Zhuge Qing and Qing'er, who were eating dishes near the seats, looked back at Lu Fusu, who finally returned to his seat after a long time.
"...Huh? Isn't the Queen and the Emperor together?"
"Shui Xinyuan went to change clothes."
What were you doing for such a long time just now... Zhuge Qing almost asked, and quickly swallowed the duck meat in his mouth.
He didn't want to hear the answer that everyone knew.
Qing'er stuck her head out from behind Zhuge Qing and observed Lu Fusu's expression.
"Your Majesty must have heard about it, right? Congratulations to Your Majesty."
"Thank you...it turns out you already knew."
"I went to see the imperial doctor."
"what are you guys saying?"
Qing'er took Zhuge Qing's arm and whispered to his ear.
"...Really? Congratulations, Your Majesty."
"Each other, each other."
The Queen's pregnancy was a gratifying event, but Zhuge Qing felt as if he had heard something terrible... The Queen was able to come back from Chunhua Street safely.
"When does the Emperor plan to announce it?"
"Wait for a while. Although Shui Xinyuan's health has always been very good, we still need to observe him for a while."
"...makes sense."
"At present, only we and the imperial doctor know about it. If the maids of Chunying Palace know about this, it will definitely spread soon."
"That's right...!"
Hearing what Qing'er said, Zhuge Qing and Lu Fusu couldn't help but agree.
Those maids who often accompany the queen and listen to the noble ladies' sarcastic comments will definitely spread the news everywhere with joy.
"So, we can't tell the maid first, now we have to issue a silence order."
"right……"
"His Majesty……"
Someone came over, Zhuge Qing and Qing'er hurriedly shut up, and it was Zhuge Ciyun who stepped forward.
"It turns out to be father..."
"Why are you here?"
Zhuge Ciyun saluted Lu Fusu and looked around.
"I'll take my leave now and come to say hello to Your Majesty and the empress... Where is the empress?"
"She'll be back soon. Are you leaving now?"
"Yes, I always have dinner with my wife."
"good habits."
Lu Fusu nodded and took a sip of wine.
Although officials were allowed to attend the Enthronement Day banquet with their wives, Zhuge Ciyun's wife did not like crowded places, so she did not attend.
Many noble officials who came to the banquet wanted to see the court ladies in costumes, and few of them brought their wives with them.
"However, if I had known earlier, I should have forced my wife to come here today and let her experience the Queen's dancing."
"...There will be opportunities in the future."
"Yes! Besides, there are too many people today."
Zhuge Ciyun looked back in surprise at the palace, where the ministers were still noisily raising their glasses and drinking.
"...Why is it so lively?"
"It probably has something to do with the Queen's performance... Also, it is difficult to enjoy a drink in front of the late Emperor who is in poor health. This also means that the Emperor's body is in good health."
"And you can drink the wine from the collection."
As Zhuge Qing spoke, he poured wine into his glass. Qing'er slapped his hand and said he drank too much.
"Since it's a wedding banquet, it's okay to let them go crazy...but since it's so lively, we have to think about the future."
"Does the Emperor want to consider rebuilding Longquan Palace? The late emperor once lived there when he lived in seclusion, but it has been almost empty since then."
"...There shouldn't be a budget, right?"
"Yes! Because His Majesty rarely holds banquets, today he prepared a rich banquet and spent a lot of money on it."
After Shui Xinyuan finished dancing, the temporarily interrupted singing and dancing music started playing again. The dancers kept performing for each other, and everyone kept shouting and applauding.
It was getting dark, and the maids came in with candlesticks.
"But...because of the abolition of the harem, a lot of expenses were saved. In addition, the confiscation of Ma Shilang's property and half of the territories owned by the eight noble families currently locked in the dungeon were enough to cover the cost of rebuilding Longquan Palace.
"
"..."
Lu Fusu raised his eyebrows, and Zhuge Qing, who was standing by, choked on his wine.
"Father...it shouldn't cost so much to renovate, right?"
"Yes! Because these nobles have a lot of property, the confiscated fiefdoms can be divided into state-owned territories, the emperor's territory and the queen's territory."
"No wonder you were drinking alone just now. It turns out you were thinking about these things..."
"Unlike you, I come with my wife who is always waiting for me."
"Look, you're taking the credit for yourself again..."
Zhuge Qing muttered in a low voice, and Qing'er frowned.
"Zhuge Qing, are you drunk?"
"Qing'er, if my father and I were the same age, who would you marry?"
"ah?"
"Aren't I very similar to my father?"
Lu Fusu and Zhuge Ciyun looked at each other.
"He's drunk..."
"Really drunk."
Qing'er then remembered that Zhuge Qing's eyes had been a little hollow since just now...
"Say, say, say! Who will you marry?"
"You... don't say stupid things! Be careful I splash you with cold water."
Zhuge Qing's head fell on Qing'er, and Qing'er pushed his head back hard.
"Say it, say it! Qing'er..."
"Oh, I really can't stand it... You are you, and my father-in-law is my father-in-law! Of course I will only marry the fool who asks me to marry him."
