Shocking! Five men are in love with the same woman!

Ling Yan naturally felt those particularly disgusting gazes directed at her.

She also glanced subtly at the people in the hall.

Aside from Prince Rui, the most handsome among them is Prince Xiang, Xiao Yiqun, who is the same age as Prince Rui and shares the same mother as Emperor Jingzhao.

The others were good-looking too, but none of them were as stunning as Lingyan.

But she's a principled womanizer and would never do anything like incest.

So those who have designs on her should stay away from her.

Otherwise, she will make them pay a bloody price.

At this moment, Emperor Jingzhao also saw her appearance clearly and nodded in satisfaction.

He truly deserves his son.

But the Empress was not so satisfied.

She was already unhappy with the marriage and had thought it could be put on hold.

Who would have thought that her son would suddenly tell her last year that he wanted to fulfill the marriage contract, which made her furious.

She had never seen her son so stubborn and determined, even threatening her to force her to agree.

She already had no good feelings towards her at that time.

Now, seeing her with such a seductive appearance and sickly look, she was extremely dissatisfied.

But seeing His Majesty's extremely satisfied expression, she could only suppress her anger for the time being.

There will always be opportunities to make things difficult for her in the future.

After Emperor Jingzhao offered them seats, he spoke like an old father, saying, "After you are married, you will be one. You must love, understand, and tolerate each other, because you will share both honor and misfortune."

The two quickly stood up and agreed.

Emperor Jingzhao then asked, "Your health is so poor; have you seen the imperial physician?"

Xiao Muyao replied, "Father, I have not yet seen the imperial physician."

Emperor Jingzhao immediately instructed, "When we return to the palace, have the imperial physician examine your pulse carefully. After all, you can't stay sick forever. Only when you are well can you produce offspring for the royal family as soon as possible."

Xiao Muyao immediately stood up and replied, "Thank you, Father. Your subject obeys the decree."

Lingyan also stood up and replied, "Thank you, Father Emperor."

At this moment, the Empress finally had a chance to speak up: "Even if you can't recover your health, it doesn't matter. You don't need to feel pressured. Anyway, the Prince can marry concubines and let them have children."

After saying that, he waited to see her panicked reaction.

But she remained smiling, seemingly unconcerned.

The empress nearly made herself vomit blood from anger.

Even after all this, she still didn't react?

Is it true that they don't care?

Or is he just pretending?

She was angry no matter which one it was.

Xiao Muyao's face was cold and his voice was icy as he said, "Thank you for your concern, Mother, but I will make my own decisions. You can take care of the affairs of the palace."

The Empress was even angrier, but also felt somewhat aggrieved.

She was clearly just concerned about her son, so how could she have done something wrong?

Seeing the tense standoff between the mother and son, Emperor Jingzhao smiled and smoothed things over, saying, "I mainly wanted to meet my newlywed daughter-in-law today and get to know my family. Now that you've met her, and the Empress Dowager is waiting for you, you may leave."

The two rose, curtsied, and then left the main hall.

On the way to the Empress Dowager's palace, Shou Kang Palace, Ling Yan asked in confusion, "Does the Empress have some misunderstanding about me? Why does she seem to dislike me so much?"

Xiao Muyao sighed.

Helplessly, he replied, "This is also my fault. After I met you last year, I told my mother that I would marry no one but you. My mother was furious and disagreed. I pleaded with her gently, but she still disagreed. So I threatened her, and she finally agreed. It must have been from that time that my mother took her anger out on you."

So that's how it all started.

She understands too.

But she would never allow herself to be wronged.

Xiao Muyao assured her, "Yan'er, don't worry. If you don't like being around the Empress Dowager, then we won't be around her. I will do my best to resolve her hostility towards you and I won't let you suffer any injustice. You can trust me."

He loved his mother and he also loved Yan'er.

Therefore, he would not put himself in a dilemma, nor would he allow either of them to get hurt.

