Repeatedly broken branches

Jiang Qi smiled politely as he looked at You and Shuangru who had arrived, gesturing for them to greet him. You couldn't dislike her anymore; she was so beautiful and elegant, with the demeanor of a well-bred lady.

And what am I?

How could he be worthy of Wei Hao, who was already a deputy general?

"You, prepare a set of clothes for me to leave the palace. Jiang Qi and I are going out. Also, prepare a carriage. Don't tell the Emperor; he's very busy," Xiao Mu said after glancing at You, who had just arrived.

You obediently returned to Zining Palace and began preparing the things the Empress needed for her departure. As she packed, she kept thinking about why the Empress and Jiang Qi were so close, and why they were so close that they left the palace together.

After seeing Xiao Mu and Jiang Qi off into the carriage, You stood there blankly, watching the carriage drive further and further away. Only then did she realize that in the Empress's eyes, she was nothing more than a palace maid, someone who could be ordered around at will.

On the way back, she vaguely raised her head. The rain had stopped, but a layer of mist still filled the air. She couldn't see the sun, which was hidden by dark clouds, nor could she see the person she wanted to see.

Although they are not far apart, it feels like they are thousands of miles apart.

She never imagined that love could be such a painful thing; in less than a year, it felt like they had known and stayed together for hundreds of years.

Isn't it utterly ridiculous? That person is getting married less than a month after their falling out, and she thought he would be sad for a while...

“Miss Jiang went to the palace to accompany the Empress today, aren’t you going to go and see her?” Zhou Tingxi turned around and asked Wei Hao, who was following in the kitchen.

Wei Hao's expression didn't change much. He replied calmly, "The elders in the palace say that newlyweds cannot meet before their wedding."

Deng Yizhi laughed, "There's a similar saying in Chen Kingdom!" Heaven doesn't want Chen Kingdom to be called Jiuguang; he believes that one day, Chen Kingdom will still be Chen Kingdom.

Yu Yanjing raised an eyebrow slightly, asking with a puzzled look, "What's the explanation?"

Shen Ruoxuan answered first, "They won't be happy!"

Yu Yanjing suddenly stopped and glanced back at Shen Ruoxuan, his eyes flashing with cold light.

Shen Ruoxuan didn't know why he reacted this way. She suddenly remembered how many times Yu Yanjing had met the Empress before their marriage, and realized that she had just said the wrong thing.

He reached up and slapped his mouth, muttering, "I'm talking nonsense, I'm talking nonsense... Hey, isn't that You, the Empress's attendant? Why is she so absent-minded?"

You walked through another door, her head down.

"You." Yu Yanjing called out to her.

Wei Hao dared not go any further, nor did he dare to get closer to the girl the Emperor had called to stop. He knew she probably didn't want to see him.

You looked at the owner of the voice with great fear. Yu Yanjing was also extremely puzzled as to why You would have such an expression when she met him.

"Your Majesty...is there anything I can do for you?" You lowered her head, which was always her attitude towards Yu Yanjing. She never dared to raise her head to look at him, let alone look him in the eyes to answer him.

"What's all the rush about?" Yu Yanjing asked.

"This servant...this servant..." For a moment, You couldn't give a reason, and was extremely flustered.

"Miss You, don't rush, tell me slowly," Shen Ruoxuan gently comforted her from the side.

You Cai calmed down and said lightly, "This servant will escort Her Majesty the Empress and Miss Jiang out of the palace."

Yu Yanjing's pupils darkened slightly. "What is it?"

"This slave doesn't know."

If even You doesn't know something, then it must be something extraordinary. Yu Yanjing knows Xiao Mu's personality very well; she won't even tell those close to her important matters.

You's gaze swept through the crowd and landed on Wei Hao. Wei Hao, who should have kept his head down and remained silent, inexplicably raised his head and met You's gaze directly.

Those deep green eyes again, those eyes full of emotion, the eyes he longed for most in his midnight dreams.

He didn't say a word, yet it seemed as if he had said a thousand words.

You smiled slightly.

