“The Winter Solstice palace banquet is tomorrow. Everyone should be focusing on sweeping.” A frigid breeze accompanied Su Xi-er’s soft voice, causing everyone to suddenly shudder.
Paying them no mind, Su Xi-er’s eyes swept across them in disdain before picking up her broom and continuing to sweep.
Everyone who was originally fervently gossiping had all sealed their mouths shut and begun doing their work properly.
Chao Mu’s eyes were filled with admiration. She patted Su Xi-er’s shoulder and whispered, “You’re so amazing to make them shut their mouths with just a few words. With so many rumours floating around the palace, it’s hard to know their veracity, so don’t pay any attention to it.”
“Chao Mu, you have to keep your temper in check when you leave the Imperial Library. Not everyone will give in to you like Shu Xian.” Su Xi-er smiled as she softly reminded.
The sudden mention of the missing Shu Xian caused displeasure to arise in Chao Mu’s heart. “Maybe he’s staying in the Imperial Academy and won’t ever be coming back to the Imperial Library. Sigh, I have one less person I can talk to. I took him for granted in the past, but now that he’s suddenly gone, I actually find myself missing him a bit. It’s like a family member has gone far away.”
Chao Mu and Shu Xian were normally the two who bickered the most at the Imperial Library, which made Chao Mu unused to his absence.
Habit is a warm yet scary thing. Everything is fine as long as someone you rely on is nearby, but it suddenly comes crashing down once they’re gone.
Tan Ge silently observed everything from the side. There isn’t much time left. The Winter Solstice palace banquet is tomorrow, which means that the final deadline is tomorrow, at 11 pm. If I still haven’t made a move by then, the consequences will be unimaginable,
Her emotions like a chaotic storm in her heart, Tan Ge’s slender brows briefly furrowed together before she relaxed, continuing to sweep the palace path.
Noticing Tan Ge’s change, Chao Mu couldn’t help but ask Su Xi-er. “I haven’t talked to Tan Ge for a few days. She doesn’t seem to have recovered. What exactly happened in the Tan Residence? I keep feeling that…”
She didn’t say the rest of the sentence. I can’t tell others that there’s something very wrong with Tan Ge. She probably has a lot of secrets that are weighing down on her heart.
“Chao Mu, do your job properly.” Su Xi-er smiled at her before turning her gaze to Tan Ge. After a brief glance, she turned away to continue working.
Chao Mu could only suppress her curiosity and continue sweeping.
Little did they know that an imperial guard from the Commandery Prince Residence had witnessed everything that had happened in the Imperial Garden. He immediately went to report to Xie Yun, who was currently at the Dragon Heaven Palace.
~~~
Situ Lin was looking at Xie Yun in confusion while in the Dragon Heaven Palace. “Commandery Prince Xie, this Emperor hasn’t seen Imperial Uncle these past few days. Where did he go? It seems like he’s pretty busy.”
Xie Yun gently smiled. “Prince Hao is indeed busy. There are so many things that he has to deal with in the army barracks that he’ll only be back in time for tomorrow’s Winter Solstice banquet.”
“I see. Are you not busy, Commandery Prince Xie? This Emperor will diligently learn the ways of governance. You don’t have to supervise me every day.” Situ Lin wore an earnest expression as he began flipping through his books.
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. This humble subject won’t report to Prince Hao.”
Situ Lin looked towards Xie Yun. “It’s fine even if you tell Imperial Uncle. This Emperor hasn’t been playing excessively, so Imperial Uncle won’t chide this Emperor.”
He understood very well that the only reason he had been punished in the past was that he had done something wrong. Imperial Uncle wouldn’t just punish me if I didn’t make any mistakes.
Xie Yun faintly smiled. “Have the supervisors of the Imperial Ceremony Office and the Imperial Household Department reported to you on the progress of the preparations for tomorrow’s banquet?”
