"You're not trying to lower my guard and deceive me with these words, are you?"
Shi Muyuan couldn't help but roll her eyes and pointed at Ze Ze beside her.
"I had no feelings for the late emperor at all. His heart was never on me. Back then, there were three thousand beauties in the harem. I tried my best but to no avail."
Now, Bai Su'er no longer had those thoughts from before. She only felt that her friend had actually had a tough time in the harem.
"Since you were unhappy, why didn't you leave on your own initiative?"
"How could I leave? If I left, who would manage the harem? Concubine Rui? You know what she's like. If the harem were handed over to her, it might turn upside down one day. The others are all just ambitious but incompetent."
This was indeed true. Bai Su'er sighed and said, "I didn't want to be your enemy after what happened back then. But I remember that your Shi family also played a part in my being sent to the Cold Palace."
To put it bluntly, a good imperial concubine like her was sent to the Cold Palace and had been there for so many years. No one would be willing to accept this, especially someone as proud as Bai Su'er.
However, all these things started because of herself, and it should also end with herself.
Shi Muyuan looked seriously at the former empress and said, "Our Shi family has offended you a lot before. I hope you can forgive me, and I'm willing to make up for our past mistakes."
"You don't have to do this. The late emperor never had feelings for you. Letting you stay in the harem for so long was already unfair to you."
Seeing this, Shi Muyuan thought there was still a chance to make up with her and quickly said, "So you mean you won't hold it against me anymore?"
"It's been so long. I actually don't care about it anymore. Let's be like we used to be."
"Okay."
After the two of them reached an agreement, the young empress dowager personally issued an imperial edict. From then on, Bai Su'er would return as a noble consort. This sudden change made Concubine Rui very dissatisfied.
"Useless! All of you are useless! I told her to cause trouble, but the two of them reconciled instead."
"Don't be angry, Your Ladyship. We still have other ways."
"What ways? Can't you see they've made up? It will be even more difficult for me to do anything from now on."
Zhu'er thought for a while and said, "The court officials outside the palace may not have heard about this yet. Why don't you take some measures, Your Ladyship?"
Concubine Rui suddenly realized. She had never cared about her natal family. She just wanted the position of empress dowager.
Under Concubine Rui's arrangement, soon, a large group of people were kneeling outside the imperial study.
In the past few days, the young emperor was almost annoyed to death by these people. He was a bit helpless and didn't want to go out at all.
However, the court officials outside roared so loudly that the whole harem could hear them: "Your Majesty, please come out and make a decision. The empress dowager has gone too far in this matter. Your Majesty, we can't just let the empress dowager break the rules like this. If we do, won't everyone be able to break the rules in the future?"
Fu Lu stood outside, feeling a headache.
"Gentlemen, please don't make unfounded remarks. The empress dowager is a person who knows the overall situation well. How could she do such a dirty thing?"
"No, we must see the emperor today. Everyone knows what the empress dowager has done. Please make a decision, Your Majesty, and ask the empress dowager to give us an explanation."
Finally, having no other choice, the young emperor could only say to them, "The empress dowager has never done anything to be sorry for the late emperor. Why don't you leave quickly? You are all important court officials, but you always keep your eyes on the harem. Do you think your official hats are too nice?"
The officials felt a bit embarrassed, but there were still some who were not afraid of death.
"Your Majesty, don't cover up for the empress dowager. We all know it clearly. That male favorite must be executed."
There was no way out, so the young emperor had to tell them his mother's plan. But immediately, these people focused on another thing.
"So when the national treasury is empty, the empress dowager still holds this so - called cooking exchange. Doesn't this mean that the empress dowager is wasteful and doesn't consider the common people at all? How can such a person manage the six palaces and be the mistress of the harem?"
The young emperor felt that he was getting more and more unable to explain. He angrily scolded, "I think you people are just too idle today. The imperial kitchen is still short of manpower. Why don't you go and have a look? In this way, you can also help out a bit instead of making wild guesses about the current empress dowager here."
These simple words immediately made everyone change their minds.
"We know we were narrow - minded. The empress dowager did all this for the sake of the whole Daliang Kingdom. Please don't blame us, Your Majesty."
"I think you are just too idle. Such a big thing has happened in the south of the Yangtze River, and you still have the mood to make wild speculations here. Alright, you don't need to say any more. When the empress dowager goes to the south of the Yangtze River, you can go with her."
The matter was thus settled. The court officials all regretted it. They knew they shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess, but there was no medicine for regret in this world.
After dealing with the court officials, the young emperor hurriedly went to the harem to see what was going on.
As soon as he walked in, he saw an unexpected person.
"Why is the former empress here?"
Shi Muyuan quickly waved to him and said, "Heng'er, the former empress has been suffering in the Cold Palace. Now I've rescued her. You shouldn't have any objections, right?"
"It's okay. As long as you're happy, Mother. By the way, the court officials came to see me today. I was afraid it would be bad for you, so I came here in person. Seeing that you're okay, I'm relieved."
Although he wasn't her biological son, he had done so much that it was almost the same as a biological son. Shi Muyuan was deeply gratified.
"You'd better go back and rest earlier. I'll take care of all the affairs in the harem and won't give you any worries."
"I'm sure I can trust you, Mother. By the way, how is Young Master Yun?"
"I heard he's handling things very well. The people in the imperial kitchen have a good attitude towards him now."
"That's good. Mother, you'd better hurry up. There are too many variables in the harem."
The conversation between the two was so harmonious that it really surprised Bai Su'er.
"Waner, I always thought your relationship with the emperor was not good. I was even going to tell you what to do."
"We're fine. You don't have to worry."
On the other side.
Yun Heng let the people in the imperial kitchen taste the food at will. After those imperial chefs ate it, their faces were filled with happiness.
Now, these people were completely convinced by him.
"Young Master Yun, we offended you before. We hope you can forgive us. Now we finally understand why the empress dowager found you. The food you cook is really the most delicious we've ever eaten. We still want to eat more after we've finished."
"Since you like it, that's good. Now I'm going to start teaching you."