Escape: I rely on the food exchange system to survive to the extreme

Chapter 288 Change of plan
Yao Lin, inside the imperial city.

In Ci'an Hall, Xiao Yun, who is only in her twenties, now sits here as the empress dowager.

She sat silently in front of the dressing table, stroking an old dressing box with her hand, staring at it in a trance. The palace servants outside the hall urged her several times before she came back to her senses.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time, waiting for you to lead the court to receive the officials."

The first grand court meeting after the New Year came so quickly.

Xiao Yun sighed slightly in her heart and called back the palace maid she had just sent out to continue putting on makeup and dressing herself.

Looking at her small head wearing a heavy golden crown and the palace servants applying old-fashioned and dignified makeup to her, Xiao Yun looked at the old dressing box with some reluctance in her eyes.

That was prepared for her by her mother before she entered the palace.

There were no valuable items in there, but they were all the most fashionable jewelry for girls in Beijing at that time. They were not necessarily expensive, but when accumulated in such large quantities, they were worth a lot of money.

Her mother, in her memory, had been favored by her father only when she was young, but later on she became like a flower that had reached its blooming period, withering to the ground after the season was over, and no one cared about her.

I don’t know how much of her family’s fortune she spent on those jewels.

Looking up at herself in the bronze mirror again, Xiao Yun resisted the urge to ruin her makeup, but couldn't help but blurt out, "Is there any news about the official who went to Jiangbei?"

"To reply to the Queen Mother, there is no news from Jiangbei yet."

When Xiao Yun heard this, her eyes, which had just lit up, gradually dimmed again.

When will people from Jiangbei be able to move south?
Xiao Yun couldn't help but have wishful thinking that if people from Jiangbei came, she and her child would no longer be trapped in this palace.

By then, I wonder if the new emperor would be able to show some mercy and spare the lives of them and their son because they voluntarily abdicated.

Even if I am demoted to a commoner or imprisoned, it is better than being pushed to a high position that does not belong to me, and living in fear every day and sleepless nights, right?

After being dressed up, she went to the emperor.

Looking at the emperor still in the eunuch's arms, as if attracted by the blood relationship between mother and son, the little emperor stretched out his arms and wanted Xiao Yun the first time he saw her.

"Your Majesty, can I hold your hand?"

Faced with the disapproving looks from people around her, Xiao Yun changed from holding the child in her arms to holding the child's hands.

It was not until they arrived at the imperial court hall that Xiao Yun placed the child on the large, stiff dragon throne, and then she reluctantly sat behind the throne, in the place specially set up for her to hold court.

Behind the layers of pearl curtains, Xiao Yun sat there like a clay sculpture of Guanyin, her mind wandering in the sky.

Everything was decided by the prime minister in the court. She knew nothing and had no other words to say except "Everything is decided by the prime minister."

Anyway, she is not the one who makes the real decision.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yun stared at Chunyang who was quietly climbing into the threshold of the hall. She suddenly remembered that it was another beautiful spring, so was the polo club going to be held again?

Ever since being taken into Qi Yun's mansion, Xiao Yun hasn't attended any banquets outside for a long time.

It seemed as if winning the polo match that year was something that happened in my previous life.

Xiao Yun ended the entire court meeting in this distracted manner.

I don’t know if she was used to being distracted like this, but she was able to pay some attention to today’s court meeting.

The atmosphere today seems to be a little off.

···
"You're sending these envoys from Jiangnan back like this, and you're not going to stay?"

Shortly after the New Year, the Jiangnan officials were so shocked by the sudden secret decree at the New Year's Eve banquet that they didn't know which way was up. Qi Chen sent people to remind them to leave Jiangbei as soon as possible.

Standing on the city gate, Qi Chen and Mei Qian looked into the distance. Looking at the figure leaving in a hurry, Mei Qian turned to look at Qi Chen and asked this question.

"The 'rumor' has spread to Jiangnan. Shouldn't we ask these people to go back and verify that it is not a rumor?"

Qi Chen answered, Mei Qian turned her head and looked at Qi Chen: "I think these people didn't want to leave after New Year's Eve."

Qi Chen couldn't help laughing out loud after hearing this.

"You have to go back even if you don't want to. You see they are all reluctant to leave. If you really want to keep them, they will pretend to refuse, and then... ask you to stay a few more times and try to persuade them."

Mei Qian felt her teeth ache after hearing this: "They should just get lost."

"Pfft~"

Qi Chen and Mei Qian were happily chatting privately, Chu Ji stood far away and didn't disturb them, and also stopped Li Junheng from approaching. By not disturbing them, Li Junheng got to watch the fun.

"Tsk! I said there must be something wrong with His Majesty's special treatment of Marquis Yongning. It turns out..."

Li Junheng glanced at Chu Ji and asked, "When did Lord Chu know about this?"

"For a long time."

Chu Ji answered calmly.

He realized something was wrong when Qi Chen asked him to accept Mei Qian as his student and give her guidance.

Looking at subsequent developments, Chu Ji even felt fortunate that he had left the aristocratic family.

Otherwise, from the perspective of the family, looking at Qi Chen and Mei Qian, a pair who hit it off immediately and understood each other's minds, he could only say, "What a pair of jackals and tigers, always doing sinister things!"

"So how did the two of them get together? And what are they going to do now?"

Listening to Li Junheng asking a hundred thousand questions, Chu Ji really wanted to ask why Li Junheng asked it himself.

So, Chu Ji just said "I don't know" and was about to send Li Junheng away.

Li Junheng was choked by this answer, and his voice became louder: "Did you know this a long time ago? How come you didn't know how they got together?"

Mei Qian and Qi Chen could no longer pretend to be deaf to this voice.

They both looked at Chu Ji and Li Junheng.

"Your Majesty, Xing'an Prefecture has an urgent request."

Chu Ji coughed lightly and changed the subject, "Princess Foyou has come to make a memorial."

Upon hearing the news about Qi Fei, Mei Qian and Qi Chen returned to normal and followed everyone back. When they learned the content of the letter, Mei Qian looked at Qi Chen and instantly laughed out of anger.

"what happened?"

Mei Qian thought there was a problem at the border of Xing'an Prefecture, "Is it that Xirong causing trouble again?"

"No." Qi Chen shook his head, but his eyes were always on Mei Qian.

When Qi Chen looked at her like that, Mei Qian roughly understood something.

Qi Fei probably mentioned herself in her mind.

"Foyou asked you to go to the border to help her negotiate."

"what?"

Mei Qian blinked, "I and Tan... I know this?"

Mei Qian has a very clear understanding of himself.

She may not be able to have a friendly conversation at the table, but she can be sarcastic!

"She said that it was you who proposed the wool idea, and it would be better if you were present in person during the negotiations."

"what?"

Mei Qian felt that even if she proposed this plan, could it be possible that others didn't understand it?

Her plan isn't that difficult, right? Sending someone else wouldn't be much different, right?

The worst kind of people in their court are those who play tricks on others.

Besides, she was planning to return home in glory!

If we go to Xing'an Prefecture to negotiate with the Western Rong at this time, wouldn't we miss the spring river crossing?

Mei Qian felt that this trip to the north was not something she had to go on, but Qi Fei had more reasons than just that.

The rest is only known to Qi Chen, the person who read the letter.

Therefore, Qi Chen finally ordered Mei Qian to go to the northern border of Xing'an Prefecture as a member of the negotiation delegation...

Others say: Harmony is the most important thing.

Mei Qian: Cede land, pay compensation, and do business with me! (With a rather sinful look on his face.)
Xirong: Don’t be impatient, we also have something to say.