Ping Zhao Lu

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it is the eve of the Queen Mother's birthday.

At this moment, Xu Zhouye sat at his desk, concentrating wholeheartedly on checking the accounts. His brow furrowed at times, his pen scribbled furiously at others, his expression focused and serious.

Beside him, Qinghe ground ink and added tea for him with skillful and gentle movements, for fear of disturbing this master who was working hard.

"Your Highness, didn't you say before that you would no longer take care of these matters?" Qinghe couldn't suppress the doubts in her heart after all, and asked softly: "The key to the Imperial Household Department has always been in the hands of the Queen Mother and the Concubine Xian. Every time Su Ming and I go to collect items, we have to act according to their expressions. It's really..." At this point, Qinghe looked embarrassed and didn't continue, but the grievance in the unfinished words was self-evident.

Xu Zhouye naturally understood the unspoken meaning in her words. He raised his head slightly, looked at Qinghe and said, "Other matters may be ignored, but this account matter cannot be ignored. After all, if there is any mistake, will everyone come to me to complain? Besides, the golden seal is still in my hands. If anything goes wrong, I will definitely become the target of public criticism."

Speaking of the Phoenix Seal, Xu Zhouye couldn't help but smile.

I think he just scared Fu Chuoren at that time.

This old man was so timid, suspicious and overly timid that he was scared away by himself.

If he finds out later that the Phoenix Seal is not in the Queen Mother's hands at all, he will surely be furious, right?

Qing He couldn't help but sigh and said worriedly, "Your Highness, look at these accounts. They're a complete mess. Anyone with a discerning eye can see they're all rotten! I think the Queen Mother and the others must have done this on purpose, deliberately trying to make things difficult for Your Highness!"

Xu Zhouye didn't take it seriously and said, "If the accounts weren't in such a mess, how could they have fallen into my hands so easily?"

He picked up the teacup, took a leisurely sip of the fragrant tea, then slowly put it down. He looked at Qinghe with a determined gaze and continued, "You will leave immediately and deliver the golden seal to the Cining Palace. Tell the Empress Dowager that I have only a vague understanding of the complicated and trivial matters of the harem and feel unable to handle such a heavy responsibility. Therefore, I beg the Empress Dowager to temporarily take charge of the seal on my behalf. When I have learned enough and can handle these matters proficiently, you can come back and beg the Empress Dowager to give the seal back to me."

Qing He was immediately bewildered after hearing this. He asked with a puzzled look on his face, "Your Highness, what do you mean? Are you really going to give up this Phoenix Seal?"

Xu Zhouye shook his head gently and said soothingly, "Don't worry, this is just a temporary solution. Let's stabilize the situation first, and then find a suitable opportunity to get the seal back later."

We must not let that old bastard Fu Chuoren come to his senses and take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble.

Queen Mother Jiang has been so busy and overwhelmed with various other matters these days that she has probably forgotten all about Fu Chuoren, who was suspended for making a mistake.

Otherwise, with her nature of looking for trouble, she would have come to him angrily to demand an explanation.

"Your Highness, Concubine Li is here and is waiting in the outer hall."

Su Ming stepped forward to report.

Xu Zhouye paused as he wrote, "What is she doing here? She wouldn't come here for no reason."

"I heard that I have tailored a dress for you, Your Highness, as a formal dress for tomorrow's banquet, and I came to present it to you." Su Ming replied with a bow.

Qinghe frowned, "A weasel wishing a happy new year to a chicken?"

Xu Zhouye gently put down the brush in his hand, stood up, brushed his sleeves, and said thoughtfully, "Just go and deliver the Phoenix Seal with peace of mind. This palace and Su Ming will go and meet him."

Qinghe accepted the order and said, "Yes."

Xu Zhouye nodded, then took Su Ming and moved to the outer hall.

As he walked, he thought: I hope this guy doesn't make a fuss about his clothes like he did in his previous life, causing him to get a rash and be disfigured?

In her previous life, Concubine Li listened to Rong Yu'an's bad idea and had someone secretly tamper with his daily clothes.

But this time Rong Yu'an was not there, nor did he instruct others to secretly do something bad to his clothes.

But today, he personally came to deliver this dress on the eve of the birthday party...

What's the intention?

Xu Zhouye was a little confused.

In her previous life, Concubine Li did not live to see her birthday banquet.

