attentiveness and exquisite design were also revealed, and the landscape sketches in the courtyard were noble, poetic and elegant. Xiangwanxuan is the most remote place in the palace. No one comes here on weekdays, and the lively sounds in the palace will never reach here, as if there is a barrier. Standing in the courtyard in front of the main house in this season, the only sounds are the whistling wind and the chirping of summer cicadas.

"Oh no, the script I got when I traveled through time was about self-reliance. The princess didn't get to enjoy her blessing for a single day, but she had to endure her suffering in advance!" Wan Ning muttered softly as she stood in the yard.

Wan Tao was always able to keenly perceive her changes, and hurriedly stepped forward to ask with concern: "Princess, I saw you absent-minded again just now. What did you remember?"

"Yes, I remembered it now. I remembered that this is a desolate cold palace, not a princess's bedroom at all." Wan Ning pursed her lips in self-mockery.

Everyone else was amused by the princess. Zhu Ying was the most mature and tried to find the good side of the matter, encouraging everyone: "It doesn't matter if it's the cold palace or any other palace, it's the princess and our home now."

"Yes, I like our home very much. There are many flowers and plants in this yard, and it must be very beautiful in spring. Princess, what other flowers do you like? We can plant them all." Zhu Zi agreed excitedly.

Whatever, at most she could pretend to be a decoration blogger - renovating a castle from ruins! Anyway, when she finds Jiang Zhifan, and then works together to find the butterfly jade pendant that brought them through, she can return to her modern civilized world. What does it have to do with her when things are like here? But both of these things are not easy. Prince Tumo, who came to marry, has not yet arrived in Nanye, so she has no way to verify her guess; as for the other thing, finding the butterfly jade pendant is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and she must rely on the help of powerful people in the palace.

"Powerful people? I wonder if I, as the sister of the retired emperor, the niece of the empress dowager, and the emperor's aunt, can be considered as one?" Wan Ning raised her eyes and looked around at the silent Xiang Wanxuan, and continued to laugh at herself: "Obviously not now, I have to find an opportunity to curry favor with someone."

Things soon turned around. That day, a few people were playing in the courtyard when they heard a continuous noise outside the door. This was extremely rare, and Wan Ning hurried to the door to see what was going on. At this time, Shuiyue got there first and was pulling Zhu Zi to lie down by the door with half of her head exposed, watching the endless stream of palace maids outside.

This strange thing naturally needed to be clarified. Wan Ning stepped forward to stop a palace maid and asked with a smile: "Miss, is there something happening here?"

The maids had heard that Xiang Wanxuan had brought a few maids from Beiqi. Seeing that Wan Ning looked unfamiliar and was dressed very simply, they thought she was one of them. They felt a little sympathetic and generously shared, "You don't know, Prince Mu Xiu and Princess Meng Zhu of Tumo arrived in Nanye today, and they will live in Yuxi Palace from now on. The emperor has given them some rare items in advance and asked us to send them over and arrange them properly."

Looking at these exquisite jewels, Wan Ning's eyes lit up. She felt that every box of jewels might contain her butterfly jade pendant. She swallowed and couldn't help but sighed, "There are so many good things here!"

“Look at you, it’s really pitiful that you follow such a master, so naturally you don’t have the chance to see many good things. The items rewarded by the emperor range from decorative jades to plants and flowers, covering all aspects of life. Now you know how much the emperor values ​​it. But I think Yuxi Palace is not far from your Xiangwanxuan, so come here more often when you have nothing to do. It’s not impossible that you will be favored by the prince and taken home to be his princess.” As soon as the voice fell, the little palace maid laughed out loud.

Wan Ning thought that this was much more glorious than the day she came back. Not to mention that the emperor had not seen her for so many days since she returned to the palace, and had not even said a word of greeting, but now he was very enthusiastic about the princes and princesses from other countries who came to marry. "You old emperor, you are really partial to some and unfair to others. You'd better pray that you don't fall into my hands one day." Wan Ning thought so in her heart, but she asked the palace maid in a flattering way: "From what you said, sister, have you seen the princes and princesses who came to marry? What do they look like?"

