“Go.” Huo Shi gave Yu Ning a shove.

“This servant girl, Xie Shenyue, greets Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

Empress Dowager Xie helped her niece up and pulled Yu Ning to sit down. “I saw in your mother’s letter that Shenyue has another name, Yu Ning. I was thinking that if I met you, I should remember to call you Ning’er.”

“It’s Yu Ning, and also Xie Shenyue. This servant girl thought that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was used to calling me Shenyue, so I changed my self-introduction.”

Actually, Yu Ning didn’t want the Empress Dowager to mention the name Yu Ning in the palace. If Shen Tuo heard it someday, wouldn’t she be dead and gone sooner?

“Shenyue is sensible. From now on, your aunt will call you Ayue. You don’t have to be so formal; just call me aunt.”

Yu Ning nodded with a smile. “Okay.”

The three of them talked in the hall. Empress Dowager Xie pulled Yu Ning and asked about what had happened to her over the years outside.

Yu Ning dared not tell the truth and started making up half-truths and lies.

When it was time for dinner, Empress Dowager Xie kept the mother and daughter for dinner, saying that she would have someone escort them back after dinner.

Xiangyun Palace was always quiet. Today, with Huo Shi and her daughter here, there was a bit of lively atmosphere. Coincidentally, the person who had rarely been to Xiangyun Palace in a year also came.

“His Majesty has free time today and has graced Xiangyun Palace with his presence. It truly makes this palace shine.”

“To greet the Empress Dowager is the duty of a child.”

“His Majesty is thoughtful.” Empress Dowager Xie’s face was kind, but her heart was muttering.

The discord between the royal mother and son was no secret. Shen Tuo was ruthless, even too lazy to maintain appearances. Why was he so unusual today? Was he unhappy with the Xie family and planning to take action?

Shen Tuo had a slight smile on his face as he exchanged pleasantries with Empress Dowager Xie, then looked at the Xie mother and daughter beside him. “Madam Huo, you don’t have to be so polite, sit down.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

With the Emperor’s arrival, no matter how much Empress Dowager Xie disliked it, she couldn’t chase him away, so she could only endure her displeasure and have the palace servants add a pair of chopsticks.

Shen Tuo sat down on his own, and then seemingly kindly asked Huo Shi to sit down. Then, there was only one person left standing in the hall.

That was Yu Ning.

When a person is in a state of despair, they cannot cry, just like Yu Ning now.

She was afraid of death, but her face showed no expression, she couldn’t even cry.

“This lady looks unfamiliar. I have never seen her before. Is she also a member of the Xie family?” Shen Tuo seemed to have just noticed Yu Ning’s presence and asked indifferently.

“Of course, she is a member of the Xie family, the eldest daughter of the eldest branch. She was lost for many years and was finally found recently.”

Empress Dowager Xie explained briefly and beckoned to Yu Ning. “Ayue, quickly sit down and eat. Don’t just stand there.”

Yu Ning responded weakly and sat down slowly, eating the delicacies without relish.

After that, only Empress Dowager Xie and Shen Tuo were talking at the table. Huo Shi focused on serving her daughter food, while Yu Ning buried her head in her meal.

As they talked, Empress Dowager Xie and Shen Tuo talked about the Xie family. Empress Dowager Xie recalled the past with some emotion.

“Ayue entered the palace at the age of five. At that time, His Majesty was eight years old. You two had met. Who knew that such a change would happen later, alas…”

“Oh? It was her.”

Shen Tuo slightly raised his chin, squinted his eyes at the silent Yu Ning, chuckled softly, his eyes deep. “I remember, Miss Xie San fell from a tree and cried loudly. I happened to be reading under the tree. The elders were attracted by the crying, and she said that someone shook the tree, causing her to fall…”

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent.

Empress Dowager Xie: …

She blamed herself for talking too much. She shouldn’t have mentioned childhood matters. If she had known that Shen Tuo had such a personality, with a mouth that could retort anyone to death, why would she have brought up old things to embarrass her niece?

After saying that, Shen Tuo specifically asked Yu Ning, “I wonder if Miss Xie still remembers?”

Yu Ning froze and had to look at him. She took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Your Majesty, this servant girl has a poor memory and doesn’t remember anything before the age of five.”

“Oh, that’s a pity…”

After dinner, Huo Shi took her daughter back to Yongning Hou Mansion.

“Ning’er, you’re very strange today. What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Huo Shi, no matter how obtuse, could feel that Yu Ning was not quite right. She had been gloomy and worried since the palace banquet.

“Nothing. Your daughter has never seen such a grand occasion. It was my first time today, and I talked to so many distinguished people. I’m a little tired.”

Huo Shi always felt that her daughter would be unusually nervous whenever she saw the Emperor, but this wasn’t strange. After all, he was the Emperor. Anyone would be the same.

Even she and her husband, Xie Zhi’an, would be nervous, so her daughter’s nervous reaction when she saw the Emperor was perfectly normal.

“No, no, I don’t want to go to school anymore!” Yu Xiaobao threw the small cloth bag to the ground angrily, full of resistance, refusing to go to school.

“Yu Xiaobao! Talk properly. This cloth bag was hand-sewn by your maternal grandmother. How can you throw it on the ground like this? Pick it up first.”

“Mother, promise me you won’t make me go to school, and then I’ll pick up the cloth bag.”

“No!” Yu Ning was so angry with the child that she stood in the courtyard with her hands on her hips and lectured her child.

The maids in the courtyard watched from two sides, frightened by the mother and daughter’s posture, and none of them dared to come forward to persuade them.

Xiaobao was four years old and had reached the age of enlightenment. When Yu Ning was worried about her child’s schooling in Qingyun City, it was easily solved after arriving in Kyoto. Yongning Hou Mansion easily sent her granddaughter to Jixian Academy to study.

Jixian Academy was one of the famous academies in Kyoto, backed by the court. Many nobles and officials sent their children here to study.

The places to study were hard to come by, and the fees were not cheap. Although this was nothing to Yongning Hou Mansion, Yu Ning still cherished this opportunity and had asked Yu Xiaobao’s permission beforehand. Yu Xiaobao had promised Yu Ning that she would study hard at the academy.

As a result, she had only been there for a month before she made a fuss and refused to go anymore.