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

Su Tang ordered his men to take the things.

However, Su Tang entered the palace recently to give gifts.

Gu Jianchu and Xie Ci'an had saved the prince's life before, so before leaving, Su Tang packed up all the good things and sent them to Gu Jianchu, just to repay this favor.

Gu Jianchu naturally understood Su Tang's meaning, so she did not refuse the gifts Su Tang sent her, but accepted them one by one, in order to make Su Tang feel at ease.

The next day, Su Tang and Su Yu were leaving Beijing to go back. Neither Gu Jianchu nor Xie Ci'an showed up. Gu Jianchu sent Zhuxi to make a trip, and Xie Ci'an sent officials from the Ministry of Rites to see them off.

In the following days, Gu Jianchu lived an ordinary life. Ever since the concubines were dismissed from the palace, the harem had been exceptionally quiet. There were no women making trouble for no reason, and naturally there were no petty conspiracies and calculations. Gu Jianchu lived an exceptionally comfortable life. Every day he just ate and drank, and occasionally went out to bask in the sun.

The wife of Marquis Nanping, Gu Jianyue and Wen Nuan would take turns to go to the palace to keep Gu Jianchu company and relieve his boredom.

After those women left the palace, although they no longer had to deal with all the trivial matters, they also lost some of the fun, because there was no one to talk to.

However, with his mother and sister often coming to the palace, Gu Jianchu didn't seem so bored.

The New Year has passed in a flash.

There were not many people in the palace this year. Marquis Nanping and Gu Jianbai did not return to the capital from the Liaodong battlefield, so the palace seemed particularly lonely. Nothing big happened, and the days passed uneventfully. After the New Year, it was spring with lush grass and singing birds. Gu Jianchu's belly was getting bigger day by day. Because she was pregnant with twins, even moving was particularly inconvenient.

To be honest, some big things happen during the Chinese New Year.

That is, King Dongli recovered from his injuries in Xie Qingrou's mansion, and the relationship between the two also developed by leaps and bounds.

The King of Dongli was definitely a smart man. He used a tactic of retreating to advance and completely led Xie Qingrou away.

After recovering from his injuries, the king came to the palace to see Xie Ci'an and said that the Dongli Kingdom could not be without a king for a day. He had been in Jin for a long time and the government affairs could not always be left to the prime minister to handle. He needed to go back. Since others said so, Xie Ci'an naturally could not continue to stop him. Besides, there was no need to stop him. The government affairs really could not be left to the ministers under him for too long.

After meeting Xie Ci'an, the King of Dongli went to see Xie Qingrou and asked her if she wanted to follow him back to Dongli Kingdom. If she didn't want to, then forget it. After all, Dongli Kingdom was a sad place, and she was so carefree in Jin Kingdom. He also said that the people would always remember him as a princess, and he would always remember Xie Qingrou's kindness. He also said that those people had been dealt with, and asked Xie Qingrou to relax and live a good life.

Xie Qingrou did not agree to King Dongli at first.

Prince Dongli was not in a hurry. He went to the princess's mansion every day to give Xie Qingrou some cakes, snacks and some of her favorite gadgets.

This was only secondary. After seven consecutive days, King Dongli packed up and prepared to return to Dongli Kingdom. Before leaving, he went to see Xie Qingrou on purpose. He didn't say anything, but bought Xie Qingrou a lot of things, saying that they were gifts for Xie Qingrou. He also said that he hadn't seen her for several years and couldn't take care of her, so he bought the things in advance. After all, women are emotional. Seeing a man do so much for her, she was naturally moved. So after hesitating, Xie Qingrou agreed to go back to Dongli Kingdom with King Dongli, but did not directly say that she would accompany him back. She only said that she wanted to go back to see the people of Dongli Kingdom and see how the policies she had implemented before were going.

King Dongli was already overjoyed when he heard that Xie Qingrou was willing to go back, and he certainly wouldn't say anything else, so the two of them returned to Dongli Kingdom together.

It has been a while since I went back.

Although the weather in March is still cold at night, it is still warm under the sun during the day. The apricot and pear blossoms in the Imperial Garden are blooming, and the air is filled with a sweet scent.

Gu Jianchu was sitting under the wisteria trellis, basking in the sun. She had a fox fur blanket under her and a thin quilt covering her body. On the stone table next to her was hot tea brewed by the stove, as well as some of her favorite cakes.

Zhuxi, Zhuxia and the remaining little girls were embroidering beside her.

Gu Jianchu raised her eyes, lazily looking at the lively little girls in front of her, and said in a gentle voice, "You guys are not young anymore, and it's time for you to get married. It's not a big deal for me to keep you in the palace all the time. If you have a husband you like, please tell me. I will help you get married and prepare a generous dowry for you so that you can marry in style."

Zhuxi was the first to react. She quickly put down the things in her hands and knelt in front of Gu Jianchu. "Your Majesty, I will never marry. I will serve you for the rest of my life."

The moment Zhuxi finished speaking, Zhuxia and Qiutou beside her nodded continuously, "Sister Zhuxi is right. Your Majesty, we have been serving you since we were young. We will never marry, and we will always serve you."

"What nonsense are you talking about? If you have someone you like, you will naturally have to get married. You can't always be tortured by me. Besides, even if you get married, you can still enter the palace." Although Gu Jianchu was reluctant to let them leave the palace, it was not easy to keep them for the rest of their lives. It was really inhumane to let them stay by his side without their own lives.

"I am not talking nonsense, and I don't have a lover. Not all men in this world are good people. If I make a mistake and marry a bad person, I will suffer for the rest of my life. It is better for me to stay with the Empress and serve her, which will make her feel at ease. Moreover, if I stay with the Empress, I don't have to worry about the problem of retirement in the future. For example, the eldest lady and the prime minister's daughter are ladies from noble families, and they have the support of their mother's family behind them, but they met bad men and were still tortured. So I don't want to get married, and I don't want to gamble on that kind of life. I would rather stay with the Empress." Zhuxi said this not to avoid getting married. What she said was the truth.

She had been with Gu Jianchu for a long time and had seen a lot. Even though those men married ladies from prominent families, there were still some despicable people in the gutter.

Although there are good people like the emperor, you still have to rely on luck.

That kind of luck may not allow you to win, so it is better to stay by the Empress' side, hold power, and be the head aunt in charge of the palace.

Qiutou and Zhuxia nodded in agreement. Qiutou had the same idea as Zhuxi. Although she was later promoted by Gu Jianchu to be a senior palace maid to serve the queen closely, she had been serving the queen for a long time. She knew that the queen was a good person and she also had her own ambitions.