Your Majesty, please do not disturb, the empress only wants to engage in business

Chapter 177 Good Answer

Judging solely from the timing, this is the most suitable time and place.

The warm breeze intoxicated the tourists. Although Xie Yun'an was not a tourist, the warm breeze and the aroma of wine made it a perfect time for some romantic scenes to unfold.

Unfortunately, Xie Yun'an had no such intention.

When people are upset, they don't think about doing those things. Right now, he's just thinking about how to appease the Empress and the Empress Dowager.

On one side was his own mother, and on the other was the dignity of the Empress Dowager. Even if he wanted to show his filial piety and protect the Empress Dowager, he still had to consider the thoughts of those rigid old men from the previous dynasty.

What the Empress thinks doesn't matter; what those old fogies care about most is the dignity of the Empress Dowager. Xie Yun'an originally ascended the throne by a stroke of luck, and very few of the old ministers from the previous dynasty initially bet on him. So, Xie Yun'an naturally can't be too presumptuous now.

The previous dynasty had just become somewhat stable, and he didn't want to cause any more trouble because of these trivial matters.

Tonight, while having dinner in the Consort's palace, he originally intended to discuss this matter with Consort Rong and see if she could offer him some advice.

Unfortunately, Consort Rong was always a simple and honest person. Apart from being good at jealousy and rivalry, she was completely indifferent to everything else and had no ability to share his worries or solve his problems.

—He had known this all along. Of all the people in the harem, besides the Empress, only Consort Lin could be praised for her intelligence.

In fact, among the newly entered concubines, there were quite a few as intelligent as He Yunqing and Qiao Yanran. However, firstly, this matter had nothing to do with these people, and secondly, in the past year or so, Xie Yun'an had not actually developed any deep feelings for these newly entered concubines.

Although he now has the idea of ​​taking action against the Duke's Mansion, he has not yet put it into practice. He will only start to utilize those newcomers and their families after he has a real intention to take action.

It's not the right time yet.

Yao Jinse couldn't guess what Xie Yun'an was thinking, but that didn't stop her from getting a general idea.

Although Xie Yun'an did not send anyone to announce his arrival, there were naturally people guarding the entrance of Yuxiu Palace to report the news. Yao Jinse pretended to be taking a nap on the heated kang, partly because she had been waiting for a while, and partly because she wanted to see what Xie Yun'an's attitude was.

If their attitude is decent, then there will naturally be a way to resolve this matter tonight.

However, Yao Jinse really couldn't figure out what kind of existence Xie Yun'an regarded her as. She originally just wanted to be an understanding and empathetic person, so how come she seems to have gone astray now?

Regardless, now that this matter has come to her, she can't pretend she doesn't know. It's okay to make excuses once or twice, but it would be bad if Xie Yun'an changed his attitude because of this.

Even if Xie Yun'an doesn't come tonight, Yao Jinse plans to go to Chengqian Palace tomorrow to tell the Consort about this.

Once Consort Rong learns of this matter, it will no longer be a problem. Given her caring nature towards the Emperor, she will naturally tell Xie Yun'an about Yao Jinse's solution.

If things go around in circles, Xie Yun'an will naturally still feel that Yao Jinse has her merits. However, it's not impossible to do it now; directly addressing the matter openly is also a good approach.

As Xie Yun'an took off his shoes and sat down on the heated kang, Yao Jinse slowly woke up from her "sleep" as if she had heard the sound. In order not to seem too deliberate, she even pretended to be confused for a while before getting up to greet him with some fear.

Her procedure naturally gave Xie Yun'an enough time to react and skip the formalities. Whether Yao Jinse had ulterior motives or genuinely hadn't realized what was going on, by this point, Xie Yun'an was too lazy to care about such things.

Just as Yao Jinse had predicted, Xie Yun'an was indeed a little hungry after having dinner and then going back to handle state affairs for so long.

Since they were on a heated kang, they could relax a bit and not be too restrained. Xie Yun'an loosened his collar, picked up a walnut with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, while Yao Jinse took off her cloak and knelt on the other side to pour him wine.

When interacting in private, it's best to be somewhat different from how you appear on the surface.

Yao Jinse usually served the Imperial Concubine and was always a very disciplined person, just like most of the palace maids and nannies who served her in the palace. She was always very proper and dignified.

But in private, Yao Jinse is not at all dignified.

If someone is dignified both day and night, what's the difference between them and an empress?
Yao Jinse was familiar with the characters' personalities, and naturally knew that Xie Yun'an did not like Empress Shen's exceptionally dignified demeanor in private, so she naturally had her own little tricks up her sleeve.

Everyone in the harem strives to be consistent inside and out. The Empress is dignified inside and out, Consort Rong is spoiled inside and out, and most others are like that as well. So Yao Jinse naturally came up with a unique idea.

At her age, she could no longer feign the shyness of a little girl, so she could only be dignified during the day, and naturally possess a lively charm when no one was around at night.

Of course, when Xie Yun'an wasn't around, she wasn't in the mood to dress up. Throwing her flirtatious glances at a blind man would be a waste of effort. Since she had put in the effort, she naturally had to get something in return.

The problems from the daytime hadn't been resolved yet, so Xie Yun'an wasn't there to drink. He was only going to have a couple of drinks because of Yao Jinse's thoughtful preparations. But just as he was about to speak, Yao Jinse brought him another glass of wine.

He had no choice but to drink a glass of wine first, and just as he was about to speak again, Yao Jinse picked up a piece of shredded chicken and brought it to him.

"Your Majesty, please try this. I specially asked them to prepare it. Although it's not as cold as it was before, it's still sour, spicy, and refreshing."

No matter how much Xie Yun'an wanted to say something, the food was right in front of his mouth, so he couldn't say anything. He could only open his mouth to take the food and eat it while putting aside the wine glass that Yao Jinse had handed him, which had been refilled.

"You've drunk the wine and eaten the food, don't you have anything you want to say to me?"

"What would Your Majesty like to hear?"

Whether it's Yao Jinse or the original Yao Jieyu, they are actually of the same personality, straightforward in doing things, which is not their usual style, and naturally they speak in the same way.

So at this moment, with the atmosphere having reached this point, Yao Jinse simply said softly:
"The answer that troubles Your Majesty, didn't I just show it to you?"