The Empress laughed a genuine laugh from her heart. She appreciated clever people who didn’t feign ignorance when it was time for candor.

“From now on, I’ll have to trouble you, as her brother, to look after Fuqing,” she said.

“Taking care of my sister is only right,” Yu Jin replied.

The Empress and Yu Jin exchanged a knowing smile, saying no more. Reaching this initial agreement was the first step; the details that followed couldn’t be settled in just a few words.

About half an hour later, Jiang Si and Princess Fuqing returned.

“Where’s Fourteen?” the Empress asked, not seeing the Fourteenth Princess.

Princess Fuqing replied, “Fourteenth Sister said she had some needlework to finish, so she went back.”

The Dowager Empress’s birthday was approaching, and both princesses were preparing embroidered gifts for her.

The Empress shook her head with a smile. “That child, and she said she’d join us for lunch.”

Inwardly, though, she was quite pleased with the Fourteenth Princess’s tact. Although the Empress was generally magnanimous and didn’t let Concubine Chen’s misdeeds color her view of the Fourteenth Princess, there were still moments when she preferred no outsiders to interrupt. This lunch with the Prince and Princess of Yan was one such occasion.

Seeing it was almost mealtime, the Empress instructed a eunuch, “Go invite His Majesty to join us.”

The eunuch acknowledged and hurried off to the Imperial Study.

In the Imperial Study, Emperor Jingming was fidgeting with a white jade paperweight on his desk, occasionally glancing at the hourglass in the corner.

It’s getting late, he thought. Why hasn’t there been any word from Kunning Palace?

He frowned. Could it be that the Empress had forgotten he was supposed to join them for the meal?

Impossible, surely. How could she forget someone as important as him?

Reason told Emperor Jingming not to panic, but his empty stomach reminded him: It was getting late!

Yet, going over uninvited would be undignified, as if he were desperate to join in.

After waiting a bit longer, Emperor Jingming cleared his throat. “Pan Hai, have you seen Jixiang?”

Pan Hai was momentarily stumped by the question. As the Head Eunuch and overseer of the Eastern Depot, the Emperor’s top confidant, how would he have time to keep track of a fat cat all day?

“At this time, shouldn’t Jixiang be eating dried fish?” Emperor Jingming asked, his face stern.

Pan Hai suddenly understood: His Majesty wasn’t concerned about Jixiang’s dried fish—he was thinking about the meal the Empress had mentioned yesterday.

“This servant will go inquire right away,” Pan Hai said hastily. He had just instructed a junior eunuch to remind the Empress when someone from Kunning Palace arrived.

Pan Hai sighed in relief. This made things easier.

“Come in with me,” he said.

Seeing Pan Hai return, Emperor Jingming looked up expectantly.

“Your Majesty, the Empress has sent someone to invite you for lunch,” Pan Hai reported.

Emperor Jingming glanced at the messenger from Kunning Palace, cleared his throat, and asked Pan Hai, “Did you find Jixiang?”

Pan Hai forced a smile. “Jixiang is eating dried fish right now.”

“Ah,” Emperor Jingming nodded, then asked the Kunning Palace eunuch with feigned nonchalance, “Have the Prince and Princess of Yan arrived?”

The eunuch quickly replied, “Your Majesty, the Prince and Princess have been there for some time now.”

Emperor Jingming was taken aback, his composure slipping a bit.

They’ve been there for a while already?

“Who else is present?” he inquired further.

The eunuch answered honestly, “Besides the Prince and Princess, the Princess is also there.”

Emperor Jingming fell silent.

He felt excluded—

Seeing the Emperor’s silence, the eunuch hastily added, “The Empress said if Your Majesty is busy, then—”

Pan Hai yanked the eunuch back sharply. This fool doesn’t know how to speak properly, he thought. If His Majesty becomes upset, it’s the attendants like us who will suffer.

Emperor Jingming stood up, saying coolly, “Since the Empress has invited me, I might as well go take a look. I have nothing pressing to attend to anyway.”

The Emperor walked briskly all the way, with Pan Hai struggling to keep up behind him, inwardly rolling his eyes. His Majesty’s dignity could be a bit more consistent, he thought, lamenting his old arms and legs.

