Eavesdropping on Fu Bao's inner thoughts, emptying the stored grain and fleeing the famine

The Empress Dowager returned to the palace three days before her birthday. According to custom, all the princesses, consorts, and younger members of the family were required to come to the palace to pay their respects when the Empress Dowager returned.

Lian Rongrong usually hates trouble, but as the eldest daughter-in-law of the royal family, she couldn't refuse this matter.

The morning after the Empress Dowager returned to the palace, Lian Rongrong, Yan Mingyue, Princess Anping, and Princess Ling all came to the palace to pay their respects.

Besides a few female relatives, such as Fu Bao, Princess Le Yun, the youngest daughter of Prince Ling, also entered the palace.

Yan Mingyue has not conceived since marrying Li Yuanyi, and Anping's child rarely moves around the palace anymore because of the Qian Lin incident.

Inside the Cixi Palace, the Empress Dowager sat upright in a bright yellow court robe. Her headdress was also extremely ornate and solemn.

The phoenix crown is inlaid with nine dazzling gemstones, the most eye-catching of which is a six-inch pearl.

The pearl emitted a soft glow, seemingly complementing the Empress Dowager's dignified features.

However, outward appearances are often just a superficial deception; what truly reveals human nature is the human eye.

From the moment Lian Rongrong first saw the Empress Dowager, she deliberately paid attention to her eyes; those eyes were shrewd and sharp, with a deep and cold demeanor.

Lian Rongrong had a premonition that this old lady would be a big problem for her and Li Yuanqi.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager." All the women knelt down in unison to pay their respects.

The Empress Dowager glanced at the kneeling crowd, a meaningful look flashing in her eyes, but those with their heads bowed could not see it.

"Get up quickly. I'm not in the palace most of the year. It's quite lively here today since I've returned."

“You should have come back a long time ago. You have no idea how anxious I am without you here in the capital to keep things in order.”

Princess Ling immediately stood up and went forward to flatter him.

A hint of confusion flashed across Lian Rongrong's brows, but before she could think about it, she heard Fu Bao's voice.

[Since the death of the old prince, Prince Ling had been raised by the Empress Dowager, the old witch. Therefore, the old witch was exceptionally kind to Prince Ling's family.]

"Does Prince Ling not have a mother?"

Yes, but he seems to have gone mad. I heard that this Prince Ling's identity is unusual; he and the old witch are apparently mother and son.

Lian Rongrong's mind went blank for a moment. What the heck? Prince Ling is the Empress Dowager's son? If she remembered correctly, Prince Ling's father was the Empress Dowager's uncle, wasn't he?

Moreover, this old prince died young, much earlier than the late emperor.

If what Fu Bao said is true, then wouldn't the late emperor already have a green field on his head?

Lian Rongrong loves listening to gossip. If the current situation didn't prevent it, she would definitely have a good talk with her son.

Just as Lian Rongrong was lost in thought, the Empress Dowager's gaze suddenly fell on her.

"So you are Princess Consort Qi?" The Empress Dowager's voice was not particularly dignified; if one did not look closely into her eyes, one could even perceive a hint of kindness in her voice.

Upon hearing this, Lian Rongrong immediately bowed gracefully and replied, "Your Majesty, I am indeed the principal wife of Prince Qi."

"Very well, very well, she is quite generous and proper." There was no awkwardness or targeting as expected, and the Empress Dowager seemed genuinely satisfied with Lian Rongrong.

"This little fellow must be Prince Qi's son, right?" the Empress Dowager said, beckoning to Fu Bao.

Fu Bao looked at Lian Rongrong with some resistance, clearly not wanting to get close to the old hag he was talking about.

"What? Still shy? This won't do for a member of the royal family. Come here, let your ancestor take a look."

Even Rongrong looked at her son with some helplessness. After all, this was Cixi Palace, and the "ancestor" had spoken; there was no reason not to obey.

"Fine, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Go on. Just bear with the annoyance."

Lian Rongrong looked into Fu Bao's eyes and tried to persuade the little guy with her mind.

Fu Bao sighed like a little adult, and then staggered over to the Empress Dowager's side.

"This little guy is chubby and cute. Here, this is a gift from the ancestor."

The Empress Dowager waved her hand, and Wang Mama, who was beside her, came up with a tray.

On the carved wooden tray was a complete set of gold jewelry, the gold necklace being as thick as a little finger.

Those present couldn't help but admire the Empress Dowager's doting affection for the young prince.

However, mixed in with those praises were expressions of schadenfreude among the crowd.

Lian Rongrong obediently thanked the Empress Dowager and smiled as she accepted the "jealousy" of the crowd.

But she knew in her heart that the things the Empress Dowager sent were extremely valuable to ordinary people, but to the royal family they were nothing at all.

Moreover, such mundane items directly demonstrate the Empress Dowager's attitude towards Li Yuanqi and Fu Bao.

She wanted to tell everyone that she did not think Li Yuanqi would succeed as the new emperor, and she did not think Li Yuanqi's son would either.

After bestowing Fu Bao upon her, the Empress Dowager called Princess Le Yun to her side. It must be said that the Empress Dowager's gaze towards Le Yun showed a touch more of a grandmotherly affection.

Looking at the situation before her, Lian Rongrong was beginning to believe Fu Bao's "hearsay".

"Mingyue, the last time I saw you was when you and Yuanyi visited the imperial palace on your wedding day. Two years have passed since then, and there's still no sign of pregnancy in your belly?"

The Empress Dowager suddenly pointed at Yan Mingyue's head. Yan Mingyue blushed and whispered:

“The king was busy with state affairs and did not often stay in his private residence.”

"It's good to be ambitious, but you can't neglect having children. As the principal wife, it's your responsibility to produce offspring for the royal family."

You should learn this from your sister-in-law.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand." The fact that Yan Mingyue still has no children after her marriage is a hurdle she can't get over.

Now that the Empress Dowager has spoken about it in public, she feels even more humiliated, but since the other party is the Empress Dowager, how could she dare to complain?

Therefore, all his hatred was directed at the "sister-in-law" who gave birth to the prince.

After chatting with everyone for a few moments, the Empress Dowager seemed a little tired. Seeing this, Princess Ling quickly spoke up:

"Is Your Majesty tired? Your Majesty and I have troubled you for so long, it is time for us to return. You have just returned to the capital, you should rest well."

The Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction at Princess Ling's understanding.

"I'm getting old, I'm really useless now. Oh well, we'll see each other again in a couple of days. You should go back today."

The Empress Dowager slowly rose to her feet, and everyone else quickly curtsied in greeting.

"Oh, right." The Empress Dowager had just turned around when she suddenly stopped again.

"I do not wish to make a fuss about my birthday the day after tomorrow, so please do not send me any gold, silver, or jade items."

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances, but quickly realized what was happening and replied "Yes," before respectfully seeing the Empress Dowager off.

On the way out of the palace, Fu Bao noticed that Lian Rongrong looked a little pale, so she shook Lian Rongrong's arm with her chubby little hand.

Is Mommy unhappy?

"I wouldn't say I'm unhappy, I'm just a little annoyed."

What's wrong?

"I was thinking of giving the old hag some gold, silver and jade items to appease her on her birthday, but I didn't expect her to reject it with just one sentence."

【What's there to worry about? It saves money!】

Lian Rongrong looked at her own son noncommittally and nodded heavily.

“That makes a lot of sense. But you were right earlier, that old lady really is a witch.”