Reborn to marry the emperor, I just want to confuse the emperor and seize the throne

Seeing him staring at her hand, Zhu Yiyi became bolder. She personally handed the cake to Xie Shang, trying to test his intentions. "Your Majesty, please have a taste! I think your Majesty must be hungry at this hour."

Xie Shang did not take the pastry she handed over. He only felt a refreshing fragrance entering his nostrils, giving him a sense of déjà vu.

He didn't look at the maid's face, but looked directly at Censor Zhu, and said with a faint smile, "It turns out that this maid is from the Censor's house. I am really short-sighted."

Bringing a woman here at this time, Censor Zhu's meaning couldn't be more obvious. During the national mourning period, he could not favor the concubines in the harem, so he wanted to send a wild maid from outside the palace to relieve his loneliness.

Xie Shang's brows were furrowed into a shape of a "川" (river) and his whole body was filled with coldness. Anger rose in his eyes. He wondered if Censor Zhu was being too bold and presumptuous.

Seeing that the emperor looked unhappy, Censor Zhu quickly explained, "She is actually..."

Zhu Yiyi quickly stepped back and knelt on the ground respectfully. "Your servant Zhu Yiyi pays respects to His Majesty. My father hasn't returned home for a few days. My mother feels sorry for him and asked me to bring him some food. I was afraid of causing misunderstandings, so I disguised myself as a maid and entered the palace. My father knew that Your Majesty was working hard, so he came to comfort you. Your Majesty saw me in the Imperial Garden that day. Today, I have overstepped the boundaries. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Seeing her explanation, Xie Shang looked at her deeply and said, "So you are the daughter of Censor Zhu. Since you are here to care about your father, it is getting late, so you should leave the palace and go home early!"

"Yes, I'll take my leave." She looked clear-eyed, bowed respectfully, and got up to leave without any hesitation.

Censor Zhu was stunned. Fortunately, Yiyi was smart. He said, "I will take my leave now."

At this time, Jiang Jinyan also walked in and bumped into Censor Zhu. "Censor Zhu is here too!"

Censor Zhu smiled and said, "Minister Jiang didn't leave the palace either?"

"I went to pay my respects to the Empress, and was asked by her to bring midnight snacks to His Majesty." Jiang Jinyan was holding a food box in his hand, which was indeed delivered by the servants of Chenxi Palace.

He looked at the woman beside Censor Zhu. She was indeed pure and lovely, with seductive eyes, as if she was here to seduce His Majesty. Just now, when he was outside the door, he also heard the voices inside. This woman was really good at adapting to circumstances.

Censor Zhu paused and said, "I am about to leave the palace as well."

Zhu Yiyi stared at Jiang Jinyan's face and his inquiring eyes caught her eye. She raised the corner of her lips into a decent smile and followed her father.

She thought to herself: The sons of the Jiang family are really handsome.

-

When Xie Shang heard that it was Ruan Ruan who asked him to deliver the midnight snack, he quickly asked Wu Xin to take away Zhu Yiyi's pastries, "Jin Yan, come and sit down."

Jiang Jinyan bowed respectfully and said, "Yes."

He sat opposite Xie Shang, put the food box on the table and explained, "I just happened to pass by and met the Queen's maid Lian Ye." This meant that he did not go to Chenxi Palace to get it personally.

"I am indeed hungry." He opened the lunch box and saw that there was vegetarian porridge inside, as well as a few delicious side dishes and two sets of bowls and chopsticks.

"Come eat with me! You've been working hard these past few days."

Since the death of the late emperor, Jiang Jinyan has indeed been busy in the palace, and is also Xie Shang's right-hand man. Jiang Fenghua knew that he was in the palace, so naturally he prepared a copy for him.

The aroma of the porridge permeates the nose, instantly awakening one's taste buds. The nights are long and the winter is cold. It is a comfort to eat steaming hot millet porridge at this time.

Xie Shang said, "Ruan Ruan is really thoughtful. Drinking some hot porridge at this time is better than eating cakes to warm the stomach."

Jiang Jinyan said, "Your Majesty is busy with state affairs, but you must take care of your health. After drinking the porridge, Your Majesty should rest early."

Reminding him not to be seduced by women, Censor Zhu let his daughter come to the emperor at this time, which clearly showed that he had other intentions.

-

Zhu Yiyi followed Censor Zhu out of Taihua Palace. They looked inside and Censor Zhu said, "The emperor almost lost his temper just now. It was a close call!"

Zhu Yiyi said nonchalantly, "His Majesty has already shown interest in my daughter. Now my father just needs to create opportunities for her."

Zhu Yushi was puzzled: "Are you sure? If Zhenzhen is already in the palace, the emperor cannot go against the ancestral precepts and marry the same official girl into the palace."

"There are always exceptions to everything." Zhu Yiyi added, "If the prince can break the rules for his daughter, then it doesn't matter if Zhenzhen is in the palace. As long as the prince likes my daughter, what rules are there? Does father think it really matter?"

Censor Zhu was stunned. This was the truth. The emperor had just ascended the throne. Even if he liked the queen very much, and even directly confered her as queen, after a while, the novelty of the queen would wear off.

The emperor is the king, and the rules are made by the king.

Censor Zhu is a man, he chuckled, the emperor is also a man after all, men all like beautiful women.

Censor Zhu also took his daughter out of the palace. When passing by the plum garden, Zhu Yiyi stopped and said, "The plum blossoms in the palace are about to bloom!"

Zhu Yushi said, "I heard that this patch of plum blossoms was planted by the emperor when he was a child. Thanks to him being born in Empress Cheng's womb, he lived more freely than other princes."

Zhu Yiyi asked, "Does the emperor like plum blossoms?"

Zhu Yushi groaned, "I don't know about these, they are just ordinary things."

Zhu Yiyi was more attentive and careful about these ordinary things than her father. When Zhu Yiyi walked into the plum forest, she saw several plum trees in bloom. The fragrance on her hand was the fragrance of plum blossoms. Such a coincidence, it seemed that she had to do something to attract the emperor's attention. Life in the palace was boring and boring. During the national mourning period, the emperor didn't eat any meat at all! She wanted to see how long the emperor could hold it in.

Zhu Yiyi took the food box and put it on the ground and began to pick fresh plum blossoms. Censor Zhu quickly stopped her, "This is something the emperor cherishes. Yiyi, stop it."

“No matter how much we treasure them, they will just stay on the branches with no one to appreciate them. It would be better for my daughter to pick some and take them home to make plum blossom cakes to present to the emperor.” She also wants to make plum blossom incense and apply it on her skin. Isn’t that more interesting?

Censor Zhu paused, but did not try to stop him. He immediately understood what he meant.

This plum garden also has special servants in charge of its management. There must be some special meaning behind the emperor's cherishing of it. Although they don't know the emperor's intention, no one dares to slack off.

The eunuchs nearby wanted to step forward to stop it, but with Censor Zhu in front of them, they did not dare to step forward. They could only secretly tell the emperor the news.

At this time, Xie Shang was still busy in Taihua Palace. It was the middle of the night, snowflakes were falling outside, and the palace fell into silence.

A eunuch came to report, "Your Majesty, the plum blossoms in the Plum Garden have been picked, and we don't know how to stop it."

Xie Shang was stunned, his body became stiff, anger rose in his chest, his eyes seemed to be spewing anger, and he stood up and walked towards the plum garden.