The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

"Grandfather, it was Qiong Niang who was inconsiderate and made a mistake." Qiong Niang, who had calmed down, was terrified. Her wrong decision almost put Shen Tianjiao in a whirlpool.

"Girl, remember, Jiaojiao is now the Queen. She is not only the head of the harem, but she is also the Queen who exercises the power of governance on behalf of the Emperor."

"Her status in the harem, or in the previous dynasty, is completely different now. Not to mention others, even that person has to respect her seven points now."

"So, now she doesn't have to see anyone she doesn't want to see. Even if she's not in the palace, no one dares to act rashly."

Ruan Yuhu, who has been imprisoned in this harem for decades and has spent his entire life in this small world, is the most sober and rational.

"Yes, Qiong Niang has noted it." Qiong Niang was very upset at this moment. She shouldn't have made such a low-level mistake.

Shen Tianjiao was busy outside the palace detoxifying Marquis Zhenbei, while Qiong Niang and Chunchao were also busy in the palace.

The two of them were busy collecting evidence of various illegal crimes in Prince Qing's mansion. Before leaving the palace, Shen Tianjiao had already told Qiong Niang and Chunchao that Li Hong might unite the court officials to oppose her.

Therefore, in order to give Shen Tianjiao more leverage when the time comes, the two of them collected a lot of information about Prince Qing's mansion and the border crossing.

Although these things cannot bring down Li Hong immediately, they will make him unable to take care of himself and be threatened.

The little palace maid rescued by Shen Tianjiao and Qiong Niang has also woken up after treatment.

What she said about the white fox was enough to shock people and destroy their worldview.

"Alright, let's go back. It's useless for you two to go out. It will only attract gossip."

To deal with Li Rui, only Ruan Yuhu is needed.

"Thank you, ancestor." Qiong Niang and Chunchao lowered their heads and watched Ruan Yuhu leave out of the corner of their eyes.

Only when Ruan Yuhu disappeared did Qiong Niang and Chunchao breathe a sigh of relief.

Thanks to this ancestor's timely appearance, otherwise I really don't know how to clean up this mess today?

"What should we do about that?" Chunchao looked at Qiong Niang. This matter involved too many things and it was beyond the ability of the two of them to handle.

Now Shen Tianjiao is outside the palace and can't take care of anything at all. After all, the safety of Marquis Zhenbei is more important than anything else.

Qiong Niang thought for a moment and said, "Why not tell the old ancestor? Ah Jiao has told me before that if there is anything, I can tell the old ancestor."

"Yeah." Chunchao nodded. Shen Tianjiao did say this.

Ruan Yuhu, supported by Ju Ruo, came to the gate of Yuxiu Palace. When the eunuch guarding the gate saw her coming, he hurried forward to pay his respects.

"Open the palace gate." As soon as Ruan Yuhu gave the order, the young eunuch immediately opened the palace gate.

When Ruan Yuhu came out, she saw Li Rui getting off the dragon chariot in anger. She smiled slightly and walked forward. She looked at Li Rui and did not salute him, but just bowed slightly.

"Your Majesty, I am sorry to have kept you waiting. Today, there is indeed a reason for something to happen. I am sure Your Majesty has heard that the crane given by the late emperor escaped because the servant who was guarding it neglected his duty."

"Right now, everyone in Yuxiu Palace is trying to catch it. After all, it was given by the late emperor, and it's a symbol of good fortune. If it flies away or something happens to it, it will be terrible. I hope the emperor will forgive me."

Ruan Yuhu brought up the late emperor at this time just to shut Li Rui up. A crane was not as noble as Emperor Li Rui, but it was a gift from the late emperor.

Even if Li Rui was furious at this moment, he did not dare to offend the late emperor. Otherwise, if the accusation of his disrespect for the late emperor were to spread, then he, the emperor known for his "filial piety", would be slapping himself in the face.

There is also a legend behind this crane. When the late emperor was seriously ill, this crane, which was still a cub at the time, suddenly flew in front of the late emperor from nowhere.

Then a miraculous thing happened. The emperor, who was seriously ill and had been sentenced to death, suddenly recovered miraculously.

At that time, the late emperor believed that the crane was a sign of good fortune sent from heaven and a gift from God, so he kept it by his side.

This matter was known not only to the imperial palace but also to the entire Yunli Kingdom. However, only the parties involved knew the truth of the matter.

