The Queen Mother's decree was like a bolt from the blue, shocking everyone in the hall.

"Did I hear you correctly? The Queen Mother actually recognized her as her step-granddaughter?"

"Mrs. Gaoming? Second grade? Her husband, Shao Ziqing, has not been given an official title. Isn't this against the rules?"

"If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I would never have believed that she, Jiang Zuiyao, had such success."

"Who says it's not the case? She was unruly before she got married. Who would have thought that she could become the Queen Mother's new favorite."

"Diligent and submissive? Good-natured? Oh, in the Queen Mother's decree, which one describes her? Still virtuous, it really tarnishes this good word."

"..."

Discussions in the main hall continued one after another. The Queen Mother let everyone talk at first. As the discussion became louder and louder, the Queen Mother cleared her throat and asked coldly: "What? Are you dissatisfied with the Ai family's decree?"

Today is the Tianshou Festival, a festival of the Queen Mother. Who dares to offend the Queen Mother today? The discussion stopped abruptly and the hall immediately fell silent.

The Queen Mother turned her cold eyes and looked directly at the people in her highness. Her powerful aura came straight down and she said coldly: "Do you think this reward from the Ai family is too heavy? Huh, the epidemic has been going on in Beihe for more than half a year, and there have been many casualties.

Countless, seeing that the whole of Beihe is about to fall, it was Yaoer who put down the epidemic chaos in Beihe, what can you say to be dissatisfied?"

This is quite reasonable. Everyone present knows that the Beihe epidemic was once a serious concern for the imperial court, and the situation was getting out of hand. Jiang Zuiyao's ability to develop an antidote was indeed her first achievement.

The Queen Mother's voice became clearer and clearer, and she said firmly: "Do you know how much Yao'er suffered in order to develop this antidote? If you have the ability to quell the epidemic, the Ai family will give you such a generous reward! At that time, there was an epidemic in Beihe.

Where were you during the chaos? Now there is a jealous and dissatisfied Hong Yao'er, and you deserve it too!"

Everyone saw that the Queen Mother was going to be angry, and no one dared to make a mistake, so everyone fell silent.

Then, the Queen Mother spoke even more domineeringly: "Today, the Ai family will tell you that no matter how much you dislike Yao'er, the Ai family just likes her and wants to recognize her as their granddaughter. No one can stop her! You should also listen to the Ai family.

It’s clear that anyone who dares to bully Yao’er in the future is going against the Ai family! The Ai family will not tolerate it!”

Ouch, these words carry a lot of weight!

Everyone looked at Jiang Zuiyao in confusion. They wondered what ability this originally inconspicuous woman had to win the favor of the Queen Mother, and why she could be so unswervingly fond of her. Why?

At this time, a concubine in the banquet whispered to another concubine beside her: "Who is this Jiang Zuiyao?"

Another concubine replied: "She has no background. She is the legitimate daughter of the Minister of the Ministry of Finance. She was a notorious woman in the past."

"I've heard a little bit about this. I heard that no one in Kyoto was willing to marry her at that time. The Minister of Household Affairs found several matchmakers but they refused to match her. It was because she was having an affair with another man."

"There's more than one. She was able to enter the Shao family because she and Shao Ziqing were secretly on the same page."

"Sister, please don't mention this matter in the future. Didn't you hear what the Queen Mother said?"

"I heard that the Queen Mother's decree mentioned Jiang Zuiyao, the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Household Affairs, but did not mention the Shao family at all."

"The Queen Mother issued an order to punish the Shao family a while ago, wasn't it just because Jiang Zuiyao had been wronged?"

"I heard about this, but I didn't know the inside story. What's wrong with me?"

Such whispers could not escape the eyes of the Queen Mother after all. The Queen Mother asked coldly: "What are you two whispering about?"

The two concubines were slightly flustered, and one of them said wittily: "I am really happy for the Queen Mother. No one has made the Queen Mother so happy since I entered the palace. Jiang Zuiyao is really lucky, and I am naturally envious of her."

Another concubine hurriedly echoed: "Yes, yes, I really envy Jiang Zuiyao. After all, she is blessed."

It doesn't matter whether this statement is true or false. What's important is that he was so obedient to the Queen Mother's wishes that the Queen Mother didn't pursue it.

The queen was still a little dazed when she looked at the people in the palace. She glanced at the emperor and winked. The emperor immediately understood and said: "Since the queen likes it, she naturally has to follow her wishes. Jiang Zuiyao, why don't you accept the order to express your gratitude?"

"

At this moment, Jiang Zuiyao had been kneeling there for a long time. She had never expected such a decree.

Everyone thought that Jiang Zuiyao was full of joy, but she was the only one who knew that the Queen Mother said these words in front of so many people in order to tie her up tightly and let her know clearly that her honor and disgrace were all under her control.

In the hands of the Queen Mother.

Given the current situation, the Queen Mother risked everyone's discussion to issue this decree. If Jiang Zuiyao did not accept it, she did not know how to commend her, so she could only kowtow and thank the Queen Mother and said: "My wife, I thank the Queen Mother for her kindness. The Queen Mother is a thousand years old."

The Queen Mother smiled happily, moved her body, and made room for the large phoenix chair. She raised her hand and patted the empty seat, and said with a smile: "Yao'er, come, sit next to Aijia."

Jiang Zuiyao had no choice but to obey the order. She stood up and went up the steps, walked to the Queen Mother and sat down next to her.

Roughly counting, there were more than a hundred people sitting and standing in the main hall, and more than a hundred pairs of eyes looked directly at the Queen Mother and Jiang Zuiyao. They had never seen the Queen Mother doting on any official woman so much, let alone

Jiang Zuiyao was the first woman to sit next to him at the banquet.

The banquet was still going on as usual. When it was coming to an end, the emperor suddenly said: "Empress Xi, my filial piety, has specially prepared a generous gift for you. Do you want to see it?"

Jiang Zuiyao became very energetic after hearing this. She thought that Jiang Ningyao was really favored and could actually ask the emperor to speak for her.

Since it was the emperor who spoke, the Queen Mother naturally wanted to show her kindness and said: "Okay, let's see how filial Xibi is."

The emperor said a few words to the eunuch beside him. The eunuch walked down the steps and looked for Jiang Ningyao. He didn't know what he said in front of her. Jiang Ningyao was immediately overjoyed.

It happened that at this time, the singing and dancing in the main hall faded, Jiang Ningyao stood up slowly, holding up her heavy pregnant belly, and saluted the Queen Mother: "To express my gratitude to the Queen Mother, in order to congratulate you on your sixtieth birthday, I have carefully prepared a gift. I hope you will."

The Queen Mother likes it."

The Queen Mother seemed a little nonchalant. She was doing everything to give the Emperor some face. She nodded and said perfunctorily: "Okay."

Jiang Ningyao also saw that the Queen Mother didn't care, but she was not discouraged and confidently let Liu Qing step forward.

Liuqing came forward with a palace maid, holding a scroll in her hand. She held the top of the scroll, and the palace maid carefully opened the scroll. Then, a picture of peonies in bloom appeared on the scroll.

There is nothing surprising about this. People sitting a little far away thought it was a painting.

But people sitting close could see it clearly and immediately exclaimed: "This embroidery is really beautiful. How is it embedded in the painting?"
Chapter completed!