The morning ceremony for the imperial consorts ended in the afternoon, and then there was a small banquet inside Changkun Palace, which only involved the concubines of the harem and the princes and princesses.

  It's quite similar to a family banquet where princes and princesses meet their new stepmother.

  This time Wu Guifei did not come again.

  They let someone come to Changkun Palace to report illness, and then used the excuse of having the second prince serve her to ask for leave. Then, using the excuse that He Baolin needed to take care of the fourth prince who was ill, they asked him to leave. However, in the Chao Yang Palace, a stage was set up and an opera performance began, openly competing with Changkun Palace's drum tower.

  The gongs and drums in the Zhao Yang Palace were ringing, with people singing and chanting, making a lively scene that seemed to be heard throughout the Chang Kun Palace. In contrast, the Chang Kun Palace was quiet, with only a few concubines left, including Cui Xianfei and Hu Zhaorong, and a handful of minor palace maids. The number of princes and princesses had also decreased, leaving only the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and Princess Xiao Liu. The vast Chang Kun Palace was now empty and quiet, with only a few people scattered around, making it seem even more desolate and cold.

  Empress Wu seemed to be telling everyone in the imperial harem that she, Wu Yun, didn't take the new empress seriously, and see what Lin Di could do about it.

  Cui Xianfei and Hu Zhaorong quietly observed the new master of the harem, wanting to know how she would handle Wu Guifei's open provocation.

  What disappointed them was that this new queen seemed to have a faint smile on her face from the moment she entered the palace, with bright and intelligent eyes on her delicate face, subtly revealing a penetrating insight into people's hearts. Even when faced with Wu Guifei's provocation, she couldn't change her expression in the slightest, as if she didn't care about it at all.

  Cui Xianfei and Hu Zhaorong exchanged a subtle glance, then each shifted their gaze away, lowering their heads to drink tea.

  Lin Xuan withdrew her gaze from the imperial consorts, raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. She knew what was in their minds - they were watching her performance to decide how to treat this young new empress later, or whether to take sides with her or Wu Guifei, or if there were those who wanted to see a commotion, wanting to see her make a scene on the spot and fight it out with Wu Guifei.

  She thought she would have pleased them, but not now. If she were to go find Wu Guifei with a furious face at this time, it would only end in defeat.

  Rice should be eaten mouthful by mouthful, things should be done one by one, and when doing things, there must be a distinction between what comes first and what comes later.

  She shifted her gaze back to the front, looking at the crown prince who stood respectfully below her, ready to pay his respects to the new empress, as well as a pair of imperial sons and daughters.

  Then she met the gloomy eyes of the crown prince at a glance.

  Xiao Tai's mood was shrouded in haze from the morning, his expression haggard and gloomy, and he himself was also dazed. Until he met Lin Xie's eyes, he looked at the quiet and cold grand hall, thinking of Wu Guifei's provocation, and then looking at Lin who seemed to dare not speak out, he suddenly had a sense of revenge in his heart, and then showed a sarcastic and mocking expression towards Lin.

  Lin Huan slightly furrowed her brow, feeling a dull ache in her temples. Compared to Wu Guifei who openly provoked her, the one who gave her more of a headache was actually this cousin... or rather, step-son in front of her.

  The eunuch looked at the crown prince who was completely out of sorts and whispered with some concern: "Your Highness..."

  The prince still stood there motionless, as if he hadn't heard, his eyes fixed on the beam above Lin Xiang's head, as if his spirit was wandering outside.

  The third prince and the grand princess standing beside him also looked at him with some confusion, and the grand princess even turned her head to look at her own mother, wanting to ask for help on what to do.

  Hu Zhaorong slightly shook her head at her daughter, then looked at the crown prince with some surprise.

  Today is an important day for the new empress, and she shares the same ancestry as the original empress. The Lin family has married their daughter into the imperial palace again to solidify the crown prince's position. Logically speaking, the crown prince and the new empress are tied together by a single thread; even if the crown prince doesn't show affection towards the new empress, he shouldn't be so careless. The crown prince's behavior today is truly unreasonable.

