Then, as he wished, the bird, whose head had been grabbed and rubbed by him, opened its throat and shouted, “Empress Dowager! Empress Dowager! Empress Dowager!”
Shen Fengyue felt like he was crazy. He wasn’t used to the bird being quiet. He had to make it shout and scream to feel comfortable.
Tsk, spicy chicken Lord Shen, what kind of broken bird did he send!
Everyone in the Shoukang Palace was accustomed to it, but Chu Xi was not. He asked, “Who gave this as a gift?”
Shen Fengyue casually replied as he combed the bird’s feathers, “This was given by Lord Hou a few days ago. He said it was a rare item that could speak sweetly. But these days, it only screams ‘Empress Dowager.’ It seems that Lord was also deceived and fell for it.”
Chu Xi remained silent, nodding his head.
Just then, the bird put on a performance for them:
“Empress Dowager!”
“Hmm?” Shen Fengyue instinctively responded.
“This slave likes you!” the bird sweet-talked.
Suddenly being confessed to by a bird caught Shen Fengyue off guard. He was amused and covered his mouth, laughing out loud. “Who taught it to say these sweet words to make fun of me? It never says these things to me normally.”
Luo Xue caught the topic and said, “Maybe it was some servant in the palace who casually suggested it to please the Empress Dowager.”
Shen Fengyue nodded, indicating he understood. Chu Xi pondered for a moment, glanced at the bird out of the corner of his eye with an ambiguous expression, and suddenly said, “Mother, this bird is really noisy. If you like birds, I will send you some more cute and beautiful ones in a few days.”
The little bird tilted its head and shrank into Shen Fengyue’s arms.
“The Emperor is thoughtful,” Shen Fengyue said, marveling at the bird’s rare behavior. He then picked it up and rubbed it, saying, “Little one, do you know that your position is not secure?”
Chu Xi, seeing this, had a flicker of light in his eyes. He chatted with Shen Fengyue for a while about topics that he thought “women” liked to hear, then got up to leave. Just before leaving, he suddenly remembered something and said to Shen Fengyue, “Mother, the guilty official has committed suicide in prison. I just learned of it this morning.”
“What?” Shen Fengyue was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized who the guilty official was.
The guilty official Wei Yunping committed suicide in the prison today. Shen Fengyue was full of mixed feelings.
Luo Xue also felt emotional and changed the subject, saying, “Empress Dowager, I noticed that His Majesty didn’t seem to like our bird.”
After she spoke, Shen Fengyue looked down at the bird thoughtfully.
Luo Xue said, “Our little bird is so beautiful, and it’s still colorful. Why doesn’t His Majesty like it?”
Shen Fengyue didn’t answer her question and just smiled to himself, thinking, It’s too gaudy and noisy all the time, it’s no wonder his son doesn’t like it!
Just after discussing the bird in the afternoon, they ran into the owner of the bird as soon as they went out. When Shen Fengyue saw the familiar figure from afar, he thought it wasn’t good and subconsciously wanted to take a detour. But it was too late; he was already seen by the other.
“Empress Dowager~”
The shout was full of ups and downs, like a wave rolling in.
Shen Fengyue walked quickly with a black face, pretending not to hear, but the person continued lazily, “Your Majesty the Empress Dowager~~~”
Bah! What “Your Majesty”! Shameless!
Shen Fengyue stopped abruptly, turned back forcefully, and put on a proper smile, appearing elegant and self-satisfied. “Lord Hou.”
“This slave pays my respects to Empress Dowager,” Lord Shen walked quickly and stood in front of Shen Fengyue, bowing respectfully. He said, “I am overjoyed to see Empress Dowager, but it seems that Empress Dowager doesn’t want to see me. Does Empress Dowager dislike the minister?” His words even carried a hint of grievance.
Tsk tsk tsk, this person is even feeling wronged!
Lord Shen has always been like this. Although he appears polite and respectful on the surface, he has always been a little unscrupulous.
To put it bluntly, it felt like he was flirting with him every moment they spoke. Shen Fengyue was even embarrassed to say that he was teasing him.
“This is nonsense. Lord Hou and I are old friends. How could I not be fond of Lord Hou?” Shen Fengyue chose his words carefully and replied.
But he was still caught off guard and the other seized the opportunity to make a point.
When Lord Shen raised his eyebrows, Shen Fengyue felt that something bad was going to happen. This troublemaker was going to cause some drama. As expected, he continued, “Although I am now a nobleman, I am still Empress Dowager’s loyal servant and have never changed.”
The way he squeezed his eyebrows and made face was annoying, and Shen Fengyue was impatient. “You’re so old, why are you pretending?”
When Lord Shen heard this, he actually touched his face with his hand as if feeling the wrinkles on his face. After touching it, he said with a helpless tone, “The Empress Dowager dislikes me for being too old.”
“…” He didn’t know how to respond to that.
“Was the Empress Dowager avoiding someone just now?”
“I wasn’t, I didn’t.”
“Hmm…” Lord Shen looked straight into his eyes as if trying to see if he was lying. Finally, he made a pitiful hmm sound and let him go.
Shen Fengyue felt his heart racing as he was stared at, his whole body stiffened, and his muscles tensed. When he saw the hint of amusement in his eyes, he knew he had been played.
“Are you mocking me?” He was furious. Suddenly, he changed the subject and asked, “Why are you here? This is the Imperial Garden, a forbidden place. It’s not appropriate for a court official like you to be here.”
Lord Shen said leisurely as he walked around him, “Today, I discussed government affairs with His Majesty. When I came out, I accidentally entered the Imperial Garden and decided to take a walk.”
“…”
Lord Shen continued, “As luck would have it, I got lost while strolling around and ended up here in front of the Empress Dowager.”
“…”
Bullshit, you’re a very cunning man, I don’t believe your lies! The Imperial Garden is easy to navigate even with your eyes closed. Who would get lost there?
“Is the Empress Dowager here to admire the flowers?”
Shen Fengyue nodded casually, but his expression was not good.
Lord Shen, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind. He just laughed and said, “Does the Empress Dowager know which flower is the most beautiful in the Imperial Garden?”
“I don’t know.”
Behind him was a peony garden, and Lord Shen suddenly took a step forward to approach him, causing Shen Fengyue to widen his eyes and exclaim, “What are you doing?”
After getting close to him, Lord Shen said, “It’s a peony.” Then he reached over and picked the largest blooming peony behind him and handed it to Shen Fengyue, saying, “The Empress Dowager is heavenly and graceful, the most beautiful woman in the world. So I think only this peony can match you.”
He raised his hand as if waiting for Shen Fengyue to take it. But as expected, Shen Fengyue did not comply with his intentions and instead slapped his hand away, rebuking, “Frivolous!” and angrily turned and walked away.
“Empress Dowager!”
“Empress Dowager!”
“Empress Dowager!”
“Empress Dowager! —-”
Shen Fengyue almost ran away in small, quick steps from the scene, still able to hear the man faintly calling out “Empress Dowager” from afar. In an instant, it merged with the sound of the broken bird in the palace, and now his mind was full of “Empress Dowager”.
Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager…
Lord Shen saw the person run away and was not angry, but instead laughed lowly with a magnetic voice making his chest tremble. He picked up the fallen flower and the petals that had fallen off, and gently placed them back in the flower. He kept stroking the peony flower over and over again.
During the period when he was Concubine Yan, and even during the time, he is Empress Dowager Yan, he is truly adorable.
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