Princess Li curled the corner of her lower lip with a smile and jokingly said, "I don't even know that I have changed the rules outside the palace, no wonder my sister-in-law doesn't know even more."

Her tone was a bit of joke.

The queen seemed to have been slapped by someone, her face was as heavy as water, and her eyebrows and eyes were full of displeasure.

The surroundings fell into silence for a while, which made the singing of the actors outside with long tail sounds clearer.

"..." Yuan Zhitong maintained a knee-bending posture, her pupils shrank rapidly, and her face turned pale with a little blue look.

Naturally, she didn't want to respect this cup of tea.

Today, the emperor and Prince Andaman broke up unhappily, but this does not mean that the marriage between the two countries has fallen out. My father had told her a long time ago that the emperor seemed to be a little dissatisfied with the people of Nanhao. The marriage may cause some trouble, but it will not fall out. After all, this matter concerns the two countries.

The choice of concubines to the third princess for the dowry has been decided long ago, and the emperor has just been officially issued. If she gives tea to the third princess, wouldn’t her status be even worse than that of concubines?!

What's more, she doesn't want to marry Nanhao far away and let her be a mermaid meat!

The blood in her body seemed to have formed ice, and a cold shiver rose from the soles of her feet, squeezing her heart.

At this time, Empress Dowager Yin asked in a faint tone: "Why are you disrespectful? You are not going to apologize to Anle, aren't you?"

Her knuckles gently followed the rhythm of the huqin and the sandalwood board, and inadvertently, as if she was intoxicated by the rhythm of opera, and seemed to be urging Yuan Zhitong.

When Anle heard his name, she finally took her attention from the beautiful sisters on the stage, and she was completely confused about the current situation.

Anle looked at Yuan Zhitong who was kneeling at her, then looked at the cup of tea in Madam He's hand, blinked, and asked foolishly: "Zhitong, are you going to offer tea to me?"

Without waiting for Yuan Zhitong to answer, Anle shook her body, shook her hands, and said with a pout, "But I don't want it!"

Yuan Zhitong: “…”

Anle said innocently and bluntly, "Last time you offered tea to Aunt Jiuhuang, and Aunt Jiuhuang didn't want it either."

Anle just casually stated a fact, with a naive expression without any disgust, but every word she said pierced into Yuan Zhitong's heart like an ice needle.

Yuan Zhitong: "!!!"

At the same time, Madam He forced the teacup in her hand to Yuan Zhitong.

Yuan Zhitong froze there with tea, and it was neither respectful nor disrespectful.

After all, she was only sixteen years old. She had nothing to do. She kept roaring in her mind and couldn't react calmly.

The queen was the first to come out and mix with the mud: "Zhitong, since you know your mistake, you should reflect on it after you go back."

The queen did not intend to let Yuan Zhitong serve as a dowry concubine for the third princess.

The royal princesses, including Princess Li, could see that the queen was in harmony and sighed in her heart: This game of chess is equivalent to the queen's defeat.

Empress Yin glanced at the queen, and there was no joy or anger on her graceful face. She smiled faintly and let the queen go.

She had no intention of letting Yuan Zhitong make trouble for the third princess and turning the third princess into the next Jingle.

While picking up a cup of new tea, Empress Dowager Yin said, "So, the Ai family said, it is better to kowtow to apologize. There is no one who worships tea, but it looks dissatisfied."

"What does the queen think?"

Finally, Empress Dowager Yin asked the queen lukewarmly and kicked the ball to the queen.

In less than a cup of tea, the atmosphere in this flower hall changed several times like the changing weather.

Queen: "…"

If the Empress was not facing the Empress Dowager at this moment, the Empress would have long used her majesty as the mother of the nation to suppress the other party, but now the Empress can only patiently "tell reasoning, rules, and etiquette" with the other party.

She is now in a dilemma like Yuan Zhitong. If she denies the Queen Mother, wouldn’t she really want to let the third princess take over Yuan Zhitong’s cup of tea?

That won't work.

In the queen's opinion, Yuan Zhitong is a good chess piece.

However, it was precisely because the queen knew what kind of person Yuan Zhitong was that she knew even more that Yuan Zhitong should not be allowed to marry the third princess. No matter whether the third princess would marry Nanhao in the future, or stay in the Grand Qi to recruit the prince-consort, she could not keep Yuan Zhitong dig a hole for her daughter.

No matter what, her daughter was born after ten months of pregnancy, so she could not let her daughter down.

The queen quickly measured the interests in her heart, forced a smile, nodded and said, "My mother said yes."

"It's better to follow the old rules."

The queen tried hard to act as if nothing had happened, but because she tried too hard, she seemed a little sarcastic and unhappy.

After saying that, the queen wanted to look at Yuan Zhitong with a sharp look, and her eyes pierced into Yuan Zhitong's heart like a knife.

Not only the queen, but also the other female guests around him looked at Yuan Zhitong with sarcastic and contemptuous eyes, allowing Yuan Zhitong to understand what the target of public criticism was.

Her heart was mixed, and she flipped through the various flavors several times together, but in the end she only had the bitter taste.

She knew clearly that she had no other choice.