Even if we can't live in harmony, we should at least try to live in peace.

Lingyan smiled and replied, "I believe you, but if the Empress makes things difficult for me, I will not swallow my anger."

Xiao Muyao smiled and said, "That's natural."

Lingyan felt that she should try not to enter the palace in the future. Anyway, she was portrayed as a weak, innocent, and sickly person, which would definitely save her a lot of trouble.

Because she can use feigning illness to avoid many things, it's practically perfect.

Then she wouldn't have many opportunities to have contact with the Empress.

The answer is always the same: I'm sick and can't go out.

Therefore, she must maintain this persona.

………………

After arriving at Shou Kang Palace.

They were only allowed in after being notified.

As soon as Ling Yan entered the main hall, she felt two unrestrained and malicious gazes staring at her.

She remained calm and curtsied along with Xiao Muyao.

But suddenly, the Empress Dowager's angry shout came from the head of the table: "How dare you be so disrespectful to me! Guards, let Princess Rui learn some manners!"

As soon as she finished speaking, two burly old women came to grab her, trying to force her to kneel down.

Ling Yan remained completely calm.

Because they couldn't get close to her at all.

As expected, Xiao Muyao shielded her behind him, a fierce glint in his eyes, and said in an icy voice, "Grandmother, what do you intend to do to my wife?"

Seeing his blatant protection, the Empress Dowager became even angrier and retorted, "I only wanted to teach her some manners. On the second day of our marriage, she dared to be so disrespectful to me, not even performing the proper kneeling ceremony. Am I not allowed to discipline her?"

Lingyan knew that this old hag was using this as an excuse to deliberately cause trouble.

Looking up at the Empress Dowager, he saw that she indeed had a harsh and unpleasant expression.

She completely lacked the demeanor expected of an empress dowager.

The Empress Dowager and the woman behind her saw her face and were immediately stunned.

It's no wonder that Prince Rui was so determined to marry her, given her looks.

Lingyan then looked at the Empress Dowager at the head of the table with a smile and asked, "May I ask, Empress Dowager, who is more senior, His Majesty or the Empress Dowager?"

The Empress Dowager didn't understand why she asked that, but still said irritably, "Of course His Majesty is superior."

Lingyan then asked, "So, who decides the affairs of the world, His Majesty or the Empress Dowager?"

The Empress Dowager wanted to say that some things were of course up to her, but she couldn't say that.

He could only say again, "Of course, it's His Majesty's decision."

Hearing the satisfactory answer, Lingyan smiled and said, "Since the Empress Dowager also agrees with this idea, and His Majesty has already graciously exempted his granddaughter-in-law from the kneeling ceremony, does Your Majesty intend to defy the imperial decree now?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the Empress Dowager was startled.

Even the woman standing behind her was astonished.

Because only princes and princesses, meritorious officials and elderly ministers were granted this honor, which allowed them to not kneel before the emperor.

And what right does she have? She's just an outsider.

The Empress Dowager was angry, annoyed, and resentful.

The woman behind her was filled with jealousy and hatred.

Lingyan knew that the Empress Dowager could not use this excuse to punish her, so she leisurely found a seat and sat down as if she were at home.

Knowing that the Empress Dowager was going to make things difficult again, she coughed twice and then said weakly, "Just now, my father took pity on his granddaughter-in-law's frail health and gave her a seat. Your Majesty is also an elder, and should love the younger generation as much as my father does. Surely you wouldn't refuse to even give her a seat?"

What could the Empress Dowager say?

She used His Majesty to pressure her; if she disagreed, she would be going against His Majesty and would also be branded as someone who didn't care for the younger generation.

I can only feel frustrated and want to lash out, but I can't.

Xiao Muyao looked at her with a smile, his face full of doting affection. He truly loved Yan'er like this.

The woman behind the Empress Dowager stared at Xiao Muyao with infatuation, her jealousy palpable as she watched him look at that woman, almost tearing her handkerchief to shreds.