Jian Yu Bai, although he had only returned to the Imperial Capital at the beginning of this year, was already well-known for Ji Ming Fei's "achievements" in stealing him away - after all, Ji Ming Fei's most illustrious "achievement" was taking down Jian Yu Bai's own mother, Jin Guo's Long Princess...

  How can a master who regards ethics and morality as fleeting clouds be prevented from being guarded against?

  That night, Jian Yu Bai and Ji Su deliberated in the study for several hours, until midnight before returning to their room - but did not expect Song Yi Xiao had not fallen asleep yet, leaning against the incense burner dozing off, seeing him come in, suddenly woke up with a start, got up and said: "Why so late?"

  "There are a few urgent matters." Jian Yu Bai saw this scene and felt joyful in his heart, walked forward, hugged her and kissed her lightly, saying "It's already so late, what am I waiting for? Next time you sleep first."

  Song Yi Xiao and others actually wanted to confirm whether Cui Jian Lian and the Liu and Jin families were in cahoots, but this was too exhausting, and he didn't have the energy to speak, so he just said: "Tomorrow we need to enter the palace to congratulate Empress Dowager, let's get some rest!"

  Jian Yu Bai didn't know the inside story, but thinking back to when he returned to the backyard earlier, the large mansion except for the wind lanterns under the corridor had no other lights on. He trudged through the snow into the Moon Cave Gate, only to find that his and his wife's inner chamber was still brightly lit.

  The dim yellow light shines on the glass window, and the flying goose feather-like snowflakes in the courtyard seem to have turned into flowing golden feathers, beautiful enough to touch people's hearts.

  At that moment, the sound of the north wind and the falling snow seemed to pause for a moment.

  As he pushed the door open, his wife, who was half asleep and half awake, leaning against the mosquito net, raised her drowsy face with a hint of blush, and spoke in a sleepy tone, looking confused and bewildered, which made his heart almost melt into water.

  She endured and endured, but finally couldn't help smiling, reached out to gently rub her loose braid after bathing, and softly said: "Good!"

  Song Yixiao was unaware of the sweetness in her husband's heart, so the next morning when she got up, facing Jian Yu Bai's various gentle and affectionate expressions, she curiously asked: "Has Xu Shu's matter been settled?"

  Linghu DeYin has already asked Ding You, He WenQiong's promotion is imminent, and the position for Xu XiWei should be vacated soon, right? Otherwise, why would Jian YuBai be so happy?

  Luckily, Jian Yu didn't know what she was thinking and thought his wife was concerned about him, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

  She scooped another spoonful of egg custard for her, "This is good for your skin, eat more!"

  "It seems like everything is going smoothly." Song Yi smiled and sized him up, thinking to herself, "If I run into Sister Xie later, I'll casually mention it to her and let her be happy too."

  The husband and wife who were as happy as a lark chattered away like ducks and chickens, and together they took a carriage to the residence of the Duke of Jin.

  Because it's the Shou Xiu Festival, a grand occasion, everyone is dressed in formal attire today. The men are all wearing clothes according to their ranks, while the women are all wearing huajian yi, with flowers embroidered on them - among them, Princess Jin Guo, Princess Qing Jiang, Princess Chang Xing, and Song Yi Xiao are all wearing nine-flowered huajian, while Madame Shou Chun Bo has seven, a total of forty-three flowers shining brightly together in the same hall, making the originally elegantly decorated room look dazzlingly resplendent, it's even hard to open one's eyes.

  In such a grand and luxurious setting, there was no hairpin or ceremonial robe, only Nie Wu Xing, who could only wear an ordinary new dress, looked out of place.

  Look at her expression when she frequently looks towards the Princess of Jin State, it's clear that she doesn't want to enter the palace.

  "Ying'er, you'll follow your fourth aunt today." The Grand Princess of Jin State knew about this little girl's predicament. But she herself was almost over fifty years old, and this daughter still hadn't been married off yet. No matter how much she loved her, she could only protect her for a few more years. If she let her continue to hide in the Grand Princess's residence, it would seem like pity but actually harm her!

  Pretending not to see, he only reminded Song Yi with a smile, "This child rarely goes out and doesn't understand many things, you remind him more often!"

  Song Yi Xiao was about to respond when Changxing Princess suddenly interrupted, saying: "Mother, why must Fifth Sister follow Fourth Brother's wife? Fourth Brother's wife has rarely entered the palace before and doesn't even know the way herself. How can she take care of Fifth Sister? Why not let Fifth Sister follow me instead?"

  "Third Sister, your words are laughable. Today's visit to the palace is to celebrate the Emperor's grandmother's birthday, not to sightsee. Why do you need to know the way?" Song Yi smiled and was still thinking of a response when Jian Yu Bai raised an eyebrow and spoke up, "So in Third Sister's eyes, the Emperor's birthday is just for fun?"

  Princess Changxing: "......"

  What's the meaning of you, a younger uncle, running out while your sister-in-law and I are fighting?!

  "Fourth brother, don't be rude!" Seeing this, Jian Yi put down his tea cup and said coldly, "You know your third sister's quick-witted nature. She's not saying this for no reason. She's afraid that Fourth Brother's wife hasn't attended a formal banquet before, and when the time comes, she'll be at a loss and won't be able to take care of Fifth Sister properly. In the end, it's all out of kindness and a desire to help. Fourth Brother's wife didn't say anything, what are you getting worked up about?"

  Do you think I'm just your wife who is heartbroken and has lost her hair?

