After the milk ball arrived, the father who had no heirs had a string of good luck.

Tang Rui naturally knew what the emperor meant by "it's a pity," and chuckled foolishly, "It's not a pity at all. Rui Rui is still a little darling. Her main task is to eat well and sleep well. As long as she doesn't grow up ugly, it's not a pity."

"Hahaha..." The child's innocent and childlike words amused the emperor, who laughed heartily, "Good child, get up!"

"Thank you, Grandpa! Thank you, thank you!" Tang Rui stood up and immediately stared at his jade pendant, her eyes shining. "Grandpa, the jade pendant you wore today is so beautiful! It's milky white, doesn't it suit my skin tone perfectly?"

The emperor's eye twitched!

Chen Defu covered his face.

Again!

Weren't you just afraid of His Majesty? How come you're not afraid of anything as soon as you see something valuable?

The emperor was speechless: "Zhaohua, is the Li Prince's residence very poor?"

The groundwork has been laid.

Tang Rui sighed like a little adult, subtly trying to sow discord among the Crown Prince: "We weren't poor to begin with, but my mother's dowry was all taken by my aunt, the Crown Princess. My mother is very poor, and so am I. Grandfather, look at the jewelry I'm wearing; it's still last year's style."

The emperor's face darkened upon hearing this: "Is that so?"

Situ Qiang's brow twitched violently, and she quickly retorted, "My mother never took your mother's dowry! Don't spout nonsense!"

Tang Rui pouted and muttered under her breath, "My mother's mother was from a noble family. Your mother was once my maternal grandfather's concubine. If I remember correctly, she was the daughter of the He family, a family that produced a seventh-rank official, right? He only got promoted after my aunt, the Crown Princess, married the Crown Prince. If it wasn't because they took my mother's dowry, then you're implying the He family embezzled it, aren't you? Otherwise, where would they get so much wealth to give your mother such a large dowry?"

"You, you, you..." Situ Qiang's face changed drastically, and she stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence.

The emperor turned to Chen Defu and asked, "Is this true?"

Chen Defu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and honestly confessed, "Your Majesty, this servant doesn't know the specifics. This servant is just a eunuch, how could I possibly know what kind of dowry the Crown Princess had? However... when the Crown Princess married the Crown Prince, her dowry was indeed quite substantial, a full one hundred and twenty-eight loads!"

"Very good, very good. This is the Crown Princess the Empress chose—always doing petty things!"

The emperor, enraged, laughed instead. When he looked at Tang Rui again, his eyes regained their warmth: "Zhaohua, don't worry, I will take care of this matter for your mother."

Having achieved her goal, Tang Rui smiled without a trace of sarcasm, showering him with compliments: "Thank you, Your Majesty! Your Majesty is wise! May Your Majesty reign for ten thousand years, unify the world, and live a long and prosperous life!"

"Hahaha..." This one sentence made the emperor burst into laughter again.

She was the daughter of his most beloved son, and she had such a sweet tongue; the emperor adored her.

...

After leaving the Imperial Academy, the emperor immediately returned to the palace, summoned the crown prince, and gave him a severe scolding.

The Crown Prince was thoroughly spitting bullets by the Emperor. Upon returning to the Eastern Palace, he went straight to Qin Zhirou's room without a word, spitting bullets on her as well, and warning her: "Immediately, right now, replenish Princess Li's dowry and return it!"

Qin Zhirou bit her lip, looking very aggrieved: "Your Highness, if we return it, our Eastern Palace will have very little money left."

The Crown Prince didn't believe it at all, and his voice immediately rose several octaves: "I am the Crown Prince, how could I be poor? Qin Zhirou, I married you because of the Empress Dowager's order, don't be so shameless and tarnish my reputation. If you can't manage the Eastern Palace, there are plenty of women willing to take care of it!"

How could she possibly think of stealing someone else's dowry!

The prince turned and left.

Qin Zhirou felt bitter inside and was so angry that tears streamed down her face.

She only realized how poor the Eastern Palace was after she married into the family.

Yes, the Crown Prince's monthly allowance is very high, but the Emperor's sons and grandsons also receive a lot!

Today it's someone's birthday, tomorrow it's someone's baby, don't you think gifts are free?

Qin Zhirou even suspected that the Empress had taken a liking to her only for Qin Zhiyan's dowry!

"What should we do? What should we do?" Qin Zhirou didn't want to pay it back.

In her eyes, all of this dowry belonged to her.

Qin Zhiyan is not worthy!

Her nanny frowned and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince has already spoken. This matter has even reached the Emperor's ears. We have no choice but to return it for now."

"Why should I? These are all mine!"

Besides, over the years, half of her dowry has been spent. How is she going to make up for it?

A ruthless glint flashed in Qin Zhirou's eyes: "Granny, find someone to ruin Qin Zhiyan. As long as she is rejected by the royal family, no one will ask me for a dowry."

The old woman hesitated, "But...but we've already asked Young Master He, and Madam sent word that he still hasn't returned. I'm afraid..."

"Tell Mother not to overthink things!" Qin Zhirou said impatiently. "My cousin probably took the money and didn't do anything; he's probably having a good time with some mistress and has forgotten all about home!"

If He Yaozu had actually listened and gone to see Qin Zhiyan, Qin Zhiyan would have been ruined long ago, and none of this would have happened.

Qin Zhirou never imagined that He Yaozu would die. How could a weak woman be a match for a grown man?

She hated He Yaozu for taking the money but not doing the job, hated Qin Zhiyan for trying to steal her dowry, and hated Tang Rui even more for exposing the whole thing.

Seeing her like this, the old woman sighed and said, "The Princess Consort of Xiang's birthday is coming soon. Qin Zhiyan will definitely be there. We can make our move then."

"Alright!" Thinking of Princess Xiang, Qin Zhirou's head started to ache again: "That woman is annoying too, no… all the princesses' wives are annoying. I'll deal with them after I've dealt with Qin Zhiyan!"

What kind of loving royal family is that? It doesn't exist!

Because her mother was once a concubine of high rank, and her status was the lowest among her sisters-in-law.

None of her sisters-in-law thought highly of her, and they embarrassed her several times.

Qin Zhirou still remembers those embarrassing past events!

If Tang Rui knew what she was thinking, she would definitely sigh and say, "Different circles cannot get along."

Every social class has its own circle of friends. If you don't belong to this circle, why do you have to come in?

Isn't this just asking for trouble?

...

Tang Rui was still at the Imperial Academy when she finally made it to lunchtime.

As soon as get out of class ended, she rushed to the cafeteria!

The so-called canteen is just a quiet room for eating, and the food boxes that everyone brings are kept warm by a designated person.

Around mealtime, these people would bring their food boxes to the cafeteria. Each cafeteria had the names of the radish-heads on it, so there was no mistake.

Tang Rui was the first to arrive at the cafeteria and saw her food box immediately.

No other reason than that her food box is the biggest!

Situ An caught up with her and arrived at the destination second, panting heavily: "Why...why did you run so fast?"

What frustrated him most was that he suddenly realized that his physical strength was not as good as that of a five-year-old toddler.

"Time to eat! If you're not enthusiastic about eating, there's something wrong with your thinking!" Tang Rui struggled to climb onto the stool and opened her food box.

However, the smile on her face slowly disappeared the next second. She stared blankly at the contents of the food box, her lips trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes.