Shao Xun was stunned for a moment. Before she had time to think about it, the Empress's embroidered shoes with red and gold rims and golden dragons and phoenixes stopped not far from her.

"The concubine pleases the mother, your majesty, please."

The Empress's voice sounded a little lack of breath. It was not the kind of full-breathed voice among healthy people, but it was not as weak as external rumors.

The Empress Dowager did not answer for a long time, and finally the eunuch of the eunuch, at the emperor's hint, sang: "Free ceremony——"

Everyone got up immediately, and they were surprised when they saw the Empress—for nothing else, the woman who was following her in full costume but was pregnant with a big belly and had a big belly, was actually the one who hadn't shown her face for a long time. Princess Zhao Ruozhen.

Shao Xun did not expect that she would often stay with the Empress Dowager, and she knew about Princess Kejing's affairs. She knew that her child was only about a month younger than Qi-shi, and the birth date was just two days, anyway. It shouldn't be in the palace.

She looked at the Empress Dowager subconsciously, and saw her sitting on the seat expressionlessly. The tea cup in front of her had already rolled off the table, lying obliquely on the scarlet carpet, leaving a trail of tea stains.

The Empress stood in front of the throne, clutching the princess's hand tightly.

This is not the first time Shao Xun has seen a Empress. After all, although she doesn't show up very often, she hasn't stayed in her palace completely after so many years. She didn't see anyone. It's just that she had just looked at them from a distance before knowing. There is also a Empress in the palace, who has never looked at it carefully.

She still wears the dress that a Empress should wear. Layers of gold ornaments and gems are stacked on the bun, which is very beautiful, but she is still not healthy after applying rouge. Obviously thin.

If the Empress is healthy, the facial features should be bright and beautiful, the deep and slightly wider eye sockets have a sharp aura, the brow bones are slightly higher, the eyebrows are obliquely long, and the distance between the eyebrows and eyes is slightly shorter than that of ordinary people. It looks easy to make people feel oppressive.

But now she is much thinner, the neutralized sharp sensuality on her cheeks has disappeared, and the brow bones and cheekbones are overly prominent, and the distinctive beauty is not obvious.

Shao Xun finally knew who the princess had inherited from her open eyebrows-they were carved out of the same model as her mother.

It's just that the princess is young, well maintained, and has a graceful body in a pampered life. She looks much more beautiful than her mother.

At this moment, the Empress frowned slightly, and she seemed uncomfortable. She blessed her body: "Your Majesty, if Zhen is physically inconvenient, please forgive your concubines for being late."

The emperor's expression was flat, and he couldn't tell whether he was happy or unhappy. He didn't even comment on the sudden arrival of his daughter. He just raised his hand and signaled her to flatten: "The Empress sits down."

The Empress looked around for a while and slammed into Shao Xun who was not far away. Her eyes fixed on Shao Xun's face without saying anything. She just patted Princess Kejing's hand and was supported by someone. Sat in his seat.

Princess Kejing's child was actually full-term, and her chubby belly seemed to be clasped in a pot. Every step she took was frightening. She was supported by the maid and walked to the Empress Dowager, her face was unconcealed. She tentatively said: "The imperial grandmother…"

The Empress Dowager's lips were pressed tightly, as if she would say something in the next moment, but seeing her granddaughter's cautious expression, she abruptly held back, she took a deep breath, obviously suppressing something.

The scene was a bit embarrassing. Every seat at the palace banquet was exquisite. It was arranged in advance. No one expected that Princess Kejing, who was about to give birth, would suddenly appear, so she didn't prepare her seat at all.

The Empress Dowager did not speak for a while, or Deng Fei smiled and said: "Zhen'er has a big belly, so I dare not stand for a long time. Come here to join me at the table?"

What Deng Fei said was actually to relieve Zhao Ruozhen, but she was obviously not very appreciative, still standing in front of the too behind her lips, stubbornly reluctant to move.

There was a stalemate like this for a long time, and the eyes of everyone were extremely embarrassed. Until Zhao Ruozhen stood still holding his belly and leaned on the maid, the Empress Dowager couldn't hold back her breath. She sighed, "I think about me so hard. It's hard for you to be with your father…Go with your aunt."

