The queen is spoiling the king and madly criticizing him for spoiling her

I had no choice but to keep an eye on the movements of the emperor and empress.

Gu Jianchu held the banquet in Fengzao Palace.

Fengzao Palace is closely connected to the back garden of the temporary palace. Although it is autumn now, the lotus flowers in the palace are in full bloom.

It was just a family dinner, so Gu Jianchu didn't invite too many people. Apart from Gu Jianyue and Gu Jianbai, he only invited Xie Qingzhi and Wen Zhaoyi.

Gu Jianchu's health has not yet recovered, so Zhu Xia specially put a thick cushion on Gu Jianchu's chair and placed soft pillows on both sides.

Although both Wen Zhaoyi and Xie Qingzhi came to see Gu Jianchu yesterday, they didn't see her. After asking about her well-being, Wen Zhaoyi came to Gu Jianchu and asked with concern, "How is the Empress's injury? I heard that something happened to the Empress. I was almost worried to death."

"It's nothing serious. I just fell down twice and have some scratches on my body. Please sit down quickly. The young masters from various families hunted a lot of game yesterday, and they couldn't finish it, so they asked the kitchen to make some novel dishes for you to try." Gu Jianchu invited everyone to sit down.

Gu Jianyue looked around and saw that the entire hall was empty except for a few seats. "Didn't the Queen invite anyone else?"

"Today is just a family dinner and no one else is invited." Gu Jianchu glanced at Zhu Xia.

Zhu Xia immediately clapped her hands and ordered tea to be served. "The Empress saw that the chrysanthemums in the palace were in full bloom, so she asked us servants to pick some and make chrysanthemum tea. These chrysanthemums not only improve the eyesight but also reduce internal heat. The Empress specifically asked us servants to prepare more and send it to you all shortly."

Qiutou brought people to bring chrysanthemum tea and placed it on the tables of several people. The little maid poured the tea and stepped aside. After a while, the palace servants brought the prepared game to the tables.

The venison was roasted, the mutton was simmered with white radish for three hours, the pigeons were made into roast squab and pigeon soup, the pheasant was stewed with wild mushrooms, and the wild boar was made into steamed dumplings and roasted pork.

The moment the food was brought in, the entire palace was filled with the aroma of various meats mixed together.

"The Empress is so kind. She not only has delicious food but also invites us to join her. But why is the Emperor not here? Should we wait for him?" Xie Qingzhi hadn't seen Xie Ci'an coming over, so she couldn't help but interrupt and ask another question.

After all, the emperor and empress are always together wherever they go. They are inseparable. Some court officials even joke that wherever the empress is seen, the emperor will definitely be seen.

Except for not attending the morning court together, these two people are together almost all the time.

It’s a bit strange that I didn’t see the emperor today.

Wen Zhaoyi, Gu Jianyue and others had also noticed it, but the three of them did not dare to ask more questions.

Gu Jianchu took a sip of chrysanthemum tea and explained, "The Emperor has important matters to attend to. Let's eat first. He will come over soon. Even if he can't come, I will ask the imperial kitchen to prepare new food for the Emperor. Don't worry, everyone."

"No need to wait, let's eat it while it's hot." Gu Jianchu asked everyone to eat quickly.

Because Doctor Lin had instructed that Gu Jianchu should mainly eat a light diet, in front of Gu Jianchu was a clear chicken soup with mushrooms, steamed pork dumplings and mutton, but no roasted venison. He did have two more vegetables than others.

Zhu Xia put the dishes one by one on the plate in front of Gu Jianchu.

Xie Qingzhi took two bites and couldn't help but say, "I heard that the Emperor and the Empress were injured because someone in the palace tampered with the brown bear, causing it to attack people. I wonder if the culprit has been found."

Gu Jianchu paused in his action of picking up food, then quickly returned to normal, picking up a mushroom and slowly chewing it. After swallowing it, he spoke again, "We're already investigating. I think we'll find the murderer soon. I didn't know that my eldest sister was so well-informed that she even knew about this matter."

"Wen Zhu and Chong Feng are making a big fuss outside. It's hard not to know about it." Xie Qingzhi heard about it by chance when she went out for a walk with Jiang Fengmian.

"I just don't know who is so bold as to attack the emperor and the empress." Wen Zhaoyi echoed.

Gu Jianyue remained silent, but couldn't help looking in the direction of Gu Jianchu. After all, Gu Jianchu had revealed the suspicious person to her yesterday. Since she returned, she has been paying attention to Mi Yue's movements. She didn't notice it before, but after being reminded by Gu Jianchu, she couldn't help but feel suspicious. When she looked at Mi Yue, she felt that what she did was a bit strange.

Mi Yue even got up very early this morning and cooked a big pot of chicken soup, saying it was for Gu Jianbai, but Zhiqiu beside her saw Mi Yue secretly scoop out a bowl, put it in a lunch box, and deliberately placed it in an inconspicuous place in the small kitchen, for fear that others would find it.

This operation clearly shows that they are planning to give the chicken soup to someone. No matter who it is given to, just give it openly. The Gu family is not unreasonable, so there is no need to hide it like this. The more they hide it, the more it shows that there is something wrong with the chicken soup.

What was even more strange was that after thinking about it, she still had no idea who Mi Yue could give the chicken soup to. Although Mi Yue had been in Beijing for quite some time, apart from her family, she didn't know anyone in Beijing and had no friends. So where could she give the chicken soup to?

Although Gu Jianyue was confused, she did not say anything and did not tell Gu Jianbai. Given how much Gu Jianbai protected Mi Yue, he probably would not believe what she said without sufficient evidence.

She became cautious and asked Zhiqiu to keep an eye on Mi Yue to see who the chicken soup was for.

She couldn't tell Gu Jianchu about something without evidence, so she could only wait until there was evidence.

Gu Jianbai knew that if his father and the people from the Imperial City Bureau continued to investigate this matter, it would probably not take long for the truth to come out. After all, the methods of the Imperial City Bureau were unmatched.

"The people in the imperial city will take care of this matter, so we don't need to pay attention to it. Let's continue eating. The venison and pheasant taste good. And the mutton has been stewed for three hours and is already melt-in-your-mouth. Come and have a try." Gu Jianchu did not talk much about this matter.

Wen Zhaoyi and Xie Qingzhi's attention was quickly diverted, and they started eating the mutton that Gu Jianchu mentioned. The taste was indeed delicious, different from ordinary mutton.

Just as everyone was savoring the delicious food, Yunhe and Zhiqiu entered the hall almost one after another. Yunhe consciously came to Gu Jianchu's side, leaned over and whispered a few words in Gu Jianchu's ear.

Hearing this, Gu Jianchu couldn't help but curl up the corner of his mouth into a sneer.

[The fish finally lost its patience and took the bait.]

Xie Qingzhi looked in the direction of Gu Jianchu excitedly.

What fish? What hook?