Chapter 169:

“Mother——” Xiao Si’er showed six little teeth.

He uttered another “Wu a” sound and struggled to hand the sword to Layue.

Layue was happy to see him choose the sword.

Actually, no matter what object the child grabbed, it was all the same. They always avoided placing anything bad there; it was merely a gesture for a good omen.

“The Fourth Prince will surely be both learned and martial in the future.” There were plenty of people rushing to flatter.

Seeing that he had made a choice, Layue wanted to pick him up, but the little one still didn’t want to get up, just drooling and smiling foolishly.

This time, he spoke more clearly: “Mother.”

He struggled to hand the sword to Layue. Layue glanced at Emperor Jing before quickly accepting it.

The moment she grabbed it, Xiao Si’er scurried over to Jiaojiao’s side. Jiaojiao was curiously examining the objects laid out for the抓周 ceremony, and with a loud clatter, she toppled another one over.

(Note: “抓周” is a traditional Chinese ceremony where objects are placed in front of a child on their first birthday to predict their future interests or career. Since there’s no direct English equivalent, it’s retained in pinyin as “Zhuazhou” in some translations, but here it’s described contextually.)

Xiao Si’er clapped his hands and laughed while Xiao Wu let out a big yawn and looked around.

Just then, everyone saw Xiao Jiaojiao grab a piece of high-quality dragon-patterned jade. As she was about to throw it, everyone glanced at the emperor’s expression.

Who didn’t know that was the jade Emperor Jing wore every day, said to have been given by the late emperor.

“Ahh!” Suddenly Xiao Wu made a sound, and Jiaojiao stopped her movement.

She straightened her little hand and said “Ah!” again.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiaojiao withdrew her raised hand and placed the jade pendant in Xiao Wu’s hand.

Seeing the children interact, many people showed smiles on their faces.

After getting the jade pendant, Xiao Wu showed a silly smile, held the pendant tightly, and crawled to one side to take a nap.

“Take Xiao Wu out. He seems tired. Our Xiao Wu indeed has a good eye for valuable things,” Emperor Jing instructed, and Auntie Zhou hurried to act.

Xiao Wu didn’t resist, obediently allowing himself to be picked up.

“Prince Five will surely have a brilliant future, a brilliant future indeed!” Grabbing the emperor’s dragon-patterned jade naturally meant a bright future!

Emperor Jing curled the corner of his mouth, and anyone could see he was extremely pleased with such words.

After being picked up, Xiao Wu kept stuffing the jade pendant into his clothes, making Layue even more unable to suppress her laughter.

Looking at the remaining two children, Xiao Si’er was fine, always carefree and easygoing.

But Jiaojiao, the delicate little girl, was not satisfied. Her younger brother was taken away, and she wanted to be held too. She didn’t want to stay here.

But seeing no one paying attention to her, the girl became even more furious, kicking the objects around with all her might.

While she was being naughty here, there were people applauding and cheering on the other side. Thus, the scene became very chaotic.

Yan Yu watched Jiaojiao causing trouble and leaned close to her, coaxing gently, “Jiaojiao be good. Jiaojiao is a good child. Just choose one; any one is fine. Once you choose one, Big Brother will take you out, okay?”

Jiaojiao looked at him with her big eyes, half-listening and half-not understanding.

“Choose one.” Yan Yu held her little hand and said earnestly.

This time, Xiao Jiaojiao seemed to understand a bit. She tilted her head to think for a moment and then turned around to grab her younger brother Xiao Si’er’s sleeve.

“Wu a!” Was she trying to give away her younger brother?

Yan Yu remained silent.

After a long while, he said with difficulty, “Brother doesn’t count! He’s not an object. Choose one, be a good girl!”

Xiao Si’er was the most lively and cheerful. Even being pulled by his sister, he was still giggling.

Truly a joyful child.

“Carry out the Fourth Prince,” Layue commanded.

This left only Xiao Jiaojiao. They estimated she would finally choose something properly now?

Sure enough, seeing both of her younger brothers being taken out, Xiao Jiaojiao tilted her head to think for a moment. Finally, she reached out and grabbed something at random nearby, handing it to Yan Yu.

Upon seeing it, Layue couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

It turned out to be a double happiness knot.

She cast a shy glance at Emperor Jing. Who would prepare a double happiness knot for a first birthday grabbing ceremony?

The emperor raised one eyebrow and smiled.

This double happiness knot was originally prepared by Emperor Jing for his obedient little daughter. He never expected that this girl would understand so well and directly pick it out.

“Unh!” Why wasn’t anyone taking her out after she had chosen something?

Xiao Jiaojiao was unhappy and made sounds to remind her parents.

Layue smiled and picked up Xiao Jiaojiao.

The scene was filled with flattery sounds, rising and falling continuously.

Bai Youran was holding the Third Prince at the back of the crowd, a smile on her face but no trace of happiness in her eyes.

They were all sons of the emperor. Seeing how much attention Yan Yu and Yan Jia received, and how much favor the three little ones had been given, she thought of her own son.

If no one reminded the emperor, would he even remember that he had such a son?

Holding her son’s little hand, Bai Youran’s eyes flashed with unwillingness.

Perhaps others didn’t notice, but Zhu Yuning from a distance saw it clearly.

Thinking back to when they first entered the palace, the relationship between herself, Bai Youran, and Shen Layue had been quite good. Looking at the situation now, everything had changed.

