Did the Seventh Prince attend court today?

The next day is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunions.

Youlu slept until 9 AM, and when he woke up, there was no one beside him.

He rubbed his eyes, groggily sat up, his nightgown pulled down by the thin quilt, revealing a section of fair and soft shoulder line, dotted with red plum blossoms.

Looking around, apart from the Pixiu at the foot of the bed, there was no one in the room.

A sudden gust of cold wind blew, and he couldn't help but shiver, quickly pulling his clothes up and shrinking back into the blankets.

The weather is getting colder and colder.

"Brother Imperial Brother?" he called out tentatively.

A clear female voice immediately rang out from outside the door: "Has His Highness woken up? This servant will go and inform him right away."

Then came a series of hurried footsteps.

A short while later, familiar footsteps sounded outside the door, and then the door was pushed open. Cang Shuyue, dressed in brocade robes and a tall hat and wide belt, strode in. He took a few steps to the bedside, half-embracing him as he sat up, and softly asked, "Awake? Are you hungry?"

Youlu shook her head and snuggled into his arms. "It's a little cold."

The sun was shining brightly outside, and even without opening the window, a sliver of dazzling sunlight could be seen through the crack. Logically, there shouldn't have been such a chill, but at that moment he truly felt cold.

He couldn't help but recall the massive snow disaster he had seen in Zhou Yongsheng's future. Could this be a harbinger of something?

Cang Shuyue frowned, hugged the man tightly, wrapped him in a quilt, and said, "I will have someone heat the kang (heated brick bed) tomorrow."

"It's not that bad," Youlu chuckled. "It was just a little cold for a moment, but it's not cold now. If we start heating the kang (heated brick bed) in August, how are we going to survive when it snows in winter?"

"Instead of heating the kang (a traditional heated bed), you should sleep with me a little longer and warm the bed for me," he couldn't help but tease.

Unexpectedly, Cang Shuyue nodded solemnly, "Okay, from now on, I'll start whenever the baby starts."

The Pixiu, perched at the foot of the bed, yawned and lifted one eyelid. [Opening your eyes brings food; those with partners and those without remain silent.]

The deer couldn't suppress the corners of her lips.

They chatted intimately for a while until their hands warmed up, then Cang Shuyue called a maid to bring in clothes and hot water.

He did not rely on anyone else; he personally washed and dressed his beloved.

Youlu looked at the crimson dragon-patterned robe and jade belt held up by the maid and asked in surprise, "Did you prepare this?"

Cang Shuyue meticulously tied up his long hair, secured the hair ornament with a hairpin, and said, "My elder sister had it delivered this morning."

You Lu nodded knowingly, smiling as she urged, "Hurry, hurry! Father and Mother must miss me terribly. I want to sneak into the palace and give them a surprise!"

Cang Shuyue smiled gently.

After getting ready and having a simple meal of porridge, Youlu pulled Cang Shuyue towards the palace.

The two had just stepped out of the room when they were stopped by Meng Tianhong.

Meng Tianhong stuffed the three sachets into Youlu's arms and said, "Please give these to him and the children, one each."

It doesn't need to be explicitly stated who "he" refers to.

The faint fragrance of osmanthus was refreshing and invigorating. In contrast to the neat stitches of the sachet, Meng Tianhong looked haggard and weak, with sunken eyes, clearly a result of rushing to make the sachet last night.

Youlu sighed, "Aren't we going to see them?"

Meng Tianhong gave a wry smile. "What identity should I use to meet them?"

There is a deer-like speech.

Meng Tianhong said nothing more, turned and left, his back view lonely and desolate.

Youlu lowered her eyes to look at the delicate sachet in her hand. "He actually used a pair of hands that could kill to learn how to thread a needle."

Cang Shu remained silent.

After carefully putting away the sachet, Youlu perked up, took her boyfriend's hand, and said, "Let's go, let's go to the palace."

More than two months after leaving the capital, Shengjing was still bustling with activity. With the addition of the festival, the streets were crowded with carriages and people. After entering the city, the carriage moved slowly and stopped frequently, taking a long time to move even a few steps.

Youlu lifted the carriage curtain to look out and was stunned by the huge crowd outside. "Holy crap, it's rush hour! Maybe we should just walk to the palace."

