When Lin Qiao woke up, holding her head, Qiuyue was cleaning the table beside her.
"Ouch, why does my head hurt so much..."
Qiuyue came over to help her up. "How could it not hurt? You got so drunk after going out of the palace. You didn't even consider your capacity. You were just overjoyed, weren't you?"
...Did she go out of the palace?
Oh, she did.
...With whom?
Oh, with Luo Nanchen.
Lin Qiao remembered that it was the Lantern Festival yesterday. Luo Nanchen came all the way to the Hall of Everlasting Joy and asked her if she wanted to go out and have fun.
Was there even a need to ask? Of course she did!
But...
Although Lin Qiao felt that she was about to rot from staying in the palace... it seemed that this Lantern Festival was the moment when Luo Nanchen fell in love with the female protagonist.
To avoid accidentally promoting the plot of the vicious step - mother obstructing the male and female protagonists again, Lin Qiao firmly refused Luo Nanchen's invitation to go out.
But later... she didn't know how Luo Nanchen could be so persuasive. He talked about the sesame candy in the west of the capital, the acrobatic troupe in the east, the contest for the top courtesan in the north, and the martial arts contest for a marriage partner in the south. His words made her heart flutter, and then she followed Luo Nanchen out happily.
Face - slapping.jpg
Then, of course, she had a great time.
As for the drinking later, that was another story. It was all the fault of that guard beside Luo Nanchen. What was his name...
Right, Mo Xiujie.
This amazing Mo Xiujie, a tall man over 1.8 meters, was actually very sentimental. He insisted on dragging them to watch a play. What was it called...
Oh, "The Spring and Autumn Match".
This "The Spring and Autumn Match" was a well - known sad play about a step - mother bullying and obstructing the male and female protagonists. It was a remarkable part in the long history and culture, and could even be regarded as the originator of the literature about step - mother persecution.
When it came to the end, when the step - mother was locked in the yamen waiting to be beheaded, Lin Qiao's hands were shaking, and she didn't know what day it was.
Although Lin Qiao wasn't the original owner and had never thought of harming Luo Nanchen, just thinking about the original owner's ending, especially the extremely detailed and bloody scene described by the author, made Lin Qiao shiver.
She didn't want to bully Luo Nanchen, but in the early days, in order to build up her "style"...
Lin Qiao's hands were ice - cold. Luo Nanchen accidentally touched them and asked in a low voice, "Are you cold?"
Cold. Her hands were cold, and her heart was even colder...
Mo Xiujie was quick - witted and immediately said, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager may have a cold constitution. Drinking some yellow rice wine to warm up might help."
Sure enough, as the personal guard beside the emperor, he was really considerate.
Then Lin Qiao got drunk as a matter of course.
After getting drunk, her memory became a bit fuzzy. It seemed that she hugged Luo Nanchen's thigh and begged for forgiveness?
In her hazy mind, the only thing she remembered was that she threw herself on Luo Nanchen, crying and sniffling, "Do you believe me? Do you believe me?"
That was the only sentence she remembered.
Lin Qiao's head ached badly. She started to call the system, "What did I do yesterday?"
[The protagonist's mood value measuring instrument is damaged. The system is being upgraded.]
???
Lin Qiao almost burst into scolding, "You've been out of sight for more than half a year. When I call you, you're still upgrading. What's the use of you?!"
[The protagonist's mood value measuring instrument is damaged. The system is being upgraded.]
[Please inquire later.]
Scolding was of no use. Lin Qiao said weakly, "How did that measuring instrument break? Why is your lousy system so fragile?!"
[The protagonist's mood value exceeded the limit. The measuring instrument couldn't withstand the high - level data.]
"..."
What a mess these days...
Seeing Lin Qiao in a daze, Qiuyue leaned over and asked, "Your Majesty, Concubine Zou is waiting outside to have breakfast with you. Shall I let her in?"
There was also this inexplicable big - eater, Zou Lvrui, who came to the Hall of Everlasting Joy to have breakfast every morning. She was almost eating the Hall of Everlasting Joy out of house and home.
What a mess these days...
Lin Qiao let Zou Lvrui in. As usual, this girl was very honest looking at the table full of dishes. "Your Majesty, the food here is really fascinating and hard to resist."
This little girl knew quite a few idioms.
Lin Qiao nodded, hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help saying, "Well, you don't have to show off your talent all the time. I've already remembered you. Just eat less."
After breakfast, Zou Lvrui was still reluctant to leave, because she knew that the diligent Qiuyue would definitely bring out the small pastries she baked after breakfast.
Lin Qiao had reason to suspect that Zou Lvrui was sent into the palace probably because her family couldn't afford to feed her...
But today, Qiuyue didn't bring in the small pastries. Instead, she came to report, "Your Majesty, the Emperor is outside."
Zou Lvrui was quick - witted and immediately said, "Your Majesty, then this concubine will leave first."
Hey, she slipped away quite fast.
Confucius once said that when one trouble is solved, another bigger one will come.
Lin Qiao thought Confucius was joking with her. Thinking of her embarrassing behavior last night... crying while hugging Emperor Nanchen's thigh? She wasn't the female protagonist. Wasn't she just asking for a quicker death?
Alas, such a headache.
But unexpectedly, when Luo Nanchen came in, he didn't mention anything about last night at all. He just looked a bit happy, as if he had finally overcome some psychological barrier.
Lin Qiao planned to strike first to make Luo Nanchen feel embarrassed to pick on her. "Your Majesty, did I behave inappropriately last night?"
Luo Nanchen raised his eyebrows. "No."
Well, now no matter what, Luo Nanchen had no reason to pick on her.
Lin Qiao let out a sigh of relief. "Then why has Your Majesty come today?"
Luo Nanchen said理所当然, "Don't I come to Mother's place for meals every day?"
That was true. But recently, Zou Lvrui had been coming to the Hall of Everlasting Joy to mooch off the food. Lin Qiao felt sorry for the food, so she thought Zou Lvrui's presence was too strong.
So she slightly ignored Luo Nanchen, who was very quiet.
But that wasn't the point. The point was... Luo Nanchen called her... Mother?
You know, since she adopted Luo Nanchen, although Luo Nanchen was very well - behaved, obedient, sensible, cute, and motivated...
Cough, off - topic. Although Luo Nanchen had all these merits, but! Luo Nanchen had never called her Mother!
Could it be that last night's sincere confession after getting drunk finally made Luo Nanchen truly accept her status?!
The future looked bright for Lin Xiaoqiao. She had finally made some progress...
Luo Nanchen's voice was deep. He casually mentioned, "Mother, would you like to go with us for the spring hunt in a few days?"
Lin Qiao was so pleased that she smiled stupidly and reservedly. "Yes, of course I will go."
Luo Nanchen nodded and smiled slightly, coaxing Lin Qiao, "Mother drank too much wine yesterday. You'd better sleep more today."
Lin Qiao smiled stupidly. "Okay, sleep more. Of course I will sleep more."
Luo Nanchen continued to coax, "In that case, I'll accompany Mother to sleep."
Lin Qiao continued to smile stupidly. "Okay, sleep. Of course we'll...?"
???
Lin Qiao came to her senses. She wasn't smiling stupidly anymore. Instead, she was completely stunned. What was going on now?