Peach Blossom.

Princess Si Yao took a few maids and left the Xianhua Palace where Concubine Zhou lived. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Si Yu was actually intending to take Tao Ye into the harem. The so-called "serving as a palace maid" was just a transition, how could it be considered a punishment?

But she could not do anything to her emperor brother, so she turned around and went to the empress dowager's bedroom, Anshou Hall.

Needless to say, just like every time he paid a visit to the Queen Mother, Si Yao poured out a lot of grievances, and it is unknown how many times he cursed Tao Ye in his words!

After listening to Si Yao's confession, Empress Dowager Meng comforted her as usual, but she couldn't help but sigh: "My silly daughter, since her fake identity has been discovered and she has left her husband, you can just let her live on the streets and have no food or clothes, and that will be enough to vent your anger! You knew that the emperor had taken a fancy to her before, so how could you send her to the palace again?"

"I...how could I have thought so much? I just felt that I was wronged twice in front of my brother because of her! I thought that this time I finally had a chance to clarify things to my brother, but I ended up helping her!" Si Yao said, and couldn't help stamping his feet in anger.

Queen Mother Meng smiled and shook her head: "Forget it! That Tao Ye, I heard, is just a gangster in the underworld, with good looks and some tricks! Your brother has three thousand beauties in the harem, one more or one less is not too much, it has nothing to do with you!"

"I just can't bear it! She bullied me so many times, and Wang Jing protected her every time! And..." At this point, Si Yao lowered his voice, a little embarrassed: "And after we got married, Wang Jing never touched me... But she actually stayed overnight in Wang Jing's room as Mantangjiao!"

The Queen Mother was a little surprised: "You mean...she is no longer a virgin?"

"Definitely not..." Si Yao replied, and suddenly remembered something, and stood up happily: "Yes! I will go tell my brother now and see if he still wants to make her a concubine!"

The Queen Mother hurriedly grabbed Si Yao and sighed helplessly: "Son, why are you getting more and more stupid the more you talk? If you reveal this, Tao Ye will have to pester Wang Jing for the rest of her life. Can you still live your life in the future?"

"If she dares to bother Wang Jing again, I will kill her!"

"Do you think your brother will let it go if she dies?"

"Then...what should we do?" Si Yao's arrogance that had just ignited disappeared without a trace.

"No!" The Queen Mother's tone suddenly became heavier, as if she was a little angry: "I just don't understand. You have worked so hard to marry Wang Jing. Now that there is finally no one else between you two, you don't plan how to capture your husband's heart, but you have to be entangled with Tao Ye, who has nothing to do with your future. Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?"

After hearing this, Si Yao lowered her head in shame and said, "My daughter asks for advice, mother."

The Queen Mother looked at Si Yao, disappointed but still very patient: "Think about it carefully, Tao Ye has been in the Wang family for so long, and even had sex with Wang Jing, but Wang Jing didn't realize that she was a fake. What does this mean? Either she knows Mantangjiao's temperament very well and imitates her very well; or she is similar to Mantangjiao! But no matter which one it is, Wang Jing is still unforgettable about his old love for Mantangjiao, so he may be attached to Tao Ye in the future. You should be glad that your brother has taken a fancy to her, so they have no chance! And the most important thing you should do now is to try to win over your husband!"

"But he is sick now, unconscious, and can't even speak a word. How can I reconcile with him?" Si Yao seemed unconfident.

The Queen Mother smiled lightly and meaningfully, and reminded him, "It is precisely because he is unconscious that he has no chance to chase you away! You should take this opportunity to take care of him by his bedside. When he wakes up and knows what is going on, he will at least remember your kindness. Only then can you two have a good start. Do you understand?"

Si Yao nodded. She knew, of course, that the Queen Mother was thinking of her wholeheartedly, and what she said made sense.

But after leaving Anshou Palace, she thought of the past related to Taoye, the threatening words Taoye said to her to protect Caiwei when they were in the princess's mansion, and the things Taoye did when she pretended to be Mantangjiao. She still couldn't help but get angry!

As an extremely favored princess, she said that the grievance she suffered from being bullied by Tao Ye was definitely the greatest grievance she had ever suffered! How could she tolerate Tao Ye's smooth sailing and rapid rise to prominence?

Thinking of this, she immediately ordered the maids: "Turn around! Go to Xianhua Palace!"

The maid Ruchun guessed Si Yao's intention and advised, "Princess, the Queen Mother's words are so precious. You should go back and take care of your husband as soon as possible! Don't worry about other things!"

"Of course I will listen to my mother, but this will not stop me from speaking up for myself a little before that!"

Si Yao ignored all advice and went to Xianhua Palace.

In the Xianhua Palace, Si Yu had already left. Concubine Zhou had just arranged a place for Tao Ye to live and properly placed all the necessary items. Everyone could see that the treatment Concubine Zhou gave Tao Ye was definitely not like that given to a palace maid.

Tao Ye was very helpless about this. She knew that she had to start a new life of eating, drinking and living alone.

Since she came to the ancient times, she has been unable to have an ordinary identity or a proper job. It seems that she has no other choice but to "muddle" to obtain the necessities of her daily life.

When Concubine Zhou heard that Princess Si Yao had come again, she guessed that she came for Tao Ye. This was certainly not a good thing, but she could only treat her with courtesy and brought Tao Ye and other palace maids to greet her.

Seeing that Emperor Si Yu was no longer there, Si Yao did not need to greet Concubine Zhou. He sat on a rocking chair in the main hall of Xianhua Palace as soon as he entered the door and called out, "Tao Ye, come and massage my shoulders!"

