Repeatedly broken branches

Actually, Xiao Mu herself didn't know what was wrong with her. The moment she discovered that Yu Yanjing had come out in disguise, she became very angry. For some reason, it was a kind of anger that ignited in her heart, rising up suddenly and uncontrollably.

She couldn't even control her emotions, and a surge of anger shot through her at Yu Yanjing. The more she thought about it, the more she regretted it. He hadn't done anything wrong, yet she had to hurt him.

Xiao Mu knew that Yu Yanjing was following her, but she was stubborn and refused to turn around. Yu Yanjing was afraid that she would get angry again, so he didn't dare to go to her directly and could only follow her silently.

What am I doing?

She was still angry, but not as furious as before.

"Yan Man?"

Looking at the thin, limping woman in front of her, Xiao Mu wasn't sure if it was Yan Man beside Bai Jiaoyu at first, but as she got closer, she noticed that the woman was wearing a light yellow Western Region-style dress, and Xiao Mu was certain that it was Yan Man.

"Yan Man".

Xiao Mu called out to her directly this time.

The woman in front of her trembled like a startled kitten. After a long pause, she slowly turned around, her eyes red and swollen, her face showing signs of crying, and she looked utterly haggard.

This is truly incomparable to the graceful, fairy-like Yan Man from a few days ago; it's hard to believe it's the same person.

"Your Majesty... Empress." Yan Man deliberately lowered her voice.

Xiao Mu smiled and asked, "How did you get injured? Why are you all alone? Don't you have anyone to take care of you?"

Yan Man's eyes flickered. There was no one to serve her... from the very beginning.

Before meeting Bai Jiaoyu, she was considered a young lady at home and naturally had maids serving her. But after meeting the dignified Princess Bai, she became someone else's maid. How could she dare to bring a maid with her?

Yan Man shook her head and sighed, saying, "I am not of noble birth, so it is really inappropriate for me to have a maid."

Xiao Mu didn't understand the implied meaning in her words. She was a young lady from a noble family, so why didn't she deserve a maid? Or was it because the journey was too long and she didn't bring a maid with her?

She didn't want to get too entangled with Yan Man, after all, he was someone close to Bai Jiaoyu, and it was just a matter of exchanging greetings when they met on the road.

Besides, she had someone following her, so she didn't want to stay here any longer.

Xiao Mu first went into the largest and most expensive rouge shop in Chaoyang and picked out all kinds of lipsticks, rouges, fragrances and some ointments.

After telling the shopkeeper to wrap it up properly, she clapped her hands, glanced at Yu Yanjing who was standing there dumbfounded, and said to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, ask him to settle the bill."

Xiao Mu brushed past Yu Yanjing, snorted at him, and left the shop. After walking a few steps, she secretly glanced back and saw Yu Yanjing obediently paying with his purse. Soon after, he followed her, carrying the empire she had just conquered.

Hmph, even the emperor isn't expected to obediently become my baggage carrier and bodyguard, is he?

Still not satisfied, Xiao Mu went to the fabric shop and picked out some nicer fabrics—silk, brocade, cloud brocade—anything that looked good and felt comfortable. She asked the shopkeeper to wrap them up, and in the blink of an eye, she had picked out more than a dozen bolts of fabric.

Seeing that she had bought a lot, the shopkeeper eagerly stepped forward and asked, "Madam, you've bought so much fabric. Could you please give me an address so I can deliver it to your home?"

Xiao Mu waved her hand, "No need, I brought a servant with me, you can leave him to him."

After saying that, she looked at Yu Yanjing, who was standing outside the door carrying large and small bags. She looked pitiful. His hands were already carrying so many things, and there were still more than a dozen bolts of cloth to carry. Let's see what you're going to do.

She didn't care. After Yu Yanjing paid, she left, leaving Yu Yanjing standing there in a daze, lost in thought for a long time.

Yu Yanjing had walked quite a distance but still hadn't caught up. He was probably trying to figure out how to carry all that stuff.

