The incident before the banquet left the Emperor and Empress feeling like they had swallowed a fly, but by evening, they appeared no different than usual, and even seemed in better spirits due to the "return of Princess Dunsu to the court".

The Emperor was enjoying himself with the princes, nobles and ministers in the capital in the front hall, while the Empress was entertaining the titled ladies in the inner hall of the Tingfeng Tower.

At the second quarter of the You hour, Princess Dunsu's sedan chair arrived. The music and dance stopped, and all the titled ladies in the Tingfeng Tower bowed deeply to Princess Dunsu. Even the Empress rose to greet her. Such a grand reception was only befitting a princess born of the Empress.

Princess Dunsu turned her head and said something, and the palace maid beside her bowed slightly and loudly announced for everyone to rise. Empress Feng invited Princess Dunsu to the seat of honor. After repeatedly declining, Princess Dunsu sat down in the lower position next to Empress Feng.

Princess Dunsu exchanged a few polite words with the Empress, then looked at the few elderly ladies at the table closest to her and smiled gently, "I haven't been back for a long time. Are you all still in good health, old madams?"

Several first-rank madams in their sixties quickly stood up and said they were well. After chatting for a while, some madams who had brought their newly married daughters-in-law took the opportunity to introduce them to Princess Dunsu. Princess Dunsu listened with a smile the whole time, rewarding the new wives with gifts.

To those from families with a clean reputation, she said, "Madam is fortunate, to have such kind in-laws." To those from families with few children, she said, "Madam has an auspicious face, and will surely be blessed with many children in the future."

Although she didn't say much, her words were warm and sincere, and every sentence touched people's hearts. Even Empress Feng couldn't help but secretly admire her.

In fact, Empress Feng and Princess Dunsu were not very familiar with each other. When the Emperor got married, Princess Dunsu had long been married off, and the two did not interact much. At that time, the Emperor was just a commoner prince, and the family status of Feng, whom Emperor Wen had married him to, was not high.

Empress Feng had never entered the palace as a maiden, and had only seen Princess Dunsu once or twice from afar at joyous occasions outside the palace. It was nothing compared to the close friendship between Princess Dunsu and Empress Xiaoxian.

Back then, Empress Feng had greatly admired the intimacy and tacit understanding between Princess Dunsu and Empress Xiaoxian. She had heard that when Empress Xiaoxian first married, in order to take care of the newly wed Empress Xiaoxian, Princess Dunsu would visit the then Crown Prince's residence almost every day, personally accompanying Empress Xiaoxian to meet the imperial relatives and titled ladies.

Because of Princess Dunsu, Empress Xiaoxian, who was the new Crown Princess, did not make a single mistake. In no time, her good reputation of being "dignified and generous" and "respecting relatives and being polite" spread throughout the imperial city. When the Empress at the time, Empress Xiaoqin in the palace heard about it, she was also very satisfied, and repeatedly praised Empress Xiaoxian for having the bearing of the mother of the world.

Whether Princess Dunsu did it to take care of the wife of her own younger brother, or as an experienced person showing consideration for her close friend since childhood, Princess Dunsu had done her best. Empress Feng looked at Princess Dunsu's exquisite makeup and appropriate words, and thought of her own situation when she first married.

She laughed coldly in her heart. What about when she got married? Princess Dunsu had not paid any attention to her at all.

It was only then that Empress Feng realized how big the difference was between being born of the Empress and a concubine in the imperial family. So when her husband wanted to fight for the position of Crown Prince, Empress Feng fully supported him.

The final result also proved that her decision at that time was correct. But after so many years, every time she was with Princess Dunsu on such occasions, seeing Princess Dunsu's noble bearing in every move, Empress Feng would still remember her own poverty and humbleness in the beginning.

Princess Dunsu's words and deeds were constantly reminding her that wealth and nobility were innate, and imperial power was bestowed by heaven.

Empress Feng felt bitter in her heart. If she could not let Qi Hua succeed to the throne, how things were before, was how they would be in the future.

The one who could best understand Empress Feng's state of mind was probably the Emperor, who was now lavishly praising Qi Xiao in front of the lords and marquises. Many court officials had entered the palace today.

A few old ministers who had long retired even had their children and grandchildren support them into the palace. Were these people here to see Princess Dunsu? To see himself? The Emperor laughed coldly. They were probably all here to see Qi Xiao.

In order to keep the old ministers silent over the years, the Emperor never dared to make small moves against Qi Xiao behind his back. He only thought of pampering him with fine food and clothing, even if it meant spoiling him to death.

