Bring a scumbag girl to bully me, and you are afraid of using modern weapons.

But the emperor favored Changsun and insisted on making her the queen.

Therefore, the mother and son had an argument, but in the end she agreed.

After all, her son is the emperor, and she doesn't want the relationship between mother and son to become too strained.

Beitang Yuan didn't want to talk about these things anymore, so he stood up and said, "Grandmother, the banquet is about to start, and I'm here to take you there."

"There are only young people there, and I am old, so I won't go over and spoil your fun." The Queen Mother shook her head and didn't want to go. Nowadays, the older people get, the more they like quietness. It always feels noisy when there are too many people, and the noise gives them a headache.

"You guys go and take good care of Lan Yatou and her brother."

Beitang Yuan glanced at Xie Jinglan and smiled, "Don't worry, Grandmother, I will take good care of them."

"Empress Dowager, you don't look old at all." Xie Jinglan said.

He is almost sixty years old, but he looks like he is only in his forties. He is well maintained.

"Lan'er is still the best at coaxing me, but when you get old, you're old, and you just like quiet." The Queen Mother waved her hand at them, "Go ahead! When you have time, come to the palace more often to talk to me."

Seeing that she really didn't want to go, Beitang Yuan had no choice but to give up and said goodbye and left with Xie Jinglan and her brother.

The three of them left Shouning Palace together and headed towards the banquet.

"I know everything that happened outside the palace gate just now. They didn't do anything to you, did they?" Beitang Yuan asked her.

"If it were in the past, I might have avoided conflicts with them, but now that I have you as my backer, I will naturally take advantage of you and won't let myself be wronged." Xie Jinglan smiled at him.

In the past, Beitang Hong always liked to use his status as a prince to bully others. Now that she has become the prince's nominal fiancée, she can finally suppress him and naturally will not let herself suffer any loss.

"That's right. If he dares to attack you again next time, just fight back. If he gets crippled, it's my responsibility. Just leave him with one breath." Beitang Yuan said.

"Beitang Yuan, thank you for helping me." Xie Jinglan said gratefully.

If it weren't for his help, she wouldn't have broken off the engagement with Beitang Hong so easily, nor would she have kicked Lin Yuansheng's family out so easily.

Although the final result will be the same, the process may be more complicated.

"Then how do you want to thank me?" Beitang Yuan blinked at her, his peach blossom eyes seemed to be electrified. Xie Jinglan's face suddenly turned red, and she took a step back to stay away from him.

"Didn't we already agree? You help me and I'll break the spell for you."

Hu Xiu followed them and was so moved to tears when he saw the two of them talking happily and behaving intimately.

They had been following His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for so many years, and this was the first time they saw him so close to a girl, and he seemed to be in a good mood.

In the past, they always thought that the prince didn’t like women, but now it seems that it’s not that he doesn’t like women, but that he just hasn’t found a girl he likes.

He rolled his eyes, pointed at a jujube tree by the roadside, and said to Xie Yunqing, "Young Master, how about I take you to pick some winter jujubes?"

Xie Yunqing looked at the jujube tree and saw that the branches were dotted with clusters of bright red jujubes, which looked delicious. He couldn't help but look up at his sister.

"Go! Don't run around." Xie Jinglan ordered. With Hu Xiu around, there was no need to worry about any danger.

"I understand." Xie Yunqing let go of her hand and happily went to pick dates with Hu Xiu.

"That Lin Ruyan pretends to be weak on the surface, but she is actually not that simple. Now that that family has been driven out of Duke Li's Mansion by you, they will definitely not give up. You have to be careful with her." Beitang Yuan reminded her.

"I know! She is a beautiful snake, vicious and cruel." Xie Jinglan knew that Lin Ruyan was very capable!

She pretended to be weak just to win the sympathy of that idiot Beitang Hong.

"After the palace banquet is over, I'll take you to a place where you might be able to watch a good show."

"A good show?" Beitang Yuan became interested. "If it's a good show, how can we be without an audience?"

The two of them talked as they walked, and unknowingly arrived at the banquet venue, Qianhe Hall!

"Sister, here are some dates for you. They are so sweet." Xie Yunqing ran over and handed her a few red dates.

"I don't want to eat it, you can keep it for yourself!" Xie Jinglan squatted down and tidied her brother's clothes.

The emperor and empress had already arrived in the Qianhe Hall, and now it was time for the ministers to present gifts, pushing the atmosphere of the banquet to its climax.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived! Miss Xie from Duke Li's residence has arrived!"

The eunuch's voice came in.

The hall suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked towards the entrance.

Many people have never seen the prince. In addition, the news of Xie Jinglan breaking off her engagement with King Mu and marrying the prince caused a lot of controversy, so everyone was curious about what the prince looked like.

But when they saw the two people walking in together, they were disappointed.

Everyone was wondering, the prince was wearing a mask at the emperor's birthday banquet. Could it be that he was very ugly, or had scars or defects on his face?

Beitang Yuan and Xie Jinglan walked to the front of the imperial palace without looking around to congratulate the emperor on his birthday.

"Your Majesty, I wish you good health, happiness and longevity, and eternal life."

"Your Majesty, I respectfully wish you a long life, great blessings, and a long and fulfilling life."

After the two men finished their congratulations, Hu Xiu and Xie Yin behind them stepped forward and presented the birthday gifts they had brought.

Birthday gifts are usually opened on the spot. Beitang Yuan presented a longevity picture he had painted himself.

The gift Xie Jinglan gave was not expensive, just a small jade Buddha, which was found in Lin Yuansheng's room.

It seemed very ordinary among the birthday gifts that the ministers had presented with great care.

There was nothing they could do. Who told them that the warehouse of Duke Li’s Mansion was “stolen”?

"You are so thoughtful!" the emperor said lightly and asked someone to accept it.

Beitang Hong felt somewhat proud when he saw that the birthday gift sent by the prince was so simple. Fortunately, the birthday gift he sent was not inferior to that of Beitang Yuan.

Lin Ruyan originally prepared a second-grade soul-restoring pill for him as a birthday gift in order to win the favor of Emperor Kunming.

Their purpose was to get Kunming's praise so that they could take the opportunity to say that it was made by Lin Ruyan. If the emperor was happy, he might agree to let Yan'er marry him as his concubine.

But after discovering that there was something wrong with Xie Jinglan's bowl of heart blood, he didn't dare to take it out.

It’s all Xie Jinglan’s fault, she disrupted their original plan.

"Your Highness, Miss Xie, please come this way."

Led by the eunuchs, Xie Jinglan sat in their seats.

Beitang Yuan was the crown prince, and his seat was just below Emperor Kunming.

Xie Jinglan and her brother had just sat down when they looked up and saw Sikong Xiao sitting opposite them.

Seeing her looking at him, Sikong Xiao smiled, picked up the cup and raised it to her from a distance.

Xie Jinglan also smiled back at him as a greeting.

However, this interaction between the two happened to be seen by Beitang Qing, who was so angry that she almost tore the handkerchief in her hand into pieces.

She has always liked Sikong Xiao, and her father also wants to arrange their marriage.

But he was rejected by Sikong Xiao in person.

Since then, he has never given her a good look, but now he smiles so brightly at Xie Jinglan, which is a treatment she has never received before.

There must be some affair between these two people?