The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

"Xiao Man...she actually already...that Xuan'er..."

The queen wiped her tears gently, looked up and asked Gu Li.

"Xuan'er was rescued by Huang Shuo, the head of the Xiaoman Escort Agency. She had been living in hiding and struggling to survive. Only recently, by chance, did she become the virtuous princess and marry Hua'er. It can be said that after all the hardships, she finally got her happy ending."

Gu Li briefly explained Zhao Xuan's situation to the Queen.

"That's good, that's good..." The Queen breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally, Xuan'er was saved."

"Queen, it's been so many years, it's time for you to let it go. Why don't you join me for the family dinner tonight?"

Gu Li looked at the queen earnestly and persuaded her.

The queen sighed softly, closed her eyes slightly, and shook her head.

"Your Majesty, if you still have me, your queen, in your heart, please let me be willful for once. You are Your Majesty, and state affairs are more important. No matter how painful it is, you must let it go. I understand.

But I have long been accustomed to such a peaceful life and do not want to be bothered by the trivial matters of the harem anymore. Moreover, Concubine Shu has been very attentive in managing the harem over the years. Now Cheng'er and Hua'er can stand on their own, and I am very relieved.

The queen opened her eyes and looked at Gu Li, with deep sorrow in her eyes.

"Your Majesty, please let me quietly accompany our Ming'er in this Buddhist temple!"

Gu Li did not continue to persuade him. He came here with a glimmer of hope, but he knew in his heart that it might not work.

The pain of losing her son had already devastated the Empress, and she had only held on until now because she cared about him. She was afraid that if something happened to her again, the Emperor would be too heartbroken. What if...

Alas! Gu Li sighed, pressed his eyebrows, and put aside all these possible thoughts and stopped thinking about them.

"Well... well, I'll do as you say. However, I still have something I want to discuss with the Queen."

"Your Majesty, please speak."

Gu Li stood up and walked into the Buddhist hall. He saw the tablet of Crown Prince Gu Deming standing quietly in front of the shrine, with incense and candles burning in the air. The queen also stood up and followed Gu Li, also silently gazing at her son's tablet.

Gu Li quickly calmed down, turned to look at the queen, and spoke sincerely.

"After Xiaoman died, Huang Shuo buried her in Qingshan Valley. I asked Xuan'er, and she didn't want to disturb her master's peace and quiet. So I can't force Xiaoman's grave to be moved back and properly buried. I'd also like the Queen to set up a memorial tablet for Xiaoman and pray for her soul to be reborn on my behalf."

"Your Majesty, what you think is what I think. Even if Your Majesty didn't mention it, I would do the same. Let her stay with Ming'er. In the past, Ming'er really liked to pester his Aunt Zhao to tell stories..."

The queen agreed immediately. She remembered that when her son was a child, whenever Zhao Xiaoman came to the palace, her son and his two younger brothers would follow her like little tails.

"Aunt Zhao! Aunt Zhao! The story of Nezha's chaos in the sea hasn't been finished yet! I want to hear it!"

"Aunt Zhao! Aunt Zhao! Can you tell me the story of Yugong moving the mountains again?"

……

The son tugged at Zhao Xiaoman's clothes in a baby voice, his little face full of anticipation.

The queen was lost in thought as she thought about the past, a smile appearing on her face.

Gu Li did not disturb the queen anymore and turned away silently.

From then on, the queen placed Zhao Xiaoman's tablet next to her son Gu Deming's tablet, and Buddhist music lingered in the air every day.

?

On the day of the family banquet on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Hao Xiong had not returned to Beijing yet, and Huang Shuo insisted on not going, so Tian Xueyan stayed with Huang Shuo. Zhao Xuan and Gu Zhanghua only brought Xiao Yixian to attend the family banquet in the palace.

Huang Shuo actually had his own reasons for not attending the family dinner. He kept himself mysterious and was known as a hidden hero. He appeared in front of everyone too frequently, especially since his father-in-law was the emperor of Xia.

What if he said something inappropriate and embarrassed Zhao Xuan? He didn't want to support Zhao Xuan as a village blacksmith. The hermit hero was much more reliable!

The family banquet was held in a side hall of Qilan Hall.

At sunset, the side hall was already full of people, and the candlelight in the hall made the main hall as bright as day.

