As she spoke, Jinghong's stomach growled. Her ears turned slightly red.
"Mother Empress, I'm hungry."
The young girl let out a soft laugh and shook her head helplessly. "I heard. In that case, let's have the servants serve the food."
She opened the door and called out.
"Servants! I'm hungry."
Immediately, several figures appeared from behind the screen.
After being taught a lesson by Shi Muyuan before, these servants had become much more well - behaved. They put down the things and were about to leave.
The young girl looked at the food. "I still prefer lighter - flavored dishes."
The servants thought they had done a poor job and quickly apologized.
"Please forgive us, Mother Empress. It's our fault. We'll remake the dishes right away."
Saying so, they were about to remove the food.
Unexpectedly, Shi Muyuan stopped them.
"Just prepare an extra set of chopsticks and bowls. There's no need to remove all the food. It would be a waste."
"Thank you, Mother Empress."
The servants on the ground thanked her repeatedly and quickly withdrew. When they came back, they had an extra set of chopsticks and bowls in their hands.
"Alright. You don't need to serve here anymore. Leave."
"Yes."
After confirming that there was no one outside, Jinghong walked out, wiping the saliva from her mouth.
As expected, her appearance made Shi Muyuan look at her with disdain.
"Why do you look like you've never eaten before?"
"Almost. Mother Empress, you don't know. When they locked me up, they gave me very little to eat."
"Alright, eat quickly. By the way, tell me who Junlin's father is."
"It depends on how good Mother Empress's memory is."
"What do you mean?"
"I wonder if Mother Empress still remembers the guard you personally sent to the prince?"
The young girl blinked her eyes and vaguely remembered something.
The guard was probably sent by the original owner. It was also the original owner who gave the birthday gifts to the three children. At that time, all three children received a guard personally sent by her.
It had to be said that in this regard, the original owner seemed to have really done what a mother empress should do.
"Do you mean the one named Qingbai?"
"That's right. He was left by the prince to protect Hehui at that time and has been by her side until now. As long as Mother Empress wants to, you can find this person with a bit of effort. Or you can simply and directly ask the prince for him."
Hearing this, Shi Muyuan rolled her eyes.
"Even if the person is really in front of us, without evidence, Huang'er will never believe it. He's not that easy to fool."
"That's going to depend on Mother Empress's methods."
As the two were thinking about how to make Qingbai show up voluntarily, there was a commotion outside.
An old woman staggered up to the door and pounded on it. If Jinghong hadn't dodged quickly, she would have been seen by the people outside.
She frowned slightly, looking displeased. "Since when can people enter my room without asking for permission?"
The old woman trembled and prostrated herself on the ground.
"Mother Empress, I really had no choice. The princess fainted outside."
"Then I have to ask how you servants have been serving her."
"Mother Empress, you can't say that. The princess fainted because she knelt outside for a long time to seek your forgiveness. It's not the fault of us servants."
A cold look landed on the old woman. The young girl's face showed no sign of anger or joy.
"So you're trying to shift the blame onto me? Why did she do this? Don't you all know in your hearts? I made it clear just now. If she wants to kneel, let her. I didn't force her."
"I didn't mean that, Mother Empress. You'd better go out and take a look at the princess."
The young girl rubbed her forehead, stopped making things difficult for the old woman, and walked outside.
Before she got close, she saw a figure approaching from afar.
Then, Hehui was held in someone's arms.
When she saw the person's face clearly, the young girl's eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed that she didn't need to look for the person herself. He had come to her.
She lifted her eyelids and pretended to be innocent as she approached.
"Who are you? Hugging the princess in public. What kind of propriety is this?"
Qingbai didn't care about anything else. His eyes were filled with blazing anger.
"Mother Empress, please rest assured. I was sent by the prince to protect the princess. Now that the princess is in trouble, I'm to blame. I'll take the princess to find a doctor first."
"Fine. Have someone come and inform me later. I don't want someone to die at my door for no reason and then have the blame shifted onto me."
As she spoke, she clearly saw Qingbai clench his fist.
Oh, they're really deeply in love.
However, she wondered how long their deep love would last.
Soon, news came from the prince's mansion, and it was Ji Huang who brought it.
So many things had happened in a row in the past few days. The hard - won tranquility had been broken again and again. He looked extremely exhausted.
"Mother Empress, you don't need to worry. Hui'er just hasn't had a good rest recently and caught a bit of a cold here. She'll get better after taking some medicine for a few days."
"Okay. Do you want to stay for dinner?"
Actually, she didn't need to ask to know the answer. She just asked symbolically.
Even if the person in front of her wanted to stay, she wouldn't agree.
Sure enough, Ji Huang replied, "I still have to go out at night, so I won't eat. Mother Empress, just tell the servants to cook whatever you like. If you're not satisfied, I'll change the chef when I come back."
"It doesn't matter. I'm not that picky."
As soon as he left, Jinghong emerged from the room.
"Tonight is a good opportunity. Mother Empress, don't you always want to find evidence? As far as I know, those two will definitely be affectionate when they get a chance. Tonight will be no exception."
"Are we going to watch a show?"
A glint of light appeared in the young girl's eyes. She had never watched such an exciting thing up close.
Jinghong didn't expect that the legendary mother empress would like to watch such things.
"You've experienced such things yourself. Why are you still so curious?"
The young girl was stunned. Come to think of it, she really had never experienced such things. The things the late emperor did back then were all for show and had deceived everyone.
However, she definitely wouldn't tell Jinghong about this. "It's only natural to be curious. Alright, let's go quickly. We must prove their affair."
...
In the dead of night, the mansion seemed completely silent.
If Shi Muyuan hadn't sneaked over to watch when no one was around and seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed that these two would be so bold.
It took the two people below about two hours to finish their passionate encounter.
Shi Muyuan and Jinghong watched with great interest and occasionally commented in whispers.
"She was acting half - dead during the day, but now she's full of energy."
"That Qingbai is really good in bed. Jinghong, how about I poach him for you sometime?"
"Mother Empress, no thanks. He's already dirty. I dislike him."