Zhao Ruozhen showed a smile now, and her eyes lit up, "Thank you, grandma!"

Deng's seat was diagonally behind Shao Xun and the Empress Dowager. Zhao Ruozhen inevitably passed by where Shao Xun was. She paused slightly, and the smile on her face narrowed a little, but I wonder if it is due to the anger of the Empress Dowager. After all, she didn't dare to have another matter, and she didn't say anything.

When she sat down steadily, the storm could barely come to an end.

The emperor didn't even mention it, but just picked up the wine glass, his tone was exactly the same as usual, very calm: "Today is a New Year's Eve family banquet, there are not so many rules, I hope you will do your best."

Everyone hurriedly picked up the glass in front of them, said thank you first, and then drank the glass with the emperor.

In the emperor's faintly betting gaze, Shao Xun just picked up the cup and touched it on his lips, but didn't really drink it in.

Then the drum music rang, and the singers and dancers of Sile Fang danced in the center of the hall. The banquet officially began. The dignified atmosphere gradually relaxed. The clansmen knew each other, and they were all members of the same surname. Time just chatted up in twos and threes, as if I had forgotten the accident just now.

At this moment, Feng Zhaoyi took the four princesses to their feet and saluted the emperor and empress: "The concubines wish your majesty and the empress Antai for the Spring Festival."

The emperor's gaze turned, but it was the Empress who opened her mouth, and she bent her eyes: "Feng Zhaoyi has a heart…"

"It's not intentional," it was De fei's sudden words, she raised her eyebrows and smiled: "Across the imperial concubine and concubines, and the first one is the first, it is really intentional."

Everyone knows the old grievances of the Empress and De fei, and because of the truth, sometimes she dared to shame the Empress in front of her face, but she must be ill-intentioned when she confronted Shao Xun.

"This…" Feng Zhaoyi was a little at a loss: "It's just that the imperial concubine hasn't moved, so…"

"Speaking of which, the imperial concubine has been in the palace for such a long time. It should be the Empress to please the Empress…" Shu fei said to Shao Xun: "Just don't know if you have stepped into the gate of Xianning Palace?"

In fact, since the Empress stayed behind closed doors, the harem's rules for the newcomer to invite her to see the ceremony have survived in name only, except for a few concubines who depend on the Empress, no one has ever taken the initiative to go there.

Shao Xun knew that no matter who provoked the conversation tonight, or whatever provoked it, he would definitely have to pull it on herself. She had no accident, and the rebuttal was ready, so she was about to speak immediately.

"According to the rules, all concubines should follow the Empress to greet the Empress in the morning and dusk."

Unexpectedly, the one who said this was the empress dowager who had been stern and silent since just now. She lowered her eyes at this moment, and her gray hair was shining silver under the candlelight, which looked ten times colder than usual.

The Empress Dowager raised her eyelids: "Shu fei is so strict, she will go to Xianning Palace every day to greet her, and she will have confidence when she talks to others."

Shu fei's smile froze. She didn't expect that the Empress Dowager would come out and slap her in the face. She had always paid attention to maintaining the Empress's majesty. She didn't care about it in private. She didn't even say anything to offend the Empress in public. , It will not look good on the surface.

Although she was running against Shao Xun this time, she was defending the Empress on the bright side!

What she didn't know was that the Empress Dowager used to hate the Empress very much, just because of the face of the princess, she often had to pinch her nose to protect her, and even to make her a little more face, she almost turned face with the emperor.

But everything can be tolerated. This time the princess entered the palace against her order regardless of the body she was about to give birth, which really touched the bottom line of the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager would not even think about whether this matter was caused by the Empress. In short, the result is already in front of her eyes. It is absolutely unacceptable for her daughter to support herself regardless of danger.

She suffocated her stomach, but Zhao Ruozhen was like this, and she was reluctant to send it to her. Shu fei ran into her at this moment, which happened to give her a place to vent her anger. She simply refuted Shu fei clearly, but the main reason was actually thinking. Beat the Empress.

Shao Xun's counterattack swallowed back into his stomach, and he didn't hear anything farther in the hall. The nearby clan had already noticed the subtle atmosphere, and stopped talking. Apart from singing and dancing, no one spoke for a while.

The Empress lowered her head, unable to see what her expression was.

Zhao Ruozhen was originally watching Shao Xun's jokes, but he didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, the embarrassed person would turn from the imperial concubine to the Empress, and immediately became a little anxious, and she was about to get up with her hands on the table, but she was pressed back by Fei Deng.

She turned her head in dissatisfaction, and listened to Deng Fei in a low voice: "The empress has a sense of measure, Zhen'er, don't add fuel to the fire."

Zhao Ruozhen was stunned for a moment, and she was pushed back into the seat.

Sure enough, after a moment of silence, the Empress raised her head and said slowly: "The concubine is not up to date, and she can't get up a few times throughout the year. Even if the sisters come to visit, the concubine may not have the strength to receive it. It's better to save this stuff, because it benefits both sides."

The Empress Dowager struck a sentence, although she still felt completely puzzled, but Zhao Ruozhen sat behind her, it was really bad to go deeper, so she could barely swallow the breath, snorted, and stopped the theory.

Before Zhao Ruozhen could breathe a sigh of relief, he listened to De feie said: "The Empress seems to be indifferent to one another. Just now she said that she would not say anything when she let the imperial concubine go, but she said she didn't have the energy to entertain the concubine. Why are they treated differently?"

The Empress looked at De fei Concubine: "The new sister is young and beautiful. I want to look at it more. Why, De fei Concubine even cares about this?"

Now all the concubines who are not young are choked, De fei sneered: "Concubines are younger than the noble concubines, but I don't know if they can accept your feelings. Would you like to see you?"

The Empress's eyes finally fell on Shao Xun. Her expression was not mean, but she was always indifferent: "What did the imperial concubine say?"

Since Shao Xun stepped into the hall, he didn't have time to say a word, but he was mentioned by a bunch of people back and forth. They accused Sang Huai of yin and yang, and they did not forget to pick out their confidant troubles and make a raft.

But this is the harem. Whatever you take, you have to endure what kind of malice, not to mention that she is now monopolizing a priceless treasure. If everyone is kind to themselves, it would be too arrogant.

Shao Xun sighed inwardly, stood up and raised his glass generously: "It's all the negligence of concubines, and now I use tea instead of wine to make amends to the empress."

The Empress played with the wine glass, "Replace wine with tea?"

Shao Xun said: "Hey…"

Feng Zhaoyi said at the right time: "The imperial concubine appears to be pregnant with her dragon son. She is very expensive and may not want to drink."

The Empress nodded: "It should be so…"

Feng Zhaoyi smiled and said: "But we are all fertile, knowing that just a little fruit wine is nothing big. The first time the concubine meets the Empress, you might as well have some mouthfuls. No one will blame you for drinking less."

Speaking of handing over the hip flask in front of her to the palace clerk, motioning her to send it to Shao Xun's table, he smiled and said: "This is the sweet-scented osmanthus dew that your majesty had appreciated in his early years. It is as light as water, but the sweetness is heavy. I also said that it is beneficial for pregnant women to drink a little. Your Majesty also knows…"

Before the words were finished, the emperor's voice came in: "Are you talking about me?"

Feng Zhaoyi was startled: "…Yes."

The palace man wanted to pass the wine to Shao Xun's table, but was immediately stopped by the Qin clan, and then the inmate lifted the jug in his hand, and someone else blocked the palace man's mouth and dragged her down silently. .

Feng Zhaoyi was obviously a little overwhelmed, and she also forced a smile: "The ministers and concubines are not malicious…"

The Empress frowned slightly: "Is the imperial concubine suspected of having bad thoughts? Why not ask someone to test the wine?"

"No need," the emperor who hadn't spoken said indifferently: "I don't allow the noble concubine to drink, Feng is drunk, so I can take it back to the palace to sober up."

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