The Eternal Beauty of the City of Wealth

A few days later, Zixu took Ziye to the queen's bedroom. The queen was very happy to see her grandchildren.

As soon as they entered the room, they knelt before the queen and said, "Grandmother, I have something to ask for your help. Please don't refuse me."

"Child, what's the big deal? You still have to kneel down. Grandma agreed. Get up quickly."

Oh, oh! When the two heard this, they were overjoyed and jumped up from the ground: "Thank you, Grandma!"

The queen picked up a cup of tea and looked at them with doting eyes: "Tell me, is there anything important that you need Grandmother's help with?"

The two looked at each other, and Zixu said, "Grandma, we're here today to ask you to persuade Mother to agree to my marriage to Ziye."

Puff! Cough cough cough… As soon as the queen finished listening, she sprayed the tea she had just taken in her mouth all over Zixu's face, and choked and coughed.

Ziye quickly stepped forward and patted her grandmother's back: "Grandma, are you okay?"

The queen wiped away the tears that were choked out and said: "Oh, I am choking to death!"

"Xu'er, what did you just say? You want to marry Ye'er? Do you know that you are siblings?"

"Grandma, I know we are siblings, but we are not biologically related. We are not related by blood."

"Who said you're not related? You're just..."

The queen had just said this when she suddenly felt that she had said something wrong and quickly swallowed the rest of her words.

"Xu'er, I mean that although you are adopted children, you are actually brother and sister in name."

"If the ministers and the people knew about this, wouldn't they laugh at our royal family's immorality and debauchery? Grandmother doesn't agree!"

"Grandma, you, your thinking is too feudal! How can you ignore your grandchildren's lifelong happiness just because of what outsiders think?"

When Zixu saw that his grandmother also disagreed, he immediately became agitated.

The queen noticed Zixu's harsh words and frowned, "Xu'er, stop talking. Grandmother can't handle this matter. You should go find your mother!"

After saying that, he waved his sleeves and drove the two out. This time the two were really dumbfounded.

Ever since Peng Xi fell on his butt in the Imperial Garden that day, he has been afraid to sit down for the past few days.

She even ate standing up. Peng Qi and Guo Shi noticed their daughter's strange behavior and asked her, "Xi'er, what's wrong with you?"

Peng Xi originally didn't intend to tell his parents, but he had racked his brains these past few days and couldn't think of any way to deal with Ziye.

Why not tell my parents about this today and see if they can come up with any good ideas.

So, she pretended to be wronged and cried, "Daddy, Mommy, a few days ago I went to the palace to play with Zixu."

"In the pavilion of the Imperial Garden, Xier discovered Zixu and her sister cuddling and being very intimate."

"My daughter got angry and went up to question me. Unexpectedly, the quilt was pushed down and she fell on her butt. Wow..."

What! Peng Qi was furious when he heard this and slammed the table: "How unreasonable!"

"I thought I was the only one who could do this, but I didn't expect it to happen even within the palace!"

"Haha! Young Master Xu always acts like a gentleman on weekdays, but he can actually do such filthy things behind the scenes!"

Guo and Peng Xi looked at him with strange eyes, thinking, Master, father, are you scolding Zixu or myself?

What did you do? Could it be that... you're having an affair with your own sister at home?

Because Peng Qi was angry, he didn't notice that what he said was wrong.

He patted his daughter's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Xi'er, Daddy will definitely help you get rid of this bad feeling!"

The next day after court, he invited his good friend, the Imperial Censor Cheng Gong, to his home.

After the two of them sat down, Peng Qi said, "Master Cheng, there is something I want to tell you. I wonder if you are interested?"

Oh? Cheng Gong looked at him curiously. "Lord Peng specially invited me here. He must have something important to tell you. I am all ears. Please speak!"

"Master Cheng, I recently heard that there are incestuous affairs between the princes and princesses in the palace."

"Oh? Is this true? How come I haven't heard of it?"

"I just heard about this from my daughter."

"Lord Peng, this matter concerns the reputation of the royal family. Without seeing it with your own eyes, you must not underestimate yourself."

"Master Cheng, you don't know. It is because I saw it with my own eyes that Peng Qi dared to tell you."

So Peng Qi told Chenggong everything his daughter saw in the imperial garden, adding some exaggeration to it.

After hearing this, Cheng Gong stroked his beard and said, "Master Peng, is this the reason you asked me to come here?"

"Yes, Master Cheng, this matter is not big, but it is not small either."

"I invited you here because I want you to present Ziye Yiben to the court."

"Just tell her that as a princess, she has disregarded human ethics and secretly met with her brother, seriously tarnishing the image of the royal family. Ask the king to punish her severely."

Cheng Gong glanced at him and asked, "Why didn't Lord Peng report to the king himself, but came to me instead?"

"Master Cheng, I originally wanted to report this to the king, but on second thought, I feel it is inappropriate."

First, this matter involves my daughter, and I should distance myself from it."

Secondly, I think what you say is more influential than what I say, because the duty of the Imperial Envoy is to supervise the unhealthy trends inside and outside the court.

"Furthermore, Lord Cheng, you are an upright gentleman who is incorruptible and hates evil."

"How could you turn a blind eye to such an immoral act?"

Peng Qi knew that Cheng Gong liked to be praised as an upright and loyal minister, and that he dared to advise the king on things he thought were wrong.

Cheng Gong nodded proudly upon hearing Peng Qi's high evaluation of him, "Very good! Sir Peng, I will report this matter to the king tomorrow."

In the queen's bedroom, the queen saw her grandchildren leave and immediately held her chest: "Oh, mother."

"How could such a thing happen so suddenly? No, I have to go find Xuan'er."

As soon as Zixuan returned to the palace after court, she saw her mother sitting in the living room waiting for her.

When the queen saw Zixuan coming back, she panicked and shouted, "Xuan'er, this is terrible! Something terrible has happened!"

Zixuan was startled and looked at his mother's frightened expression.

I thought, no one reported anything important to me during the morning court today, could it be that something big happened in the palace...

She anxiously asked the queen, "Mother, what happened?"

Seeing that no one was in the room, the queen came up to her daughter and whispered, "Xuan'er, Zixu and Ziye just came to see me."

"They said they were in love and asked me to persuade you to let them get married."

When Zixuan heard what his mother said, he immediately felt relieved.

She breathed a long sigh of relief: "Oh, mother, you almost scared your daughter to death."

"I already know about this. They came to me, but Xuan'er didn't agree."

"Okay, I was right not to agree. Xuan'er, you should pay close attention. Don't let them turn the raw rice into porridge."

Zixuan chuckled: "Mother, it's a done deal, okay?"