Bai Yunyu arrived at the Palace of White Swan, the Empress Dowager Palace. There was no warm welcome inside. Even the Empress Dowager's maids were too scared to greet Master Bai Yunyu, afraid that it might be offending the Empress Dowager.

Yunyu didn't take this at heart though, he knew that his mother-in-law didn't like him, so it was good not to dilly-dally with a fake greeting. He was also quite a straightforward man, so any fake banter wasn't really Yunyu's style, though maybe he didn't have a choice since he was now part of the palace harem.

He stood in front of Empress Dowager and then bowed his heart courteously, "Nucai is answering Taihou E'nie's call. Thank you for inviting me, E'nie, this is my honor. May I know what do you want me to do?"

[Note – Nucai = This servant. Taihou = Empress Dowager. E'nie = Mother.]

[Note – Taihou E'nie = Mother Empress Dowager.]

Empress Dowager didn't answer immediately. She looked at Bai Yunyu in disgust and said, "You're not my son. What qualification you have to call me E'nie? Do I give you permission? You are so bold and have no shame of claiming yourself as my son."

Bai Yunyu froze on the spot, and the maids around them also held their breath in fear of offending Empress Dowager.

It took a while until Bai Yunyu recovered, and he apologized, "Nucai has forgotten my origin, Her Majesty, Empress Dowager. Begging magnanimous Empress Dowager to forgive my mistake…"

"Hmph, you're a merchant son, so I suppose your parents really don't teach you how to humble yourself when meeting someone like me. I will forgive you now, but mind your status!" Empress Dowager scolded.

Bai Yunyu clenched his fist for a second before he took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, thanking magnanimous Empress Dowager."

"You can sit now."

Bai Yunyu wanted to sit on the chair beside Empress Dowager, but Empress Dowager interrupted him suddenly, "Who told you that you can sit beside me? You're just a lowly merchant's son! Go sit on the ground!"

Yunyu felt humiliated. He knew that he wasn't from a noble family, and he didn't even care about his ranks until he met this old woman. Her condescending gaze pierced through Bai Yunyu's heart, as he felt both scared and angry at the same time.

"I order you to come because I want to see what kind of man actually seduce my son. He is the most sought bachelor and the most handsome compared to the rest of the princes. He has so many women wishing to be his wife, even they would be happy to be his concubines."

"I still can't believe my son would bring someone like you to his dragon bed. Look at you, you're wearing a plain robe when visiting me? Are you telling me that you're just a humble servant, so you can't afford wearing better clothing?"

[Larva: Aahh! This old woman has a venomous tongue! I hate her! Master Bai uses such humble clothing because he doesn't want to offend you, you snake lady!]

[I'm pretty sure she will still yell at me even if I wear better clothes. She just doesn't like me, so she is trying to find any weakness, as long as she can slander and ridicule me.]

[Larva: So evil! Mother In-law is so evil!]

Yunyu was amused with Larva's complaint. Honestly, if Larva wasn't here, Yunyu would be in a terrible mood.

"Nucai doesn't know how to dress well in front of Your Majesty, Empress Dowager Aixi. Begging Empress Dowager to give Nucai a pointer…"

"Why would I waste my time teaching someone that doesn't deserve it?" Empress Dowager refused condescendingly.

Bai Yunyu already knew the answer, so he didn't ponder much about it. It was just banter to ensure that he knew how much Empress Dowager hated him just for being a Ger man.

Empress Dowager and Yunyu was in this strange but hostile silence until Yunyu decided there was nothing he could do here, but just when he wanted to get up, Empress Dowager suddenly said, "You're one of those strange, deformed men that could give birth, right?"

"… Yes, Your Majesty. Despite being a man, a Ger like me can also give birth to a child—"

"There is no way a man can give birth! Even if there is, that child is cursed! That child will bring a curse upon this prosperous nation my precious son lead! Oh, how could a child came from a man's belly!" Empress Dowager yelled at Bai Yunyu, and Yunyu just accepted it as he knew he couldn't afford to offend his mother-in-law.

"Can you believe it? You—!" Empress Dowager pointed at a maid. "Don't you think it's weird? He is a cut sleeve that can give birth! He is deformed!"

The maid gulped. Of course, she knew it was a natural occurrence because Ger had existed for so long. But she couldn't offend Empress Dowager. Thus she replied, "T—This servant think it's weird also…"

[Larva: You evil mother in law! This world has Ger for almost a hundred year already! It's almost like a natural occurrence! You're so stupid, stupid, ignorantttt!]

"Raise your head, you weird thing!" Empress Dowager yelled at Bai Yunyu.

Yunyu raised his head obediently to look at Empress Dowager. There was no fear in his eyes, only anger that he buried deep, afraid of offending Empress Dowager.

Empress Dowager wanted to ridicule Yunyu for his face, too, because she thought that Yunyu must've had an ugly face as well. Who would've expected that Yunyu was such a beauty? Every facial feature that he had was so perfect.

Especially that bright red cinnabar mole between his eyebrows. It sparked with life and vigour. Even Empress Dowager had to admit that Yunyu was so good looking for a man. His good looks rivalled her son, Huang Shu.

But this infuriated Empress Dowager even more. She gritted her teeth and then spat on Yunyu's face, right in his red cinnabar mole.

"You deformed thing disgust me! Leave my Palace now!"