Who knew that Qi Xiao had his own ideas from a young age, and no matter how much the Emperor indulged him, he would not go too far. He did everything properly, and although he had a cold temperament, there was nothing else to fault him for.

Later, when Qi Xiao grew up, the Emperor kept an even closer eye on him. At first, he used the excuse of pitying Qi Xiao's weak health to prevent him from entering the court.

But when Qi Xiao turned fifteen, Princess Dunsu, who was far away in the south, personally wrote a memorial to the Emperor. The Princess's memorial did not go through the inner cabinet, but was sent directly to the imperial desk in the court.

At that time, the Emperor was single-mindedly thinking about how to deal with Princess Dunsu's hint, but he never thought that Princess Dunsu would actually use such an open and aboveboard move. In front of the group of ministers, she directly laid the matter out in the open, saying that her nephew was grown up and could no longer be ignorant.

He needed to learn how to handle affairs, otherwise he would not be able to become emperor and inherit the great unity in the future.

Up to now, this was the most direct confrontation between the Emperor and the legitimate line of Emperor Wu. It was so direct that it seemed almost crude, but it was more effective than any other method. Princess Dunsu had already made her words as clear as possible. If the Emperor rejected it at this point, it would inevitably make people think about Qi Xiao's identity, which was what the Emperor was most taboo about.

The Emperor made up for it afterwards, and Qi Xiao also suffered some losses, both openly and secretly, but compared to entering the court, those were nothing. From then on, the Emperor found that things were getting more and more out of control. Qi Xiao, who had entered the court, was like a dragon returning to the great sea.

The Emperor looked at the hidden expectation in the eyes of the old ministers and took a deep breath. Perhaps he was wrong from the beginning. The Emperor was not unaware of Qi Hua's mediocre talent. What he valued more was Qi Hua's status as the legitimate son.

Didn't others still have expectations for Qi Xiao's bloodline? Well then, the Emperor would use the method of favoring Qi Hua to contend with Qi Xiao, but now it seemed... it was all in vain.

Thinking of what happened during the day, the Emperor's head still ached faintly. Over the years, he did not show it on the surface, but secretly he had already given Qi Hua a lot of power and too many opportunities to gain experience. He only thought that one day, when the time was ripe, he would let Qi Hua rightfully replace Qi Xiao's position as Crown Prince. But the result? Apart from making the people of the legitimate line more wary and cautious, nothing else was achieved.

The Emperor smiled on the surface, sparing no effort in praising Qi Xiao, but in his heart, he vaguely had a plan. Perhaps... it was really time to start paying attention to the other princes.

He was in the prime of his life. As long as nothing unexpected happened, he could sit on this dragon throne for several more decades without issue. By that time, the prince he had chosen would be in high spirits. After a few decades, most of the legitimate bloodline would be dead. Even if he had to drag out this battle, he could win by attrition.

Qi Xiao spoke respectfully with the old ministers. Many of their ears were no longer very good, but Qi Xiao showed no impatience, tirelessly repeating questions that had been asked several times. In his heart, he silently recalled these ministers' relationships with the previous emperor, alertly listening for hints in their words.

Qi Xiao understood in his heart that in the dim eyes of these old ministers, they did not see him, but rather the prematurely deceased Emperor Wu, the most valiant emperor since the founding of Daxiang.

Qi Xiao had never met the previous emperor, but he knew his biological father was a hero, not at all the cruel and bellicose figure the current emperor had intentionally or unintentionally allowed the historians to portray him as. Based on the fact that nearly twenty years after ascending the throne, the emperor still had not managed to take back full military authority, anyone who said Emperor Wu was reckless, Qi Xiao would not believe it.

His mother had passed away twenty years ago, her virtuous deeds still praised to this day. His father had passed away twenty years ago, the remnants of his grace still protecting Qi Xiao and earning him support.

Qi Xiao turned his head and smiled at the emperor. Illegitimate son, did you think that just because I have no father or mother, I can be carved up as you please?

His imperial father and mother had never left him.

Qi Xiao could almost see through the emperor's thoughts. He couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. Finally starting to regret it? Finally realizing that he was not someone Qi Hua could defeat? Wanting to rely on a different prince again... Hehe, Qi Xiao did not believe Empress Feng and those behind Qi Hua had that level of tolerance.

The enemy of an enemy is a friend. This move by the emperor had earned Qi Xiao quite a few secret allies.

Qi Xiao grew increasingly fond of Bairen in his heart. He was simply a lucky star brought to him by the heavens. Although it was unintentional, the balance that had been tenuously maintained in the imperial city for nearly twenty years had been truly shattered by Bairen today.