A life of ups and downs is pure joy

The sound was like a thunder that split the sky, breaking the original silence.

The senior palace maids, led by Wan Dong, all looked sideways in astonishment, and it took them a while to react and kneel down to pay their respects.

Walking in front was the current Queen Wei Lan. She was dressed in a gorgeous phoenix robe and a dazzling golden crown on her head. She was graceful and elegant, with great manners.

Behind her followed a group of gorgeously dressed concubines, some of them delicate and charming, some dignified and beautiful. Each of them was carefully dressed up, forming a beautiful landscape.

It turned out that when Queen Weilan learned that the emperor had canonized Su Jin as a princess, she couldn't help but feel extremely happy.

Therefore, she specially led many concubines to come and congratulate Su Jin. This action not only showed the queen's attention and love for Su Jin, but also demonstrated the friendship and harmonious atmosphere among sisters in the palace.

Gong Heyu took Su Jin's hand and walked out of the boudoir in the side hall. As soon as they entered the main hall, the queen and all the concubines bowed and knelt.

Su Jin took a look around and saw all kinds of beauties in this small palace, but she didn't know that except for the queen, the others were all the care of the young prince.

"You sit down first."

Gong Heyu helped Su Jin sit down in the first seat on the left, then turned around and signaled the queen to stand up.

The queen smiled at Su Jin with great grace, and her smile was as beautiful as a flower blooming in spring.

Then she turned around gracefully and sat lightly on the seat above and to the right of Gong Heyu.

At the same time, the many concubines who were originally standing suddenly woke up as if from a dream. They stood up one after another and sat down slowly and in an orderly manner according to their respective concubine positions.

The Queen opened her red lips and said softly, "Your Majesty, I heard the good news this morning about Sister Zhuang, oh no, now we should call her Princess Jianing, being canonized. I was overjoyed and came here to congratulate you."

"I just didn't expect you, Your Majesty, to be here right now. My rash intrusion has truly disturbed your Majesty and Jianing's mood. I'm truly inconsiderate. I hope Your Majesty won't blame me."

After saying this, the queen lowered her head slightly, her face showing embarrassment, but it could not hide her shy face.

"Your Majesty, you are so kind! I am deeply apprehensive. Your Majesty and I have just finished breakfast and were just about to rest. I never expected Your Majesty to grace us with such a grand visit. I am truly overjoyed!"

Su Jin quickly stood up, smiled, and responded sincerely.

However, at this moment, her mind was in a mess, filled with the heart-stirring, soul-leaving kiss that had just happened.

The queen smiled slightly, glanced at everyone present, and spoke slowly.

"The sisters knew that today was Princess Jianing's wedding day, so they all carefully prepared generous gifts to express their congratulations."

"I wonder if Your Majesty is interested in watching this lively scene?"

After saying that, the queen turned her head and looked at Gong Heyu beside her, with a questioning look in her eyes.

Gong Heyu nodded slightly, first waved gently at Su Jin, motioning her to sit down, and then lowered his voice and asked gently.

"Are you interested in this?"

His eyes remained on Su Jin, as if waiting for her answer.

Su Jin looked up at the concubines in the room. They made such a big fuss just to give her a gift. Wasn't that a good thing? Then she nodded happily to Gong Heyu.

"Since it is the intention of the ladies, I am of course very happy to do so."

Gong Heyu found the woman's eyes sparkling and found them very cute, so he nodded to the queen to signal her to begin her congratulations.

The first one to come forward was Concubine De, holding an exquisite brocade box. When she opened it, she found a pair of jade bracelets inside, which were transparent and flawless.

"Princess, this is something I specially asked someone to find. May you remain young forever."

Su Jin stood up to thank him, and Wan Dong stepped forward to take it.

Next was Concubine Hui. She ordered the palace maids to bring up a scroll, which turned out to be a landscape painting by a famous artist.

"I've heard that the princess enjoys painting. My humble self could only take the trouble to find this work for you to enjoy at your leisure."

Su Jin looked up in surprise. A famous painting must be valuable, and it would be a great item to take back.

Just as everyone was presenting their gifts one by one, there was suddenly a commotion outside.

At this moment, a panicked palace maid followed Eunuch Gui and hurried over. She knelt on the ground with a thud and reported in a trembling voice.

"Your Majesty, all the koi in the imperial garden are dead!"

Concubine Hui, who was standing aside, was also startled. She frowned, glared at the palace maid who came to report, and scolded her harshly.

"What a bummer! It's just a few dead fish. We can just send someone to replace them. But you've gone out of your way to disturb His Majesty over such a trivial matter. It's totally unreasonable!"