"Oh...Qing'er, I love you!"
"Oh, what are you talking about?"
Zhuge Qing looked drunk and wanted to hug his wife, but Qing'er hit him on the head hard.
Lu Fusu looked at the drunk Zhuge Qing and said with emotion: "It's really interesting..."
"That's right! When he gets drunk, he gets entangled with my daughter-in-law and gets beaten up by her every time."
"It's really interesting. Leave him alone...what did I discuss with you just now?"
Lu Fusu put one hand on the table to support his chin, and looked up at Zhuge Ciyun.
Qing'er and Zhuge Qing played around for a while, but soon felt it was troublesome, so she let Zhuge Qing lie on her lap and she lay on the table.
"Oh, yes, it's a matter of confiscating property. Do you want to increase my and Shui Xinyuan's internal treasury?"
"Especially the Queen's Empress's. There are too few back pages of the Queen's Empress at present, less than a quarter of the former Concubine Chen's."
"Does Lu Wuxian's mother have so many fiefs?...Okay! We need to buy a lot of things next, and tomorrow we will study how to select those confiscated fiefs."
“Need to buy something else?”
"We will discuss this matter tomorrow..."
"Your Majesty, you have been waiting for a long time..."
Seeing Shui Xinyuan change out of her dance clothes and run over waving her hands, Lu Fusu stood up in fright.
"Shui Xinyuan, don't run away..."
"It doesn't matter... Huh? What happened to Zhuge Qing?"
"He's just drunk, don't pay attention to him."
Lu Fusu held Shui Xinyuan's hand and sat next to him.
"Are you tired? Do you want to eat something? What do you want to eat? I will help you get it."
"No, myself..."
"Don't worry about it. By the way, let the imperial chef cook some more nutritious dishes in the future."
Seeing Lu Fusu suddenly starting to take care of Shui Xinyuan, Zhuge Ciyun looked back at Qing'er, who touched her forehead and sighed.
"The person who needs to be silenced most is right in front of you..."
"Oh...no wonder I need to buy more things. That's what happened."
Zhuge Ciyun immediately understood, bowed deeply and said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty."
…
The dazzling sunlight shines on the leaves in the garden, and the green brings out the bright yellow of the golden plum blossoms.
Shui Xinyuan held the tea cup in both hands and leisurely enjoyed the aroma of lychees while drinking tea.
...By the way, I will make scented tea for the emperor to drink today.
The emperor prefers jasmine tea to lychee tea. Today I will make the jasmine tea that was just delivered last time...
"That's it..."
"The lady in Yang's case is so pitiful..."
Sitting opposite Shui Xinyuan were Zhuyan and Yao'er who had come together again. Even though Shui Xinyuan hardly participated in their conversation, they were busy chatting on their own.
The eyes of the maid standing behind Shui Xinyuan were not anger, but surprise. Of course, the two ladies didn't care about the maid's eyes at all.
"Although it's pitiful, a wife doesn't know that her husband is too careless to go to Flower Street all day long."
"It's really too careless."
They seemed to be talking about the nobles' philandering. I really don't know where they heard these gossips.
"Speaking of which... not only husbands, but also some wives went to Chunhua Street."
"Oh, is someone inviting me?"
Hehe hehe... the two of them burst out laughing in unison... they were cussing at Sang and Huai.
But Shui Xinyuan's expression didn't change and he took another sip of tea.
"Queen, we have all heard that you have worked so hard!"
"That's right! If you don't pay attention, you will be killed."
They might want to say that it was Shui Xinyuan who gave people the opportunity.
Shui Xinyuan felt that he had made the biggest mistake by appeasing these aristocratic ladies with evil intentions.
Shui Xinyuan quietly put down the tea cup.
"I remembered... I saw your husbands on Chunhua Street."
The smiles on Zhuyan and Yao'er's faces froze.
"Wha...what?"
"Oh, it's so annoying to make such a joke..."
"I just saw them walking out of the store. I remember the store was called...Kumquat House..."
In fact, Shui Xinyuan heard the name of that store from Yun Shang afterwards.
Shui Xinyuan smiled at Zhuyan and Yaoer who were in a daze.
"I didn't expect your husbands to be so in love with each other."
"..."
"..."
There was a tense silence, and Zhuyan and Yaoer looked at each other.
"I have something urgent at the moment..."
"Yes, it's really an emergency."
They did not dare to look into Shui Xinyuan's eyes and stood up in a hurry.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yes, let's say goodbye first."
"Farewell, please take care of yourself, Queen."
They bowed at the same time, and before Shui Xinyuan could answer, they rushed out of the door.
As soon as the door was closed, the maid clapped her hands.
"Queen, you finally drove them away yourself."
"But they might come again?"
"After the news of your pregnancy is announced tomorrow, they will not come again..."
Shui Xinyuan smiled bitterly at the excited maid and couldn't help but sigh.
When Chunxiang was putting away the teacups, she asked worriedly: "Mother, are you tired?"
"No, I'm fine...who's next?"
"Oh, next is..."
Chunxiang took out the visitor list from her arms and tilted her head slightly.