My Fair Princess: The Queen's Rebirth

Xia Yingying changed into clean clothes and came back to help the emperor go to bed. "Your Majesty, I will never dare to act so rashly again. This time, I was wrong."

The emperor sat cross-legged on the bed and pulled Xia Yingying over. He patted the side and motioned her to sit next to him.

Seeing this, Xia Yingying immediately shook her head and whispered, "I dare not. Just let me stand aside and serve."

"Alright, now it's just you and me," the emperor said. "I know I've wronged you these days, but the Queen is still the Queen after all...Okay, I won't say any more."

Xia Yingying stepped forward and took the emperor's hand, then tilted her head and leaned it on his shoulder affectionately, while her other hand kept fiddling with the loose hair on her forehead.

"Your Majesty, tomorrow is the engagement banquet for the Princess and the Princess. Can all the concubines in the harem attend?" Xia Yingying suddenly asked, "This is my first time attending such a banquet."

……

the next day.

In the Imperial Garden.

The concubines in the harem and the women from the various royal palaces gathered together, talking and laughing.

"Your Majesty, I know you've been very busy lately, so I didn't dare to disturb you. I'm here to congratulate you today."

"Your Majesty, today is a good day."

The two people who walked quickly forward to bow and congratulate the Queen were Princess Ning of Prince Ning's Mansion and Princess Chen of Prince Chen's Mansion. They each brought their daughter into the palace.

The Queen lowered her brows slightly and nodded, taking a sip of tea. "You are so polite, my two princesses, but I am truly very happy today." She then put down her tea and looked up at the two children standing beside them, her eyes filled with affection. "Now these two children have grown up to be beautiful and graceful. In a few years, they will be betrothed to good families."

Upon hearing this, Princess Ning quickly pulled her daughter, who was standing beside her, and then bowed and said, "My little girl has been raised in seclusion since she was young. My prince and I only have this one daughter, so she is very much loved. I hope that Your Majesty will be able to tolerate her in the future."

"What's her name?" the Queen asked, looking at Princess Ning's daughter. "Come forward so I can take a good look at her."

Princess Ning's daughter Jiayu walked forward obediently.

I bowed to the Queen first.

After she had steadied herself, she slowly spoke, "In reply to the Queen, my name is Jiayu. I just turned fourteen this year. It is my great honor to meet the Queen today."

When Princess Ning saw her daughter talking so much, she immediately stepped forward and pulled Jiayu's hand, reminding her not to talk too much.

The Queen smiled and said, "That's all right. Jiayu is a very pleasing child. In the future, if Princess Ning has nothing to do, please take her to the palace more often. The Empress Dowager likes lively occasions."

"Yes." Princess Ning hurried forward to pay her respects. "But my daughter Jiayu is very lively and active, and I'm afraid she might disturb the old lady."

The queen waved her hand and smiled without saying anything.

At this moment, Princess Chen saw that the Queen did not ask about her daughter, so she stepped forward and took the initiative to introduce her.

"Empress, this is my little daughter, Yuqian." Princess Chen turned around and looked at Yuqian. She blinked at her and whispered, "Yuqian, why don't you come up and pay your respects to the Empress?"

When Yu Qian heard her mother calling her, she came to her senses and walked forward quickly.

"I hope the Queen will forgive me. Yu Qian was thinking about something just now and lost her mind." Yu Qian looked at the Queen with an apologetic look.

The Queen raised her eyes to glance at Yu Qian and asked, "Are you Prince Chen's daughter, Yu Qian?"

Yu Qian nodded and said "hmm".

"I've heard of Princess Yuqian's nickname a long time ago. The old Buddha also mentioned you a while ago. I heard that you grew up in the camp with your father and only returned to Beijing two years ago."

The Queen was very curious about Princess Yu Qian. She had heard that Prince Chen was notoriously strict in disciplining his children.

Yu Qian lowered her head and replied, "Yes, Queen."

The Queen cast a curious look at Princess Yuqian. She thought that a girl who grew up in a military camp would be more active, but now it seems that this child is quieter and more gentle than Princess Jiayu.

"I didn't expect Jiayu and Yuqian to have such different personalities." The Queen smiled, then she looked at Aunt Rong and asked, "Princess Huanzhu, Princess Mingzhu, and Princess Seya, why haven't they arrived yet? Aunt Rong, please send someone to Shufangzhai to check."

"Yes."

When Aunt Rong was about to send someone to Shufangzhai.

Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei and Seya came to the imperial garden together.

Xiaoyanzi ran up to the Queen Mother happily and greeted her with a smile.

"Princess Ning, Princess Chen, this is my adopted daughter, Princess Huanzhu. The one standing to her left is Princess Mingzhu, who was recently found. The one to her right is Princess Seya, the Tibetan King's most beloved princess."

The Queen raised her hand and introduced them one by one, and also introduced Princess Ning and Princess Chen to Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei and Seya.

"These two are Princess Jiayu and Princess Yuqian. You are of similar age, and I believe you will be able to get along well with each other." The queen looked at the children in front of her with a smile.

After Xiaoyanzi and the others chatted with the Empress, Princess Ning, and Princess Chen for a while, they took Jiayu and Yuqian to the side and started chatting.

At this moment, Concubine Ling slowly walked over holding Zi Fu.

All the people present bowed to Concubine Ling.

"Empress, I'm late." Concubine Ling was about to pay her respects to the Empress with her bulging belly.

The Queen raised her hand and quickly stopped her, saying, "Sister, don't bow when you're pregnant."

Madam Rong ordered someone to bring a chair over quickly, then walked to the side of Concubine Ling and helped her sit down with Zi Fu.

"Thank you, Her Majesty. Please also trouble Madam Rong to help me sit down." Concubine Ling said.

The Queen looked at Concubine Ling and said, "It's okay. You're pregnant now and it's inconvenient for you to move around. Now it's just the two of us. You can call me sister in private."

"Yes...sister." Concubine Ling called out softly. Then she looked around to see if there was anyone else around and continued, "Sister, I heard yesterday that Xia Yingying fell into the water?"

The Queen had originally let the matter go, but Concubine Ling brought it up again. She frowned and nodded.

Concubine Ling knew she had said the wrong thing and quickly apologized, "Sister, I'm sorry for saying too much, but how could Xia Yingying fall into the water for no reason? And I didn't see her when I came over just now. Could it be that she..."

"The drowning incident was her own plan to invite the emperor to her Gyeongbokgung Palace. As for why she didn't come today, it's actually because I didn't ask anyone to invite her over."

The Queen spoke word by word, "Today's protagonists are Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei, so let's not talk about anything that might spoil the fun."