As they neared Kunning Palace, Emperor Jingming suddenly slowed his pace.

“His Majesty the Emperor arrives—” a eunuch announced loudly.

At the call, the Empress and the others came out to greet him.

“No need for formalities, let’s go inside,” Emperor Jingming said, entering with his hands clasped behind his back.

The Empress smiled, “I thought Your Majesty might be busy today.”

“If the Empress hadn’t sent someone to invite me, I might have forgotten about this entirely,” Emperor Jingming said casually.

As they all took their seats, palace maids filed in, bringing cups, plates, and dishes.

The meal wasn’t extravagant, but every dish was exquisite.

After a few bites, Emperor Jingming smiled, “The food in the Empress’s palace is quite good. You all are fortunate.”

Yu Jin and Jiang Si hurriedly agreed.

Emperor Jingming looked at his wife, then his daughter, and finally his son and daughter-in-law. Suddenly, he felt a sense of completeness.

No, he thought, if Jixiang were here too, that would truly be perfect.

“Ahuan is growing up. When the weather warms up and you come to the palace again, remember to bring the child for me to see. It’s not right for a grandfather not to know his granddaughter,” he said.

Beside him, Pan Hai silently quirked his lips. Your Majesty’s words are quite hypocritical, he thought. You haven’t even recognized all the princesses in the harem, yet you’re concerned about not knowing your granddaughter?

Still, this showed how much the Emperor valued the Prince and Princess of Yan. Now that the Prince of Yan had become the Empress’s son, things were indeed different.

Could it be that in the future, the Prince of Yan might— Pan Hai suddenly had this thought, but he quickly pushed it away, not daring to contemplate further.

Jiang Si smiled and replied, “The next time we come to pay our respects to Father Emperor and Mother Empress, I will bring Ahuan along.”

The rest of the meal proceeded in a harmonious atmosphere, which was rare for the imperial family.

Emperor Jingming found himself reluctant to let go of this relaxed feeling and deliberately slowed his eating pace.

Just then, a palace maid hurried in: “Your Majesty, Empress, someone has come from Cining Palace.”

Emperor Jingming and the Empress exchanged a glance before the Emperor put down his chopsticks. “Bring them in,” he ordered.

Soon, a eunuch entered, looking panicked. Upon seeing the Emperor, he immediately knelt. “Your Majesty, the Dowager Empress has fainted—”

Emperor Jingming shot to his feet, his face instantly turning pale.

The Empress quickly steadied him and demanded sharply, “What exactly happened? How could the Dowager Empress have fainted?”

The eunuch stammered, his lips quivering, “This… this servant didn’t have time to inquire further before being sent to inform Your Majesty and the Empress.”

Emperor Jingming steadied himself against the table, took a deep breath, and said to the Empress, “Let’s go see Mother first.”

After taking a few steps, he suddenly turned and glanced at Yu Jin and Jiang Si. “You two come along as well.”

Walking behind the imperial couple, Yu Jin quietly squeezed Jiang Si’s hand before letting go.

Jiang Si nodded slightly.

The couple composed themselves and quickly followed the Emperor and Empress to Cining Palace.

Cining Palace was in chaos due to the Dowager Empress’s collapse.

“Greetings to Your Majesty—”

Emperor Jingming, impatient with these formalities, asked directly, “Has the Imperial Physician arrived?”

“The Imperial Physician is examining the Dowager Empress now.”

Emperor Jingming brushed past the person who answered and entered the inner chamber. He saw the Imperial Physician inserting silver needles into the Dowager Empress’s acupoints.

Despite his anxiety, seeing this, Emperor Jingming didn’t dare to interrupt and quietly retreated.

“Why did the Dowager Empress faint?” he demanded.

A group of people knelt before the Emperor, each looking terrified at the question.

“Are you all deaf?” he snapped.

An elderly palace maid serving the Dowager Empress raised her head, her face ashen, and replied tremblingly, “Your Majesty, the Dowager Empress fainted upon suddenly seeing Madam Ping’s corpse—”