Xiao Mu thought to herself, "Isn't this going too far? After all, it's more than a dozen bolts of fabric. How could Yu Yanjing possibly carry them all by himself? The boss clearly offered to deliver to his door, yet she's making things difficult for Yu Yanjing."

What's wrong with me? Why do I feel like I'm some kind of precious gem and everyone has to cater to me just because I'm pregnant?

Just as she was about to step into the palace gate, the commotion behind her forced Xiao Mu to turn around. She saw Yu Yanjing pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with cloth, swaying and staggering towards the palace gate. If it weren't for the rope holding it in place, the cloth would have spilled out.

It looked absolutely ridiculous.

This was definitely the first time in Yu Yanjing's life that he had ever pushed a wheelbarrow!

Seeing this, Xiao Mu didn't want to forgive him. She just wanted to tease him a little more, so she ignored him and swaggered into the palace gate.

Regardless of the astonishment on the guards' faces when they looked at Yu Yanjing, they all stepped forward to help him, but were all deterred by his fierce gaze.

"Your Majesty, why are you only just returning?" Upon seeing Xiao Mu's return, Shuangru hurriedly stepped forward to support her, saying, "You are pregnant now, so it's not good for you to walk so swaggeringly with such large movements; you might strain your back."

Xiao Mu chuckled, "How could you strain your back? I've never heard of someone straining their back while walking." She then looked around, "Where's You?"

Shuangru shook her head. "Sister You hasn't come back since you left? You didn't take her with you?"

"By the way, Your Highness, Mr. Deng and General Zhou are brewing tea at Mingyue Tower. Young Master Xie and Miss Shen are also there. They even told us to come along if you return."

Xiao Mu was very puzzled. How did they know she had left the palace? And how did Yu Yanjing know? Could it be that they had planted spies around her?

……

"Xie Huai, weren't you just at the Flower Pavilion? How could you teleport away instantly?" Xiao Mu saw her favorite pea flour cake on Xie Huai's table and snatched it away without any hesitation.

Xie Huai glanced at her, then picked up the mille-feuille cake he loved to eat and took a slow bite before answering her question, "Don't even mention it, I ran into a troublemaker and almost got drowned in people's spittle."

Deng Yizhi took a sip of tea and asked doubtfully, "Who? Who could possibly give someone like you a headache?"

"Bai Jiaoyu".

"Cough cough cough." Deng Yizhi choked on the tea he had just drunk and said sympathetically, "It is indeed troublesome."

Xiao Mu quickly said, "You've finally met your match. Wasn't it you who lied to me before?"

Xie Huai said dismissively, "Isn't it because you're so gullible? You were completely fooled by me and didn't even have a chance to say anything."

Shen Ruoxuan quietly sipped his tea and watched the show. He had never imagined that the mother of a nation could be like this. He had never seen anyone treat their subjects so casually, not as people inferior to themselves. No wonder she could control someone like Yu Yanjing.

“I remember when you were little, Tingxi tricked you into drinking. We all said it was water, but you actually believed it and took a big gulp. As a result, you got so drunk that you passed out. You climbed up a tree in front of the school and insisted that you were a pigeon. You even opened your arms and were about to jump down. If Tingxi hadn’t caught you with his light-footed skills, I guess…” Deng Yizhi said with a smile.

Thinking back to my childhood, it feels like it was just yesterday, but upon closer reflection, it was more than a decade ago. Back then, they were all there, and we could laugh and run freely without having to think so much.

Zhou Tingxi was deeply moved. At that time, little Xia Yunzhi only had eyes for him and made a fuss every day about wanting to leave the palace and live in Zhou Tingxi's house. The emperor laughed at her, saying that if she was so clingy, Tingxi would definitely find her annoying.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile.

"Who told him to lie so much? He only knows how to lie to me." Xiao Mu felt extremely embarrassed and gave Deng Yizhi a reproachful look. Why did he have to say it in front of Xie Huai? Now he has something to say.

"Ha. You all have quite a lively time while I'm away."