Gu Li and Xiao Aiyue sat in the main seats, and the others sat on both sides of the hall, leaving the middle empty for singing and dancing performances.

Gu Zhanghua and Zhao Xuan, Gu Jiancheng's family of three, Ma Baoguo and Li Cuihua, Gu Jingfeng naturally brought his twelve wives, and Gu Li's sworn brother Qin Shao and his family of three were all present.

Gu Li was the first to stand up from his seat, pick up his glass and make an opening remark.

"After many years, the palace finally held a family dinner again. Some relatives are no longer with us, but there are also new relatives."

As Gu Li spoke, he looked at Gu Huai'en in Ma Zhenzhen's arms. The little baby was smiling at him with his big black eyes. This reminded Gu Li of Gu Deming's childhood, and he felt both sad and relieved.

He took a deep breath and turned to glance at the people in the side hall.

"Today we are all gathered together to celebrate Huai En's birth, and secondly to congratulate Xiao Wu and his wife on their safe return. We are all family, so don't be restrained. Let me toast everyone first!"

Everyone hurriedly stood up, holding their glasses and toasting with Gu Li.

Gu Zhanghua was about to sit down after finishing his drink when Zhao Xuan pulled him aside. Zhao Xuan filled their glasses with wine and raised them to everyone.

"The virtuous king and I were able to return safely from our trip to Yue Kingdom thanks to everyone! Father, mother, second brother and sister-in-law, Lord Ma, General Qin, the virtuous king and I would like to express our gratitude to you all!"

Zhao Xuan and Gu Zhanghua drank it all again.

Gu Zhanghua was dizzy and grinning.

"We also bought gifts for everyone! Shishu! Qing'e!"

Gu Zhanghua waved towards the door of the hall, and two people who had been prepared hurriedly led the guards of Prince Xian's Mansion carrying two large boxes in.

Qing'e and Shishu opened the lids of the two boxes respectively, and silks, satins, jewelry and jades were immediately displayed in front of everyone.

Zhao Xuan and Gu Zhanghua stepped forward, Zhao Xuan was responsible for delivering the gifts to the female members, and Gu Zhanghua was responsible for delivering the gifts to the men. The two were very busy and had a lot of fun.

Everyone was holding a gift and smiling so hard that their teeth were showing.

Gu Li carefully looked at the precious Hu brush in his hand, and suddenly looked at Xiao Aiyue beside him in confusion.

"Why didn't the kids buy you a present?"

Xiao Aiyue smiled and said to Gu Li secretly.

"Your Majesty, my two boxes of gifts were delivered to Qilan Palace yesterday!"

"Haha! You're really biased!"

Gu Li pretended to be jealous.

"Your Majesty, you wouldn't be so petty, would you? Why don't you just go to my palace and take whatever you like?"

Xiao Aiyue was very generous. She exaggeratedly touched a dazzling gold and jade peacock hairpin on her head, and turned a moist and translucent jade bracelet on her wrist.

"What a pity! They are just women's ornaments. Your Majesty, they won't be of much use to you, right?"

Gu Li laughed in silence.

Xiao Aiyue nodded to the wet nurse standing beside her. The wet nurse immediately walked out of the hall quickly and soon returned with a group of dancers.

Melodious music sounded and the dancers began to dance.

Then, under the arrangement of Xiao Aiyue, who was the best at adjusting the atmosphere, everyone soon started chatting and laughing.

Gu Li felt very relieved to see his family gathered together again.

But soon, he realized that everyone present was quite normal, except Gu Jingfeng, who looked strange.

Gu Li waved and called Gu Jingfeng over, pointing at the twelve ladies that Gu Jingfeng brought with him.

"There are a bunch of people sitting over there and you don't care. Why do you keep harassing the Little Doctor Fairy?"

"Father, that wasn't harassment. I was asking for advice! I've already taken the Little Medical Immortal as my teacher and am learning the art of medicine!"

"Then why does the Little Medical Fairy dislike you so much when I see her? She even looks down on you and wants to stay away from you?"

"She initially agreed to teach Erchen, but later changed her mind."

"why?"

"Maybe he thinks my son's family has more people."

Gu Jingfeng didn't even think about it and shamelessly gave a reason.