  The eunuch hastily reminded him in a low voice: "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, it's time to pay respects to Her Majesty the Empress..."

  The prince finally stopped his wandering gaze and looked at Lin Xiao, but her eyes were distant, reproachful, as if looking at a disobedient child.

  The crown prince clenched his fists and finally knelt down on the ground with a loud crash, saying in a cold and hard voice: "Greetings... Empress Dowager!"

  He finally called out that one word "mother", he thought he would never be able to shout these two words at her.

  Lin let out a sigh of relief, this middle school student, she was really afraid he would make trouble.

  The three princes and the elder princess also knelt down, following the crown prince, saying: "Greetings to Her Majesty."

  Lin Xiao called out and set up seats for them on either side of herself.

  The eldest princess looked like she had been taught well by Hu Zhaorong, and although she was young, her etiquette was impeccable. She resembled Hu Zhaorong in appearance, but the nose and eyes still showed a hint of the emperor's features.

  She is about the same age as Yu Yu, with a pair of dimples on her cheeks that are exactly the same as Yu Yu's. When she smiles, her dimples sink deep into her cheeks, just like Yu Yu's, and she looks equally adorable. Whenever Lin Xi sees her, he can't help but think of his own sister Yu Yu, and feels a sense of affection towards her.

  The third prince, he looks 5% like the emperor, handsome and elegant. Because of that palace coup 7 or 8 years ago, Lin Yu had long known that he had leg problems and his intelligence was lower than average.

  But from the moment he came in, Lin Xiao saw that apart from his legs being slightly lame, his movements were always dignified and polite, not like someone with intellectual disability.

  Until he sat down, looked at the tea and pastries on the table, suddenly picked up the pastries and put them in a teacup, then grabbed the pastries soaked in tea with his hands and started eating, making a mess of tea and pastry crumbs all over the table.

  Cui Xianfei hastily walked out and knelt down to apologize, saying: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The Third Prince was rude in front of the palace, the Third Prince he..."

  Choi Hyun-bi closed her eyes, a few parts of pain on her face, and couldn't say the words "mental disability" no matter what.

  "It doesn't matter."

  Then he looked at the third prince, who seemed to be unaware of what had happened and was still eating his pastry with relish.

  Lin Dai gave a signal with her eyes to the palace maid beside her, and the maid came forward to help him tidy up the tea water and pastry fragments that had fallen on his clothes and the table.

  Lin Yan asked him: "Is it delicious to eat like this?"

  The third prince nodded and said "uh-huh".

  Lin Yatou said: "When I was a kid, I also liked to soak rice cakes in tea and eat them."

  The third prince smiled foolishly, very pleased that someone shared his hobby.

  He grabbed a handful of pastries from the tea bowl and handed them to Lin Xiao: "Mother, eat."

  Lin Yan picked up a piece of cake with chopsticks and said, "The empress dowager has some here too." She also put the cake into the tea water to soak for a while, then put it in her mouth and chewed gently.

  Lin Yan said: "You can use chopsticks like your mother."

  The third prince looked at the pastry in his hand and then at the chopsticks, raised his head and asked Lin Xiao with a puzzled expression: "Why?"

  Lin Yan said: "This way you won't need to wash your hands after eating."

  The third prince thought for a moment and felt that it was indeed very reasonable, put the pastry back in the tea bowl, and picked up the chopsticks on the table.

  The palace maid softly and quietly taught him how to use chopsticks to pick up pastries.

  Choi Hyun-bi looked at the Third Prince, her face flushing with shame and also feeling heartache.

  The crown prince looked at her with a gloomy expression and snorted disdainfully. She had adapted quickly, learning to be a stepmother in no time!

  Thinking so, but his heart didn't feel any better, instead he felt more and more painful, with red eyes, he turned away.