In front of the two most noble women of the Great Qi Dynasty, the Queen and the Queen Mother, she was just a mere minister and could be trampled on at will.

Yuan Zhitong thought of Chu Qianhuang again, and the picture was frozen in the face that was slapped and swollen.

Chu Qianhuang’s fate is her past lesson.

A palace maid took a cushion and took the teacup from Yuan Zhitong.

Yuan Zhitong endured the sourness that she had just bent her knees, and knelt on the cushion with a little stiff movement, and then respectfully kowtowed to Anle to apologize, with every move, gentle and obedient.

At this moment, Yuan Zhitong pulled away from her soul, and the rustling discussions around her could no longer reach her ears.

Yuan Zhitong stood up with the help of the maid, looked at Chu Qianchen again, and her eyelashes trembled.

Lu Xianjing had been holding on to it for a long time. At this time, she spoke sarcastically: "Sister Tong is neither a concubine nor a slave. How could Princess Chen make her kneel down!"

Just now, when the queen and the queen mother were talking, Lu Xianjing did not dare to interrupt casually, so as not to be punished by the queen mother for being disrespectful. Now she has no scruples.

Chu Qianchen pursed his lips and smiled.

A fair and delicate face, a phoenix eye on the end of her eyes, and a faint smile on the corner of her mouth.

Unlike the noble ladies who are observing etiquette around her, Chu Qianchen, who looks so beautiful, looks like a jade statue, but occasionally she will feel a sense of sage that looks down on the world.

Beneath elegance is hidden.

There is pride under peace.

There is a kind of neither humble nor arrogant demeanor and an inviolable nobility.

Without Chu Qianchen speaking, Madam He next to Empress Dowager Yin said first: "This is the first time I heard that the princess can't afford to be the daughter of a second-rank official who kneels down."

Madam He casually glanced at Lu Xianjing, as if saying, "Why don't you even understand the superiority and inferiority?"

Yuan Zhitong is of no character and level. The other person's different look at her depends on her father and whether the empress dowager is willing to give her a little favor.

"..." Lu Xianjing was speechless and almost tore the handkerchief in her hand.

Madam He's attitude was equivalent to the attitude of the empress dowager. Lu Xianjing couldn't help but go to see the queen, but when she saw that the queen's face was really bad, she closed her mouth unwillingly.

So, the cushion was moved to Chu Qianchen by another palace maid.

Yuan Zhitong lowered her little face and said nothing.

She knew that she was a pawn in which the queen and the queen mother were playing games, so she had no right to choose actively, she had to passively respond to her fate. What the queen asked her to do would do.

Now she is like a prisoner who was lingchi. If she wants to be free, she can only survive the punishment as soon as possible; the longer she delays, the more painful it is to be cut by a knife, and the only one is herself.

Yuan Zhitong stepped forward with a resolute step, knelt down again, and simply kowtowed to Chu Qianchen to apologize.

When her forehead was pressed against the ground, her facial features were hidden at the same time. The gentle voice, which was still unhurried and unhurried, said: "Prince, please forgive me."

Chu Qianchen didn't even look at her, and replied as if he was happy: "It's good if Miss Yuan knows her mistake."

Yuan Zhitong apologized and was helped up by the maid again, with a smile on her face and a little bit of the powder on her forehead, as if a rift suddenly appeared on the once perfect mask.

Yuan Zhitong could finally sit down again, but this time she returned to Anle's side, lowered her eyebrows and looked like a shadow without a sense of existence.

"..." The queen's face was still not very good-looking, and her eyebrows jumped several times. She rubbed her eyebrows and endured it.

Even though Empress Yin was not surprised or angry from beginning to end, she looked calm and calm, anyone with eyes could see that she was supporting Chu Qianchen.

Maybe the empress dowager really likes this daughter-in-law, maybe it’s just for Gu Jue that their mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were unanimous to the outside world.

The queen was filled with anger, and she felt that the existence of the queen mother was really annoying. But she had to give in due to her filial piety.

The Queen Mother, it would be better to stay in Shouning Palace as sickly as before!

A dark cloud flashed in the queen's eyes. Although she quickly lowered her eyes and used the action of holding up the teacup to conceal the abnormality, her subtle expression change still could not escape Lu Xianjing's eyes.

A farce has come to an end for the time being.

Everyone's attention shifted to the stage again, and the atmosphere was far less warm than before.

Except for the innocent and romantic happiness, they were still happy. They clapped desperately at the stage and cheered again. The others just watched the show silently.

"Xiangfei Fan" has reached its second turn, and the atmosphere on the stage has become more lively, with the sound of playing with silk and bamboo.

The groom carried a sedan chair to pick up the bride. The sister was about to get married, but the sister was reluctant to leave. The two sisters hugged each other, cried and laughed, and almost missed the auspicious time to get married.

After saying goodbye, Yiyi swayed away in the bride's sedan chair, leaving only her sister holding her parents and crying, saying that if her brother-in-law was not good to treat her, she would definitely teach her a lesson for her sister.

"Crackling..."

The drum board that imitated the sound of firecrackers was loud and harsh, and it hit the queen's heart in a mess, adding a little anxiety to the queen's irritable heart.
To be continued...