Especially for such an important occasion as today, she had carefully prepared this painting with great difficulty to please Princess Jianing, who even the Queen Mother greeted with a smile. Catering to her preferences was the way to impress the Emperor.

After saying that, Concubine Hui turned around and spoke to Su Jin with a smile on her face.

"Princess, please don't be angry. Don't let such trivial matters ruin the mood of the Lord and you."

However, unlike Concubine Hui's reaction, a hint of subtle displeasure flashed across the eyes of the Queen sitting on the other side.

After all, today was a special day to celebrate the enthronement of Princess Jianing. Everything had been going very smoothly, but this sudden change undoubtedly disrupted the rhythm of the entire celebration.

But as the mother of a country, the queen naturally could not lose her composure, so she took a deep breath, tried to keep herself calm, then slowly stood up, bowed slightly to the emperor and said.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Although only a few koi have died, these living creatures have always held extremely important symbolic significance in our Great Yan Kingdom. I believe this matter cannot be underestimated. I should personally inspect it to reassure Your Majesty."

Gong Heyu nodded, and the queen walked out of the palace surrounded by a group of palace maids and eunuchs.

Su Jin muttered to himself.

"I really don't understand what these people are thinking. They just died of a few colorful fish, either from starvation or illness. How big of a deal can that be? They insist on making some far-fetched moral out of it. It's simply feudal superstition!"

Concubine Xian Fang Duoduo, who had been sitting silently next to Su Jin, stood up and approached her casually, whispering:

"Princess, after today, you must be careful. The favors of this palace are not so easy to enjoy."

After saying this, Su Jin was shocked. Before she had time to think about it, she saw her and Concubine Hui also bowed to Gong Heyu and followed the queen out of the hall.

When the remaining concubines and beauties were about to present their gifts, Gong Heyu slowly stood up and spoke.

"The Empress has been feeling unwell lately. You should all go to the Imperial Garden and serve her."

His voice was neither loud nor soft, but it was clearly heard by everyone present.

Many concubines stopped what they were doing and carefully placed the gifts they had carefully prepared on the tray beside them.

Then, they stood up politely, knelt down respectfully to pay their respects, and then turned around and left the palace in an orderly manner.

At this moment, the huge palace suddenly became quiet, leaving only Gong Heyu and the woman who had been standing there, staring at the door in a trance.

Seeing this, Gong Heyu stepped forward, stretched out his hands and gently supported the woman who was still immersed in her thoughts, and said softly: "Everyone has gone far away, what are you still looking at here?"

After hearing Gong Heyu's words, the woman finally came back to her senses. She turned to look at the man beside her, a hint of doubt on her face, and asked curiously.

"It's just a few dead fish. How can that be considered a big deal? Why would the Empress and all the other ladies have to go and check it out?"

In response to the woman's question, Gong Heyu smiled slightly and shook his head gently in response.

"Nothing in this world is more important than you. They are so idle every day, they are just joining in the fun."

After hearing this, Su Jin smiled shyly. It seemed that this Lord was not confused either.

"Is there anything you like among these gifts?"

As Gong Heyu spoke, he looked at the person in front of him lovingly, waiting for her response.

"It's beautiful, but it's not rare. In comparison, the painting prepared by Concubine Hui is exquisite!"

Su Jin glanced at all the gifts and said after thinking for a moment.

At this moment, she was wearing a white silk dress, the hem of which swayed lightly like petals, making her look even more charming and pretty.

"How can these mundane things be worthy of you? In the future, I will give you all the best things in this world."

Gong Heyu hugged the beauty in his arms tightly and whispered softly.

His eyes were affectionate and focused, as if they were the only two people left in the world.

Hearing this, Su Jin couldn't help but raise her head playfully with a smile on her lips.

"I already possess the most precious treasure in the world."

"Oh?"

Gong Heyu looked puzzled as he stared at the woman in front of him who made his heart beat faster.

Su Jin's big, lively eyes were shining like the bright stars in the night sky. She leaned close to Gong Heyu's ear and her breath was as sweet as orchid.

“It’s so close, so within easy reach~”

"What on earth is it?"

Gong Heyu became more and more curious and couldn't help but ask more questions.

Su Jin blinked, a happy smile on her face.

"Of course it's your unique love for me, my husband!"

After whispering this in her ear, her cheeks flushed lightly, as tempting as a ripe apple.

Gong Heyu was stunned at first, then he understood the deep meaning of Su Jin's words.

An indescribable joy suddenly surged in his heart. He smiled lightly, then bent down, gently held Su Jin in his arms, and strode towards the boudoir in the side hall.

The palace maids who stayed there looked at the two people's departing backs, all of them were stunned and looked at each other. It was a long time before they came to their senses, quickly cleaned up the main hall, and closed the door for the king and the princess.