Repeatedly broken branches

They chatted inside for a long time, until Xiao Shao urged them from outside the door that it was time for lunch, and then they came out of the house one after the other.

Seeing Xiao Mu walk out with a rosy complexion and a smile, Liang Yuxue asked Song Xinning curiously, "Why does she look so happy? Did her cousin say something to her?"

Song Xinning suppressed a laugh, tapped Liang Yuxue's nose with her finger, and said coquettishly, "I don't know. Let's not pry into the affairs of those two siblings. Come on, let's go eat. I'm starving."

Throughout the meal, Yu Yanjing's gaze never left Xiao Mu. Xiao Mu, afraid that he would notice, nudged his shoulder with her elbow, signaling him to tone it down.

To everyone's surprise, Yu Yanjing not only didn't restrain himself, but kept putting food on her plate, and he didn't even use serving chopsticks, using his own. In their culture, it's customary for a husband to serve food to his wife.

Serving chopsticks are required; everyone else must use them, not even siblings.

Fortunately, Song Xinning and Liang Yuxue didn't care about these things; they treated their younger siblings the same way at home.

They chatted amongst themselves, while Yu Yanjing focused on serving Xiao Mu food and removing fish bones. He used chopsticks to pick them out one by one, not even letting the smallest bones go unchecked. It was truly admirable how patient he was.

"Your brother is so good to you. How can you find a brother like that? Tell me, I'll sell my brother first, and then go looking for him with a lantern!" Liang Yuxue couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Xiao Mu picked up a piece of fish that Yu Yanjing had carefully prepared and put it in her mouth, chewing it slowly. She turned to look at Yu Yanjing's serious expression and couldn't help but laugh, "How would I know? Otherwise, you can call him brother too. My brother is your brother..."

Yu Yanjing raised his eyes, a hint of violence flashing in them before disappearing in an instant.

Xiao Mu was startled. Was this guy threatening her?

Liang Yuxue shook her head. "I don't want to. What's so good about being a brother? If I weren't already married, I would definitely want to be your sister-in-law!"

Song Xinning said disdainfully, "This is the imperial palace. Watch your words, or someone with ulterior motives might overhear you!"

"Besides Consort Ruo, who else could it be?"

Xiao Mu asked in confusion, "What? Consort Ruo Zhao? Has Yin Fu'an taken in another new concubine?"

Liang Yuxue said indignantly, "Yes, it's not just anyone, it's Ruo'er, your sister's personal maid. I think she was your sister's dowry maid. I don't know how she got into the emperor's bed. Yin Fu'an has summoned her to serve him for five days in a row. She, who was originally a dowry maid, was actually made a Zhaoyi on her first day of service, second only to me!"

Ruo'er? She remembered that Ruo'er was her sister's only trusted maid. If her sister wasn't saddened by Ruo'er's favor, it was very likely that Ruo'er was just a pawn. She remembered that Ruo'er was considered outstanding among the palace maids. Did Yin Fu'an have no other women and had to choose from among the palace maids? And her former wife's personal maid? If Ruo'er was someone who had betrayed her master, then wouldn't her sister be left without anyone behind her?

Then her days in the palace will be even more difficult.

Yu Yanjing noticed her odd behavior. He, who had been silent all along, suddenly lowered his voice and said, "How can you fathom the emperor's thoughts? Some emperors would even take their own sisters, let alone a maid."

Xiao Mu glanced at him. Did he want to do the same? She hadn't forgotten that he was also an emperor. Throughout history, which emperor had only one woman in his harem? He had to divide his heart into several pieces to use it. How devoted!

A while ago, he was infatuated with Chen Lanhe and tried to please her all day long. Now that Ruo'er has come along, he dotes on her exclusively. He can do anything with anyone but his wife of many years. She really can't figure out Yin Fu'an.

Song Xinning took a sip of tea and said, "Consort Ruo is no pushover. I heard that as soon as she moved into Xiangyun Palace, she started beating and scolding the palace maids and eunuchs under her command. She even said some extremely disrespectful and foul words to Consort Xian. The Emperor is well aware of this, but he just doesn't want to interfere. He hasn't summoned Consort Xian for over a month... In the harem, one's position is determined by favor..."

The entire harem only has one empress, Chen Lanhe; one concubine, Xia Yunxu; one noble consort, Liang Yuxue; one imperial concubine, Ruo'er; and one beauty, Song Xinning. It still seems quite empty. In the future, Yin Fu'an will definitely fill his harem with more and more women. How can Xia Yunxu bear it? Perhaps, as she said, having a child will make everything better. Her fate in this life is only intertwined with the harem. Having a child might really make things better.

Yu Yanjing silently removed the thorns from Xiao Mu's head, and stopped talking.

