Entering the palace means entering a high position; I'm His Majesty's cousin, who am I afr

After setting the date for the trip to the imperial palace, Shen Jiayu met with the female officials of the Six Bureaus and instructed them to make preparations according to custom.

Now that there are no important matters in the palace, she has a lot of free time.

Thinking that the emperor's birthday was still two months away, I wanted to prepare an embroidered jade belt hook as a birthday gift for him.

Three years ago, the emperor coveted the wrist and knee pads she made for her father and coaxed her into making one for him.

After much thought, Shen Jiayu made him a jade belt hook with an animal head. The small and exquisite jade ornament had a tassel attached to it, and it hung on one side of his waist, which was quite beautiful.

However, the emperor wore it for three years and rarely took it off.

Shen Jiayu had said it several times, but the knot was already starting to come undone, and she tried to replace it with another one, but the emperor wouldn't listen.

Shen Jiayu had no choice but to let him go.

Now she was thinking of making another jade belt hook for the emperor, and another knot to replace the old one.

You can alternate between the two and wear them, so that they don't get worn out and still be on your body.

With nothing else to do, I decided to get started.

Shen Jiayu first had someone find a piece of fine jade. She played with it in her hands for a while, pondering what animal shape to carve. Dragons and phoenixes were too common and vulgar.

After thinking for a long time, I finally decided on the Qilin.

Shen Jiayu had someone set out brushes and ink, and began to draw a blueprint. The image of the Qilin was complex, and the drawing was not finished until evening.

Shen Jiayu told Hongling to put the drawing away, and then said, "Find me the tools we need; we'll be starting tomorrow."

Hongling hadn't responded yet.

The palace servants at the door announced, "Your Highness, Chief Eunuch Qing has arrived."

Shen Jiayu was puzzled; why was Qing'an here at this time?

In a flash, she composed herself and had someone welcome Qing'an into the palace.

After Qing'an entered, he bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, His Majesty sent me to inform you that he is unavailable tonight and will not be coming over. Please rest early."

A glint of light flashed in Shen Jiayu's shimmering eyes, but on the surface, she responded as usual, "I understand."

Qing'an didn't say anything more, bowed, and withdrew.

Shen Jiayu sat on the soft couch, propping her head up with her hand, lost in thought.

In the past two or three years, even when the emperor was very busy, he would still come to her place. He would only inform her if he was completely free.

Are you currently unavailable?

But he said last night that there's not much to do in court lately.

What's going on...?

Shen Jiayu frowned, feeling something was off, and decided to observe further.

By the evening of the following day, Qing'an had returned, using the same excuse.

This time, however, Qing'an added, "His Majesty said that he will be busy in the future and doesn't know when he will have time to come. Your Highness, please rest."

That's even more untrue.

Shen Jiayu didn't make things difficult for Qing'an and let him go back.

On this day, Shen Jiayu put in a lot of effort to carve the Qilin perfectly.

Her skills were a bit rusty, so she carved and revised repeatedly. After a busy day, she never expected to hear this news.

Shen Jiayu simply threw the half-carved Qilin into the box, locked it, and ignored it.

Life was going so well, and then this happened out of nowhere. Does she think I have no temper?

Shen Jiayu thought that since he didn't want to come, she didn't want to go either, so she might as well take a break.

On the fifth day, the emperor still hadn't come to Yihua Palace.

Shen Jiayu then truly realized that he wasn't busy; he was genuinely angry.

But why?

The night before he got angry, the two of them were perfectly fine, inseparable and deeply in love.

Why did you suddenly change?

What's there to be angry about?

Shen Jiayu frowned, thought for a long time, and finally thought of one thing—the issue of accommodations in the imperial palace.

She said that Qi Yuan was too young and she was worried about her living alone in the side hall of Zichen Palace, so she wanted to take Qi Yuan with her to live in Wangyue Tower.

Is that what made you angry?

But it doesn't quite make sense either.

Even after the matter was discussed, the emperor still demanded compensation from her, and she was thoroughly tormented that night.

So what exactly is the reason?

Shen Jiayu was completely baffled and slept haphazardly through the night. The next day, she sent Hongling to the Emperor to inquire about the recent unusual events.

Hongling didn't take any money, only two plates of exquisite pastries, and went to stay in the front courtyard.

Qing'an is not on duty today, so he is staying in a vacant room near Xuanzheng Hall, which is convenient for him to be on standby at any time.

It was a minor eunuch who welcomed Hongling inside.

Upon entering, one could see that although the house was not large, it was very clean.

Qing'an was very polite to Hongling: "Please sit down, Miss Hongling."

Hongling smiled and placed the food box on the table, then sat down beside it: "Grand Steward, you flatter me. Don't call me 'Miss,' just call me Hongling."

According to palace rules, she, as a servant girl, was not qualified to sit in front of the Grand Eunuch.

It's still because they followed the right master.

Not only here, but also in other parts of the palace, everyone treated her with utmost respect.

Qing'an stopped talking nonsense, called out to Hongling, and asked her what was wrong.

Hongling glanced at the young eunuch, who then discreetly withdrew.

Hongling's pretty face showed worry as she said, "Our lady has something on her mind and would like to ask the Grand Steward for some guidance."

How could Qing'an accept such a statement? He quickly lowered his stance.

Hongling sighed and said directly, "Grand Eunuch, you know best what's going on with the Emperor. His Majesty was perfectly fine with our Consort just a few days ago, so why has he suddenly stopped coming? What could be the reason?"

Qing'an shouldn't have revealed what happened before the Emperor.

But the people he asked were different, and the Imperial Noble Consort had always treated him with great courtesy. Most importantly, since His Majesty and the Consort were not on good terms, his job was not easy.

After considering for a moment, Qing'an slowly said, "To be honest, His Majesty has been preoccupied for more than a day or two; it's been almost half a month. It all started with that incident in the Imperial Study. When His Majesty was reprimanding the two princes, he got hot tea spilled on his hand and didn't clean it up. He thought the Empress would notice, but who knew that it would stay like that for several days..."

They talked for a while inside before Hongling finally pushed open the door.

Hongling curtsied and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Steward. I will go back and report to Your Majesty immediately."

Qing'an saw her out: "This matter requires Your Majesty to coax His Majesty before he will feel better."

Hongling nodded and hurriedly left.

Upon returning to Yihua Palace, Hongling truthfully reported all of this.

Shen Jiayu recalled.

Is his hand injured?

How come she didn't notice?

Could it be that at the time, he was busy taking care of Qi Yuan and dealing with Consort Lan and her son, and didn't have time to look after him?

So, that night she was focused on Qi Yuan and neglected him, which made him angrier and angrier.

Shen Jiayu shook her head and chuckled.

How childish and ridiculous to be jealous of your own daughter.

However, this was indeed her oversight, so let's try to appease her.

He used to be the one to coax her, but this time it's her turn to do it, which is a kind of fun for the young lady.

Shen Jiayu changed into a light purple embroidered bird and flower patterned long dress, and wore a gold hairpin inlaid with gemstones on her head.

Dressed up beautifully, she headed towards the Xuanzheng Hall.