"Alas, I'm on duty in the palace today, so I don't have the chance to meet Prince Mu Xiu." The maid smiled shyly and called Wan Ning to come over and whisper, "But I heard from other sisters who have seen him that Prince Mu Xiu of Tu Mo is very elegant and looks like Pan An. You, Xiang Wanxuan, will be lucky in the future. Maybe you will be able to see him often."

Wan Ning was about to tease the blushing maid, but was interrupted by a middle-aged maid. She looked cold and indifferent and angrily scolded: "How dare you? I asked you to chat here!" The maid, who was so excited just now, did not dare to raise her head. She took two steps back and walked around the maid and walked into Yuxi Palace. The maid continued to stand there coldly, looking at Wan Ning unfriendly. Wan Ning was not to be outdone. She put her hands on her hips, straightened her back, raised her head and looked back. Perhaps the shabby air on her body made the maid feel that there was no need to care about a little maid. She left a meaningful look, shook her head and left.

The maid's description of Prince Mu Xiu was so extraordinary that it really aroused Wan Ning's curiosity, so she thought that since she was free anyway, she might as well go and see for herself. So she first found Shui Yue to ask her about the prince's schedule. This innocent and friendly spirit of hers always allowed her to grasp a lot of "cutting-edge" gossip.

Soon Shuiyue brought back the latest news about Prince Muxiu and Princess Mengzhu. She described vividly how Tumo's team handed over the prince and princess to the army of Chu State as soon as they arrived in Nanye, and turned back to Tumo without stopping for a moment, as if she had seen the lively scene of the handover ceremony with her own eyes. Although she had not really seen it, the people of Nanye had almost seen it. They crowded in the busiest streets like watching monkeys. Wan Ning was somewhat glad that she entered the palace quietly. If the people knew about it, she would also become a monkey watched by everyone.

Shuiyue also learned that after the handover ceremony, there will be a welcoming ceremony in the evening, when the top talent team of Chu State will perform at the Liuxingtai in the city. It is said that Liuxingtai is a hexagonal stage built in the south of the city on the initiative of the previous emperor. Every year during the Lantern Festival, the palace will arrange talent shows, and all the people can come to watch, so as to achieve the purpose of having fun with the people.

Wan Ning had an idea in mind, so she invited Shuiyue to go out of the palace with her. However, although Shuiyue was very good at finding out information, she didn't have the courage to go out. Xiang Wanxuan had some timid people and some brave people. Zhu Zike had long said that she was bored here and wanted to go out for a walk, so it was right to find her. Zhu Zi was Zhu Ying's cousin and the youngest of the five. She had been living in the village with her family before. Seeing that she had grown up, her mother asked her to go to the Qi Wang Mansion to work with her cousin. When I first saw her in the Qi Wang Mansion, she had only been in the mansion for three days and had not received any systematic training. She also retained her freedom without being persuaded. Now she followed her cousin from Beiqi to Nanye in a daze, and lived in a place like the cold palace. She was already bored to death when she was working.

As she expected, Zhu Zi readily agreed to the suggestion of sneaking out of the palace to watch the fun after just listening to the beginning, with her eyes full of anticipation. She still expressed her concerns symbolically, but after all, she was a child, and all her worries disappeared when Wan Ning agreed to keep it a secret from her cousin.

Today, some of the guards in the palace were transferred to the Six Star Tower, and some were to focus on protecting the emperor. The guards left to guard the palace gate were much fewer than usual, and the working hours were much longer than usual. It was past lunch time, and it was easy to get sleepy, so Wan Ning and Zhu Zi were only briefly questioned while holding the basket. In addition, Wan Ning took out the jade pendant given by the Queen Mother and used the excuse of doing something for the Queen Mother, so they left the palace smoothly.

The lively and festive atmosphere outside the palace instantly made the two forget the loneliness of the past few days. Although they didn't know the roads in Nanye City, it didn't hinder their hearing. Following the lively sound, they successfully found it - the market. The market in Nanye was very lively. The shops along the street were open, and there were all kinds of vendors selling a wide variety of goods on both sides of the road. The road was bustling with people and it looked prosperous and lively. It didn't look like they had just fought a battle and needed to rest.

