Harem Daily Life

Mu Yu quickly stood up and said respectfully, "How dare a servant act like the Queen's elder? Shu Siyi, please stop talking. This is truly disrespectful to the Queen."

The Queen Mother also hurried to smooth things over: "You are so outspoken. Is this how the Shu family taught you to serve in the palace?"

Upon hearing this, Shu Yunyun immediately stood up and said, "It was your humble servant who spoke without thinking. I hope Her Majesty will not hold it against me."

Tao Yanyan smiled. You've already humiliated me, so how can I give you back? Then she said, "Shu Siyi is young and doesn't know the rules. Just learn them slowly. I have a good temper, so I won't argue with you. Sit down."

Seeing that Tao Yanyan didn't take it to heart and instead magnanimously forgave Shu Yunyun, He Linzhang didn't blame Shu Yunyun for her disrespect. However, he frowned tightly, looking very unhappy.

Mu Yu sat down tremblingly, and then lowered his head, no longer daring to pick up food for Tao Yanyan. The atmosphere at the table, which had been quite good, suddenly became cold.

"This fish soup is quite good. Queen, please try it." He Linzhang wanted to serve the fish soup to Tao Yanyan, but Mu Yu quickly stopped him, saying, "No, it has coriander in it."

Tao Yanyan doesn't eat cilantro and never uses it in her cooking. The imperial chef at Changchun Palace, unaware of this, added it. He Linzhang said a little embarrassedly, "The Queen almost ate it. But... Eunuch Qin does remember the Queen's taste?"

Of course the real Eunuch Qin didn't remember, but Mu Yu had done some research to learn more about his precious daughter's preferences. He said awkwardly, "Haha, I naturally remember it from serving my masters."

He Linzhang raised his eyebrows and looked at the dish of mutton in front of him: "Then Eunuch Qin may have been busy and forgot that I don't like mutton in clear soup."

The empress dowager's heart was lifted as she looked at He Linzhang.

Obviously, He Linzhang has loved eating all kinds of mutton dishes since he was a child. How could he not eat a few more bites of this clear mutton soup?

But now that he said this... could it be... The Queen Mother's heart sank, and she wanted to wink at Mu Yu, but it was too late.

Mu Yu apologized and said, "I didn't know Your Majesty was coming today, so the kitchen arrangement was wrong. I will definitely not make it again next time." After that, he went to take the plate of mutton himself, but was stopped by He Linzhang.

"Eunuch Qin, you..." He Linzhang glanced at the empress dowager with a dark look in his eyes: "Please sit down first." The coldness in his voice made Tao Yanyan opposite him shiver.

Tao Yanyan didn't know whether He Linzhang liked to eat mutton or not, because mutton was too smelly. Even if she cooked it on weekdays, it was usually grilled skewers or braised, and she had never made clear soup. Now thinking about it, she always felt that today was weird.

He Linzhang no longer had any interest in eating. He just wanted to leave as soon as possible. He felt that the Queen Mother... was really giving him a hard time.

After finally finishing the meal, He Linzhang took Tao Yanyan away. He was smiling when he came, but he didn't say a word when he left.

"Your Majesty, your servant respectfully sees you off." Shu Yunyun chased out and shouted behind the emperor and empress.

He Linzhang patiently gave Eunuch Zhang a look. Eunuch Zhang understood and immediately walked over to slap Shu Siyi in the face. "The Queen is here, are you blind and can't see? Shu Siyi, you want to attract the favor of the Majesty, but your heart is not right. I punish you by making you copy the palace rules ten times to serve as a warning to others."

Shu Yunyun looked incredulous. "You? Your Majesty didn't say a word. Why are you punishing me?"

Eunuch Zhang said coldly, "You have no sense at all. I don't know whether the Shu family sent you to the palace to love you or to harm you!"

The emperor and empress's sedan chair left, and Shu Yunyun covered her slapped face and stood angrily in the wind and snow.

Tao Yanyan sensed something was wrong with He Linzhang, but since there were many people around, she refrained from asking and simply said, "If your Majesty is unhappy about something, please speak up so I can share your burden. Don't bottle it up and get sick, okay?"

He Linzhang didn't know where to begin. Could it be that the person beside the Queen Mother today wasn't Eunuch Qin? Then who was that person? What was his purpose in pretending to be Eunuch Qin and staying by the Queen Mother's side?

He Linzhang didn't dare to think about it. The name that was about to come out made him very uneasy.

"I'm fine... I'm fine. When we get back, go see the children first. I want to go to the study and be quiet." He Linzhang was in deep distress. His father was gone, and his mother was now accompanied by a man. As an emperor, he felt he should maintain the dignity of the royal family and separate them, but as a son, he didn't want to ruin his mother's life. Most importantly, that man was the Queen's father. If he took action, he might even turn against the Queen.

He Linzhang closed his eyes, feeling extremely upset.

Seeing that He Linzhang didn't want to talk, Tao Yanyan didn't ask any more questions. After returning to Changle Palace, Mingyue was using spices to fumigate the clothes that the Queen would wear at tomorrow's palace banquet. Xianglan and the others were also fumigating clothes for the young masters. Qingfeng called them together and told them about Shu Siyi's behavior in Changchun Palace. Several palace maids gathered together and talked for a long time before dispersing.

Back at Changchun Palace, the Empress Dowager was also furious. She hadn't expected Mu Yu to be exposed. Seeing Mu Yu's regretful expression, the Empress Dowager had no choice but to say, "He didn't expose you publicly today, which seems to be giving you some leeway. Let's not embarrass him. You... should leave the palace tomorrow morning. Don't come here again."

The Queen Mother made a profound decision. If there had been a glimmer of hope before, it was gone after today. Now that she was exposed, if she continued to insist on her own way, it would only further disgust the Emperor. The Queen Mother didn't want to see her relationship with her son, which had been repaired with great difficulty, fall into crisis again because of a relationship that had no future. So she decided to get everything back on track, back to the beginning.

Mu Yu moved his mouth for a long time before he uttered a word: "How about we go?"

The Queen Mother frowned at him and said with a wry smile, "Leave? The whole world belongs to the king, and all the people are his subjects. I am the Queen Mother, how far can I go?"

"At worst, I can just give up being the Queen Mother!" Mu Yu held the Queen Mother's hand and said, "Jinse, come with me. Let's go to Penglai Island. If you don't like Penglai Island, I'll take you wherever you want to go in the world. For the rest of my life, I'll be with you, and we'll go to every place you want to go."

The Queen Mother sighed, "Now that she's gone, do you think the court officials will let the Emperor go? Will the people of the world come to demand an explanation? What will the Emperor do then? I will never be able to leave this palace in my lifetime. If I ever leave, that will be the day I die. I will be carried to the Imperial Mausoleum and buried next to the late Emperor, alongside him."

A deep feeling of powerlessness enveloped Mu Yu. He was willing to give up everything to be with her, but she, because of her responsibilities, could not give up everything to be with him.

The two of them are now in an unsolvable situation.