Saying One Thing and Meaning Another

The Empress's tone was very serious and solemn, clearly leaving no room for negotiation.

Lu was still hesitant, but after hearing what she said, she immediately made a decision.

"I've made up my mind, I'm going!" he declared resolutely, clenching his fist. "The more they try to stop me, the more I'll go!"

That's how stubborn I am!

Pixiu scratched his forehead and said, "I'll definitely listen to you, boss, but I'm afraid those two will lock you up."

It's not impossible that the deer agrees, so it would be best to persuade the Emperor and Empress.

He knew that the Empress was a woman of her word and would not easily change her mind, so he did not argue with her, but instead turned to Emperor Wulong, who was relatively easier to talk to.

"Father, you told me to come along, but now you're going back on your word. Are you even a man?"

Emperor Wulong choked and said irritably, "That's because I didn't know you were a fragile little thing back then."

"I don't care, I'm going!" Unable to reason with him, Youlu resorted to tantrums. "If you don't let me go, I'll go to the Taihe Hall every day and throw a tantrum, saying you're not a man, I'll make you lose face, I'll make your whole family lose face!"

"You!" Emperor Wulong was so angry that he almost fell backward. He quickly picked up his teacup and gulped down two mouthfuls of tea to calm himself down.

He'll be driven to his death by this unfilial son sooner or later!

The Empress frowned and gently scolded, "You child, don't be ridiculous. Your father is shameless, but are you shameless too?"

Emperor Wulong: ? ?

So you two are on the same side, right?

Youlu thought about it seriously for a moment and answered sincerely, "As long as there's someone more embarrassed than me, I don't mind being embarrassed for a little while."

Empress: "..."

For the first time in her life, Cang Shuyan, the first female general of Dayong who was famous throughout the world, experienced what it meant to be helpless.

We're out of options, truly out of options.

If her younger brother or son dared to speak like that, she would hit them without hesitation. But this little brat in front of her was someone she couldn't hit, and she couldn't argue with. She didn't know where to direct her energy.

After a moment of annoyance, the Empress found it amusing and actually laughed out loud. She said helplessly, "You child, you really dare to say anything. No wonder your father is so well-behaved by you. You've truly surpassed your father."

"Ahem." Emperor Wulong coughed twice uncomfortably. Why did they have to expose his weakness again?

Seeing that the two had stopped being so serious, Youlu immediately took advantage of the situation, squeezing between the couple and sitting down. She grabbed one of their arms with each hand, shaking them and pleading, "Please let me go! I promise I won't get hurt. If I do, my eldest brother will let you do whatever you want with me!"

Inside the residence of the First Prince of the Ten Princes, the First Prince, who was engrossed in studying disaster relief routes in his study, suddenly sneezed.

A chill ran down his spine, and the eldest prince muttered in confusion, "How could I catch a cold on such a hot day?"

The Empress felt a warm glow in her heart as she was treated so intimately by a junior for the first time. She couldn't help but reach out and stroke his head, but she still didn't relent.

The deer's defeat proved that the queen was indeed not easy to deal with.

When the gentle approach didn't work, he had to resort to the more forceful one.

He immediately shook off their arms, crossed his arms, and said, "If you don't agree, I'll sneak out of the palace and quietly follow the disaster relief team. You can't stop me anyway."

Emperor Wulong's heart skipped a beat; he really wasn't confident he could trap this kid.

He subconsciously looked up at the Empress, only to see uncertainty in her eyes, which immediately put him in a difficult position.

Helpless, Emperor Wulong could only reluctantly say, "Go, go, go if you want, who can stop you!" He added defiantly, "I'd love for you to get lost, just looking at you makes me angry!"

After saying that, she turned to the side, making it seem like she didn't want to pay him any attention.

A deer retorted angrily, "You're just saying one thing and meaning another!"

Emperor Wulong's face flushed red instantly, feeling ashamed, embarrassed, angry, and annoyed.

"Hahahaha!" The Empress burst into laughter.

Outside, hearing her mistress's hearty laughter, Granny Cen couldn't help but smile knowingly.

To prevent his wife and son from continuing to laugh at him, Emperor Wulong quickly changed the subject.

"I heard the Yi family gave you trouble today?"

He put on a stern face and pretended to be serious.

Youlu peeled a lychee and stuffed it into his mouth. "Yi Xunyuan was rude and I kicked him. If he's unlucky, he might be childless."

The lychee he had just eaten suddenly lost its sweetness. Emperor Wulong twitched his lips and said, "Well, you're quite something."

I wonder how much effort he'll have to put into coaxing Consort Yi this time.

Thinking of what happened last time, he looked at the Empress with a sorrowful expression.

The Empress gave him a knowing look and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

Youlu said, "Mother, would you like some lychees? I'll peel them for you."

Queen: "Eat~~"

Emperor Wulong, who was just about to take advantage of the situation by feigning innocence: ...

Youlu didn't neglect her elderly father, peeling a plate of lychees for him and comforting him, "Father, don't worry. Consort Yi is very easy to talk to. She even promised to give me 50,000 taels of silver today. I guess the money has already been delivered to Yixin Palace."

Emperor Wulong jumped to his feet, shouting in disbelief, "How much?! Fifty thousand taels?! You beat her nephew, and she still gives you silver?!"

Did he hear that right?

The domineering and arrogant Consort Yi, Yi Weichun, sends silver to Xiao Qi.

Even the Empress was shocked, and even touched Youlu's forehead, thinking that he had lost his mind and was talking nonsense.

"Is that so strange?" You Lu said dismissively.

"I simply relayed Yi Xunyuan's treasonous words to my eldest brother, and he was terrified. He ran to Consort Yi for help. Now that he's come to me so sincerely, I, being magnanimous, naturally chose to settle things privately and forgive him. I only asked for some compensation for emotional distress, which isn't unreasonable, is it?"

He tilted his head, looking completely innocent.

Although he didn't quite understand what "compensation for emotional distress" meant, that didn't stop Emperor Wulong from figuring out the whole story. He guessed that this kid was lying so easily that he fooled the boss, and Yi Xunyuan only went to ask Yi Weichun to step in when he saw that things weren't going well.

Even a dog wouldn't believe it if it were just a retelling.

Emperor Wulong chuckled dryly, "Heh heh, you are indeed more capable than me."

He doesn't consider himself a good person, but his youngest son is a real scoundrel.

After finishing their meal and discussing their business, Youlu tactfully took her leave, skipping and hopping back to Yixin Palace with the food box that Granny Cen had filled to the brim.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance of Yixin Palace, Youlu saw Gui Mama, who was by the side of Consort Yi.

She stood at the bottom of the steps, holding a box in her hands, her face cold. When she saw him return, she shoved the box into his hands, turned around and left without saying a word.

Youlu said regretfully, "She left in such a hurry; I was hoping to give her some dried fruit. Anyway, thank you, Consort Yi, for the 50,000 taels of silver."

He put down the food box and happily opened the box, inside which was a thick stack of silver notes, all of them worth one thousand taels, a total of fifty notes.

It must be said that Consort Yi was a truly straightforward person.

Pixiu rubbed its hands together expectantly. "Boss, let's exchange all these silver notes for gold! Gold is so beautiful and delicious, much better than silver notes!"

A deer nudged it, ["All you did in Fengyi Palace was eat, eat, eat. Now you know how to divide the silver? Wait until I've divided it among my eldest brother and Su Yan'an first."]

The Pixiu pouted pitifully. "The beast is growing, what's wrong with eating more!"