Five years after her death, she awoke on the dragon bed.

Chapter 408 You are my wife, who can touch you?
Those who came to the palace to attend the Emperor's birthday banquet were all prominent figures in the capital.

Of course, receiving a letter from Empress Dowager Chen indicates that one is valued by the royal family.

But His Majesty and Empress Dowager Chen both said that someone made His Majesty's birthday unpleasant. Isn't that saying that they made His Majesty the Emperor and Empress Dowager unhappy?

Empress Dowager Chen dismissed everyone except for the Lady of Dingyuan, who spoke intimately with the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, which shows that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor valued the Marquis of Dingyuan.

Thus, the Marquis of Dingyuan's good fortune was yet to come.

In contrast, the other powerful families, having interfered in the emperor's harem affairs and forced him to depose the empress, have already been disliked by the emperor.

The worst part is that this is just the beginning.

If His Majesty holds a grudge, the political landscape may be rewritten. Former key ministers will be neglected by His Majesty, while those who previously had no chance to rise to power may gain His Majesty's favor.

In the imperial court, the worst thing is to choose the wrong side.

Not only were the noblewomen, both inside and outside the palace, filled with unease, but the concubines in the harem were equally anxious.

They had been gloating, but on such a grand occasion as the Emperor's birthday celebration, Empress Lou Suying hadn't even shown her face. Now, looking at them, how were they any better than Lou Suying?

Lou Suyi's position as empress is still secure; she has the crown prince and is pregnant with another imperial heir.

Even if His Majesty has not yet dealt with the families behind them, if the Crown Prince ascends the throne in the future, he will probably not let go of the ministers who impeached Lou Suyi.
For a moment, everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts, and they suddenly realized that their family shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess. Not only had they failed to remove Lou Suyi from the position of Empress, but they might also have jeopardized their family's future.

Consort De found it amusing to see everyone looking so preoccupied.

This time, Qi Yan stepped forward, and the Chi family actually benefited. But clearly, no one remembered that she was also a member of the Chi family.

Consort Ning, on the other hand, showed no emotion whatsoever; it seemed that nothing could elicit any strong emotions from her.

"His Majesty found two breakthroughs, Lord Xie and Marquis Dingyuan, and then defeated them one by one. My sister has failed again this time, and I feel sorry for her. If this opportunity is missed, no one will dare to impeach Her Majesty the Empress so easily in the future." Consort De smiled at Consort Ning.

Although she was disheartened, it didn't stop her from continuing to hate Consort Ning.

Consort Ning wore an orange palace dress with a lotus flower pattern today, a color that made her skin appear very fair and made her stand out. At first glance, Consort Ning did not appear to be wearing makeup, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that she had applied exquisite makeup, indicating that Consort Ning valued this birthday banquet and hoped that Murong would notice her presence.

Unfortunately, Consort Ning's face was too ordinary; no matter how much she dressed up, she couldn't outshine the other women present. It was only because Consort Ning was born into a good family, with the General's Mansion backing her, that she was able to become Consort Ning.

"What are you saying, sister? I don't understand," Consort Ning said with her usual composure.

Consort De had long known that Consort Ning was a hypocrite, so she was not surprised that Consort Ning was pretending to be deaf and dumb.

"Sister, there's no need to pretend in front of me. What I want to say is that you will never be able to defeat the Empress in this lifetime." After saying that, she rode away in her palanquin.

Consort Ning watched Consort De's departing figure, lost in thought, before boarding her palanquin and heading back to her residence.

Inside Xianfu Palace, Lou Suying also received the news. Today was the Emperor's birthday, a day that should have been a day of universal celebration. However, Murong Lian did not even show up to offer his congratulations to the civil and military officials. After arriving at Shou'an Palace, he took the opportunity to give all the noblewomen and concubines a hard time. In the end, the birthday celebrant left everyone behind and departed.

Lou Suyi was a carefree person, and she thought that even if she didn't go to celebrate Murong's birthday, Murong wouldn't take it seriously for a young lady like her.

But he was angry because he wanted to impeach her, and today is his birthday. Shouldn't she, as his wife, be by his side?

Jinshu and the others all said that she was now the target of everyone's criticism and should be patient and keep a low profile, and she thought so too.

At this moment, she felt that no matter what others said, she just wanted to be by Murong's side on his birthday. Even if it meant disguising herself as a eunuch...

But when she looked down and saw her stomach, she was momentarily dazed.

Lou Suyi's attendants could tell that their mistress had something on her mind. After all, today was His Majesty's birthday. Ever since the Empress entered the palace, she had always accompanied His Majesty on his birthday.

This impeachment had a profound impact, representing the only all-out confrontation between the emperor and his ministers since His Majesty ascended the throne. Even the officials who impeached him likely did not anticipate that, despite the seemingly one-sided situation and the appearance of victory, Murong would open a breach and turn the tide when they thought victory was assured.

Since things had already turned ugly, Lou Suyi felt there was no need to keep a low profile anymore.

Why not just do what you want instead of worrying so much?
At this moment, all she wanted to do was stay by Murong's side and celebrate his birthday properly.

"Go to Qianqing Palace." Lou Suying stood still for a while, then suddenly spoke.

Everyone was surprised. They all thought the Empress was a rational person, but who knew that she could act on emotion at times.

“Your Majesty…” Jinshu murmured.

"I know what I'm doing, it's alright. Chen'er will come with me to Qianqing Palace later." Lou Suyi smiled brightly.

Seeing this, Jinshu stopped trying to persuade him.

If the master understands, then that's fine; as servants, we should respect the master's wishes.

To everyone's surprise, Lou Suying went to Qianqing Palace in a grand manner, almost making a big fuss. Almost all the people in Xianfu Palace were mobilized, leaving only a few to guard Xianfu Palace.

This time, no guards blocked the Empress's way.

Lou Suyi successfully entered the Qianqing Palace and found Murong in the Hanzhang Room.

Murong was overjoyed to see Lou Suyi, but his face quickly darkened: "Why are you here?"

"If His Majesty doesn't want to see me, then shall I go back?" Lou Suying said, turning to leave.

Murong quickly grabbed her sleeve: "Now that you're here, why leave?"

Lou Suying suppressed a laugh and turned to Murong, saying, "I came to keep Your Majesty company because I heard that Your Majesty was angry on your birthday and was worried that you might be upset."

Murong, however, remained defiant: "The situation has only just eased up a bit. Aren't you afraid those traitors will impeach you again?"

Lou Suyi felt quite scared, but she said, "With His Majesty here, he can always protect me. I trust His Majesty."

Because of her words, Murong felt comforted and warmed from head to toe.

“That’s true. You are my wife, who can touch you?” Murong said, pulling Lou Suyi into his arms.

Lou Suyi blushed: "No, someone's here..."

"All of you, step back!" Murong had barely spoken when he saw that the room was already empty.

Only the clueless little prince was still looking back, calling out in his childish voice, "Father, I want a kiss too..."

I hate this time off in lieu of leave...