The two chatted for a while, broadening his horizons.
One night, Fan Zehao pulled Zhao Jiaqi along, asking her to talk about modern life. He became so engrossed that he dreamt of modern life that night.
Zhao Jiaqi, waking up early, saw her husband sleeping in, with a white crystal hanging from the corner of his mouth and a somewhat lewd smile. This made her feel less uncomfortable.
She kicked him to the ground. His large body, wrapped in the quilt, sat up dizzily, looked around, and then showed a look of disappointment.
Zhao Jiaqi, with anger, "Did you dream of a beauty beckoning to you?"
With such a lewd smile, she had never seen this smile in all their years of marriage, not even during their intimacy.
Fan Zehao, just waking up and still confused, stared foolishly at the person dressing on the bed, not understanding what he had done to offend her.
He was kicked to the ground by her, and his butt hurt quite a bit.
"Wife, what's wrong early in the morning? Did I step on your tail?" You're quite angry.
Undeterred, he added another sentence, "Are you unhappy with me working hard to earn money and want to bestow a beauty upon me?"
Zhao Jiaqi paused her dressing and glared at him impatiently, "It's dawn, stop dreaming!"
What else could she want but a beauty? His courage was growing.
"No beauties, but there's an old aunt, how about that?"
Fan Zehao shook his head, put the quilt on the bed, and said weakly, "Looking at an old aunt is worse than looking at you!"
After a brief quarrel, they washed up, dressed, and waited for breakfast. She then asked, "Who did you dream of? Your face was split open with laughter!"
When he brought up the topic, he immediately became excited, his eyes wide open, "I dreamt of cars, trains, and airplanes. Those things run so fast and are so fun to ride. Then I dreamt of a woman wearing a short skirt and showing her legs. Her legs were white and long and..."
As he spoke, he realized he was too excited and had said the wrong thing. He furtively glanced at the woman beside him and saw that her expression was calm, without the slightest ripple. In fact, he knew this was just the calm before the storm.
"White and long, and what else?" She looked at her husband with a smile.
Fan Zehao swallowed twice. "Thicker than an elephant's leg."
"Have you seen an elephant?"
This time he said the wrong thing again. Fan Zehao pretended to be foolish and mumbled, "Ah, you told me about it. I imagined it based on your description, so I guess I've seen it!"
What sophistry!
The two picked up their bowls and took a mouthful of food when Xiao Mi entered the room.
"Eunuch Wang Quan is here to deliver a message. The Empress invites the Princess Regent, the Princess of Dingbei, the Princess of Xian, the Princess of Xiaoyao, and General Xiao's wife to the palace for a reunion. After lunch, you will be escorted back to your respective residences. The carriages are already prepared outside the mansion."
The couple exchanged glances. They were not familiar with the Empress; what reunion were they going to have?
However, since the Empress had invited them, they could not refuse. They still had to go.
"You can tell Eunuch Wang Quan that I'll go after I change my clothes."
Xiao Mi bowed and replied, then left.
Zhao Jiaqi snorted, "Our Empress is really thoughtful, even preparing carriages. What's so urgent that she's summoning us to the palace?"
Fan Zehao couldn't understand a woman's heart, which was smaller than a needle's eye. He shook his head, "I guess she's unhappy that you didn't pay your respects when you entered the capital."
After thinking about it, he felt his guess might be wrong. He added, "Since ancient times, consorts returning to the capital from their fiefdoms needed to be summoned by the Empress to enter the palace. Her seeing you is just a matter of formality."
Fan Zehao, afraid of upsetting his wife, comforted her, "Think of it this way, you are the Princess Regent of Yun Country. To put it bluntly, you don't have to pay attention to what the Empress says, since you are a princess of our inner city and not under her control. In front of outsiders, we just put on a show. Don't worry."
Zhao Jiaqi nodded gently. She wasn't worried about being bullied, but rather she had social anxiety.
Besides, women in the harem usually spoke with veiled threats. She was afraid her straightforward nature might offend someone. That was all.
Thinking that they wouldn't be back until after lunch, she was reluctant to put down her rice bowl. She had been to the palace before, and the rules for eating were so particular. You couldn't eat more than a few bites of any one dish, no matter how delicious it was; you couldn't take more than two extra chopsticks.
You might not eat your fill, but you would definitely eat yourself into anger.
So, she ate her breakfast until she was full. After changing into a splendid gown and dressing appropriately, she left the mansion.
Five carriages were lined up, quite a spectacle, attracting the attention of the surrounding residents.
Xiao Mi helped her into the first carriage. The princesses behind followed suit. Finally, the carriages slowly drove towards the palace.
At the palace gate, Chief Eunuch Wang Quan was waiting for this group of noblewomen. To put it bluntly, these were truly formidable individuals.
He had to be extremely careful, with a smile on his face as he looked at the approaching carriages. The moment he saw Zhao Jiaqi's head emerge from the carriage, he stepped forward.
After she alighted, he bowed and said respectfully, "Greetings to the Princess Regent, and greetings to all the princesses."
Wang Quan was the chief eunuch in the Empress's palace and the godson of the Grand Eunuch.
Zhao Jiaqi lightly supported him and said courteously, "Eunuch, please rise. Thank you for coming to fetch us, Eunuch. You have worked hard."
Wang Quan dared not presume to say he had worked hard. He quickly replied, "Not at all, not at all. This is my duty."
As he spoke, he stepped aside and gestured with his hand, smiling heartily, "The palace has acquired a new batch of precious flowers, which have been placed in the Imperial Garden. The Empress has already arrived. Please follow this servant, my ladies!"
Zhao Jiaqi and the others nodded and entered the palace, taking a special sedan chair. Wang Quan hurried alongside the sedan chair, heading towards the Imperial Garden.
In the sedan chair, Zhao Jiaqi closed her eyes to rest, pondering what kind of flowers the precious flowers Wang Quan mentioned were, to be so attractive that they wouldn't let them enter the palace but directly led them to the Imperial Garden.
Lost in thought, they arrived at the Imperial Garden.
Upon disembarking from the sedan chair, they saw from a distance colorful and elaborately dressed people chattering around a garden.
Pinting walked up and touched her. Her eyes were full of caution, "Sister-in-law, Eunuch Wang is calling us. Let's go and pay our respects to the Empress."
Zhao Jiaqi lowered her eyes silently and followed behind Wang Quan. He introduced her, as she had not attended Huangfu Xi's wedding, and she truly didn't know what the Empress looked like.
On a stone bench, the Empress was surrounded by courtiers. Seeing Wang Quan, a smile appeared on her face, but it did not reach her eyes.
"This concubine pays respects to the Empress. May the Empress be well."
Princess Xian, Princess Xiaoyao, and General Xiao's wife all curtsied, while only Pinting and Zhao Jiaqi bowed slightly.
The Empress noticed the demeanor of these two princesses and was extremely displeased, but she also knew that the Princess Regent was not under her jurisdiction, so she did not deliberately make things difficult.
As for the Princess of Dingbei, she was the brother of the Prince Regent, and thus her status naturally rose.
She, with her five-month pregnant belly, personally helped Zhao Jiaqi up and said with a smile, "Princess Regent, there is no need for such ceremony. Please sit down quickly."