That rocking chair was where Concubine Zhou often sat to rest.

Concubine Zhou knew that Si Yao had been arrogant in the palace since he was young. With the support of the Queen Mother, he did not take the concubines seriously. She had no choice but to go along with him and smiled at Tao Ye: "It is your blessing that the princess asked you to serve her. Go quickly!"

Tao Ye had never had anyone's shoulders massaged before, and she despised Si Yao very much. However, it was her first day in the Xianhua Palace, and Concubine Zhou treated her well, so she had to give her master some face, so she stood behind Si Yao and massaged.

After pinching a few times, Si Yao suddenly sat up and slapped Tao Ye: "Do you know how to pinch? Are you scratching your itch?"

The distance was too close and Tao Ye didn't have time to dodge. After being hit, she suddenly felt unhappy.

The palace is not like Situ Mansion, Tao Ye had to endure it for once: "Reporting to the princess, I don't know how to massage shoulders. If I want to do it well, I need to practice more time."

Concubine Zhou also smiled and said, "Since Tao Ye doesn't know how to do it, why don't I find someone who can do it to serve the princess?"

"No need!" Si Yao stood up from the rocking chair and glanced at Tao Ye calmly: "I remember that you are best at serving meals, right? It's getting late, let's order lunch!"

Concubine Zhou had no choice but to ask someone to serve lunch, and asked Si Yao to sit in the main seat while she sat beside him.

Dishes were brought in one by one and placed on the table. Si Yao looked over and saw a pot of steaming chicken soup emitting white smoke. She recalled the time when she was at Wang's house and was covered on the head by Yu'er's pot of hot chicken soup. It hurt so much at that time!

So Si Yao ordered Tao Ye: "Go, bring me the soup!"

Tao Ye walked over and picked up the tray under the chicken soup.

The maid Ruchun hit Taoye's hand hard with chopsticks and scolded her: "The princess asked you to serve soup, who asked you to take the plate?"

Tao Ye's hand was hit so hard that it hurt and she almost dropped the chicken soup. She had no choice but to put down the tray, pick up the chicken soup, endure the heat and bring it over to Si Yao.

Si Yao looked up at Tao Ye, his eyes and tone full of thorns: "Did I tell you to let it go?"

Tao Ye couldn't help but clench her fists. She really wanted to learn from Yu'er and cover Si Yao's head with chicken soup!

Concubine Zhou smiled and asked, "Princess, didn't you ask me to bring the soup closer? Could it be for something else?"

Si Yao smiled faintly: "Concubine Zhou doesn't know, I just like to have someone serve me food, that's why I feel particularly hungry!"

Concubine Zhou was helpless and could only sigh: "The princess's hobby is really unique!"

Si Yao looked up at Tao Ye again: "What are you standing there for? Pick it up!"

Tao Ye suppressed the anger in her heart and picked up the soup bowl.

Si Yao's appetite had indeed improved a lot. While eating with relish, he chatted and laughed with Concubine Zhou, occasionally glancing at Tao Ye out of the corner of his eyes, looking very happy.

Tao Ye was holding the soup bowl, and the fingers of her two hands kept shifting between each other to take turns to endure the burning pain. Finally, one time she failed to shift the fingers properly and her hands slipped, and the soup bowl fell to the ground with a loud noise.

Si Yao was startled.

Ruchun immediately slapped him on the spot and gave him another lecture: "Slave! You can't even hold the soup properly, what use are you?"

Concubine Zhou stood up quickly to support Tao Ye and pleaded with Si Yao: "It's all my fault. I didn't teach the people well and scared the princess!"

Si Yao put down his chopsticks, his face tense, and even Concubine Zhou started to scold him: "You're done with this sentence? How can I still eat after it's like this?"

Concubine Zhou smiled again and tried to appease the princess, "Princess, calm down! I have some excellent herbs that the emperor just gave me. They are perfect for foot bathing. How about asking the princess to move over and take a bath with me to calm down? This is my way of apologizing to the princess. How do you think?"

"Soaking feet in the daytime?" Si Yao was stunned for a moment, then thought about it and it seemed like a good idea, so he responded, "Very good, let Tao Ye come and wash my feet!"

So Concubine Zhou brought Si Yao to the bedroom and asked her maids Xin'er and Tao Ye to fetch water, and reminded them: "Remember to make sure the water temperature is just right!"

When saying this, Concubine Zhou smiled at Tao Ye in a somewhat mysterious way.

Tao Ye understood what Concubine Zhou meant, and together with Xin'er, she brought a wooden barrel for foot bathing and placed it under Concubine Zhou and Si Yao's feet. The barrel was covered with a lid.

Then, Xin'er squatted down to take off Zhou Jieyu's shoes and socks, and Taoye also squatted down to take off Si Yao's shoes and socks. Si Yao was very proud of this action.

Xin'er opened the lid of the bucket, and Concubine Zhou put her feet in.

Tao Ye also opened the lid of the bucket. Si Yao vaguely felt that her water seemed to be smoking more than that of Concubine Zhou.

Before he had time to think about it, Tao Ye pressed Si Yao's feet down!

"Ah--" Si Yao howled like a rooster at dawn, but Tao Ye did not let go and held Si Yao's knee tightly.

Maids such as Ruchun and Ruxia realized that something was wrong and hurried over to drag Taoye away from Si Yao.

Si Yao's feet were finally able to come out of the wooden barrel, but his entire area from his ankles to the soles of his feet was scalded, causing them to become red, painful, and swollen!