Wei Hao's heart trembled several times. He wished he could immediately push through the crowd and hold her tightly in his arms, but unfortunately he had very little courage, so little that he didn't even dare to say a word to her.

"emperor."

"Your Majesty, we should go to Zhongzi Palace."

"Your Majesty, what...are you thinking about?"

After You left, Yu Yanjing stood there for a long time, and Shen Ruoxuan and the others called him several times but he did not respond.

Yu Yanjing lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then said, "I won't go. You may go."

Shen Ruoxuan hesitated. "But the ministers are all waiting in Zhongzi Hall. It wouldn't be appropriate for you not to go, because... Your Majesty... where are you going?"

Before Shen Ruoxuan could finish speaking, Yu Yanjing turned and ran towards his palace. He was so fast that Shen Ruoxuan only felt a gust of wind pass in front of him before he disappeared.

Zhou Tingxi could tell that he was going to find Xiaozhi, because he had gone to look for Xiaozhi in the past more than once. He understood Yu Yanjing's worries and knew that he had no mind to manage state affairs.

Although this is not the behavior of an emperor, it doesn't matter when it comes to his pregnant wife. If it were Zhou Tingxi himself, he would do the same and go to find Xiaozhi without hesitation.

But what right does he have?

Everyone in the palace was qualified, but he wasn't.

"Your Majesty, where are you going?"

Wei Lan had come to clean Yu Yanjing's palace, but as soon as she stepped inside, she bumped into Yu Yanjing, who was disguised as Ling and preparing to leave.

She gets very nervous whenever she sees the Emperor in disguise, because in the past the Emperor would only disguise himself when he left the palace on official business. Now, it must be that something has happened to the Empress again.

"You don't need to worry about it." Yu Yanjing didn't take Wei Lan seriously at all, picked up his sword and walked out without looking back.

Wei Lan slumped to the ground for a long time before slowly getting up, leaning on a chair. She should have realized long ago that things were different now. The emperor used to be a bit violent by nature, but he would care for the palace servants around him from time to time. Now, whenever it comes to the Empress, he can't be rational.

She secretly entered Yu Yanjing's inner palace because, ever since the emperor disappeared for a while and fell seriously ill after fighting with the five princes, he had forbidden her from cleaning her own inner palace and only sent the palace servants around her to do it.

The emperors of the past didn't care about any of these things.

So, everything in the Emperor's inner palace is related to the Empress.

The emperor used to dislike flowers and plants, but now, a pot of beautifully blooming tuberoses sits on the table in his bedroom, with water droplets still clinging to the petals, proving that it is a fresh flower.

The emperor's pillow was embroidered with tuberose petals, a pair of bright yellow silk embroidered with white petals, which were particularly eye-catching.

The portrait hanging on the wall is probably of the Empress before her marriage. She is wearing the palace dress of Jiuguang Kingdom. So, they met in Jiuguang. No wonder the Emperor never allowed himself to set foot in the inner palace again after returning from Jiuguang.

After seeing so much of it, Wei Lan felt her eyes were hurting, so she wisely closed the door and went about her own business.

……

Flower Pavilion is a newly popular restaurant in Chaoyang Kingdom. It is said that the owner is a woman who is exceptionally beautiful and charming. Most people go there because of her beauty, but her cooking skills are excellent. She cooks herself.

Jiang Qi took Xiao Mu's arm and entered the restaurant. Anyone who didn't know them would think they were sisters because they looked so alike.

Xiao Mu and Jiang Qi ordered some dishes that customers usually like to order from the menu, including braised pig's trotters.

Besides various kinds of wine and tea, there are also fruit soups here, such as plum juice, apricot juice, and kumquat juice. These are all extremely appetizing and refreshing, and pregnant women can drink them too.

"Your Majesty... uh, what should I call you in public?"

"Just call me Xiao Mu."

"Okay, Sister Xiaomu, is this alright?" Jiang Qi smiled, her eyes crinkling.

Xiao Mu laughed and chimed in, "Of course you can. I don't care about titles. After we finish eating, I'll take you to my shop to play."

Jiang Qi put down his cup and asked in surprise, "You have a shop?"

