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Suddenly, someone opened the gate of the house on the right side and came out. When the other party saw Empress Dowager Zhuang, her eyes lit up, "Sister Huo! I haven't seen you for a few days! Are you back from visiting your relatives?! What took you so long to return?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at her in a daze.
Aunt Liu walked forward and took her hand, "You came at the right time! We need one more person!"
"Presumptuous!" Eunuch Qin gritted his teeth.
Only then did Aunt Liu notice Eunuch Qin, "Ey? Who is this? Is he your nephew from your maiden family?"
Eunuch Qin almost fell to his knees!
He was just a mere servant. How could he be related to the Empress Dowager? Did he no longer want his life?
"Coachman." Empress Dowager Zhuang said.
"Strangely handsome!" Aunt Liu's eyes lingered on Eunuch Qin's body.
Eunuch Qin clamped his legs together: This one is an eunuch!
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at the hand holding her wrist. In the imperial palace, not even the Emperor dared to touch the hem of her clothes.
Aunt Liu didn't notice anything strange with Empress Dowager Zhuang’s behavior, mainly because she used to have the appearance of someone not to be trifled with, and everyone was already accustomed to it. They knew that she was cold on the outside but warm on the inside!
"Hey! Sister Zhao! Sister Huo is back!"
"Sister Huo is back?" When Aunt Zhao came out of their house and really saw Empress Dowager Zhuang, she called into the house, "Liang Ge’er, quick, call your mother. Old Lady Huo is back!"
"Okay!"
A child called Liang Ge’er quickly ran out of the Zhao Family’s courtyard and returned to his own home, "Mother! Mother! Old Lady Huo is back!"
For a moment, the entire Bishui Alley was alerted.
The days without the elderly woman playing cards with them were as lonely and cold as the winter!
A large group of people gathered around Empress Dowager Zhuang, asking about why she had been gone for so long. They told her how several children in her family were very worried, and that they often saw the little guy looking outside the gate. Whenever they asked him if he missed his Grandaunt, he would answer no, but tears were rolling in his eyes. His aggrieved little appearance really made them feel very distressed.
The little guy?
Empress Dowager Zhuang pondered.
Was it that little bald head?
Speak of the devil and the devil would come. Little Jing Kong happened to open the gate and look outside again at this time.
He stuck his little head out and looked innocent with his big watery eyes.
He still had no idea what was going on in the alley. Why was everyone outside?
Then he saw a person walk out of the crowd.
It was his Grandaunt.
Little Jing Kong's eyes lit up and he was about to call out ‘Grandaunt’, but it was unknown what came to his mind as he suddenly pursed his lips and ran back into the house!
Aunt Zhao hurriedly said, "Okay, okay. Go and coax him first. I'll invite you to play cards another day."
Empress Dowager Zhuang was practically pushed to the doorstep by the crowd.
She was born to be a cut above others. At the age of sixteen, she entered the palace as the Empress, and since then, she was surrounded and admired by tens of thousands of people wherever she went. However, what they surrounded and admired were the noble-born daughter of the Zhuang family, the Virtuous Empress who was the mother of the world, and the Empress Dowager with the power to rule the imperial court. These were her many identities, but they were not the real her.
Empress Dowager Zhuang entered the courtyard.
A familiar atmosphere came over her.
She almost immediately concluded that she had lived here before.
The bamboo, the vegetable field, and the small fish pond in the front yard, the Jujube tree, the dog house, and the chicken coop in the backyard overlapped with the scene that had been lingering in her mind.
"Woof!"
Little Eight lunged at her with joy!
Eunuch Qin's face changed dramatically and he spread his arms in front of her, saying, "Watch out!”
Little Eight threw him a blank stare and pounced on the elderly woman's feet, bouncing around with joy.
Soon, the Little Falcon also flew down from the roof.
"Ahhh!" Eunuch Qin was scared half to death. That was a falcon ah!
The Little Falcon fluttered its wings and landed on Empress Dowager Zhuang's shoulder.
"Who’s here?" Yao shi came out of her room and saw Empress Dowager Zhuang, who was dressed the same as the day she left home. Yao shi's voice stopped abruptly.
She was pregnant, this was Empress Dowager Zhuang's first reaction.
Not because she saw it, but she simply knew for some reason.
"You, you’ve returned?" Yao shi didn’t know how to address her, nor did she have any idea why she had come back here. Yao shi suddenly felt a bit nervous and apprehensive.
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at a room down the corridor.
Yao shi looked back and quickly said, "Xiaoshun and Yan'er have gone to take their craftsmanship lessons. They haven’t returned yet."
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at the room across from her.
Yao shi said, "I’ve been tidying your room all the time."
Her room?
Empress Dowager Zhuang calmly walked over.
Eunuch Qin quickly walked ahead and opened the door for her.
It was dark and there were no lamps in the room, but it was a nice room with a north-south exposure. It could be seen that it was a pretty good room, except it was a bit too small. It couldn’t even be compared to the large phoenix bed in Renshou Palace.
Eunuch Qin's heart ached. Had the Empress Dowager really been living in this kind of nook during this period of time?
Contrary to him, Empress Dowager Zhuang did not dislike this place at all. Her fingertips brushed over the painted furniture and a deep sense of familiarity seeped into her fingertips and spread throughout her limbs.
Little Jing Kong locked himself in his room, but after waiting for a long time, he didn’t see his Grandaunt come to coax him. Worried that his grandaunt might have left again, he hurriedly opened a small crack on the door of the west room and stuck his little head out to look around.
As a result, he met Empress Dowager Zhuang's gaze.
Little Jing Kong suddenly pulled his little head back and closed the door with a grunt!
Empress Dowager Zhuang went to the little guy's room.
The little guy, with his back to her, pressed himself against a corner by a closet.
"Come out." Empress Dowager Zhuang said.
"I'm not coming out!" Little Jing Kong said angrily, and then sneaked a glance at her, "I’ll come out if you, you feed me!"
As soon as he acted spoiled, he couldn’t stop such words from coming out of his mouth.
A quarter of an hour later, Empress Dowager Zhuang and the little guy were sitting in the courtyard.
There was a bowl of hot millet porridge on the small wooden table in front of them.
"Eat it yourself." Empress Dowager Zhuang said.
Little Jing Kong’s small mouth shriveled up. He looked up at her and cried on top of his lungs, "Wah—"
Empress Dowager Zhuang’s body trembled. She immediately grabbed a spoonful of millet porridge and stuffed it into the little guy's mouth!
At this moment, Old Chief and Xiao Liulang returned from the Imperial Academy and the Hanlin Academy respectively.
"You don't have to pay any attention to those bunch from the Zhuang Family. I'll think of a way to deal with them later…"
Old Chief and Xiao Liulang walked through the main hall. Old Chief had yet to finish his words when he saw the elderly woman sitting on a small bench and feeding Little Jing Kong.
Why was it the elderly woman and not Empress Dowager Zhuang? Because she was wearing the elderly woman’s clothes.
Old Chief had just received his official's salary today. His first reaction was to pinch the money bag and exclaim, "I’m not hiding any money!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang cast him a dark look.
The next second, Old Chief instantly fell to his knees.
Little Jing Kong smacked his lips, "Granduncle, why did you suddenly kneel down?"
Granduncle? Empress Dowager Zhuang's expression turned cold!
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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