The Emperor, with more men than women, made me his mistress.

On the sixteenth day of the second month of the twelfth year of the Qianyuan era, the Emperor held a grand full-moon banquet for the young prince Jin Jinghao and the young princess Jin Jingyao in the palace.

On that day, all the ministers who were eligible to attend entered the palace with their families.

Yue Li also got up early and had breakfast with Shao Qi, Jin Chenyuan, and the two children, Jin Rui and Jin Yu, before boarding a carriage together to head to the palace.

Jinrui and Jinyu will soon be one year old. When they were just ten months old, they were already able to walk unsteadily on their own. Now they can walk steadily. They are curious about everything and want to touch any new or interesting object. They also don't like being held by the people who take care of them.

So Jin Chenyuan selected three more people to take care of the two of them. Now, not counting the twelve second-class servants, the two of them have six people taking care of them, which should be enough to take care of them.

Sitting in the carriage, the two of them each occupied a window, peering out with their big, dark eyes.

Even though the cold wind outside the car window made their little noses red, they still clung tightly to the window.

Seeing something new, she would turn to Yue Li and say in a childish, unclear voice, "Mother, look, it's good..."

"What fun things did Little Fish see?" Hearing Little Fish call for her mother, Yue Li quickly responded and then asked softly.

Thinking back to the day before, when she returned to the Yue residence from the palace, she was greeted by two adorable little babies. One was wearing a bright red brocade robe embroidered with lucky dolls, and the other was wearing a beautiful little dress embroidered with lucky dolls. They ran up to her, each hugging one of her legs, calling her "Mother Consort" in their sweet, childish voices.

Although the two of them had already called her "Mother" back in the palace, and she had heard it many times, she still felt a pang of sadness no matter how many times she heard it.

She hugged and kissed the two little ones repeatedly until their chubby cheeks turned red before finally letting go.

"Mother!" When Jinrui heard his sister call out "Mother," he didn't want to stay by the window in the cold wind anymore. He turned around and tried to break free from Shaoqi's arms and rush into Yue Li's embrace.

"Rui'er, be careful!" Seeing Jin Rui's sudden movement, Yue Li quickly reached out to catch him.

Shao Qi didn't stop him, but steadily protected his small body until he was safely in Yue Li's arms. Only then did he let go, wrap his arms around Yue Li's waist, and look at Yue Li with a smile, saying, "It seems that Rui'er also knows that only your mother smells good, otherwise why would he always like to snuggle in your mother's arms?"

Before Shao Qi could finish speaking, and before Jin Rui, who was being held in Yue Li's arms, could react, Jin Yu, who was being moved away from the window by Jin Chenyuan, grinned and said with her small mouth that only had eight teeth, "Smells good, Mother, smells good..."

Yue Li: ……

She first rolled her eyes at Shao Qi, then smiled and looked at Jin Yu, saying, "How fragrant is Mother Consort? Is it as fragrant as the milk cake that Little Fish eats?"

When the two were eight months old, they started eating some simple meals, but they didn't eat much pastry, although milk cake was one of their favorites.

For any dairy products consumed by the two of them, Jin Chenyuan instructed the chef in the kitchen to use spiritual milk, which naturally made them taste better than other pastries.

Upon hearing her mother's question, Jin Yu's fox-like eyes, a replica of Yue Li's, showed a moment of confusion. She tilted her head, the golden bells adorning her little pigtails jingling crisply with her movements. Under the watchful eyes of Yue Li and the burning gazes of Jin Chenyuan and Shao Qi, her little face puffed up before she seemed to make a difficult choice, saying, "Mother, it smells good... milk cake smells good..."

Yue Li: ……

In that sense, she's on the same level as the milk cakes they eat.

Upon realizing this, Yue Li was both amused and exasperated.

Jin Chenyuan looked at the little princess in his arms with a smile in his eyes, he just couldn't get enough of looking at her.

Amidst their laughter and conversation, the carriage arrived at the palace gate. Jin Chenyuan was the first to alight from the carriage. Before Feng Qing, who had just gotten off from the carriage behind, could catch up and help, he directly took Jin Rui and Jin Yu off one by one, patiently putting the hoods of their cloaks on them, and then handed them to Feng Qing and Feng Dai, who had caught up.

At this moment, Yue Li and Shao Qi, who had seen the two little ones being taken off the carriage by Jin Chenyuan, got off the carriage from the other side and walked over slowly.

At this time, many carriages of officials attending the full moon banquet were already parked at the palace gate, and there was a continuous stream of carriages heading towards the palace.

The officials who had already disembarked from the carriage, along with their families, immediately stepped forward to pay their respects upon seeing Prince Chen and his entourage. When they saw the two exquisitely beautiful infants being held by servants behind Prince Chen, they knew that these were the young heir of Prince Chen's mansion and Princess Mingzhu.

So he stepped forward again and bowed to the young prince and Princess Mingzhu.

Although the two little ones were still innocent babies, as a dynasty ruled by imperial power, one was the heir of the Prince Chen's mansion, and the other was Princess Mingzhu, who was personally bestowed by the emperor. Their ranks were higher than theirs, so they naturally had to pay their respects when they met.

As their father, Jin Chenyuan, after everyone had paid their respects, said on their behalf, "Rise!"

After everyone got up, Jin Chenyuan looked at the wide-open palace gates and said to them, "Now that you're here, everyone, please go inside."

With that, he turned around and led Yue Li directly toward the palace gate.

After getting off the carriage, he saw Zhu happy standing inside the palace gate and guessed that it must be his mother, who had sent Zhu happy to pick them up again.

But on such a cold day, how could the Empress Dowager let her two precious children walk slowly to the banquet venue in the cold wind?

Sure enough, as soon as they entered the palace gate, Zhu Xi hurried over with a smile on her face and said, "This servant greets Prince Chen, Your Highness the Princess, and the Young Prince. The Empress Dowager was worried that the cold wind would blow on the Young Prince and Princess Mingzhu, so she ordered this servant to bring a warm sedan chair."

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Mother."

The full moon celebration was a grand affair, and those present not only saw the newborn prince being held in the Emperor's arms, but also the little princess being held by Prince Chen.

The emperor immediately issued an edict establishing the youngest prince as the crown prince and bestowing upon the youngest princess the title of Princess Zhaoyang, while also granting her a fief.

However, upon hearing the imperial edict that granted Princess Zhaoyang and the previously mentioned Princess Mingzhu the same fiefdom, everyone knew that the emperor intended to treat the two princesses impartially.

Before anyone could rise after the imperial edict was read, the emperor's chief eunuch, Fuquan, took out another bright yellow edict from the tray and read it aloud: "I am overjoyed to have twins, a boy and a girl. Now that the world is at peace, the weather is favorable, the seas are calm, and the treasury is full, I hereby grant a one-year tax exemption so that the people may share in my joy. I hereby grant a general amnesty!"

After Fuquan finished reading the imperial edict, the court officials and their families kneeling below immediately shouted "Long live the Emperor!" and kowtowed to express their gratitude for the imperial favor.