  Jian Yu Bai glanced at his brother, let out a snort of laughter and said: "Not having attended an imperial banquet before, you're already so flustered? And as for Third Brother, he's never been married before either. This is his first time being a husband, isn't he doing a great job? It seems like only you can do things perfectly the first time around, and everyone else is inferior to you? That's just ridiculous!"

  "What nonsense! Is this how you speak to your elder brother?!"

  "You're in the wrong but still trying to use your seniority to bully others, I'm so ashamed for you!"

  "You're just talking nonsense!"

  "Look at you, Third Brother, you're becoming more and more shameless!"

  "You good-for-nothing! Don't you have any discipline?!"

  "Third Brother should really pay attention to propriety, first take care of Third Sister-in-law properly. If she continues to not take the birthday of her maternal grandmother seriously, sooner or later she will be impeached for being unfilial, you understand?!"

  "You've married a good thing..."

  The Princess of Jin and others stared in shock at the increasingly fierce argument between the two brothers, just as Jian Yi was about to say something out of line, the Princess of Jin finally came back to her senses, slammed her hand on the long table, and shouted: "Shut up, all of you!!!"

  Jian Yi and Jian Yu Bai glared at each other, before reluctantly standing up to apologize: "Your child was rude, please punish me, Mother!"

  "You two have no discipline at all!" The Princess of Jin State had always doted on her children, and although she was furious, after slapping the table a few times, she didn't say how to punish them. Instead, she said, "Ying'er, you follow your older sister - Yiyou and Ahxu later. If you two don't cherish your kinship again, then don't come to my place anymore! I can't control you, so it's better for me not to see you!"

  The two brothers hurriedly knelt down: "Your sons know their fault and will never dare again!"

  "You'd better all remember this!" The Grand Duchess of Jin glared at them fiercely, her eyes sweeping over the Princess Changxing and Song Yixiao, saying hatefully, "Not a single one is easy to deal with!"

  Song Yi Xiao knew that the previous sentence was expressing dissatisfaction with herself and Changxing Princess, and she felt quite wronged in her heart: "It's obviously Changxing's fault, what does it have to do with me? I didn't say a single word!"

  ...Well, she conveniently forgot about the "You can't let San Shu bully me" tantrum from a few days ago.

  Originally, the Princess of Jin State had planned to chat with everyone before entering the palace to congratulate the Empress Dowager, but now that things have turned out this way, she's lost her mood. She knocked on the surrounding servants and ordered them not to spread rumors, then stood up: "Let's go!"

  Everyone bustled to follow, surrounding the Grand Princess as she walked out - in the midst of this, Song Yishang occasionally glanced over and found that her father-in-law, Jian Liangkong, who had not spoken from start to finish, gave a extremely cold glance at Jian Yubai.

  She frowned and quietly reached out to pull on Jian Yu Bai's sleeve, signaling him to be careful.

  Jian Yu Bai merely glanced at her and then withdrew his gaze, smiling as he pinched her hand, his expression calm and determined.

  A large group of people entered the palace, and when the ladies arrived at Qingxi Hall, all the concubines in the harem were already present. The Crown Prince's consort and Consort Cui were also seated below, accompanying them.

  Upon seeing the arrival of the Jin State's Princess, the Empress Dowager smiled and dispensed with formalities. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the princess, her gaze shifted to Song Yishang: "Good child, I heard that you had quite a scare recently. Have you fully recovered now?"

  Not waiting for Song Yi Xiao's response, he beckoned with his hand and said, "Come over quickly and let me take a look!"

  Song Yixiao looked at the old woman with a questioning gaze, and seeing that the Princess of Jin also nodded slightly, she followed suit and took her seat. The Empress Dowager warmly grasped her hand, asking about everything in detail, showing great concern.

  The empress dowager was so enthusiastic that others couldn't help but respond. The imperial consorts all chimed in, eagerly asking about her well-being and vying with each other to show their concern.

  At this moment, Song Yi became the center of everyone's attention.

  She calmly dealt with these concerns, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Princess Changxing's resentful gaze. She almost burst out laughing: "Just now in front of her mother-in-law, she had already failed to show off once; now that the empress dowager is present, she doesn't even have the opportunity to steal the spotlight, this is no longer a matter of being unhappy, this is a matter of the golden branch and jade leaf having nowhere to put their face!"

  After all, Princess Changxing had just descended the day before yesterday, and this would not even be enough for three mornings of returning to the door! When she arrived in front of her birth mother's mother, Empress Dowager should at least give her an extra share of respect.

  It's unclear whether it was due to negligence or indifference, but she didn't notice her at all!

  Changxing Princess, how can you not move with anger and Song Yilao smile?

  However, the tragedy of Princess Changxing had not yet ended. When everyone accompanied Empress Dowager to the banquet, they all laughed and chatted, but when it was time to take their seats, Princess Changxing's seat, dishes, and servants were surprisingly not given any special treatment!

  According to the rules at that time, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu would divide their dishes among close relatives as a sign of favor.

  This face, Princess Changxing did have it, but after being ranked behind several people, she didn't say anything. She followed Song Yixiao to thank the emperor: Song Yixiao clearly saw this golden branch and jade leaf thanking the emperor, and after sitting down, almost snapped a pair of chopsticks in half!

  "This royal family is really strange." She looked at it with a smile and also felt puzzled, "This daughter who has just been married for two days, why not give face? This is called the queen's face is not glorious!"

  She was still wildly guessing what was going on when someone suddenly squeezed over and whispered, "Fourth Sister, can you accompany me to the dressing room? I don't know the way, and Big Sister is being held back by a few people, so she told me to come find you!"

  Song Yi Xiao turned her head and saw that it was Nie Wu Ying, she hastily put down her chopsticks: "Naturally!"