As a good omen, this crane was given to Ruan Yuhu when the previous emperor passed away. He has raised it until now, but it is so old that it can no longer fly.

Li Rui looked at Ruan Yuhu and suppressed all the dissatisfaction and anger in his heart. Even though he was now an emperor, he still didn't dare to act rashly in front of Ruan Yuhu.

This crane is a symbol of good fortune and has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of every Yunli person, so Li Rui did not dare to do anything to it.

If he dared to do anything to the crane, he would be drowned in saliva.

So for what happened today, he could only consider himself unlucky and swallow his anger.

"I, too, heard about this incident, so I came to take a look. How's it going? Did you catch the crane?"

Li Rui had arrived, but instead of entering Yuxiu Palace, he was stopped outside the door. If this matter were to get out, would he still be able to save his face?

So before he loses face, he must get it back.

"Not yet. I don't know what happened. It's usually very well-behaved and quiet, but today, for some reason, it suddenly became irritable."

"The palace is in chaos and the noise is too loud. We dare not disturb the emperor, so it is inconvenient to invite him in."

Ruan Yuhu was issuing an order to expel Li Rui, telling him that he could not enter the Yuxiu Palace today.

However, Ruan Yuhu did not lie. There was indeed chaos in Yuxiu Palace. Many people were chasing each other to catch the crane that was forced to work.

Li Rui showed a hint of displeasure on his face. He was really reluctant to go back like this.

"Where's the Queen? What is she doing? I'm here, and she doesn't know to come see me? What? Is she going to join in the crane hunt too?"

Looking at the man in front of him who had not yet faced reality and found his own position, Ruan Yuhu sighed silently in his heart.

"How could the Empress have the leisure and elegance to do this? She's so busy handling government affairs every day that she's almost forgotten to eat and sleep."

"He should be discussing disaster relief in Quzhou with the ministers right now. Quzhou has been experiencing torrential rain since the beginning of summer. If disaster relief is not provided quickly to comfort the people there, I'm afraid chaos will break out in the capital."

This is true. Quzhou has indeed suffered a disaster. The memorial requesting disaster relief arrived yesterday. Shen Tianjiao is not in the palace, so it was Qiong Niang who handled the matter.

Ruan Yuhu is indeed the one who can best control Li Rui and understands his thoughts the best.

When Li Rui heard about the disaster relief, his desire to enter Yuxiu Palace stopped. As long as it involved spending money, Li Rui would always stay as far away from it as possible.

"Thank you for your hard work, Queen. Since she is busy, I will not disturb her. I will visit her another day."

Li Rui no longer cared about his face at this time. He turned around and got on the dragon chariot and left.

Ruan Yuhu looked at Li Rui's receding back and shook his head helplessly. This emperor was ultimately wasted.

"Let's go back." Ruan Yuhu, supported by Ju Ruo, entered the gate of Yuxiu Palace. "Tell them to stop chasing. Later, you can get more small fish and shrimp to feed the big baby. It has worked hard today."

It is really difficult for a crane with a calm temperament to be forced to work.

The usually serious Ju Ruo couldn't help but laugh. Ruan Yuhu saw her smile and patted her, "What are you laughing at, girl?"

"It's nothing, I just feel good all of a sudden and want to laugh." The Yuxiu Palace is different from other palaces. The longer you stay here, the better your mood will become.

"Master, why didn't we know that Yuxiu Palace was so good before? If we had known earlier, we should have moved here sooner."

Although Ruan Yuhu has a high status in the harem, he is not immune to the dirty and troublesome things in the palace, and he has suffered a lot of grievances and injustices over the years.

Since coming to Yuxiu Palace, all those bad things have gone away, my mood has improved, and my whole mental state has changed.

"Okay, stop being greedy. It's just right to come now." Although Ruan Yuhu said this, she thought the same as Ju Ruo in her heart.

"Grandfather." Ruan Yuhu, who was talking to Ju Ruo, was startled by the word "Grandfather".

Ruan Yuhu looked up and saw Qiong Niang and Chunchao, so he smiled and said, "You two girls, why haven't you gone back yet? Have you finished your work?"

"How can we possibly finish all the work we have to do?" Qiong Niang smiled and stepped forward to support Ruan Yuhu. "When the Empress left, she told me to tell you if anything comes up."

"There is a very difficult matter right now, and I still need you to make the decision, ancestor."

