"Lord Liu is here."

Everyone shouted out loudly. Su Zhi looked towards the door and saw a smiling Liu Yuan walk out.

"Everyone, thank you for coming to support us. Quickly, come in."

He went down the stairs, chatted and laughed with the passing customers, asked about the warm weather, and unconsciously moved in the direction of Su Zhi. Only when he was almost done did he withdraw from the crowd and walk to the side.

"Lady Su, you've come. You didn't manage to receive me, please forgive me."

Su Zhi smiled and shook her head. "Of course. Lord Liu is too polite."

"Today you are an esteemed guest. Father has specially instructed you that you must not be negligent."

He had personally welcomed Su Zhi into the Palace. Such honor caused all the guests around to raise their eyebrows, guessing at the relationship between the two of them.

Being stared at by everyone, Su Zhi felt particularly uncomfortable, but she could not say much. She could only follow them silently.

Liu Yuan didn't seem surprised at all. He led her to the main hall and greeted the people around them, "How have you been, Lord Yang?"

"I am indebted to Lord Zai Fu for his concern. Everything is fine."

Su Zhi slowed down her steps and followed behind him. She didn't even glance at him, deliberately ignoring the looks of the passersby. Liu Yu'an seemed to have noticed her distress and affectionately called for a servant girl to bring her. He then busied himself with greeting the others.

Without Liu Yuan in front of her, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and followed the maidservant.

Passing by on the narrow gravel road, he accidentally bumped into the woman who was walking towards him.

She quickly lowered her head and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry for disturbing Madam."

The woman Su Zhi had met was dressed in a purple-colored palace dress. She looked extremely charming and her demeanor was elegant. Although she was a little disturbed, she didn't look unhappy. When she clearly saw Su Zhi's face, she said in surprise, "This lady looks familiar, I think I've seen her somewhere before."

"Then you must have been here at Flower Mansion before, as a guest of a common woman."

The purple-dressed woman suddenly said: "Oh, I know where you're talking about. Although I've never been there, I've used your things." The most popular cosmetic powder nowadays is from your place, you are very capable. "

Su Zhi looked bashful as she continued, "Then, Madam, please go over personally. This humble woman will take care of Madam for a while."

The purple-clothed woman nodded. After exchanging a smile with her, she turned around and left.

The unintentional interlude did not make Su Zhi notice anything amiss, nor did she forget where the woman seemed to have seen that line just now.

The maidservant brought Su Zhi to the banquet in the Flower Hall. Since the two of them were seated separately, Su Zhi did not meet Xiao Qian along the way. Naturally, she did not need to worry about running into that god of pests.

"Xiaosu, you're finally here."

From afar, they could see that Auntie Liu was already waiting in front of the yard for her to come in.

Su Zhi greeted him with a face full of smiles, "Long time no see, Auntie Liu."

Two little boys of similar appearance were waiting for her as well.

One on the left and one on the right, they stood beside Auntie Liu like two New Year's dolls.

"I already heard from my nephew that you were the one who saved my old brother, so I guessed that you would definitely come to today's banquet. I was afraid that you weren't familiar with people, so I waited here."

Su Zhi squatted down and took out the candy in her arms to tease the two children. The two round kids were teasing her until they were giggling and had a pair of cute dimples on their round white cheeks.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Lady Liu. I'm afraid I don't know anyone, and I don't know what to do."

Auntie Liu took her hand and patted it. "Come, come. Sit down and talk." It's been a long time since we've seen each other. Tell me, how are Aunt Bai and the others? "

"It's all good. Everyone often misses you. If you're free, you can go back and take a look."

As the two chatted, two children tore open the candy wrapped in kraft paper. They picked up a candy and were about to put it into their mouths when a young wet nurse rushed over and slapped away the candy in the child's hands.

"Big brother and second brother, don't eat. Just take it as something to look at. What are you eating that you don't understand?"

Hearing that, Su Zhi looked annoyed. Aunt Liu also became angry, "You're just spouting nonsense. Don't you know where Mistress Su comes from? How dare you neglect the savior of our old master's life?"

The wet nurse didn't buy it, and kicked the candy off into the distance with a sniff. "The old mistress said that the two young masters' identities were too precious, so you can't eat random things. "Besides, the child is still young and eats candy and bad teeth. What's there to be worried about?"

Aunt Liu was about to lose her temper, but Su Zhi quickly held her down and explained, "I made that candy myself. I added some juice and a little sugar to it with cow colostrum. I have my own children to eat, and they won't break their teeth. "

The wet nurse snorted and left without a word with the two children.