Looking over, Yu Yanjing had changed into his usual crescent-colored brocade robe, and was also wearing a snow-white fox-collar cloak. His long, jet-black hair was simply tied up with a jade crown. His naturally handsome brows were tinged with displeasure, and his long, narrow peach blossom eyes were full of sharpness. The vermilion mole under his eye added a touch of eeriness to his exquisite features.

Shen Shanshan's eyes flickered slightly, amazed by the newcomer's aura, but she dared not make any move, though her gaze never left him.

Everyone stood up to pay their respects, but Xiao Mu, sitting in the main seat, acted as if she hadn't seen them and just kept eating snacks and drinking tea.

Yu Yanjing sat down next to Xiao Mu, glanced at Shen Ruoxuan beside him, and said in a detached voice, "It's been a long time since I've shot an arrow, and now I'm actually missing it."

Xiao Mu had witnessed Yu Yanjing's archery skills firsthand; he was an expert archer, hitting the bullseye every time.

Zhou Tingxi was also quite good at archery, after all, he had been shooting magpies for Xia Yunzhi since he was a child. At that time, the princesses in the palace and even the young ladies from noble families outside the palace loved to shoot magpies. However, women's skills were generally not very refined, because they usually practiced needlework more.

But the prizes for shooting magpies were really tempting, and at this time, a young man with superb archery skills was needed by her side. So, Xia Yunzhi would always bring Zhou Tingxi along and win all the prizes.

This made all the women envious.

Shen Ruoxuan raised the corner of her lips. "Then shall I go and prepare the equipment for archery?"

Yu Yanjing gave his tacit approval before he went down to make preparations.

Before long, the archery field was set up. It was a vast, boundless grassland. If Xiao Mu hadn't come today, she wouldn't have known that there was such a spacious field in the palace.

Shen Shanshan, watching Shen Ruo who had already changed into riding attire, said, "Cousin, don't embarrass yourself. Your archery skills are worse than mine. Do you think you can show off your limited skills in front of the Emperor?"

"Shut up, eat your pastries." Shen Ruoxuan picked up a pastry from the table and shoved it into her mouth, trying to shut her up.

Xiao Mu and Shen Shanshan hadn't prepared anything, so they set up a table and chairs under the tree, where they could both send me messages and have tea and snacks.

Yu Yanjing, dressed in a black, narrow-sleeved riding outfit, had his hair tied up high and was being blown about by the wind. He carried a silver bow on his back, the bow inlaid with gems and patterns. He glanced lazily at Xiao Mu with a half-smile.

"Tch." Xiao Mu's disdain was genuine, yet she was also hopelessly captivated by her husband's good looks.

Then Zhou Tingxi and Deng Yizhi arrived. Their handsome features looked somewhat sad, and their black riding outfits made them stand out from the crowd. Their eyes were deep and sharp, and I wondered if I was seeing things, but one of them smiled slightly at me.

Xie Huai walked over lazily, carrying an exquisite bow in his hand. It was a unique bow from the Western Regions, with a phoenix tail design carved into the shape of a phoenix tail. He casually pulled the string and stood in front of the target on the far side.

Everyone stood in their respective positions, with Yu Yanjing in the very center, Zhou Tingxi on his left, Xie Huai on his right, and Deng Yizhi and Shen Ruoxuan standing on the very edges.

Yu Yanjing slowly pulled a bow and arrow from the ground, gently drew the bowstring, and his eyes suddenly turned cold and arrogant. With just a light pull, a sharp whistling sound rang out, and an arrow was already embedded in the crimson bullseye.

He didn't even aim; he just fired randomly, yet it hit the bullseye. Unsurprisingly, Yu Yanjing's subsequent arrows were the same, posing no challenge to him.

She was stunned, almost jumping up and cheering, but when Yu Yanjing looked in her direction, she would turn her gaze to Zhou Tingxi or Xie Huai, refusing to look at him, which made Yu Yanjing quite disappointed.

Zhou Tingxi's archery skills were no less than his. He calmly looked ahead, unlike Yu Yanjing's laziness. He stood upright, exerted force evenly, drew the bowstring, aimed the arrow at the bullseye, pulled hard, and released. The arrow flew out like a shot and landed steadily on the small red dot of the target.

