Empress Dowager got the news from one servant about her son who was going to hold an imperial banquet, inviting all nobles from across the land to attend.

Empress Dowager smiled and sipped her tea, "You heard that, Xi Yue?" She asked the woman who was sitting at the opposite of the table.

They were in the Empress Dowager's White Swan palace, drinking tea together. Xi Yue came today after Empress Dowager Aixi suddenly invited her to come to the imperial palace.

"Thank you so much for inviting me, Your Majesty. It is my honor," Xi Yue replied formally and gently.

Empress Dowager smiled at Xi Yue. This young lady was definitely the type of daughter-in-law she wanted. Beautiful, well educated, well mannered, from an influential family, and most importantly… she was a real woman.

Unlike that deformed thing.

"Don't be too formal with Aijia. Just call me E'nie. I've treated you like a daughter, your family, and I have been acquainted for a long time."

[Note — Aijia: this sorrowful house (since the Emperor died] or this sorrowful widow. E'nie: Mother.]

"E'nie…" Xi Que said awkwardly. She wasn't comfortable getting so much favor from Empress Dowager, especially since Huang Shu was now married.

"Why are you so shy? You're my son's study partner back then, right?" Empress Dowager asked. Although, she already knew about it. Because she was the one who appointed Xi Yue as Huang Shu's study partner when he was young.

"Yes, E'nie."

"Then you must've cultivated some feelings for my son over time, right?" Empress Dowager asked again with a smile on her face. "You like my son, don't you?"

Xi Yue's cheeks had a tint of pink before it turned peach pink due to her thin and milky skin. "E'nie, I don't have any feeling for—"

"Don't try to hide it, my child. You deserve it. You definitely deserve it more than that deformed thing," Empress Dowager snippet.

"Deformed thing?"

"That thing, neither woman nor man. My son has been bewitched until he fell in love with that thing and then married him! How could I accept a baby from a man's belly? It's disgusting! Even worse, he even wants to claim the Empress throne and refuses if my son would pick any concubine! He wants the Emperor's love all for himself!" Empress Dowager yelled, full of spite.

Xi Yue was surprised by Empress Dowager's anger. It made Xi Yue realized how hostile the Empress Dowager to Huang Shu's wife and soon-to-be Empress, Bai Yunyu.

Xi Yue had nothing against Bai Yunyu. She got some rumors that Yunyu was very popular in the city, even though he was just a merchant son.

Though, Xi Yue was still grieving over Huang Shu's marriage with Bai Yunyu.

Because she had been in love with Seventh Prince/Huang Shu since the first day they became a study partner. He was handsome, gallant, and was charismatic. They were study partners for almost two years before Huang Shu took the route of the military.

Although it was unfortunate that she had to compete with a Ger man, she still wanted to be with Huang Shu, even if it meant that she had to be the second or third. But she didn't expect that Huang Shu's mother hated Bai Yunyu for being a Ger man.

…

She had nothing against Bai Yunyu, 'But if I can get Huang Shu all for myself then…'

Xi Yue started forming a plan in her head, but she acted all kind and gentle in front of Empress Dowager, "E'nie, but Huang Shu is in love with Bai Yunyu, right?"

"Hmph! Love is fickle! My husband, the late Emperor, said that he loved me. But he still brought hundreds of concubines before and after me! Huang Shu is just blinded right now, but as long as he knows the wrong in his way, then he will definitely ditch that deformed thing!" Empress Dowager's venomous mouth kept on spouting curses on Bai Yunyu. Then she stared at Xi Yue and said, "He deserves a good wife, a real one, like you, Xi Yue."

"M—Me?!" Xi Yue shook her head gently. "But Huang Shu already chose his wife, E'nie. Even if I love Huang Shu, I will bury this feeling, I just wished the best for him, and I will support him in his reign."

Empress Dowager was impressed by Xi Yue's answer, "Xi Yue, you're so magnanimous, gentle, and loving. You're beautiful and have a good family background as well. Unlike that disgusting thing."

"That's why I would want you to be my daughter-in-law instead and become Huang Shu's wife and Empress," Empress Dowager Aixi uttered boldly.

Xi Yue closed her mouth dramatically, acting as if she wasn't willing, "H—How could that be?! P—Pardon me, E'nie, but Huang Shu is in love with someone else. What would I do if he doesn't like me at all? Besides, E'nie said that Yunyu wants Huang Shu all for himself…"

"I know Bai Yunyu sounds very selfish and unmannered because Huang Shu is an Emperor. He should share his love for everyone," Xi Yue said.

"I know that you're a sensible girl," Empress Dowager praised Xi Yue. "I told that deformed thing that Huang Shu should have his harem filled with many women, but he dared to stand up against me!"

"H—How terrible… Bai Yunyu looks so kind and bright outside, who would've expected him to be poisonous and greedy inside…" Xi Yue added gas to the fire.

"Hmph! That thing becomes the Empress, then this country will be doomed!" Empress Dowager cursed at Bai Yunyu. Then she looked at Xi Yue again. "Don't worry about my son. Just dress your best during the Empress banquet, and I will take care of the rest!" Empress Dowager exclaimed proudly.

Meanwhile, Xi Yue only smiled thin with a tint of blush on her cheek. She was still in love with Huang Shu, indeed. And she even waited for him to return from the military education and the war at the border.

Who would've expected that Huang Shu married a Ger man instead of her?

But Xi Yue knew that Huang Shu was a filial son to his mother, so a Ger man like Bai Yunyu wasn't really a problem for her.

'Well, I do deserve Huang Shu better. That's just a simple fact.'