Chapter 6

The Emperor could only wave his hand. "Yatou, go see the Empress Dowager then. Come with your grandfather to my royal study afterwards."

"Chennu obeys." Zi You bowed and retreated elegantly. The hall full of civil and military officials secretly praised, 'She's worthy of being a descendant from a military family. She has an awe-inspiring presence.'

Even that censor who disagreed with her was regretful. He should not have listened to that old rascal Duke Yingguo's trickery.

"That silly immature and inexperienced little yatou dares to form some whatever female medical team and follow men onto the battlefield. Does she think there is no one alive in our Great Yan? Censor Sui, the Emperor will definitely be pleased if you accuse her of misconduct. The Censorship Institution's Left and Right Imperial Censors are old. And Left Censor Lu especially have lost the Emperor's trust. As long as you work hard, the Censorship Institution's position will be yours."

What "position will be yours?" He was afraid he wouldn't even keep his position as an imperial censor of the Censorship Institution.

Zi You did not know that she had already attracted the civil and military officials and the Emperor's attention in throne room. She very calmly arrived at the Empress Dowager's Jingyang Palace.

As soon as she walked in, she saw Shangguan LingRan leaning on the Empress Dowager.

That scoundrel made faces at her and silently scolded, "Stupid!"

Zi You was too lazy to reply and didn't even look at him. She walked with dignity and elegantly knelt in greeting. "Chennu Mu Zi You pays respects to Empress Dowager. Wishing Empress Dowager lives thousands of years! Chennu pays respects to Shizi Ye. Wishing Shizi Ye good fortune!"

The Empress Dowager looked lovingly at Shangguan LingRan. "This is the guniang you said who could attract a hundred birds and butterflies?"

"This is the idiot." Shangguan LingRan still used that sloppy tone. He looked devilishly at Zi You, smiling a smile that could confuse all living beings and cause the downfall of a country.

Jingyang Palace's palace maids could only drool over him.

The Empress Dowager lovingly patted her grandchild. She lightly said, "Hey, don't scold people like that."

She turned her head to smile at Zi You. "Get up, yatou. Come forwards. Let Aijia [literally: "this mourning one," how she refers to herself] take a good look at you."

"Imperial grandmother, she's too ugly. Don't let her scare you." Shangguan LingRan's vicious tongue was merciless.

The Empress Dowager loved this grandson, so she wouldn't do anything to him. She could only say sweetly to Zi You, "Don't be mad at Shizi, yatou. He just told Aijia that a fairy-like person came to the Palace today. Her singing and zither-playing can attract one hundred chirping birds. Her drawing and poem-writing can attract dancing butterflies. So, his words now are false. Come forwards and let Aijia take a good look."

"Yes." Zi You walked forwards and looked once at Shangguan LingRan. That scoundrel had a suspicious flush on his face. He grabbed grapes and threw them into his mouth.

Zi You was about to kneel in front of the Empress Dowager, but Shangguan LingRan huffily scolded, "Do you have a soft bone disease? Kneeling for everything? Imperial grandmother has so many chairs. You don't know how to sit? I said you are stupid, but you don't want to hear it. You really are stupid!"

Zi You finally understood. This scoundrel didn't have a bad heart. He just had a vicious tongue. He would be uncomfortable if he didn't insult people.

So, she no longer paid him any attention. She let the Empress Dowager carefully scrutinize her from top to bottom and left to right.

"Aiyo! How can someone be so beautiful? No wonder LingRan said you were a fairy," the Empress Dowager smiled and praised.

Shangguan LingRan was embarrassed. He immediately jumped up and shouted, "Imperial grandmother is lying. When did grandson say that? Grandson clearly said that a stupid yatou impersonating a fairy came into the Palace today."

Hearing these words, Zi You's mood improved for some reason. She lightly smiled as she replied, "Yes, Chennu's appearance is vulgar. Chennu cannot compare to the Shizi whose beauty can captivate birds and beasts, exceeds the natural world, and is capable of causing the downfall of a country."* [All idioms to describe devastatingly beautiful females]"Darned yatou, you dare to insult Ye as a woman?" Shangguan LingRan roared, but his eyes held a smile.He hated people saying he was better-looking than women the most. Mu Zi You not only said it, but she said it in front of imperial grandmother and so many palace maids.But he was actually not angry. Instead, he was very happy. What was this?

It must be this darned yatou! She casted a spell on him. Let's see how he would take care of her in the future when they meet. Shangguan LingRan bared his teeth and made all sorts of angry faces. But the Empress Dowager saw that upward tilt of his lips. How could she not understand?The Empress Dowager looked at this and looked at that. Her heart couldn't help but be very happy. Her own grandson had eyes on the top of his head. He didn't put any guniang in his eyes. It seemed that he liked this Mu Zi You.The only regret was that the guniang is too young. She was only twelve years old this year. Her grandson had to wait three years for her to reach marriageable age. Three years later, her grandson would be nineteen years old. Wouldn't that be too old?The Empress Dowager hesitated and didn't immediately bestow a marriage. As a result, nothing happened. What happened afterwards would exceed everyone's expectations.Also, this could be blamed that Shangguan LingRan wanted to keep his pride. He refused to admit that he liked a twelve-year-old little girl, so he did not insist that his imperial grandmother bestow a marriage. This scoundrel would bang his head in deep regret later on. This would happen in the future. Let's not talk about it now.