Xiao Mu said proudly, "Of course, before entering the palace, I was a businessman. I owned a teahouse, a clinic, and a jewelry shop."

Jiang Qi looked at her with admiration, "I'm so envious, Sister Xiao Mu. You don't know, my parents never allowed me to stay outside for long, but now I'm finally free, and I'm not living as freely as you."

"What's so special about this?" Xiao Mu's eyes widened as she watched the dishes being served one after another. They looked so tempting! After eating vegetarian and bland food for so long because of morning sickness, she could finally indulge herself.

There are braised pork knuckles, roast chicken, tofu soup, steamed lamb, plum soup, and "immortal duck"... basically, all of them are dishes I like to eat.

"We've ordered so much, we won't be able to finish it," Jiang Qi said casually.

Xiao Mu broke off a roasted chicken leg for each of them, then took a big bite herself, her mouth oozing with oil. It smelled so good, so satisfying…

Jiang Qi also started gnawing on the chicken leg, and after finishing the chicken leg, he ate the pig's trotter. The soft and chewy pig skin melted in his mouth, and the best part was the pig's trotter tendon, which was smooth, chewy, and irresistible. The remaining lean meat was also tender and delicious when dipped in the sauce.

The two of them had a great understanding; they ate in silence, focusing intently on their food.

Before long, both of them were stuffed and finished their meal with a glass of plum juice to cleanse their palates.

Jiang Qi couldn't help but sigh. The Empress was truly unpretentious, and she ate without any affectation. The two of them were really alike, even in the way they ate.

"Waiter, the bill!" Xiao Mu called out towards the outside of the private room.

"Ladies, that's five taels of silver in total... Are you satisfied with your meal?"

Why does this voice sound so familiar? But I can't quite place it right now.

Xiao Mu turned to look at the proprietress standing outside the door, ready to collect money. The proprietress was charming and alluring; wasn't she the long-lost Green Plum? Green Plum smiled, and it was as if everything stood still. She was beautiful, the kind of beauty that even women admired.

"Green Plum," Xiao Mu called her name.

Green Plum wasn't surprised at all by their meeting. Having seen all sorts of things and all sorts of people, she naturally wasn't surprised at all, as if they were old friends who often met.

"You two know each other?" Jiang Qi couldn't help but ask from the side.

Green Plum replied, "We're old acquaintances. It's hard to believe she's about to become a mother."

Xiao Mu couldn't help but laugh, so she asked, "Where did you go? Why did you come to Chaoyang?"

"I closed down Jiuguang's tavern and opened a small tavern in the desert. I suffered a lot and was swindled out of all my money by a man, so I sold the tavern. Fortunately, I survived. I'm afraid of the cold, and I heard that it doesn't snow in Chaoyang in winter, so I used my last bit of money to open a small restaurant called Huajian. How about my cooking skills?" Green Plum recounted these events without changing her expression, like a narrator.

"Very good," Xiao Mu said with a smile.

Jiang Qi watched the two women chatting freely and skillfully, and was speechless for a moment, quietly watching them reminisce.

Green Plum looked at Xiao Mu's slightly protruding belly, "How many months pregnant?"

"Four months."

"That's great. Is that man good to you? Compared to Zhou Tingxi?"

Xiao Mu was quite astonished. Green Plum actually knew about her and Zhou Tingxi. She had known about her identity all along, yet she had kept it a secret without her knowledge. Suddenly, she began to doubt Green Plum's identity.

The way Zhou Tingxi's name sounds so natural to me, I must have known him for a long time. Can it be traced back to when I was at Jiuguang, or even further?

If she had known Xiao Mu's identity from the beginning, that would have been terrifying.

"How did you meet Zhou Tingxi?" Xiao Mu didn't answer her question, but instead started asking her questions. Then she looked at Jiang Qi, who was lying on the table and fell asleep.

"We've known each other for a long time. He was a young man guarding the desert, and that's when we met. He saved me when I was a refugee, and he opened the tavern for me..."

"At first, he always mentioned you to me. Later, it was probably because of Ye Wanwan's appearance. But in the end, he only had you."