He was a young general, so his archery skills were naturally exceptional.

Compared to Yu Yanjing and Zhou Tingxi, Xie Huai's archery skills were just average. After all, he was a skilled craftsman and it was already quite good that he could draw a bow. But it was still impressive that he managed to hit the bullseye a few times.

After firing several arrows, Yu Yanjing found it extremely boring. More importantly, Xiao Mu was willing to look at Xie Huai but not at him, which made his sense of frustration even more obvious.

"How about it? Your Majesty's archery skills are pretty good, aren't they?" Shen Ruoxuan looked at Xiao Mu with pride, as if it were his own archery skills.

Xiao Mu said, "I didn't see it, how would I know?"

Yu Yanjing's face instantly darkened, and he slammed the bow in his hand to the ground, causing several gems on it to fall off.

Shen Ruoxuan picked up the bow with a pained expression, carefully collecting the fallen gems. She walked to Yu Yanjing's side and said regretfully, "This was a coming-of-age gift from the late Emperor. Even the gems on it were personally selected and set by the late Emperor. Your Majesty, you usually cherish it so much. Why today?"

"Enough! What are you babbling about? It's just a bow. Do you think I can't afford it?" Yu Yanjing interrupted him sharply and left the grassland with a gloomy expression.

Xiao Mu stepped forward and asked, "Is this bow important to him?"

Shen Ruoxuan nodded and said, "This is a coming-of-age gift from the late emperor. Because the emperor had been secretly learning archery before, the late emperor was unaware of his skill and wanted him to study hard, so he personally designed this bow. The pattern on it is a dragon pattern, which is the late emperor's expectation for the emperor. Therefore, the emperor usually couldn't bear to use it, and even when he did, he was very careful. Today, he was really angry and treated this bow like this. Don't think that he doesn't care at all. Actually... he's heartbroken."

After saying that, Shen Ruoxuan stuffed the collected gems into his belt and went back to attach them for him a while later.

Xiao Mu felt extremely guilty. She had been provoking Yu Yanjing all day, and had even caused him to damage her most beloved bow.

Feeling truly guilty, she said to Shen Ruoxuan, "Lord Shen, why don't you give me the bow and the gemstone? I'll glue them on."

Shen Ruoxuan asked doubtfully, "Are you sure you can?"

"Don't forget that I can make jewelry. It's as easy for me as putting gemstones on a hairpin."

However, no, how can a bow and a hairpin be compared? How big is a hairpin compared to a bow?

The amount of glue needed for just one gemstone is enough for her to melt for a while. Good glue is hard to find here; it's all made by cutting resin blocks into small pieces and then melting them over an oil lamp.

The gems that fell from the bow were about the size of quail eggs, some of them with broken edges, and they had to be carefully polished smooth before they could be glued back on.

Shuangru brought over a plate of gelatin blocks and, looking at the darkening sky, said, "Your Majesty, let me help you. You can't stay up late; you'll hurt your eyes."

Xiao Mu pursed her lips and shook her head. "No, this is my own mistake, and I have to take responsibility for it." After saying that, she continued to work on polishing the gemstone.

Shuangru then said, "By the way, Your Majesty, the Emperor sent over a dozen bolts of fabric and some cosmetics today, which I have already put into the storeroom."

"Okay, where is You?" Xiao Mu suddenly stopped what she was doing, looked up at the window, and realized that she had been too busy today to even see You.

Shuangru smiled and said, "Sister You said she wasn't feeling well today. I forgot to tell you, but You will be able to come and work tomorrow."

"Alright, then when you go back, please check on her for me. If she's still not feeling well tomorrow, please let her rest for a few more days."

Xiao Mu worked until late at night before finally sticking the gemstone back onto the bow. She had been in the same position the whole time while melting the glue, and her arms were sore from the effort.

There were only a few hours left until dawn, so she had to get some sleep and deliver the bow to Yu Yanjing first thing in the morning.

Just thinking about how Yu Yanjing would look when he saw Gong Xiuhao made Xiao Mu smile, and she fell asleep on the table.