C86 Goodbye to Her Majesty

"Chenqie also doesn't understand tea. Normally, she would just randomly drink a little and get such a refreshing drink from the empress. I would've guessed that it was the new tea from that year. I didn't expect that chenqie would guess correctly. I thought I'd said something wrong just now."

As he finished speaking, he pursed his lips shyly and handed the teacup back to the palace maid behind him. His posture was still elegant and calm, but his hands held each other's fingertips in a restrained manner.

"Alright, since you're so nervous and I've already seen you, I won't hold you back. You still have to go see the empress dowager and Grand Consort, so I won't keep you here to chat with an old woman like me."

These words frightened Zheng Qingluo so much that she hastily shook her hands. "Esteemed Empress isn't old. You mustn't say it like that. Esteemed Empress, you're at the right age to do so."

Seeing that Zheng Qingluo was so flustered, the empress was at a loss of what to do, causing her eyebrows to curl up. "What a cute little girl. I knew you were nervous and wanted to tease you. Hurry up and see the empress dowager. Remember to come to the palace often when you're free. I'm bored too."

Zheng Qingluo knew the empress was making fun of her, but her heart steadied a little. She stood up and gave the empress a deep blessing. "I'll be troubling the empress for a bit longer. Chenqie will take her leave now. I wish the empress good luck and good health, youth and longevity!"

He elegantly stood up and looked the Empress in the face for the first time. He gave her a warm smile before taking a few steps back. He then turned around and followed the Violet Vine out of the palace.

When she sat in the palanquin again, Zheng Qingluo felt her entire back was drenched in sweat. She was very cold and didn't know how to react, whether the empress was satisfied or not. However, behind the empress's amiable smile, there seemed to be a feeling that made Zheng Qingluo uneasy.

She was not sure where that came from. In her impression, the Queen was not someone who could easily get close to her. Was there some purpose in the intimacy she showed herself? At first sight, Zheng Qingluo had no way of knowing.

"Seventh Princess, Tzu Ning Palace has arrived. Please get off the palanquin." Hearing the court lady's call, Zheng Qingluo didn't immediately get off the palanquin. Instead, she sat in the palanquin for a moment and took two deep breaths before raising her hand to lift the palanquin curtain.

At this time, the curtain of the sedan chair was opened from the outside. A white hand was placed on the curtain as he raised his head to look. A palace maid dressed in royal blue was standing outside the sedan with a sweet smile on her face.

"Seventh Princess, this servant is here to take you to see the empress dowager. Please slow down and get off the palanquin." The palace maid extended her hand and let Zheng Qingluo carry it. Zheng Qingluo then walked out of the palanquin. The complicated mood she had before at the Kunning Palace had already become very relaxed at this moment.

When she saw this palace maid, she knew that Esteemed Empress Dowager was still her original personality. The empress dowager really liked things to celebrate, even if it was a palace maid.

This type of empress dowager made Zheng Qingluo very cordial. She thought back to her last life with the empress dowager, when she was truly a very benevolent old man. Perhaps everything could be repeated.

"Seventh Princess, take your time." The palace maid helped Zheng Qingluo up the stone steps. When they arrived at the main hall door, she didn't follow them in. Instead, she handed Zheng Qingluo over to another woman in a light pink palace dress.

"Aunt Yan!" The palace maid respectfully bowed. "Mm, you can go down to receive your rewards." Aunt Yan reached out her hand and received Zheng Qingluo, gesturing to the blue palace maid to step down.

"Thank you, Aunt Yan!" Even though the palace maid blessed Aunt Yan once again, she didn't forget to thank Zheng Qingluo as well. "Seventh Princess, this servant will be leaving now."

Seeing her happy expression, Zheng Qingluo's heart was a lot more open. Why bother asking for trouble? No one could have predicted that nothing had happened. She was just on tenterhooks.

It would be better to just do it like this. It was a simple job, to take things step by step, as long as each step was firm enough, Aunt Yan, thank you for your hard work!

Aunt Yan was around thirty years old, and looked younger than her actual age. The reason Zheng Qingluo knew her age was because she had been with the empress dowager for many years, so Zheng Qingluo recognized her.

When Zheng Qingluo was still Zhao Minyan, because the empress dowager would often summon her into the palace, she was not unfamiliar with her. Zheng Qingluo knew that Aunt Yan was a very gentle person, and did not have those complicated thoughts.

"What's so difficult about it? You just walk through the door and out. Originally, the empress dowager had sent a servant to pick up the wangfei from outside the palace, but after thinking about it later, that was too serious and serious. I'm afraid someone paid too much attention to that. It's not good for you."

"The empress dowager told me to wait outside the main palace gates. Wangfei, you mustn't have any thoughts. The empress dowager really did consider things for your sake, so I wasn't allowed to pick them up at the gates."

