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

This is a somewhat old light pink cloak with a few gorgeous orchids embroidered on the edge.

I didn't expect that the item that I dropped in the Empress Dowager's Buddhist temple last time was actually kept well by her. Before Wan Ning could recover from the shock, the Empress Dowager took it directly from the nanny's hand, placed it on her legs and stroked it gently.

"At that time, I coaxed your mother to stop crying and made her a pink cape. It is the one in front of you." The Queen Mother unfolded it to reveal its full appearance. It was beautiful but covered with old traces of use. This dress had been kept in Xiangwanxuan by the real Princess Le Yan. It was not until Wan Ning came to the Buddhist temple that Wan Tao took it out of the cabinet and it saw the light of day again.

The Queen Mother then recalled: "Your mother also wore this cloak when she came to the capital again. At that time, she was already a beautiful young lady." The Queen Mother was very emotional while discussing the matter. Suddenly, she looked at Wan Ning with a loving face, like nailing her to the chair completely. She seemed to be kind and nagging: "Yan'er wore this cloak to the temple last time, and she looked exactly like your mother. Seeing that you are wearing bright red today, it is more suitable than pink. I should have made a red one at that time..."

"Empress Dowager!" Wan Ning felt that it was hypocritical, so she asked directly: "Did you ask me to come here today to reminisce about the past or to remember your sister? You know, I have no memory of my mother, so I am afraid I can't accompany you to reminisce about the good and bad times."

Unable to bear the anger in her heart, Wan Ning questioned the Queen Mother without any hesitation. It was obvious that the Emperor had already torn his face with her. But the Queen Mother was still acting as if nothing had happened. This kind of intimate attitude made people feel disgusted and hypocritical, without any other thoughts. There was no time to think about it. The Queen Mother said so much now, what conspiracy is she laying the groundwork for?

Although Wan Ning scolded her, the Queen Mother was not annoyed. She kept a kind smile on her face and quietly folded the cloak and handed it to the nanny. Then she slowly explained: "When you get older, you can't help but miss the past. These days, I can't help but think of Lan'er. I remember that her birthday is in half a month. This year, I want to hold a memorial banquet for Lan'er, so I want to discuss it with you. What do you think, Yan'er?"

Wan Ning never expected that the Queen Mother would ask for this matter. She didn't know whether she was sincere or not. She didn't answer for a long time with mixed feelings. Seeing this, the nanny beside her was very worried that no one would reply to the Queen Mother's words, so she hurried to the side like a supporting role: "The Queen Mother has been unable to eat and sleep well these days because of Miss Lan'er's matter. She is busy chanting scriptures and praying for Miss Lan'er, and she also wants to find a suitable person to host the banquet. We have also heard about Princess Le Yan's grain donation competition. Besides, you are Miss Lan'er's daughter. In my opinion..."

Before the nanny finished her words, Wan Ning glared at her impatiently. The nanny immediately lost her confidence and lowered her voice hesitantly before saying the rest: "It is most appropriate for you to host it."

"In my opinion, it would be most appropriate for all of you to go down and apologize to Miss Lan'er in person. You abandoned her daughter in a place like the cold palace and now you want to make amends. If I were Concubine Lan, I would not like any banquet no matter how good it was. It would be best if you could appear in her dreams every day and settle the score with her in the dreams." Wan Ning complained in her heart, not wanting to have anything to do with this matter.

So he answered very decisively: "I can't!"

Everyone's eyes were focused on her, and she added an awkward excuse: "I'm still unfamiliar with the affairs of the palace, so it's not appropriate for me to be in charge of the preparations. Besides, I've forgotten the rules. If I don't do something right, will I violate the royal taboo?"

The Queen Mother smiled and waved her hands, looking confident: "If Yan'er has this concern, then there is no need to worry. This is just a small internal banquet, and there are experienced maids to help check it, so there won't be any problems. For Lan'er, she must be very happy that her daughter is planning her birthday banquet. Besides..."

The Queen Mother paused for a moment, and Wan Ning's heart skipped a beat. She thought, "This old lady must be hiding something from me. Maybe she's waiting for me here!"

"Besides, you and Heng'er have already reached the age for marriage, but it has been delayed until now due to various things before. Especially since Heng'er is the emperor of Chu State, he naturally has to consider the next generation of Chu State. It's time to put the marriage on the agenda now." The Queen Mother always spoke calmly and steadily, like a voice played in a videotape, without any ripples.

"For the sake of the next generation of Chu, shouldn't he just have a baby quickly? I can't help him with this, but if he has a baby for Chu, wouldn't he be Chu's 'stud'?" Wan Ning didn't want to listen to the Queen Mother's nagging, so she simply began to daydream again, thinking about other irrelevant things in her mind: "But the Emperor is the only child of the Emperor, and the Emperor is so old but has no children, and he hasn't even married yet. No wonder they are anxious. Could it be that the fertility of the Chu royal family is not good? But the Queen Mother looks quite young, how old is she?"

"Yan'er, what are you thinking about?" The Queen Mother brought her back to her senses.

"No, I'm not thinking about anything! I'm listening carefully, please continue."

"This matter cannot be delayed any longer. The Emperor and I have decided to select a good match for you nationwide next spring. I am too old to handle this, so I intend to train you to do this. And because you, Yan'er, have no experience in hosting large-scale royal events, this matter of Concubine Lan is both a test and advance practice for you. If you pass the test, the task of selecting a good match will be handed over to you."

"Leave it to me? Then I will be the one to choose the Queen and the Prince Consort of Chu Country?" Wan Ning asked in disbelief.

The Queen Mother seemed to appreciate the blank expression on her face. She smiled and nodded with the attitude of a superior, and asked proudly, "Are you satisfied with this prize, Yan'er?"

Wan Ning was afraid that there was something fishy going on, so she lowered her head and thought for a moment. Just as she was about to answer, she hadn't opened her mouth yet. She saw a young palace maid running over in a panic. She was stopped by the maid because she lost her manners. She scolded her harshly, "How can you be so flustered in front of the Queen Mother and the Princess? Where did this unruly little girl come from?"

The little maid had never seen such a scene before. She was so frightened that she knelt on the ground, her face flushed red, and she lowered her head, stammering, "Your Highness... Empress Dowager, the Emperor... has entered the garden... and is walking towards the front hall."

"what--"

The nanny's face suddenly turned blue and purple, and she asked the little maid why she didn't report it earlier, as if she was facing a great enemy. She immediately turned around and looked at the empress dowager helplessly, walked in front of her and stood there, as if she wanted to protect her.

"Isn't it the Emperor? Look how cowardly they are."