Ruan Yuhu glanced at Qiong Niang and asked, "This matter must be really difficult, otherwise you wouldn't come to me for help."

"Tell me what the problem is, and see if I, an old woman, can give you some advice."

Qiong Niang smiled and said, "Thank you very much, Old Ancestor. This is not the place to talk. Please move to the Tingyin Pavilion and sit down."

Although most of the servants in Yuxiu Palace are from the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, with so many people, it is inevitable that one or two outsiders will sneak in, so it is better to be cautious when doing things.

"Okay, lead the way." Ruan Yuhu understood and knew that what Qiong Niang wanted to say must be of great importance.

Tingyin Pavilion was a place that Shen Tianjiao specially had people clean up for Qiong Niang to live in. It was connected to Shen Tianjiao's Qingluan Palace.

Li Muyang also lives here usually. Shen Tianjiao is so busy that she has no time to take care of Li Muyang, so Li Muyang is taken care of by Qiong Niang.

This was the first time that Ruan Yuhu came out of her residence. She knew that Tingyin Pavilion was where Li Muyang and Qiong Niang lived.

Ruan Yuhu loved this child from the bottom of her heart who often came to play with her and brought her delicious snacks.

It is a very happy thing for Ruan Yuhu to be able to visit where he lives today.

Qiong Niang had tea and snacks served, and then dismissed her attendants, leaving only her, Chunchao, and Ruan Yuhu, the master and servant.

"Tell me, what happened?" Seeing Qiong Niang's nervous look in front of him, Ruan Yuhu also became a little uneasy.

"Grandfather, do you still remember Tian Qingqing, who was promoted from Concubine to Rupin, and then demoted from Rupin to Concubine?"

Qiong Niang almost called out Tian Qingqing's nickname "White Fox" just now. She was used to being casual in front of Shen Tianjiao, and she really couldn't adapt to the sudden change of person.

"You're talking about that white fox, what happened to her? Why doesn't she just stay in Yuzhu Garden? What's going on?"

Qiong Niang was stunned. She didn't expect that Tian Qingqing's nickname would be said so openly from Ruan Yuhu's mouth. This old ancestor is indeed the most powerful person in the palace. She usually never leaves the house, but nothing can be hidden from her.

"What's wrong? Go on." Ruan Yuhu Qiongniang didn't say anything. She took a sip of tea and looked at her and urged her.

"Oh." Qiong Niang smiled sheepishly after coming to her senses, then continued, "A few days ago, when the Empress and I were strolling around the Imperial Garden, we rescued a young palace maid from nearly drowning in Biluo Lake."

"This palace maid was lucky. She was strangled unconscious, put into a sack and carried to Biluo Lake to be drowned. She happened to meet the Empress and this servant. We rescued her and brought her back to Yuxiu Palace."

"She was able to survive after being nursed for a few days. When I went to see her yesterday, she told me some things about Tian Qingqing."

"You and Jiaojiao have wandered far and wide in the Imperial Gardens, even ending up in the Cold Palace. You really don't think it's bad luck."

Ruan Yuhu shook his head helplessly and smiled. It was obvious that these two girls were out to cause trouble, and they even found such a poor excuse for themselves.

Qiong Niang chuckled and said, "It's true that we wandered a little far, but if it weren't for this, how could we have saved this little palace maid and learned Tian Qingqing's big secret?"

"Okay, tell me, what's the big secret? You've aroused my curiosity."

After many years in the palace, Ruan Yuhu had already developed the habit of not being alarmed by anything, but after arriving at Yuxiu Palace, she seemed to have become different from before.

"Yes, this little palace maid is called A Yue. She is a maid who serves Tian Qingqing and cleans the courtyard."

"A few days ago, the maid who served Tian Qingqing fell ill, so she was temporarily sent to deliver food to Tian Qingqing. Unexpectedly, she caught Tian Qingqing having an affair with someone. That person was none other than Princess Yuyao's husband, Su Wenzhi."

Ruan Yuhu's hand trembled as she held the teacup. Has the harem become so chaotic now? The current prince consort and the emperor's concubines are openly committing adultery in broad daylight. Is this really a sign of the country's demise?

"Su Wenzhi, huh! After hiding for so long, are you finally ready to reveal your true identity?"

Ruan Yuhu sighed, looked into the distance and said, "The Su family, a family of a hundred years of noble character, is ultimately unable to escape the mundane world. The Su family truly raised a good son."