This time, it's hard to see what she's trying to do.

Xu Zhou was absent-minded, with a thousand thoughts in his mind, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the outer hall.

Lipin, who was sitting upright on the chair, saw Xu Zhouye approaching from afar and quickly raised a bright and charming smile. She quickly stood up and bowed gracefully, saying in a sweet voice: "I pay my respects to the Queen. Long live the Queen."

Xu Zhouye glanced at her coldly, and then his eyes fell on the gorgeous dress held in the hands of the palace servant behind her.

Then, he walked calmly to the main seat and sat down. He raised his eyes slightly and asked calmly, "I wonder why Concubine Li came here today?"

Upon hearing this, Concubine Li quickly and obediently returned to her seat, still with a flattering smile on her face.

She waved her hand gently, signaling the palace attendant behind her to come forward. Then, she softly replied, "Your Highness, tomorrow is the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. All the concubines in the harem will be dressed in their finery to attend the celebration, and Your Highness is naturally no exception. So, I thought of taking the piece of brocade that the Empress Dowager gave me last year and have it made into a garment to present to Your Highness."

After saying this, she winked at the palace servants beside her. The servants immediately understood and carefully unfolded the dress.

Lipin pointed at the dress, her eyes filled with anticipation as she continued, "The color, style, and workmanship are as if they were tailor-made for Your Highness. It truly suits you perfectly! It's just that the fabric is so precious and rare, and I know my temperament and appearance don't quite match it, so I've never used it. It would be a waste to leave it lying around like this, and it's such a shame. It would be better to present it to Your Highness, so that it can fully demonstrate its true value on you. Take a look at this dress; does it suit your taste?"

Xu Zhouye raised his eyebrows and slowly lowered his gaze to the gorgeous dress with interest.

The workmanship of this dress is truly exquisite, and every detail is handled just right. Whether it is the fineness of the needlework or the exquisite embellishment of the decoration, it all demonstrates the maker's superb skills and good intentions.

At first glance, there are no flaws or shortcomings.

However, even with such a nearly perfect dress, Xu Zhouye knew in his heart that he must not easily accept this sudden and inexplicable kindness.

So, he put on a faint smile and said in a calm but firm tone, "Thank you for your concern, Lipin. However, I have already sent someone to order a set of clothes. It will be completed and delivered to the palace tomorrow. I am afraid that I will be letting Lipin down."

Upon hearing this, Lipin's face suddenly showed a trace of regret, but she quickly adjusted her mood and continued to persuade softly, "That's really unfortunate! But it's okay, Your Highness, you might as well accept it and keep it as a backup. After all, this banquet will last quite a long time, and it's inevitable that some careless palace maids will be busy and accidentally damage or stain your clothes. In that case, this can serve as a temporary fix, right?"

Xu Zhouye frowned.

Can something delivered in such a hurry be a good thing?

Then she looked up at Lipin and politely declined again, "I appreciate your kindness, but this brocade was given to you by the Queen Mother. How can I accept it so carelessly? Please take it back."

"This..." Concubine Li hesitated and paused for a moment, "Well, then I will take it back to the palace and place it there. If Your Highness needs it, I will be happy to provide it to you."

Seeing this, Xu Zhouye couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Was it really rejected?

Is there some other conspiracy going on?

While he was pondering, Lipin suddenly spoke up again, "Your Highness, are you really unwilling to accept it? I am truly ashamed. I was previously exploited by others, which caused a rift between you and Your Highness. It was my fault. Now I have forgiven it. I am offering this as a gesture of goodwill. I only hope that Your Highness can forgive my previous mistakes."

"..."

It seems that I am worrying too much.

This person insisted on leaving the things behind.

Xu Zhouye's eyes darkened slightly. "I'm very pleased that you can think it through, but this dress... is really hard to accept."

Seeing that the other party was determined to refuse, Concubine Li had no choice but to stand up and leave in disappointment, taking the dress back with her.

After they left, Su Ming couldn't help but ask, "Although Concubine Li's words were pleasant, she changed her expression so quickly and returned to her old ways. Your Highness, since you refused her like this, aren't you afraid that she will bear a grudge and try to deal with you?"

Xu Zhouye smiled calmly, "It's okay. If an enemy comes, we will fight him; if a flood comes, we will block it with earth."