All the members are good people, only the host is a pervert

"Princess, someone is coming from the palace." Luo Mei said softly.

Lin Ruan asked Luo Mei to invite the eunuch to the side hall. He brought a message from the emperor: The emperor was worried that Lin Ruan's body could not withstand the long journey, so he granted him a night's rest and allowed him to come to the palace to pay his respects tomorrow morning.

The palace walls along the way soared into the sky, and the grandeur of the Forbidden City was awe-inspiring. Lin Ruan, dressed in plain clothes, gradually walked into the power center of the entire Sheng Dynasty.

She followed the eunuch into the imperial study, where the emperor was sitting behind his desk with a frown on his face.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Lin Ruan knelt down and saluted, her voice trembling with tears.

The emperor raised his head, a trace of heartache flashed in his eyes, "Ruan'er, why have you lost so much weight?" There was concern that was hard to conceal in his words.

Lin Ruan lowered her head, her voice choked with sobs, "Uncle Emperor, I really miss my parents."

The emperor sighed and motioned for her to stand up. "Get up, I know you are a sensible child. You have worked hard these days."

Lin Ruan didn't rise to follow the emperor's words, but continued, "Uncle, I've returned this time hoping to fulfill my filial duty." She kowtowed to the ground, leaving the emperor with only a thin, trembling back. "I'd like to observe mourning for my mother and father at the Princess's residence for three years, staying indoors. I beg your permission."

The emperor paused, and seemed to sigh, "Ruan'er, why are you doing this? Won't you make your uncle even more sad?"

"I hope my uncle will allow it." Lin Ruan didn't say anything else, but just said this sentence again.

The emperor's eyes softened at that moment, his hand gently stroking the pen in his hand, as if he were lost in thought. Finally, he nodded, his tone revealing a helpless tolerance. "Since you have made up your mind, I will not force you. However, if you need anything, please let me know. The princess is your mother and my sister. I am your uncle, and I will not leave you alone. Good boy, get up quickly."

Lin Ruan was moved but still respectful and replied, "Thank you, Uncle Emperor, for your grace."

The emperor's gaze fell on Lin Ruan, and with a final sigh, he turned to inquiries about matters concerning the Princess's residence and the situation on the border. Lin Ruan answered each question, her words revealing her longing for her mother and father. At the same time, her description of the situation on the border was both certain and vague, as if she only had a general idea.

Just like the Princess Lin Ruan in the emperor's heart.

Lin Ruan walked out of the imperial study with mixed feelings. She knew that this hurdle had been passed. Just as she was thinking this, she faintly heard a muffled groan. She walked over and saw that it was a few eunuchs bullying a young eunuch.

The palace servants around him were about to speak when they were stopped by Lin Ruan. It was not until those people finished fighting and left that Lin Ruan walked over, gestured to the people around him to give them some medicine and loose change, and left without saying anything.

"Don't you want to ask me why I didn't stop them just now?" Lin Ruan turned her head and asked the palace servant beside her.

The man lowered his head and said, "I dare not."

Lin Ruan said: "You can protect it for a while, but not forever. What you didn't finish this time, you will have to get it back double somewhere else."

The palace servant responded softly.

After leaving the palace, Lin Ruan remained silent all the way. As she entered the Princess's residence and was about to say goodbye to Housekeeper Lin, she whispered, "Uncle Lin, I know you're capable and loyal. Please take care of Luo Mei and the other four. For the next three years, I'll stay indoors in the name of mourning. I'll leave the mansion, both inside and outside, to you for now."

Lin Yuan said softly: "Princess, don't worry."

Thinking of his two deceased masters, his eyes couldn't help but become moist. He quickly wiped away the tears with his sleeve. The two masters had successors. In the future, Lin Yuan said, "I, Lin Yuan, will take over the protection of the young master in place of the two masters. I will be even more loyal and diligent in serving this young princess."

Lin Ruan didn't return to her room directly, but instead returned to the study, where she felt most at ease—rows and rows of books, some already there, others she had brought from the frontier. She lit a lamp of frankincense oil and placed her handwritten Buddhist scriptures before the altar. Lin Ruan didn't believe in gods or Buddhas, but she also hoped that the couple who sacrificed their lives for their country would have a happy rebirth.

"Princess, have some sweet soup." Rouju brought over a bowl of nourishing soup. Lin Ruan put down the medical book in her hand, scooped a mouthful of the sweet soup with a spoon, smelled it first, and did not drink it directly. Then she put down the spoon and asked, "Has the maid in the kitchen changed?" Rouju lowered her head and said, "My princess, she hasn't changed. It's still Mrs. Liu."

Lin Ruan replied, "I understand," and then drank the nourishing soup mouthful by mouthful.

The food she ate before entering the palace still contained the chronic poison in her body, but it was gone after she came back - it seems that observing mourning was the right move.

She managed to save her life in public.

The light from the study illuminated Lin Ruan's face. She ate one bite at a time, just as she would normally swallow poison one bite at a time.

After finishing her sweet soup, Lin Ruan stopped reading and took a walk in the small garden to digest her food before getting ready for bed. Before she went to sleep, she instructed, "Rouju, go tell Luo Mei to get ready. The Ministry of Rites should have chosen a date soon."

"Yes." After An Lan left, Lin Ruan did not let other maids enter the room to serve her. Instead, she sat on the chair and slowly untied her hair.

Firstly, because she was in mourning, the bun was not complicated; secondly, Lin Ruan often wore Hanfu in modern times, and at that time she used to tie and loosen her bun by herself, so she had some experience.

The emperor's oral order was soon delivered, ordering that the remains of Princess Zhenguo and her husband be buried in the imperial mausoleum three days later.

Three days later, before dawn, Lin Ruan got up, changed into plain clothes, and only had a few white jade hairpins in her hair. She looked solemn and dignified.

As the first rays of dawn pierced the mist, the long funeral procession began its slow and solemn march. At the front stood a neatly arranged procession of ceremonial guards. The deep, melodious sound of drums and music echoed in the air, echoing alongside the monks' chanting, which seemed to transcend time and space, reaching another world. Following closely behind, a vast curtain woven from gold thread covered two coffins crafted from precious wood, a symbol of royal honor. Following closely behind, Lin Ruan, holding the tablets of the eldest princess and her husband, walked with determination, her eyes slightly red. She was dressed in mourning, her back straight, and her steps firm. Behind her were rows of courtiers and guards clad in plain white mourning attire. Their steps were heavy, each one seeming to carry an immense weight of sorrow.

The people spontaneously gathered on both sides of the road, holding flowers and paper money in their hands, watching this scene silently. Some had tears in their eyes, while others put their hands together, praying that the eldest princess and her husband could rest in peace in heaven.

By afternoon, the sky was overcast and a steady drizzle fell, as if even the heavens were weeping. The eldest princess's coffin was slowly carried into the long-prepared mausoleum, a building located northwest of the imperial mausoleum. Surrounded by verdant pines and cypresses, it felt like an eternal guardian.

When the coffin slowly sank and the ground was leveled again, at a command, all the bands stopped playing, and the entire scene fell into a solemn silence. Then, bursts of whip cracked, announcing the end of the funeral.

Then, with the arrival of an imperial edict, Princess Lin Ruan, out of admirable filial piety, requested to stay in the Princess's residence to mourn for her parents for three years. Then, Lin Ruan gradually disappeared from the conversations of everyone in the capital.

The entire Princess's Mansion fell silent as Lin Ruan stayed indoors.