The palace maid seemed to sense something and explained, "Her Majesty has sent the Fourth Young Master to rest. He's not here at the moment."
Gu Liyue quickly nodded. "Thank you, auntie."
When they entered the main hall, they saw the majestic Empress Dowager talking to an old maid beside her. Listening closely, they were mostly discussing Lu Yunxi's situation. Today, Lu Yunxi had allowed the imperial physician to examine her. It seemed she had some superficial injuries and abrasions from a fall.
Lu Yunxi was an active girl, and such injuries were quite common for her. But this time, they seemed particularly serious.
The Empress Dowager asked, "Did she obediently apply the medicine?"
The old maid shook her head. "The princess refused. She said she had always recovered without medicine in the past, so there was no need this time either."
The Empress Dowager asked again, "How are her servants serving her? They can't even handle such a small matter well. Does this old woman have to go there herself?"
The old maid's eyes flickered over Gu Liyue and then she smiled. "Your Majesty, how could this servant know what the young people are thinking? Perhaps the princess thinks the servants are useless and is just in a bad mood. Usually, the only girl who got along well with the princess was the young lady from the Cheng family. But unfortunately, the young lady from the Cheng family caught a cold a few days ago and couldn't enter the palace. So it's quite a dilemma."
The Empress Dowager squinted her eyes. "You old thing, don't drag this old woman into it."
The old maid had served the Empress Dowager for many years and knew her well. She knew the Empress Dowager wasn't really angry, so she laughed again. "Your Majesty will live a long life. This old thing can only be this servant. How could it be Your Majesty? But Your Majesty's grandson and granddaughter - in - law are here. There's no way to just leave them there."
The Empress Dowager knew she was deliberately speaking up for Lu Jinchen and Gu Liyue. She just frowned. "Whether she's my granddaughter - in - law or not is yet to be determined."
Gu Liyue's heart skipped a beat. The Empress Dowager looked so serious. What if she got angry? If she didn't like her, what would they do?
Lu Jinchen immediately stepped forward. Without waiting for the Empress Dowager's permission to sit, he just sat down beside her. He motioned for the palace maid serving tea to step back, then frowned and said, "Grandmother, if you don't like Liyue, then so be it. Anyway, the Prince and Princess of Liang don't like her much either. How about..."
The Empress Dowager's expression changed drastically. She grabbed the palm - leaf fan from the palace maid's hand and hit Lu Jinchen on the face. "What nonsense are you talking about? As long as you like her, she's the best. Why do we need others to like her?"
Lu Jinchen didn't care. He just poured a cup of tea and presented it to the Empress Dowager. "This tea smells fragrant. It must have autumn pears in it, right? Grandmother always coughs in autumn. You should drink autumn pear soup."
The Empress Dowager sighed. Then she looked at Gu Liyue seriously and waved. "Come here."
Gu Liyue walked over obediently, bowed her head, and knelt in front of the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager shook her head helplessly. "Alright, stop kneeling all the time. Otherwise, Jinchen will feel sorry for you. He might even complain that this old grandmother doesn't care about you two."
Gu Liyue blushed deeply and quickly replied, "Back home, I served my grandmother like this too."
The Empress Dowager scoffed. "Your grandmother loves you so much. How could she bear to let you kneel for a long time? Someone, bring a seat."
Gu Liyue's heart was pounding. She sat down reluctantly and didn't dare to look up.
The Empress Dowager chatted with her. "This old woman used to get along well with your grandmother when I was a young girl. Over the years, I've seen your grandmother several times a year. I've seen her more often than my own relatives."
Gu Liyue didn't know how to respond and just kept silent.
But the Empress Dowager knew she wasn't raised in the capital and was a bit timid, so she didn't mind.
It was Lu Jinchen who looked up and said, "Grandmother, we're not very close now, but we will be in the future. She's your granddaughter - in - law. You have to take good care of her."
Just now, when the old maid said Gu Liyue was the Empress Dowager's granddaughter - in - law, the Empress Dowager didn't seem very happy. But when Lu Jinchen said this, the Empress Dowager was extremely delighted. She pulled Gu Liyue's hand and looked at it carefully, but then her face sank.
"With such a gentle nature, if you marry him, you'll have a hard time. If he ever bullies you in the future, don't be afraid. Just come to the palace and ask this old woman to stand up for you."
Lu Jinchen added, "I wouldn't dare. With General Gu around, even if I had a hundred guts, I wouldn't dare to bully Liyue."
The Empress Dowager laughed so hard that she bent forward and backward. "You look like you're not afraid of anything. You've even turned the Prince of Liang's mansion upside down. Now you're afraid of others?"
Lu Jinchen spread his hands helplessly. "There's nothing I can do. I'm just afraid that you'll be worried and keep nagging that I can't find a wife."
"You, you..." The Empress Dowager knew Lu Jinchen was full of nonsense. She just told the old maid to bring a box. She took out a gilded bracelet from it and gave it to Gu Liyue. "This bracelet was given to me by the first Empress. I had it redone a while ago. It still looks good, so I kept it. Now, I'll give it to you."
Gu Liyue was scared. Without her aunt - in - law around, she didn't even know whether she should accept it or not. She didn't know who to turn to for help.
Seeing this, the Empress Dowager laughed again. "Silly girl, don't be so nervous. This thing, in fact, still belongs to your Gu family."
Gu Liyue didn't quite understand. It was the old maid beside her who explained, "This was the token of love the founding emperor gave to the female general. After so many years, it's time for it to return to its original owner."
The female general was an ancestor of the Gu family and also the wife of the founding emperor. And this bracelet had been in the possession of successive empresses.
Gu Liyue was shocked. She quickly knelt down, took off the bracelet, held it up, and shook her head. "Your Majesty, this thing is too precious. This subject has done nothing to deserve it. How can I accept such a reward?"
The Empress Dowager sighed. "This old woman says you can accept it, so you can. Over the years, this bracelet has changed hands. Some people thought it was like the phoenix seal, while others just regarded it as an object for power struggles. Now that it's in this old woman's hands, of course, this old woman has the final say. Get up and put it on properly."
Gu Liyue took a deep breath. In the end, she just obediently put on the bracelet. She understood that this bracelet had become an object of contention in the inner palace. The position of the queen was coveted by so many people in the palace. This bracelet, which was originally a token of love, had now become something with an unclear meaning. Whether it was good or bad was yet to be determined.
Now, the fight for the throne in the palace was just beginning to show its outcome. But the Empress Dowager didn't want her good intentions to become something for the court officials to make wild guesses about. So she simply gave the bracelet to Gu Liyue.
The emperor had six sons, and only two had grown up. Lu Jinchen was just the son of a prince. There was no way he could be in line for the throne. So the symbolic meaning of the bracelet was self - defeating.
The Empress Dowager might be tired and didn't want to say more. She just pointed outside and said, "This old woman summoned you to the palace to accompany Yunxi. That girl is a bit impulsive, but she's not a person who can't tell right from wrong. You don't have to worry. Even if she's angry with your elder brother, she won't do anything to you."
Gu Liyue quickly said, "This is all my elder brother's fault. He should apologize to her in person."
The Empress Dowager said, "But Yunxi is so stubborn. Your elder brother knelt outside her door for a whole night, but she didn't even look at him once. Forget it. Go and accompany her."