Since they still have some strength left, why not defeat Tu Mo in one go and give them a chance to catch their breath?

Wan Ning couldn't figure it out so she didn't think too much about it. It was a rare trip out so she took Zhu Zi out for a walk and eat. After they had eaten their fill, she didn't forget to ask the vendors about tonight's banquet.

"Boss, I need this and this, please pack them for me. Business is good today, so many things are almost sold out."

The boss smiled bitterly and said, "Thank you for your good words, but business is only good today."

Wan Ning didn't hear the bitterness in the boss's words, and chatted with him: "After you sell these, you can go to Liuxingtai to watch the show. I heard there will be a grand performance tonight."

The boss looked a little puzzled and asked politely, "Is this your first time in Nanye, young lady?"

Wan Ning nodded: "Yes, this is the first time for me and my sister to come here. I heard that the party of Liuxing TV is open to the public and everyone can attend, so I came here because of its reputation. I wonder why the boss reacted just now?"

“Miss, you don’t know, this Six Star Platform that anyone can go to is a thing of the past. The current Six Star Platform is only for rich people. It is true that everyone can participate in name, but in order to maintain order on the scene and the safety of the powerful, the officials in charge only allow those who have obtained the Six Star Card to enter.” The boss spoke while not forgetting the movements of making pastries with his hands.

Wan Tao unpacked the cake that the boss had just handed over, took out a piece of cake and put it in Zhu Zi's hand, while she tasted one piece herself: "I wonder what the six-star post is?"

"Well, the Six-Star Card is the certificate that allows you to enter the Six-Star Terrace. It is issued by the officials responsible for the order of the Six-Star Terrace. The number of cards issued each time is limited, and people will be selected by drawing lots before the banquet begins to issue the Six-Star Cards. But you see, young lady, the number of Six-Star Cards is limited, and most of them can only reach the hands of the masters. How can we, the small vendors, get a chance to get them?"

"We two sisters have to go and see this excitement. Even though we may not be able to see the Six Star Channel's performance, at least we can go and draw a post. After all, we have come all the way here, what if we win the lottery!"

"Miss, you are just dreaming. You should know that a post is now sold for twenty taels on the black market. How can you just draw a lot and go?" the boss asked.

"It's okay. Can you tell me where the lottery will be held, boss?"

The boss seemed to have seen some stubborn person. He shook his head pessimistically but still enthusiastically pointed the two sisters in the direction, "Then go and try it, young lady. The government office in Nanye is right there, and the person in charge of the lottery is Lord Wei Yu, the county magistrate of the capital."

A long line had already formed at the entrance to the yamen, and at the end of the line stood a young constable. When he saw two young ladies passing through the line, he shouted at them, fiercely and impatiently, "Come here, come here to draw a ticket?"

The two nodded in fear, and were greeted with an even more impatient reply: "Can't you see that everyone is queuing here to get their badges? Why are you going to the front?"

"Sign?" Wan Ning did not ask any more questions, but just followed the guard's instructions and stood at the end of the line. After waiting for about an hour, a thin constable staggered over from the other end of the line, and without saying a word, he quickly handed a wooden sign to each person in line and asked everyone to write their name on it. Only then did Wan Ning realize that after waiting in line for so long, he only got a sign for the lottery.

Zhu Zi was about to write her name on the sign when Wan Ning suddenly remembered what the stall owner said: since the post was pre-selected, then there must be some tricks in the lottery. So she carefully observed the differences among the people in front of her: those who were well-dressed not only wrote their names on the front of the sign after getting it, but also secretly engraved something on the back as a mark.

"What an old-fashioned way of cheating! I must get this six-star post today!"

Therefore, it was easy to get the key of this "secret attack". Wan Ning followed suit and painted a three-petal plum blossom behind her and Zhu Zi's signs, and then threw the signs into the wooden box for drawing lots with confidence.

"Is there any excitement that I, the Princess of Chu Country, am not worthy of seeing?"