Chapter 398: Empress Dowager’s Birthday

Chapter 398: The Empress Dowager's Grand Birthday

To seek justice for herself, she sought protection, offering her soul, body, and everything she had in exchange.

Though she had fallen into the mud and been crushed to dust, that person picked her up, wiped her clean, and placed her back on a higher branch.

If this isn't love, then what is!

Physician Yu: ......?

These young girls seem a little out of it.

She looked at the silver needle in her hand.

Hmm, I kind of want to poke them.

......

After relocating to the new capital, Lei Nian'er found herself swamped with work.

Bei Jingchu was a very perceptive Crown Princess. No matter how commanding she usually was, she knew better than to raise her voice when others were overwhelmed with work.

The new capital's layout differed from Anzhou's, with significantly different defensive points to consider.

The Eastern Palace guards aren't used to the climate and terrain here. The Emperor's Imperial Guards fare slightly better, but they're not as at ease as they were in Anzhou.

Moreover, it was the peak of midsummer heat, and the Emperor and his entourage were planning to move to the summer palace to escape the heat.

Ensuring their safety added even more pressure to the patrols and defenses.

The summer palace was pleasantly cool. Bei Jingchu wore long-sleeved shirts, bundled up tightly without breaking a sweat.

This was true as long as she stayed still, but Jiang Longshou and Lei Nian'er, who patrolled daily, were always soaked in sweat.

This was when they envied the civil officials the most.

Lei Nian'er complained to Bei Jingchu, "You and the Emperor have really pissed off the aristocratic families. I’m killing waves of assassins every few days."

"I’m numb to it now. I can chop people down faster than a butcher at the market."

"I’ve mastered every torture device in the interrogation room."

She clicked her tongue in amazement, "Little Jingchu, you really know how to make enemies!"

Bei Jingchu patted her shoulder and started her spiel: "This is the whole point of your job."

"Think about it—if no one wanted to kill me, we wouldn’t need guards."

"No guards, no guard commander."

"How else would you get to show off your skills?"

Lei Nian'er sensed something was off, but years of conditioning left her unable to argue.

"I guess that makes sense..."

Bei Jingchu also knew that seizing interests from others could easily get her killed.

For the past few months, she’d been lying low in the palace, not daring to step foot outside the gates.

Unless absolutely necessary, she didn’t even leave the Eastern Palace, biding her time until the storm blew over.

With the Empress Dowager's birthday celebration approaching, there wasn't much time left to hide.

This year marks the Empress Dowager's fiftieth birthday celebration. When Bei Jingchu went to pay her respects, she quickly calculated and noticed something interesting: "Father is almost thirty-seven, and Grandmother is reaching her fiftieth this year."

"So..."

Bei Jingchu looked horrified: "Grandmother gave birth to Father when she was less than fourteen!!!"

The Empress Dowager shot her a puzzled look, "Fourteen is the right age to start bearing children."

She pinched Bei Jingchu's soft cheek and said affectionately, "Not all women's bodies are considered valuable."

"If an imperial concubine dies in childbirth, we can simply find another. It's the princesses' bodies that need to be well cared for."

"So don't worry, Jingchu is still a child."

This was exactly what Bei Jingchu wanted to hear. The usually cold and aloof Crown Prince clung to his grandmother's arm, acting like a baby.

For the Empress Dowager of Dynasty Yue's fiftieth birthday celebration, neighboring vassal states seized the opportunity to present their state letters and pay homage.

Behen approved some of the more significant states, allowing them to come and pay homage.

It was obvious that the vassal states aimed to demonstrate goodwill, even to the point of submitting as vassal states.

There were conditions to becoming a vassal state of Dynasty Yue. Some small states had territories smaller than the feudal estate of Bei Hua's father, and some were even smaller than a large county.

Behen dismissed them outright, not even considering such insignificant territories.