Xiao Mu said worriedly, "My sister is naturally sentimental, and she's bound to be upset for a while now." New women will keep coming to the harem, so it's impossible for her to be upset every time. Otherwise, she'll just live a life of melancholy.

Liang Yuxue nodded and said, "Yes, if someone like that appeared under my command, I would definitely not let her get away with it. I would die with her!" After saying that, she angrily drank a glass of wine.

Song Xinning smiled bitterly. She could not let Yin Fu'an's favoritism towards others affect her emotions. Her heart was as hard as stone. She could only live like this with someone she didn't love in this life. Fortunately, that person's heart was multifaceted and wouldn't stay with her forever, otherwise she would definitely have fled this place.

After lunch, Song Xinning's personal maid, Miaozhu, came to report that the young masters from noble families in the court had entered the palace and were playing shooting magpies outside the Lichao Palace gate. She asked if they wanted to go and take a look...

Shooting magpies involves placing paper magpies in a row in front of you, with the names of prizes written on their bodies. These prizes range from jewelry for girls to jade pendants for men; there are quite a few different kinds of magpies.

The archer must stand more than ten meters away from the magpie and hold the bow. This is a great test of the archer's eyesight and there is a penalty. If the archer misses, he/she is punished with three cups of wine. If he/she misses the second time, he/she is punished with an additional cup, and so on.

Archery? Isn't that Yu Yanjing's forte? She has never seen him shoot an arrow before. If she could see him do it, that wouldn't be a bad idea.

Yu Yanjing wanted to refuse, but faced with Xiao Mu's eyes that were sparkling with affection, he couldn't utter a single word.

"Brother, you absolutely have to shoot me a gold pendant!"

"Brother, actually, jade earrings are quite nice too..."

"Brother, I think the pearl bracelet is nice too. Isn't it your favorite bracelet?"

Yu Yanjing was brainwashed by these calls of "brother," and he gradually lost himself in them. He became like a machine, coldly firing arrow after arrow.

Xiao Mu stared intently at him. He seemed like a king. The moment he received the arrow, his whole being, his eyes, were so confident. He drew the bowstring taut, released it gently, and the arrow pierced the magpie's eye without missing a beat. Everyone gasped in amazement. They had only ever seen such superb archery skills in books.

"what!"

Xiao Mu cheered, "Brother, you're amazing!" She looked at him with eyes full of admiration. "You're so incredible!" Xiao Mu put the pearl bracelet she won on Yu Yanjing's slender wrist, which shone brightly in the sunlight.

Liang Yuxue looked at them with envy, hating her brother for being so incompetent. She glared at her brother Liang Zhi, who was chatting and laughing with others.

Liang Zhi felt as if he were being pricked by needles all over his body, as if a pair of burning eyes were staring at him fiercely, making him feel uneasy.

He walked over and said to Liang Yuxue, "What's wrong with you? You look like you want to eat someone. What did I do to you?"

"You didn't do anything to me, but could you please practice your archery? Look at Xiaozhi's brother, and then look at you, I really don't want to talk to you!" Liang Yuxue's gaze drifted to Yu Yanjing.

Liang Zhi innocently said, "I'm a censor, it's good enough that I can hold a bow, do you expect me to shoot the moon for you?" He looked at his sister with disdain.

She acted like a child. Whenever she met a brother who was more capable than her own, she would compare him to her brother. If he couldn't compare, she would despise Liang Zhi. But she forgot that her brother and Deng Yizhi were the great talents of Jiuguang Kingdom!

She was still not satisfied.

Liang Zhi was also extremely helpless.

In the distance, Consort Ruo arrived in a very ostentatious manner, riding in a palanquin bestowed by the Emperor himself, accompanied by about twenty people. The Empress's entourage was the largest, with twenty-five people. She was second only to the Empress, truly showing how arrogant she was because of the Emperor's favor.

She sat high on the palanquin, smiling as she accepted the kneeling worship of the crowd.

Only Yu Yanjing and Xiao Mu stood there. As a relative of the emperor, he was exempt from the kneeling ceremony. Even if he wasn't exempt, how could he, the emperor of Chaoyang Kingdom, possibly kneel before a concubine who was originally a palace maid?

Ruo'er stepped off the imperial sedan chair, stepping on the backs of the palace servants. Xiao Mu caught a glimpse of Ruo'er's embroidered shoes, which were adorned with gold thread, jade beads, and gemstone beads. They were truly luxurious, even more so than the Empress's.

She walked step by step to Xiao Mu and the others, and called out sweetly, "Sisters, I'm late. Is everything over yet? Sigh, I didn't want this to happen. The Emperor just arrived and insisted on talking to me for a while. I told him I wanted to watch the archery, but he wouldn't let me go, so I couldn't do anything about it... What's wrong? Why didn't Consort Xian come?"

Everyone looked down on them.

Xiao Mu looked up at her and said slowly, "Don't you know very well why my sister didn't come? You used to be her servant, you should know her best, Consort Zhaoyi..."

