In a blink of an eye, it’s August 15th, the Mid-Autumn Festival
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, according to past practice, a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet is held in the palace, and officials and marquis in Beijing can participate with their families.
Chu Mu wanted to bring Ruan Tang with him, but Ruan Tang was unwilling to attend with him as his female companion.
In the end, he had to let her dress up as a servant beside him and take her into the palace with him.
In the evening, the carriage the two of them were riding in set off from Prince Ning's Mansion and headed towards the palace.
Sitting on the carriage, Chu Mu's eyes were always on Ruan Tang. Ruan Tang was embarrassed by him and looked down from time to time to see if there was something wrong with him.
Finally, she couldn't bear it anymore and asked, "Is it ugly? Why do you keep looking at me?"
Chu Mu shook his head, "It's not ugly, but it has a different flavor."
Although she was wearing a servant's uniform, her figure was graceful. Even though her breasts were tied, she still looked graceful and graceful. Her waist, bound by the belt, looked even more slender.
Her hair was all tied up and hidden in a small hat, revealing her delicate facial features. In this way, she was somewhat handsome and handsome, without the temperament of a young boy.
He suddenly felt that she seemed even more unsafe dressed like this.
If she were dressed in women's clothing, he could still hold her hand at all times. Even if someone coveted her, he would not dare to blatantly do so.
But if she was just a boy beside him, everyone would look at her much more boldly.
There might even be some men with eccentricities eyeing her. After all, there are not many young men like her with thin skin, tender flesh, and smooth skin.
"Otherwise, you should change into women's clothing so that I can protect you."
"I do not want."
Wearing women's clothing, isn't that another way of announcing that she is his Chu Mu's woman? She didn't want to arouse hatred. After all, there were many women who admired him. She had already seen it during the last flower viewing party. At the same time, she didn't want to affect his future marriage.
"Then when you enter the palace, remember to follow me closely and don't run around and look around."
Ruan Tang nodded.
"The palace is no better than outside. There are many palaces. If you go in the wrong direction, I may not even be able to find you."
Ruan Tang nodded again, but in his heart he felt that he was verbose.
Soon the carriage arrived at the palace gate, where many carriages had already gathered, all queuing up at the palace gate for interrogation.
The guards guarding the palace gate knew about Prince Ning's carriage and quickly let it go.
When the two arrived at the palace, Chu Mu took Ruan Tang to the palace of the Queen Mother.
Due to the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet to be held in the past few days, the Empress Dowager moved back to the palace from the annex in advance, planning to return to the annex after the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.
After the two arrived at Shou'an Palace, Ruan Tang refused to go in and insisted on waiting for him at the door.
Chu Mu had no choice but to go in alone to pay his respects to his mother.
But after he said goodbye, he found that his mother's eyes were always looking behind him.
After a while, he finally said: "Isn't Ruan Tang here?"
"Here you go, I'm sorry to come in. I'm waiting at the palace gate."
"Why are you embarrassed? This Ai family place is not like other places. There are not so many rules. Go and bring me people in."
She had agreed last time that she would give them a marriage after they came back from the Western Regions.
But later her son refused to let him go and insisted on waiting until Ruan Tang was willing to marry him.
She knew that her son had developed a deep love for Ruan Tang, and she was happy to see it happen. Naturally, she fell in love with Ruan Tang more and more.
Chu Mu had no choice but to go out again and came to Ruan Tang.
"Are you happy so soon? You don't need to talk to your mother more."
Chu Mu shook his head, "No, it's the Queen Mother who wants to see you."
"Want to see me? Did you tell her I'm coming too?"
Ruan Tang doesn't want to see the Empress Dowager at all. What if he meets her and wants to marry her? So what should she do?
If he refuses in front of her, if she is unhappy, he can have his head removed with just one move.
But if she doesn't refuse, she doesn't want to marry herself like this.
At least now, she doesn't want to get married.
Even though they spent time together, she could see Chu Mu's kindness to her.
But she can't marry her just because he treats her better.
For her, marriage requires two people to love each other.
Does she love Chu Mu? At least she knew that she didn't love him now, but she didn't reject him that much. At most, she might like him a little bit.
But it's not to the point where he has to.
What's more, she also plans to go back to the northwest with Mog and Tana some time later.
Mog is now doing well in the government office. It is said that he will take the scientific examination next spring and his intention is to enter Dali Temple.
Ruan Tang knew that he wanted to investigate the case of Tana's parents, so he supported her decision.
"When the king enters the palace, she naturally guesses that I will bring you here."
Ruan Tang had no choice but to follow him into Shou'an Palace.
She followed Chu Mu. The Empress Dowager didn't notice her at first. After watching for a while, she realized that she was wearing a servant uniform.
Ruan Tang walked up to her, knelt down and saluted, "The daughter of the common people kowtows to the Queen Mother, may the Queen Mother be blessed and safe."
The Queen Mother stood up from the phoenix chair and knelt down to help her.
"There are no outsiders here. You don't have to pay such a courtesy next time you meet the Ai family."
"Thank you, Queen Mother." Ruan Tang stood up with her hand in hand.
But the next second, she was pulled by the Empress Dowager towards the phoenix chair. Just when the Empress Dowager was about to pull her to sit down together, Ruan Tang quickly took two steps back and then bowed.
"The Queen Mother, I..."
The Empress Dowager knew what she was worried about, so she could only say softly, "It's okay, let's sit with the Ai family for a while."
Ruan Tang was frightened and glanced at Chu Mu. After Chu Mu nodded, she sat down tremblingly.
"Last time you helped Mu'er find medicine to cure his poison, the Ai family didn't even thank you properly."
Ruan Tang quickly shook his head, "His Highness is blessed, and ordinary women dare not take credit."
"But you have the greatest contribution. The Ai family has heard what Mu'er said. The Ai family has wanted to reward you for a long time. However, Mu'er refused to bring you to see the Ai family. Since you are here today, what about the reward for you? As a reward, Aijia will send someone to your house tomorrow."
"There is also this blood jade bracelet, which is the most nourishing thing. The Ai family will also give it to you." He took off the bracelet from his wrist and put it directly into Ruan Tang's wrist.
Ruan Tang didn't dare to take it away, so he quickly took it off.
"You should keep what the Queen Mother gave you, otherwise she will think that you despise her things."
When Ruan Tang heard this, he didn't want to take off his clothes, so he looked at Chu Mu angrily.
Seeing her deflated appearance, Chu Mu felt even better.
"Well, keep it. The Ai family has a lot of these things. It's not fun to carry them alone. You can share some of the things for the Ai family. The Ai family will be happy."
Ruan Tang curled his lips and smiled awkwardly.
The Queen Mother pulled Ruan Tang behind and talked for a while before going to the banquet with them.
The banquet place was already filled with fragrant clothes and the fragrance of wine.
Most of the officials and the noble Marquis were present.
When everyone saw the Queen Mother and Prince Ning appearing, they all knelt down and saluted.
After Chu Mu said no courtesy, everyone stood up and found a place to sit down.
At the same time, a pretty figure also came to them, it was Princess Jingning whom they had not seen for a long time.