Cang Shuyue shook his head, "There are too many people, it's not safe."

"Can't you just grab me and fly over there in a flash?" Youlu asked.

Cang Shuyue thought about it carefully and nodded in agreement, "That makes sense."

He helped the person out of the carriage, and was about to use his light-footed skills when he suddenly heard the sound of string and wind instruments behind him. The crowd on the street instantly retreated to both sides like a tide, making way for a wide road.

"What's going on?" Youlu looked in surprise at the pedestrians on the roadside who were kneeling and kowtowing with excited expressions.

"It is the Imperial Advisor." Cang Shuyue said indifferently.

As soon as he finished speaking, a sedan chair with a draped veil of silk rose into the air, passed over their carriage, and landed steadily on the ground.

The wind lifted the layers of gauze curtains, revealing not even a hair on the person inside. Only a kneeling figure could be vaguely seen, with an ethereal and otherworldly appearance.

The sedan chair was carried by four people dressed in white, their faces covered with white masks, their steps light and quick, as if walking on clouds.

The palanquin's passage was like a cleaving of the sea and a breaking of the waves, causing crowds to spontaneously give way.

In the blink of an eye, the sedan chair disappeared into the street.

"How magnificent!" Youlu exclaimed with wonder. "I want to ride in a sedan chair like that too."

Cang Shuyue smiled and pulled him into the carriage. Before the crowd could gather again, she instructed the driver to drive on.

After passing through Zhengyang Gate and entering the inner city, the streets were finally less crowded. The carriage sped along the Outer Five Dragon Bridge and arrived at the palace gate.

As soon as they stepped off the carriage, Youlu heard someone call out, "Seventh Brother!"

He looked up and saw the eldest prince standing in front of the palace gate waving at him, clearly waiting for him.

"Elder brother!" he cheered as he went to greet him.

The eldest prince caught his younger brother who rushed towards him, looked him up and down, and said with concern, "You've lost weight."

Youlu laughed heartily, "Elder brother, we've only been apart for less than seven days, how can you tell I've lost weight?"

The eldest prince said with a serious expression, "You've just lost weight."

Pixiu covered his mouth and chuckled, "[There's a kind of thinness that only your brother thinks you've gotten.]"

Youlu said with a grin, "Then I'll have to eat a lot tonight."

Cang Shuyue walked over slowly. "What are you doing standing here?"

"We're chatting," Youlu said with a smile.

The eldest prince noticed the cloak draped over his arm and asked in surprise, "Uncle, why are you wearing a cloak? Are you cold?"

Then his expression changed, and he asked worriedly, "Has your old injury flared up again?"

"No." A hint of helplessness flashed in Cang Shuyue's eyes.

Youlu stared at the cloak and blinked, a warm feeling welling up in his heart. He could roughly guess why Cang Shuyue was wearing a cloak.

Seeing that the eldest prince still wanted to get to the bottom of things, Youlu quickly pushed him through the palace gate, saying, "Oh, let's go, let's talk about it on the way."

On the way to the Imperial Study, the First Prince talked on and on, but Youlu only remembered a few points.

Firstly, the Empress Dowager has returned from her Buddhist pilgrimage, and the Sixth Prince has also returned.

Secondly, the second princess and her husband had just returned to the capital not long ago;

The three imperial advisors actually agreed to attend this year's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet;

There's also Prince Duan and Princess Duan, and the Grand Princess who had been bedridden for years but suddenly recovered. All of these people will be attending the palace banquet tonight. He had a feeling that there might be a tough battle tonight.

Fortunately, although his talent has been sealed, he still has some basic divination skills. He can't calculate the intricacies, but he can grasp the general cause and effect. Dealing with these royal relatives shouldn't be a problem. The only fear is that the imperial advisor is not a kind person.

Just then, the Inner Five Dragon Bridge came into view. He had just stepped onto it when he saw his father, whom he hadn't seen for more than two months, leading Prime Minister Su, Xu Zheng, and Qin Tan, marching proudly onto the bridge.

The four men were imposing and their clothes fluttered in the wind. They exuded an aura of power, and with a pair of sunglasses, they were definitely the kings of street style.

Youlu involuntarily started playing the background music of "A Hero in Troubled Times" in his mind.

Pixiu stared in disbelief: "Holy crap, the old F4 of Shengjing?!"