Liang Yuxue chimed in, "Yes, you don't even know where your former master is. You really are... so disappointing, Consort Zhao."

Song Xinning glared at her and said indifferently, "Who remembers their old nest after climbing to the top? What do you know?"

Ruo'er was not angry at all; she still smiled and said, "Yes, Consort Xian always has the face of someone who has lost their husband. Who would want to talk to her? That's what the Emperor said!"

That scoundrel Yin Fu'an actually said such a thing! She didn't just lose her husband, she lost her father! Isn't that enough? Not only did he not comfort her, but he also said such things in front of his new favorite, who was once her maid!

Isn't this a blatant insult to Xia Yunxu?

Xiao Mu said, "I hope you can still smile after your father dies, then I'll truly believe you're madly in love with Yin Fu'an!"

Ruo'er frowned. "How dare you address the Emperor by his name?" She shouted, "You have no manners at all!"

Yu Yanjing said coldly, "You are the one who has no manners. You betrayed your master for personal gain. Your status is so low that it is already difficult for you to gain a foothold in the palace. You should just keep the Emperor's pity for you and live a quiet life. Why do you still come out and make yourself disliked? If I were you, I would have hanged myself with a three-foot white silk ribbon after doing such a shameless thing."

Xiao Mu was speechless. When Yu Yanjing started to argue, he didn't care about anyone. This wasn't his Chaoyang Kingdom, and he wasn't the emperor. He treated Yin Fu'an's concubines like his own palace maids, which really showed his masterly qualities.

Liang Yuxue clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Young Master Bai spoke so well! You said everything I couldn't say or even think of!"

Song Xinning suppressed a laugh.

"Oh right, I forgot to mention, this is my brother, my mother, Empress Bai, a member of the Western Regions royal family. He just returned from the Northern Border, and even Yin Fu'an can't control him!" Xiao Mu kindly reminded him.

Well, she made up this identity too, but coincidentally, Xia Yunzhi happens to have such a cousin who is actually traveling in the Northern Border and hasn't returned yet, so Yin Fu'an can't find out anything even if he tries to investigate. For now, they can only make do with this mistake.

Ruo'er wouldn't listen to her at all, crying and demanding to find Yin Fu'an to stand up for her. She was helped into the imperial sedan chair by her maid.

Yu Yanjing and Xiao Mu have already returned; they parted ways outside the palace gates.

Yu Yanjing looked at her reluctantly and said, "Do you still remember my address?"

Xiao Mu nodded and said, "Of course I remember. You go back first, and I'll come to visit you in a while, brother." She said this deliberately in front of the coachman.

……

Back at the manor, after a day of playing around, Xiao Mu was probably tired. After taking a hot bath, she lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

I slept until lunchtime the next day.

Xiao Mu was puzzled. Recently, Zhou Tingxi had been waking her up for breakfast, but not today. Even when she slept until lunchtime, he would send someone to bring her food.

Could it be that he knows something and is thinking about what to do?

still is……

He went to see other women again? That makes sense. There's no such thing as a one-time thing or a recurring pattern of infidelity. He's done it once, so there will be a second and a third time. Even though she doesn't care, she still feels betrayed.

Xiao Shao brought lunch: braised lion's head meatballs and a bowl of vegetarian noodles. Oh, today is a vegetarian day. Xue Shi likes to eat vegetarian food and worship Buddha, and on the first day of each month, she can only eat vegetarian food. These lion's head meatballs are made of sweet potato and starch and have no meat inside.

Xiao Mu took a bite of the lion's head meatball, glancing intentionally or unintentionally at the door, and asked somewhat nervously, "Where's Zhou Tingxi? Why didn't he come to see me today?"

Xiao Shao smiled and said, "The general has gone on an expedition. His Majesty wants him to recover the southern border, so they set off last night. It will take a month to get to the south, and they will have to take a boat to cross the border."

So she went to work. She thought Zhou Tingxi knew something, which was even better, as it would be more convenient for her to go out. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that she had been trying to please Zhou Tingxi recently, he might not have let her go out. Even if she did go out, she would have to bring more than a dozen attendants, so what would be the point?

She pondered for a moment, realizing she hadn't been to the Erjin Tavern in a long time and suddenly missed their pomegranate wine. Why not invite Yu Yanjing to go for a drink?

Xiao Shao stopped her, "The old lady said she wants you to accompany her to burn incense and pray for... for the general."

"Pray for blessings?" Xiao Mu asked, puzzled. "Isn't it about reclaiming the Southern Territory? It's that simple, why would we need to pray for blessings?"

Xiao Shao didn't know either. She said, "The old lady is used to praying for the general when he goes to war. You should go with her. The old lady has been very kind to you..."

Xiao Mu nodded, "Okay, I'll go. Just help me get ready."