"Although I have known him for a long time, it is still not as good as yours. I admire him. From the moment he saved me, I fell deeply in love with him. I am older than him, so I know that it is impossible for us, but I still want to be by his side, so I followed him back to Jiuguang. I know that he is the future prince consort, and I also know his story with you, but when I first met you, I did not know your identity."

"Later, Zhou Tingxi came to me and told me that the drinks I gave you from now on must be weak. But who knew you were so weak that you could get drunk even with such weak drinks? So later, Zhou Tingxi told me not to let you come anymore and not to let me give you drinks. He blamed all the mistakes on me. At that time, I felt wronged and jealous."

After Green Plum finished speaking, she even gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Xiao Mu felt a little bitter. It turned out that she had been acting like a fool back then. Zhou Tingxi knew everything, but he pretended not to know.

Green Plum said softly, "It's all in the past now, there's no point in talking about it. Just be content with the present and don't think about the past. I've already let it go, so don't dwell on it either."

"What did you let go of?"

“Zhou Tingxi, I have no feelings for him anymore, which is why I dare to open a small restaurant in Chaoyang, a place where I can run into him anytime. Because I have nothing to hide, I am not afraid.”

Xiao Mu felt a sense of desolation. Although she remembered everything from her past life, she was no longer Xia Yunzhi, but simply Xiao Mu. Initially, she had to find Yu Yanjing because of her obsession from her past life, but she fell in love with him without knowing his identity. That was her own consciousness, Xiao Mu's consciousness.

Therefore, she had no lingering feelings for Zhou Tingxi.

She only hoped he was doing well, because the consciousness of Xia Yunzhi in her mind contained the memories of their more than ten years of growing up together. He was an important person in her life, nothing more.

Xiao Mu talked to Green Plum for a long time, including about the man who managed to swindle all of Green Plum's money. Xiao Mu still couldn't believe that someone could swindle Green Plum; what a powerful man he must be.

That man was from Ruoyang Kingdom. He was said to be a deserter. Even Lümei didn't know his true identity. His name was Zichu, and Lümei didn't even know his surname.

This made Xiao Mu even more eager to hear more, wanting to know what kind of person could make a woman, a woman who had struggled in the chaotic world for so many years, have all her money swindled away by him.

Green Plum continued, "His name is Zichu. He is extremely handsome. At first, he just drank at my tavern. Each time, he only ordered a small pot of Green Plum wine and drank it very slowly. He drank that pot of wine from the time I opened until I closed."

“At first I didn’t pay much attention to it, but later I got annoyed. He ordered a pot of wine and sat in the tavern all day. When he was tired, he would sleep on the table. When he was hungry, he would go outside to buy a pancake. I thought he must have nowhere to go, but his clothes were always clean and tidy, unlike a homeless person.”

"I told him that if he needed a job, I could give him ten taels of silver a month. I couldn't give him much, but I could provide room and board. He agreed. He knew a lot about brewing and helped me a lot. He also cooked for me every day and took great care of me. Later, he expressed his feelings to me... I also had a good impression of him, so we... until one day, he told me that he needed silver, lots and lots of silver. He had to go back to Ruoyang Kingdom and would come to pick me up soon. I believed him and gave him all the silver I could afford. I began my long wait."

"But months passed, and he didn't come."

Green Plum looked at Xiao Mu with a forlorn expression and chuckled softly, "I trusted others too much, and I was foolish to give him all my money after knowing him for so long."

"But he's really good to me, and that's what I long for."

Xiao Mu comforted her, "Just consider it an experience. At least you got through it."

Green Plum immediately regained her usual calm expression and said indifferently, "So I won't trust anyone anymore, including myself. I don't even know what I'll do next."

“There’s a young master outside, he looks like he’s here to see you.”

Green Plum's gaze drifted towards the door, where a familiar figure was facing her, silently drinking wine.

Xiao Mu wasn't surprised at all to run into Xie Huai here. Someone like him would definitely come to Huajian Xiaoguan for drinks, since it seems like he's everywhere that's fun.