Auntie Liu said with a guilty conscience, "Little Su, don't mind her. This wet nurse is such a naughty person. A small person coming out for his own milk and water, seems like he really thinks of himself as a master. " She whispered into Su Zhi's ear, "This blind girl is delusional in trying to seduce my nephew. It's a pity that no one in the Liu Family thinks highly of her."

Before she could say anything, Aunt Liu said, "My nephew is also on the side this year. Previously, when I loved my wife and couldn't bear to take in a concubine, the child was finally reborn, but my nephew's wife is gone. "It's been three or four years, and you still haven't gotten married yet. Even if you have two concubines, you still wouldn't go that far."

"That means that Lord Liu is righteous and loyal. Ordinary people have a lot of old and new love. As the saying goes, promoting an official to wealth and losing a wife is a great thing in life. Which man doesn't have a house full of women?

Speaking of this matter, Su Zhi rather admired Liu Yuan. With his status, he couldn't find anything, but on account of his wife and children, he refused to continue. This kind of insistence was rare among men.

"Yesterday, my sister-in-law even sighed and said that she wanted to find a good girl for him. However, there were so many girls that had yet to leave the pavilion in the capital, not a single one of them were worthy of her attention."

Auntie Liu could not help but shake her head. When she thought of Liu Yuan's dead wife, she couldn't wrap her head around it either.

Logically speaking, her daughter-in-law looked ordinary, but her appearance wasn't set. It was just that she was sensible and considerate, so why was her nephew unwilling to marry again?

Hearing this, Su Zhi smiled faintly. "It's not that I don't want to marry, but I can't find someone I like. I'm also afraid that my stepmother would be unkind to her child and owe her a wife who died in the underworld."

"Presumably, that's the theory as well." Auntie Liu nodded her head in agreement.

The two of them chatted non-stop as the guests arrived one after another and the banquet officially began.

Not long after, another commotion sounded from the courtyard. The crowd looked over and saw that it was Princess Anyang, who had arrived late.

Seeing that she had come, Su Zhi was also unsatisfied. On the other hand, An Yang had specially picked a seat beside Su Zhi.

She just ignored Su Zhi, just like she did with Auntie Liu and the rest of her family.

Only when the banquet was in full swing did he lean his body to Su Zhi's ear and say, "Wait for me at the back after you've eaten your meal. There's something you want to say."

Su Zhi did not say anything. She just held onto her food, holding it in her hands.

This meal was a bit unpleasant. Anyang deliberately got along with her, intentionally or unintentionally talking about the business interests that had disturbed the market recently and had been suppressed by the emperor's order.

Su Zhi felt that she had lost her appetite. She really did not like An Yang's rebellious attitude. After reluctantly eating a few bites, she declined, saying that she was going to leave if she was tired.

Seeing that she had finally left, An Yang put down his chopsticks and left without even looking back.

She rushed forward to catch up with Su Zhi, who was about to leave the courtyard. She grabbed her and questioned her, "This princess has instructed you to wait, but you actually dared to disobey my orders!"

Su Zhi flung her hands away in annoyance and replied, "Princess, what can I do for you?"

An Yang smiled in an exaggerated manner and admitted in a very generous manner, "I was the one who did the thing in your shop."

"Yes, I know."

An Yang looked at her in disdain and continued to provoke her, "Not only you know, even big brother Xiao knows, but he just doesn't have any reaction. Do you know why? Because he won't be embarrassed by you and me. "

Su Zhi shrugged her shoulders. She truly felt that there was no need to continue the conversation. Since An Yang didn't want her to leave, it was obvious that he wanted to put up a show of his might for her.

"This princess has made it clear that you, a widow, should know your place. You are not worthy of Brother Xiao at all, so don't be so despicable and stick close to him. If you can't enter the Xiao family's gate, you will cry bitterly. You should also know that this princess has a bad temper. If any unscrupulous person were to provoke me, I would think of any method. Even if your business is going to fail, you should still be worried about those two evildoers, right? "

Hearing this, Su Zhi was completely enraged, and said with a gloomy face, "It's not up to you whether I'm worthy of him or not! "Anyang, let me give you a word of advice. Don't touch my bottom line."

An Yang was fearless. When he saw her angry smile deepen, he said, "What does this matter to you? It would be easy for even a lowly servant to die with a casual staff, not to mention those wild flowers and weeds by the side of the road."

Su Zhi looked at her seriously and questioned, "Princess An Yang, it was in vain for you to be a blood relative of the royal family. Don't you know the same thing? "The Son of Heaven has violated the law and committed the same crime as the commoners."

"Same crime?" This princess is the daughter of Zhennan Wang, the direct granddaughter of the empress dowager. If I want to teach this lowly slave a lesson, do I need you to do so? "Are you going to sue me at the justice courts or report me to the procurator's office? Go to the yamen and report your grievances. Let's see who will care about a country woman like you."