However, she didn't speak, which actually made Aunt Yan a bit worried. She knew that the empress dowager doted heavily on Seventh Prince, so she naturally wanted to stay in her room.

If this young wangfei who had yet to meet the empress dowager was dissatisfied with the empress dowager first, then it wouldn't be beautiful. The Aunt Yan wasn't afraid that the empress dowager would object to the young wangfei's actions.

Even though the empress held onto the phoenix imprint, she didn't dare to underestimate her opinion. The Aunt Yan was afraid that the empress dowager would be hurt, and if a junior he wanted to like wasn't very fond of himself, he should feel sad, right?

"I heard that the empress sent the Violet Vine to pick you up at the entrance of Kun Ning Palace?" The news came quickly enough, but Zheng Qingluo pretended not to hear it. She still nodded and replied with one word: "Yes!"

This voice that did not hurt at all made Aunt Yan want to finish her words. "Esteemed wangfei, there's something this servant knows that if you say it, it's over the limit. But this servant still wants to say it."

Zheng Qingluo slowed her steps. This action allowed Aunt Yan to feel more at ease, but her words were still cautious. "Right now in the palace, with the empress holding the Phoenix Seal, it can be said that the empress's words are the final words."

"But the empress has sent her closest aunt to pick up the wangfei, which means she's come in person. This is something that hasn't happened before in recent years, and the empress picked her up once already, the entire harem probably knows about it by now."

This is also one of the main reasons why the empress dowager doesn't allow this servant to pick up the wangfei. Perhaps the wangfei is still young and doesn't understand the hidden meaning behind it.

"The reason why I'm telling this to you is so that I can let the wangfei know that the empress dowager won't pick you up. It's not because the empress dowager looks down on you, but because she values you greatly and can't pick you up. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Aunt Yan felt that she had complicated the situation. What was all this about, it was like a tongue twister, because the wangfei was still young, she wanted to explain it clearly to her. In the end, the more she wanted to explain it, the more she couldn't.

"I can understand Aunt Yan." Seeing how anxious the Aunt Yan was, Zheng Qingluo laughed instead. This Aunt Yan had been like this for decades, and it was all thanks to her always being in the empress dowager's palace.

Otherwise, with such a soft and kind personality, he probably wouldn't live that long in the other palaces. In fact, Zheng Qingluo had been too superficial.

"Esteemed wangfei, you said you understand?" Zheng Qingluo nodded again. Why couldn't she understand what was going on? The empress had used her to tell everyone in the imperial harem that the empress was on good terms with the Seventh Princess, and that she valued him greatly.

He also indirectly told the others that the Queen's mother, who was also the First Prince's outer sect, had good relations with the Seventh Prince.

This was also the reason why Zheng Qingluo felt uncomfortable after leaving the Queen's Kun Ning Palace. It was just that at that time, she didn't think too much into it, and with the Aunt Yan's reminder, she immediately understood.

Being used like this would make her feel a bit uncomfortable, but it wasn't a big deal. It didn't affect Zheng Qingluo's mood too much. The empress dowager's scheming had never stopped.

"It can't be, you're so big." Aunt Yan extended her hand out, and looked at the hand that she extended, Zheng Qingluo could not help but laugh out loud.

"How could I be so short? Is Aunt Yan laughing at me?" Because they were already in front of the main hall steps, they talked so much yet were afraid of being overheard. Their footsteps had already slowed down to the point that they were about to stop.

"Aunt Yan, the empress dowager is waiting." Seeing the two of them chatting happily, the young palace maid guarding the entrance worried that if she didn't speak now, the two of them might end up standing there and chatting forever.

He thought to himself that it was all thanks to the Empress Dowager's benevolence. Otherwise, even if she had to use an aunt, she wouldn't be so willful and reckless.

"Sigh, I'm coming." Aunt Yan replied straightforwardly. After saying all that had to be said, her heart was cleared as she quickly reached out her right hand for Zheng Qingluo to connect it.

"Princess, let's hurry up. I'm afraid the Empress Dowager has been waiting for you since early morning." As he spoke, his footsteps had become a lot faster.

The young palace maid at the entrance of the hall watched as the young wangfei followed the Aunt Yan into the main hall. Although the Seventh Princess walked in quickly, she still had a lot of respect for his frail body.

Everyone said that Seventh Princess was very small and didn't understand too many rules and etiquette. However, from the perspective of a little palace maid, this Seventh Princess was definitely someone who understood the rules and etiquette, moreover, knew the rules and etiquette very well.

Just looking at her leisurely walk, it wasn't something that an ordinary person could walk on. She had seen many beauties in the palace, and even imperial concubines and imperial concubines traveled back and forth. However, she had never seen such an appearance before.