Chapter 774: You Just Spoil Him

The palace banquet ended on an exceptionally amicable note, and Yun Zhao returned to Hua E Building, very satisfied.

Upon her return, she called Zhang Maoquan in to ask him a few questions, mainly about whether there had been any issues with the Palace Attendants on duty that day.

“Your Grace, they were assigned two to a shift, and no matter what happened, both were forbidden from leaving their posts at the same time. None of the Palace Attendants dared to abandon their duties today,” Zhang Maoquan replied, his head bowed. “One of them did have an upset stomach, but a standby Palace Attendant Your Grace had arranged in advance immediately filled in for them.”

Since the standby Palace Attendants were chosen at random on the spot, bribing them in advance was impossible. With dozens of them, it wasn’t feasible to buy every single one.

When the banquet concluded successfully, Yun Zhao knew her arrangements had paid off. Just as she had expected, there were no incidents.

These Palace Attendants might not value their own lives, but they all had families. They couldn’t drag their entire families down with them to their deaths.

“Did anything else happen?” Yun Zhao asked.

Zhang Maoquan shook his head. “Everything was as usual at Nanxun Hall. There were some wives and young ladies enjoying the view by the lake, but the lakeside was heavily guarded by Palace Attendants, so nothing occurred.”

‘If someone wanted to stage an ‘accidental’ fall into the water, they would first have to blind all the eunuchs stationed every few steps along the lakeside.’

“Everyone has worked hard today,” Yun Zhao said. “Give each of them a reward of two taels of silver from my inner treasury. Also, have a new set of clothes made for each of them. I’ll cover the cost.”

Palace Attendants received a fixed allotment of clothing for the year. They normally took great care of their uniforms while on duty, because if they got stained or damaged, they would have to pay out of their own pockets to have them replaced.

A full uniform was quite expensive, and more importantly, it wasn’t always possible to find someone to make one, even if you had the money. For Yun Zhao to have a new set of clothes made for each of them would make them happier than the reward silver itself.

Zhang Maoquan chuckled. “This will make everyone very happy. Your Grace’s reward has truly won their hearts.”

‘I was a worker once myself,’ Yun Zhao thought. ‘Of course I know what they need most.’

‘In the palace, silver wasn’t the most important thing. Tangible goods were, especially the kind that money couldn’t buy. Those were the most tempting.’

“Any progress with Xu Sixi?” Yun Zhao asked.

At the mention of this, Zhang Maoquan’s expression grew much more serious. “The first round of investigations isn’t complete. There are too many people in the traveling palace, so I’m afraid we’ll have to wait a while longer.”

“And the Empress Dowager?” Yun Zhao asked.

The Empress Dowager had previously expressed some interest in attending the banquet, but today she hadn’t uttered a single word. Clearly, she didn’t want to give Yun Zhao the satisfaction.

Yun Zhao didn’t care, though. In fact, she wished the Empress Dowager wouldn’t show her face at all.

“The Empress Dowager went to Baihua Pavilion to visit An Pin today, but her expression wasn’t very good when she came out,” Zhang Maoquan replied.

Yun Zhao frowned slightly, then said, “I asked you before to look into the matter with Lady Zhao at the Imperial Kitchen. Did you investigate?”

“I did. Lady Zhao wanted to eat some local pastries from the Linfeng region, but the Imperial Kitchen was short-handed preparing for the palace banquet and couldn’t spare anyone to make them right away. Lady Zhao was in a rush and got into an unpleasant argument with the kitchen staff, which is why she asked to use a stove herself. The kitchen steward refused. The stoves were all accounted for; they had even brought in extra temporary ones for the day’s banquets. There was no way they had a spare for Lady Zhao.”

Zhang Maoquan thought that Lady Zhao was just looking for trouble. She could have pastries any other time, but she had to demand them now, when the kitchen staff was so busy they were running in circles. When would they have time to serve her?

“So, you’re saying Lady Zhao didn’t succeed in her attempt?”

“Correct.”

