Want to win the palace fight? Better to be crazy than to be idiotic!

Chapter 142 Plainness is the truth

After everything was settled, Su Feiran's hunger was gone. Although her stomach protested loudly, she didn't feel hungry.

She walked back to the east attic with a light step. Xunyin had already fallen asleep, but Yuxiao was still awake, sitting at the desk reading poetry and books by candlelight, quietly waiting for Su Feiran to return.

After seeing Su Feiran, Yu Xiao quickly put down the book and went to meet him. Su Feiran looked very bad, and Yu Xiao was startled and cried out, "Has the master not had dinner yet?"

What's wrong with my master... low blood sugar! He will die if he doesn't eat!

Su Feiran nodded, and with the help of Yu Xiao, he barely walked to the couch, then sat down and fell onto the couch.

Seeing this, Yuxiao sighed. She knew without a doubt that her master must have done this in order not to steal the show, and that was why he didn't sit at the table.

"I'll go to the kitchenette to warm up some food. Please wait a moment, Master."

Yuxiao put on her coat and hurried out.

Su Feiran lay on the couch and weakly raised a finger to the sky: "I want to eat pizza..."

After a while, Yuxiao came back with a white porcelain bowl.

Su Feiran took a quick look and saw no sign of pizza. He sighed pitifully and began to feel sorry for himself.

"I saw that the other ingredients were not fresh, but the dried jujube and white fungus were good, so I made some red jujube and white fungus soup."

Yuxiao gently placed the white porcelain bowl on the desk, then helped Su Feiran to the desk and watched her drink it sip by sip with concern.

"It's sweet and has a soft taste." After Su Feiran finished drinking it, he smiled and said, "Yuxiao, thank you."

Yu Xiao shook her head and said, "These are what a servant should do for the master."

"It's so late, you should go to bed." Su Feiran yawned, "I'm going to bed after I wash up, so you don't need to serve me. Just turn off the lights for me."

"Yes." Yu Xiao replied, and then she seemed to remember something and asked casually, "Master, are you preparing for the poetry competition?"

Su Feiran froze as he stood up, the relaxed smile on his face frozen.

She forgot about it!

"Yuxiao, have you ever learned poetry?" Su Feiran asked.

"I've only learned a little." Yu Xiao didn't know what the master meant by the question, so she answered honestly, "When I was with Empress Xian, I did learn a little from her. Does the master want me to teach you a little?"

Su Feiran shook his head: "How can I catch up with the tutoring now? Tomorrow during the poetry competition, you can stand next to me and remind me when I get stuck."

Yu Xiao was speechless for a while. "The sisters who participated in the poetry competition all had bright eyes, not to mention His Majesty and the Queen Mother. Let's not talk about how I, with my mediocre skills, can help you. Even if I am willing to help, I won't be able to find an opportunity under the watchful eyes of everyone."

"Just pass me a note secretly!" Su Feiran racked his brains to think, "Or, I can use the excuse of going to the bathroom, and then we can find a dark corner--"

"Master, please don't have any evil thoughts," Yu Xiao rejected Su Feiran's cheating proposal, "The crime of deceiving the king is much more serious than losing face."

"Ugh......"

Su Feiran sighed and watched Yu Xiao leave with a disheartened look on her face. After a quick wash, she lay down on the bed.

As soon as she put her head on the soft pillow, she was immediately overwhelmed by an intense sleepiness and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up again, it was already noon the next day.

The poetry competition started at 3 p.m. According to etiquette, Su Feiran should go to the main hall before that to congratulate Empress Xian on her birthday.

Yuxiao helped Su Feiran dress up as usual, while Xunyin was still choosing her clothes. The latter was hesitant at the moment, and Yuxiao noticed the struggle in her expression, so she took the opportunity to ask while she was putting on makeup: "What's wrong?"

Xunyin replied uneasily: "Aunt Yuliu just came over and said that Empress Xian wants to wear the goose yellow dress given by His Majesty today."

"So what?" Yu Xiao was puzzled.

"I've seen that long skirt. Although the skirt is light yellow in color, the color is not strong, and the embroidery on the skirt is also light white and lotus flowers in mauve color." Xunyin said, "The skirt is elegant and simple, which can highlight the natural beauty of Empress Xian, and it is naturally worthy of Empress Xian. But if others are not careful, the color of the dress will overshadow Empress Xian, and I am afraid that it will be suspected of being the host."

I didn't expect that choosing clothes today would be such a difficult task. Lin Xiuqing wore simple and elegant clothes, and people in Zichen Palace didn't want to show off, so they couldn't wear similar colors, nor bright colors. No wonder Xun Yin was hesitant.

"Just pick a dark purple one, with a plain pattern." In the end, Su Feiran had to make the final decision. "If you want the yellow to stand out, I can just wear a dark color. Xunyin, go ask the other two sisters in Zichen Palace what their plans are."

"Yes." Xun Yin obeyed Su Feiran's order.

Although Su Feiran chose dark clothes, Yuxiao did not put on bright makeup to suppress the old-fashioned look of the colors. Su Feiran specifically told her to lighten her makeup, otherwise she would accidentally steal the limelight from Lin Xiuqing.

Su Feiran was ready, and Xunyin came back after asking around. She reported, "Chun Cairen and Xie Cainv are in sync with the master and both chose clothes of similar colors."

"Okay." Su Feiran felt relieved. It seemed that everyone had the same idea.

It was getting late, so Su Feiran took the gifts and went to the main hall with Xunyin and Yuxiao to congratulate Lin Xiuqing first.

Su Feiran walked in front, followed by Yu Xiao and Xun Yin. Xun Yin was holding a rectangular wooden box in her hand. The three of them came to the door of the main hall together.

What was puzzling was that the main hall door was tightly closed. The Purple Palace was completely silent, and Yu Liu had been waiting outside the palace for a long time, not allowing anyone to enter without permission.

Seeing Su Feiran coming, Yu Liu's eyes showed a hint of hostility. She was still thinking about how Su Feiran disrupted Lin Xiuqing and the emperor's dinner last night.

Unable to enter the main hall, Su Feiran had to wait outside with two maids. After a while, Ma Shuya and Xie Zhiqi also arrived with gifts, and they were also puzzled by Yu Liu's behavior of guarding the door.

"Has Empress Xian not finished dressing yet?"

After Ma Shuya asked this question, she felt it was ridiculous.

Empress Xian always had a regular schedule, getting up early in the morning, and dressing up was her daily routine. She had done it every day for ten years, without a single mistake. And when she was dressing up, she would be served by her personal maid Yu Liu, and no one else could interfere.

Yu Liu was always steady and decent, but at this moment, he did not let anyone in, nor did he explain. After waiting for a long time, Yu Liu did not move, so they had no choice but to wait in boredom in the courtyard, occasionally chatting about trivial matters in the palace.

Just as the three of them were waiting, they suddenly heard a soft sound of footsteps behind them.

All three of them turned around and saw an unexpected guest.

"I've met a few sisters."

Wang Qian came slowly with Xiuzhao, smiling and behaving gracefully, and bowed slightly to the three people who looked surprised.