Do you know: I am Qi Heng

"Ming'er, it seems that Shou-ge'er likes you very much."

During lunch, Zhao Shou insisted on sitting next to Minglan, which made Empress Cao laugh.

Upon hearing this, Minglan quickly put down her chopsticks, crossed her arms, and said, "Perhaps His Highness lacks playmates in the palace."

"Don't be so formal!"

Empress Cao smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Shou'er likes playing with you. I'll give you a token later, so you can come to the palace whenever you have time. You can talk to me and play with Shou'er!"

She knew that Shouge'er was not lacking in playmates; there were so many palace maids and eunuchs serving him that he had plenty of people to entertain him.

At first, Shouge insisted on seeing Minglan because of her sister's identity.

Although the official had several daughters, they were all already married.

And because he's not her biological son, he doesn't come to her often.

They treated Shou Ge'er with even greater respect than the palace maids and eunuchs around him, so how could Shou Ge'er possibly like them?

Empress Cao also understood that the reason why those princesses were so respectful to Shouge was that they dared not have too much contact with him.

The root cause was that the sons of officials died too frequently; none of them lived past the age of three.

Although Zhao Shou appears to be in good health at present, who can predict what the future holds?

If they have too much contact with Zhao Shou, and something happens to him, no one knows whether the Emperor and she will hold a grudge against them.

Therefore, they all kept their distance from Zhao Shou and dared not get too close.

Children are actually very sensitive. Zhao Shou might not be able to explain clearly why his older sisters didn't want to play with him, but he could definitely sense it.

Minglan didn't think too much about it and was willing to play with Zhao Shou, which was the reason why Zhao Shou was close to her.

However, she naturally wouldn't reveal these inside details.

"Yes!" Minglan replied.

"Pingning, I really like this girl Ming'er. After she marries into the family, you, as her mother-in-law, mustn't make things difficult for her!" Empress Cao smiled at Princess Pingning.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty!"

The commoner princess glanced at Minglan, who was bowing her head opposite her, and said, "Not to mention that this marriage was bestowed by the emperor, she is naturally a well-behaved and sensible person to win the favor of the Empress Dowager."

"This humble woman only has one son, and out of love for her, I won't make things difficult for her!"

Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain; even if you cross it, there are still other mountains to climb.

Moreover, she hasn't even crossed the mountain in front of her yet, so she really can't bring herself to like Minglan.

But Empress Cao's words were clearly meant to support Minglan. Even if she disliked Minglan, she wouldn't want to deliberately make things difficult for her after Minglan entered the family.

Although this made her feel frustrated, there was nothing she could do about it.

Qi Heng chuckled inwardly. With Empress Cao's words, and given Minglan's intelligence, Princess Pingning would find it difficult to find a legitimate reason to make things difficult for her.

He was originally worried about how to ease the relationship between his wife and mother-in-law after marriage and how to get Princess Pingning to accept Minglan.

Now it seems that it's completely unnecessary.

After the meal, Zhao Shou felt sleepy, so Empress Cao had a palace maid take him to rest.

Princess Pingning chatted with her for a while before taking her leave.

Empress Cao did not try to keep Minglan, but she did keep Minglan with her.

After leaving the palace, the mother and son boarded a carriage. Princess Pingning glanced at Qi Heng and sneered, "Satisfied now? With what the Empress Dowager said, I'll have to be mindful of her mood from now on!"

"Why must Mother utter such harsh words?" Qi Heng asked, frowning.

"She hasn't even entered the door yet, and how many times have you contradicted me? How dare you speak to me like this now?" Princess Pingning said coldly.

Qi Heng sighed. There are many reasons for the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Putting aside other reasons, one important reason is that the mother feels that her son has been taken away.

This is similar to some fathers who dote on their daughters; when their daughters grow up, they are afraid that their daughters will encounter scumbags.

Mothers also have similar feelings, but these feelings are directed towards their sons.

Mothers-in-law are easily satisfied with their sons-in-law, and fathers-in-law are easily satisfied with their daughters-in-law.

But the reverse is not true.

Qi Heng sensed the resentment in Princess Pingning's heart, which stemmed not only from her dissatisfaction with Minglan but also from her repeated defiance towards Minglan.

Thinking about this, Qi Heng felt it was necessary to give his mother some advice.

Otherwise, because of Empress Cao's words, she wouldn't be able to cause trouble for Minglan casually, and since she didn't like Minglan, she would eventually get sick from holding it in for too long.

"mother!"

Qi Heng said solemnly, "Your son admits that it was Your Majesty the Empress who asked for your help."

But if you think about it carefully, if the Emperor didn't want to see the Qi family marry into a powerful and well-matched family, would the Emperor and the Empress be helping their child like this?

Moreover, I only asked Your Majesty the Empress for help. Now that the Emperor has already bestowed the marriage upon us, Your Majesty the Empress has no need to summon Minglan to the palace, let alone say those words.

But the Empress still did it, which shows that the Empress truly loves Minglan.

When Minglan entered the palace this time, you were always there. Did she say anything nice to coax the Empress?

But Her Majesty the Empress really likes her. Haven't you ever wondered why?

"The Empress Dowager is simply indulging in favor of everything related to the house!"

Princess Pingning retorted, "The Empress Dowager has always liked you, and His Highness also enjoys playing with you."

"Otherwise, why would the Empress Dowager and His Highness be so close to her?" Princess Pingning sneered.

In her opinion, Empress Cao and Zhao Shou liked Minglan only because of Qi Heng.

"How dare a child be so shameless!"

Qi Heng said helplessly, "The Empress has nephews in her own family, so why is she not close to them?"

Mother, you have too deep a prejudice against Minglan. That's why you can't stand her no matter what.

However, Her Majesty the Empress and His Highness did not have such prejudices, so after getting to know Minglan, they came to like her as a person, which had nothing to do with me.

Princess Pingning said calmly, "She's just a concubine's daughter. She's barely spoken a few words since entering the palace. It's understandable that His Highness is young and doesn't understand, but tell me, why does the Empress Dowager admire her?"

"How would I know!"

Qi Heng actually knew that some people are just naturally approachable.

Minglan's appearance is not aggressive at all, and her smile has a healing quality, which fits the description.

When people are unbiased, first impressions are very important.

But this explanation is very vague and difficult to make sense.

"Mother, the matter is settled now. Can't you put aside that prejudice and re-evaluate Minglan?" Qi Heng said.

Upon hearing this, Princess Pingning leaned back in the carriage and closed her eyes.

Seeing this, Qi Heng sighed and said nothing more.

.........

Days passed by, and before we knew it, the year was drawing to a close, and the Sheng family's school was closed.

During this time, Qi Heng was either studying or going to the palace with his mother, and sometimes he would run into Minglan.

It's clear that as time went on, Empress Cao grew to like Minglan more and more.

At first, they only took Minglan in as an adopted daughter to elevate her status, but now they truly regard Minglan as their adopted daughter.

Early that morning, Qi Xuan and his son Qi Heng went to the Sheng family with generous gifts.

The marriage has been arranged, so the proper etiquette must be observed.

Even if Princess Pingning still doesn't like Minglan, she won't do anything impolite.