How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

"You go down first." Emperor Jian waved his hand, signaling the palace servants to leave.

The west room of Kunning Palace was where the empress practiced meditation and worshipped Buddha all year round. At this moment, the hall was brightly lit with candles, and the low voices of a woman chanting could be heard faintly. Emperor Jian stood at the door and hesitated for a moment before stepping in.

Inside the hall, a small golden Buddha statue was enshrined on a red wooden table. There were four incense sticks in the incense burner on the table. One of them seemed to be damp and was not burning. Only three wisps of white smoke rose up.

Cao Qingran was wearing a luxurious golden phoenix robe, which was the phoenix robe that symbolized her status as queen. She knelt on the cushion with her eyes slightly closed, turning a string of peach wood Buddhist beads in her right hand and muttering something.

She did not stop chanting when she heard the footsteps, until she felt someone kneeling on the cushion beside her. Then she slightly opened her eyes and looked to the right with a dull and indifferent gaze.

Kunning Palace has not been visited by anyone for a long time.

Emperor Jian, the Crown Prince, Concubine Hua, and the child...

Cao Qingran clenched his fingers into the Buddhist beads and calmly withdrew his gaze to the golden Buddha statue in front of him. "What a rare guest! Is your majesty in trouble?"

If it weren't for the need to ask the Cao family, Emperor Jian would never have come to Kunning Palace to find her. He and she both knew very well what roles they played in this harem.

One had bloody hands, the other watched coldly.

How can I feel at ease sleeping beside a person who is not my husband?

Emperor Jian coughed lightly and looked at the golden Buddha statue. "Can't I come to see the Queen if I'm fine?"

"Heh." Cao Qingran curled his lips, "Since Your Majesty is so willing to believe what I say, then continue to believe it."

Emperor Jian: ...

Why are the concubines in his harem so poisonous?

It's another day when I miss Hua Ning, because she has the most poisonous tongue.

"Chengze held a New Year's Eve banquet in Liaozhou," Emperor Jian said calmly, "I don't know what new things that kid has researched, but he insisted that I and my concubines go to watch it. Do you want to go?"

Liaozhou?

Cao Qingran lowered his eyes, "Your Majesty, are you planning to accompany the Second Prince during the New Year's Day? What about Jinyu?"

There was no expression on her face, and one could not tell whether she was heartbroken that her son did not have the father's love, or was speaking up for the prince and hinting at Emperor Jian's partiality.

"He is probably busy and can't go to Liaozhou." Emperor Jian said as a matter of course, "If he had more ability, he could have solved the snow disaster in Yingzhou earlier, and he wouldn't have to spend the New Year alone in another place."

He gloated, "How pitiful, but it's not my fault, it's all because he has no friends."

At least he still had Shao Changqing secretly spending the New Year with him back then.

When he thought of the stern, frail man who had climbed up the wall of the inner court in an awkward and inelegant manner to bring him a midnight snack when he was punished to kneel and reflect on his mistakes, he couldn't help but smile and miss him.

"Your Majesty, are you blaming me?" Unexpectedly, Cao Qingran, who was standing by, turned around and glared at Emperor Jian as if something had been stabbed in the heart when she heard this. "You are blaming me for not teaching the prince well?"

Oh, yes, she really didn't teach Jin Yu well, not even as good as Xie Chengze. Her Jin Yu couldn't invent gunpowder, nor could she build the Land of Abundance, let alone build a kang. Even when they were sent out together to deal with the snowstorm, she couldn't compare to Xie Chengze.

Her careful training was nothing but a joke!

Without waiting for Emperor Jian to reply, Cao Qingran turned his head abruptly and looked ahead indifferently, "Since Your Majesty likes the Second Prince so much, why not let him be the Crown Prince? I believe that under his guidance, Jian'an will become a great country with a thousand years of history."

She sighed softly, looking at the broken stick of incense in the incense burner that would not burn no matter what, "After all, he is a lucky star sent from heaven."

"Why are you saying that again?" Emperor Jian frowned, feeling powerless about her unchanged thoughts over the years. "The position of Crown Prince will always belong to Jin Yu. What are you worried about? You know..."

It’s not like we don’t know that Chengze has no royal blood, so how could he become the crown prince?

"So, if he is of royal blood, Your Majesty will make him the crown prince?" A hint of sarcasm flashed across Cao Qingran's lips.

Others may not know, but she knows it best. If Concubine Hua was still alive, if Concubine Hua gave birth to a son for him, the position of crown prince would never belong to Xie Jinyu.

Emperor Jian opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but then he remembered something and finally remained silent.

Cao Qingran, do you know that for you, Hua Ning...

Whatever, whatever...

Emperor Jian wiped his face, determined not to bother with her, and asked in a deep voice, "I'll ask you again, if that child asks you to go, are you really not going?"

"No, I always like quietness." Cao Qingran closed her eyes, her face full of indifference and alienation, "If your majesty has nothing to do, go back to bed and rest as soon as possible. If you feel lonely, you can go to other concubines' palaces. I'm afraid I can't entertain you here."

Emperor Jian: ...

"Who's lonely?" Emperor Jian suddenly broke down, and he jumped up from the futon with his knees, pointing at Cao Qingran and yelling, "I'm not going anywhere! I'm sleeping here! What can you do to me!"

The grown man was so angry that he put his hands on his hips and trembled all over. He strode to the door and shouted, "Come here! Make the bed in the east wing! I will stay in Kunning Palace tonight!"

Xie Ping'an and Xie Shu have always been well-informed. If they knew that his father, the emperor, had wandered around the harem and no one wanted to take him in, and even the queen was unwilling, I'm afraid all the concubines would know... and by then, who knows how they would secretly laugh at him!

Doesn't he want to lose face? !

Cao Qingran looked at Emperor Jian who was making a big fuss, frowned slightly, and was very confused about what he wanted to do. When Emperor Jian went to the east wing, she looked at Nanny Qing who came in, "Is my father embarrassing Your Majesty?"

"My lady, no." Madam Qing shook her head. "I heard that Eunuch Zhao sent a letter to all the palaces, saying that he would spend the New Year's Day in Liaozhou and watch the ice sculptures in Liaozhou."

Was it really just to invite her?

Cao Qingran watched Emperor Jian angrily stomping away, with a hint of bitterness in her eyes, "He hasn't come to visit me for three years, but now that kid just mentioned it, he's willing to condescend to come to me."

"My queen..." Nanny Qing looked at her distressedly, "Why are you doing this..."

"Mammy, do you think I should go?" Cao Qingran raised her head slightly, looking at the dark and moonless night sky with a blank and sad gaze, just like her mood at the moment.

"My lady, what did that child do wrong?" Madam Qing supported Cao Qingran, "The incense of his soul has died, it's time to let him go."

Let yourself go...

But she had already been unable to let herself go. From the moment she became so jealous that she was unrecognizable and lit soul incense on the Buddha statue, she was already hopeless.

"Then go and take a look." Madam Qing continued to persuade, "Don't you... also yearn for the snow in Liaozhou?"

Yes.

She also longed for the snow in Liaozhou.

Even, it's not just snow.

So, when Emperor Jian woke up from his bed in the early morning, he opened his eyes and met a pair of dark and cold eyes. He was so scared that he almost lost control of his bladder. "Cao, Cao Qingran! What are you doing? You scared me to death!"