After the first birthday grabbing ceremony concluded, it was time for the feast.

Layue ordered people to take the three children back.

Because the Empress Dowager was weak, she only stayed for a short while before leaving.

Layue sat slightly below Emperor Jing’s seat. Although she held the title of Noble Consort, she was not the Empress, and thus was not entitled to sit beside Emperor Jing.

Everyone enjoyed the feast and watched the dancing, which was a pleasant affair.

Today, the Shen family had not come to the palace. With the weather changing, both Lady Shen and Madam Shen had caught colds. Since it was the child’s first birthday celebration, they naturally had to be cautious. Therefore, the female members of the Shen family did not come to the palace.

This time, only a few men from the Shen family were present, but due to gender differences, it was inconvenient for them to approach and talk much.

Shen Shuping looked at his sister from afar, feeling extremely happy. He knew that his sister’s current position must not have been easy, and he was happy for everything she had achieved.

Others could also see clearly that within the palace, Noble Consort Shen had already become the dominant figure.

Although there were many imperial concubines in the harem, not many held high ranks. Besides Noble Consort Shen, the only other one with a high status was Consort Hui.

Consort Hui had been losing favor with the emperor, and even the court officials outside the palace had heard whispers about it.

Looking at Consort Hui’s cold expression in such an occasion.

Everyone then looked at Noble Consort Shen, who was smiling and charming. If they were in her position, they probably wouldn’t like such a woman like Consort Hui either.

If it weren’t for the relationship with Chancellor Fu and Fu Jinyu, this conceited Consort Hui probably wouldn’t be able to maintain such a glamorous position today.

As people were lost in their thoughts, they saw Grand Secretary Li stumbling through the door, his expression dazed.

Normally, he would just return to his seat, but just at that moment, the music and dancing paused.

Suddenly, everything became quiet, leaving only his flustered presence.

Emperor Jing frowned, “What’s the matter? Why are you so flustered?”

When the emperor asked, Grand Secretary Li immediately felt his legs weaken. He instinctively glanced toward the young Master Zhou nearby.

When young Master Zhou saw him looking, he was puzzled for a moment, but soon his expression changed. Regardless of the emperor’s presence, he immediately asked, “Where are they?”

Startled by the reprimand, Grand Secretary Li lost his composure and replied directly, “In the imperial garden…”

Upon hearing this, young Master Zhou rushed out in a flash. Before others could react, he was already gone.

Looking at Emperor Jing’s expression, it had already turned pitch black.

“What a disgrace! Grand Secretary Li, what happened? Lai Xi, go and bring back that disrespectful rascal,” Emperor Jing ordered.

Lai Xi responded and quickly took two young eunuchs to leave.

Grand Secretary Li knelt down with a swish, trembling as he said, “Your Majesty, please forgive me. This old minister… on my way to the toilet, I saw… saw…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the rest.

“What did you see! Speak up now,” Emperor Jing said coldly.

There were many people present, including court officials and many ladies of the court. How could he say it?

But since the emperor had asked, as a minister, he couldn’t hide the truth.

Gathering his courage, he quickly said, “Princess Diwa is having an affair with someone in the garden.”

As soon as these words were spoken, a commotion erupted.

Before long, Lai Xi quickly returned, his face embarrassed. He went straight to Emperor Jing’s side and whispered a few words.

Emperor Jing’s face seemed to darken even more.

“Prepare to leave. I want to see what kind of disgraceful matters this family is involved in. Yue, you stay,” Emperor Jing said as he came down from his seat and strode outside.

Fu Jinyu curled his lips slightly and without hesitation followed. Seeing him do so, many officials followed him out.

The emperor didn’t say for them to stay. Since this young Master Fu didn’t hesitate to follow, they naturally couldn’t stay either. Who knows, they might discover something interesting.

Who says men don’t love gossip!

Everyone had their own thoughts.

Seeing half the people leave, Layue thought of Emperor Jing’s earlier words. Was the show about to begin?

It was a pity though, she couldn’t witness it in person!

Looking at the figure of Prince Liu following out, she knew this plan wasn’t targeting Yan Lie.

Earlier in her quarters, Princess Diwa had often criticized these noblewomen. Now hearing that she had been seen having an affair with someone in the imperial garden, everyone was even more excited, eager to go see for themselves. But since the Noble Consort couldn’t go, they naturally couldn’t either.

But even though they couldn’t go, it didn’t stop them from talking privately. In no time, the room was filled with buzzing voices.

Layue naturally understood Emperor Jing’s character. Everything he did was never without purpose. Therefore, it seemed that this affair must have other intentions.

Without the slightest surprise, she calmly took a small bite of food.

Her lips slightly curved upwards.

Others might not understand Shen Layue, but many women in the palace who had seen her for a long time had come to understand her a bit. Those as clever as Fu Jin Yan began to wonder whether Noble Consort Shen had already known this would happen?

Seeing her continue to dine leisurely without the slightest doubt, it was easy for people to guess something.

As if sensing Fu Jin Yan’s gaze, Layue smiled at everyone, “The emperor and the officials have already gone. Everyone need not worry. It’s probably nothing serious. Please continue your meal as usual.”

“Yes.”

Despite this, many were still very excited. How could they not be excited? What a situation!

Even in ordinary households, affairs were rare. For Princess Diwa to have an affair in the palace, it was truly a huge scandal.