Song Yunzhao grew pensive. She looked at Zhang Maoquan and instructed, “Keep someone watching her. See if Lady Zhao tries to interact with the kitchen again. If she makes a move, don’t tip our hand. Find out what she’s up to before we do anything.”

Hearing this, Zhang Maoquan wondered, ‘Could it be that Lady Zhao wasn’t after pastries at all, but had some ulterior motive?’

‘In that case, she needed to be watched very carefully.’

After Zhang Maoquan withdrew, Yun Zhao washed up and changed her clothes, then went to see her son. Feng Yun was already drowsy and was lying down under the care of his wet nurse.

Yun Zhao lifted the bed curtain for a peek but didn’t go closer, not wanting to disturb his sleep. She gestured for the wet nurse not to move. The nurse didn’t dare, and could only continue to soothe the Second Prince.

Yun Zhao watched for a moment before backing out. Before she could return to her own chambers, she saw Feng Yi striding in with a little shadow trailing behind him.

Feng Ze scampered over. “Mother!”

That one shout immediately startled Feng Yun awake. Through the window, they could hear him crying out, “Brother, brother!”

Yun Zhao was speechless.

Feng Yi watched the shifting expressions on Yun Zhao’s face, then took a small step to the side to shield his older son and waved him on.

Feng Ze knew he’d caused trouble, so he took off at a run to find his little brother.

Yun Zhao looked at Feng Yi. “You just spoil him!”

Feng Yi smiled good-naturedly as he came over and took Yun Zhao’s hand. “Don’t be angry. We’ll have Feng Ze put his little brother to sleep tonight.”

It wasn’t as if Yun Zhao was truly angry with her son. She let Feng Yi lead her away, asking as they walked, “Did everything go smoothly on your end today as well?”

Feng Yi nodded. “It was fine. A few of them got drunk and started spouting nonsense.”

They got drunk and tried to impeach him for doting exclusively on his Imperial Concubine. Feng Yi was both angry and amused, and he recounted it to Yun Zhao as a funny story.

The look on Song Yunzhao’s face was priceless. She had really earned their resentment; they were even lodging complaints against her in their drunken stupors. That was some real dedication.

“What about you? Did things go smoothly here?”

“More or less. There was just one small thing…”

Yun Zhao briefly explained the idea of a horse race. “I thought it was a rare opportunity, so I promised everyone I would ask for Your Majesty’s permission. Your Majesty, will you grant it?”

Feng Yi looked at Yun Zhao. “You’re going to ride too?”

‘She injured her leg last time, and she still wants to compete?’

“I’ll be on the sidelines cheering them on and preparing the prizes!” Yun Zhao had no desire to make her thighs suffer again.

‘Riding a horse looked so majestic, but it was also true suffering.’

‘One had to practice to get used to it, but being cooped up in the depths of the palace all day, that was impossible.’

At this thought, Yun Zhao looked at Feng Yi. “If we’re really going to hold a competition, shouldn’t I take the ladies of the harem to practice and get reacquainted with riding first? Otherwise, I’m afraid we’ll lose quite miserably.”

The other concubines in the harem were even less prepared than she was. Feng Yi had at least taken her riding before; they probably hadn’t been on a horse in many years.

Feng Yi found Yun Zhao’s conflicted expression incredibly amusing. He said to her, “In that case, I’ll have someone section off a riding ground for you so you can take them to practice.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Yun Zhao said, delighted.

Seeing her eyes light up, Feng Yi reached out and covered them with his hand.

Yun Zhao’s vision instantly went dark. “What are you doing?”

The words had barely left her lips when she felt a cool pressure on them—a kiss tinged with the scent of wine.

Song Yunzhao gave Feng Yi a light push. He hadn’t washed up yet, and the reek of wine was a bit overpowering.

Rebuffed, Feng Yi let go of Yun Zhao in a huff.

‘She was the only one who would dare.’

Yun Zhao suppressed a smile and immediately called for water to be brought in, personally pushing Feng Yi into the washroom.

Who would have thought that Feng Yi would suddenly reverse his grip and pull Yun Zhao in with him.

‘She dared to complain about him? We’ll see where she can run to this time.’