Severed ties and living in a dilapidated house? No worries, the poor thing has a space.

Chapter 455 They've completely broken off all pretense of civility.

Su Yu stood up and slowly walked towards where the Empress Dowager was.

She sat down in the seat next to the Empress Dowager, then reached for the teapot, poured a cup of hot tea for the Empress Dowager, handed it to her, and said softly, "Your Majesty, please have some tea."

"Hehe..." The Empress Dowager first let out a low and soft laugh, and then slowly said, "Why is the Princess Consort of Qin so distant from me?"

Su Yu lowered her head slightly and replied respectfully, "Today, I, a foreign subject, have entered this imperial garden as a princess of the Chi Kingdom. Naturally, I would not dare to be negligent or offend Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager's kind smile vanished instantly, replaced by a gloomy expression.

She gripped the teacup tightly in her hand, so tightly that her fingertips turned pale from the excessive force.

After a moment of silence, the Empress Dowager finally broke the deadlock again, sneering, "What a wonderful Princess Ningyu of Chi Kingdom! You have truly brought me a tremendous 'surprise'!"

Faced with the Empress Dowager's undisguised hostility, Su Yu showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a disdainful sneer.

He retorted sarcastically, "Is that so? How can this surprise compare to all the 'surprises' the Empress Dowager has bestowed upon me along the way?"

The Empress Dowager's wrinkled eyes narrowed into slits, radiating a chilling light as she threatened in a menacing tone, "Now that you have the Chi Kingdom as your backing, I may be helpless against you, but do you think I can't deal with that little Baili family?"

The reason why the Empress Dowager dared to threaten Su Ningyu and the Baili family so bluntly was because she knew that the two families were old friends who shared the same bloodline.

Now that the truth has been revealed, Su Yu no longer needs to pretend.

Su Yu's lips curled up slightly, revealing a cold smile, and she said, "Does Your Majesty intend to shake the Baili family with the Thousand Feather Guards who have already lost more than thirty men?"

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager's face instantly darkened, clearly not expecting that Su Yu would know so much about this matter.

Su Yu, however, seemed oblivious to the Empress Dowager's unpleasant expression. She leisurely refilled the Empress Dowager's teacup and softly advised, "The banquet has not yet begun. Your Majesty, you must take good care of yourself."

The Empress Dowager was so angry that she trembled all over and almost crushed the teacup in her hand, but in the end she suppressed her anger, stood up abruptly and left.

As the Empress Dowager departed, the Empress and the concubines also rose and left the place one by one.

As everyone was about to leave, Consort Rou deliberately slowed her pace and walked to Su Yu's side, lowering her voice to instruct her, "Yu'er, you must be extra careful during the banquet."

After all the elders had left, the Ninth Princess, who had been holding back for a long time, finally lost her temper and stormed towards Su Yu.

Pointing his finger at her nose, he shouted, "Su Yu, did you seduce that envoy from the Chi Kingdom? If not, why have you suddenly become a princess of the Chi Kingdom? You shameless, promiscuous woman!"

"Slap!" A crisp, loud slap suddenly rang out, startling everyone present.

Su Yu's face was ashen, her eyes coldly fixed on the person in front of her, her hand still suspended in mid-air.

The Ninth Princess, who had been slapped, covered her cheek and stared at Su Yu with wide eyes in disbelief, her face full of shame and indignation.

"As the Princess of Beiyu, it is truly unbecoming of you to use such vulgar language all day long! It is not my place to discipline you on behalf of your mother, but you have repeatedly been disrespectful and offensive to me. This lesson you are receiving today is entirely your own fault!"

Su Yu's voice was icy cold, devoid of any emotion.

Seeing this, the tenth princess was furious and immediately stepped forward to seek justice for her sister.

However, she had just uttered, "You're being insolent!..."

Yan'er quickly walked over, rubbing her fists.

"What? Does the Tenth Princess also want to taste my fist?" Yan'er looked at the Tenth Princess provocatively, a disdainful smile on her lips.

Although the Tenth Princess was furious, she was still somewhat wary of Yan'er's imposing presence. She took a step back and said, trying to appear calm, "You...you stay away. The banquet is about to begin. If you dare to lay a finger on me, you'll be in deep trouble!"

As she spoke, the Tenth Princess felt her confidence waning, her voice growing softer and softer until it even trembled slightly.

Her outwardly strong but inwardly weak and cowardly appearance did not frighten or deter Su Yu and Yan'er; instead, it made them burst out laughing.

Jinlu walked over slowly and said softly, "Ayu, Yan'er, there's still some time before the banquet starts. Instead of getting entangled with them here, why don't we go out for a walk together and clear our heads?"

Upon hearing Jinluo's suggestion, Su Yu and Yan'er exchanged a smile and nodded in agreement.

So the three of them turned and left, leaving the two princesses standing there, stamping their feet in anger but helpless.

At this time, most people had already gone to the banquet hall to prepare for the dinner, making the Imperial Garden exceptionally quiet and deserted, and indeed, there was nothing interesting to be found there.

Su Yu, Yan'er, and Jinluo left to explore other places.

They chatted and laughed all the way, the atmosphere relaxed and pleasant, as if the unpleasantness from before had never happened.

After the envoys from various countries presented their tributes in turn, they all left the court.

His Majesty then received a summons from the Empress Dowager and hurriedly went to where she was.

The two entered the inner hall, closed the door tightly, and talked inside for about half an hour.

No one knows what the mother and son were talking about.

While waiting for the banquet to begin, Su Yu and the others did not sit idly and rest, but instead busied themselves with devising countermeasures.

Because tonight's seemingly ordinary dinner is actually a deadly battleground where life and death are at stake, and the slightest mistake could mean either life or death.

Su Yu stood alone in the courtyard, gazing up at the bright, round moon overhead, letting the cool night breeze gently brush past her ears.

Her mind was filled with a myriad of thoughts, as if she could feel the oppressive atmosphere brought by the impending storm.

A familiar and warm voice came: "Yu'er, the carriage is ready, let's set off."

Xiao Jingqi walked over quickly, gently took Su Yu's hand, and carefully pulled her cloak tighter to prevent the cold wind from blowing on her body.

Su Yu nodded slightly in response, "Mm."

At the same time, she slightly increased the pressure on her hand, gripped Xiao Jingqi's hand tightly, and then followed him as they walked towards the carriage parked at the gate of the mansion.

The carriage slowly pulled away, heading towards the palace gates.

Along the way, the carriages encountered and merged with those of the Baili family and the Prince Rui's residence, forming a large convoy that continued its journey forward in a grand procession.