93 An Invitation (1/2)

The Empress Dowager entered the study and everyone present greeted her in the manner that fitted her station.

The old lady simply smiled in response to everyone and looked at the three men present in the room.

Her smile became a bit more sincere when she saw her own son and the corners of her eyes wrinkled in joy.

However, when she Zhou Sheng, she didn't know what expression to make.

This person seemed to be the one in her son's heart so she couldn't make things difficult for him intentionally, but she had also heard that Prince Xi had tried to trip her son in court today because of this man.

She wondered if this person would become a hindrance to her son but then thinking about how the monarch had simply refused to marry anyone else except the person in his heart, she didn't want to enact a spiteful mother-in-law drama in front of her child.

After all, that might be more detrimental to her in the long run.

If she did that, wouldn't her child simply think that she was internally doing all this to make him choose between his mother and his love?

Therefore, trying not to let her innermost emotions spill on her face, she tried to be more welcoming to Zhou Sheng.

However, Zhou Sheng was shrewd enough to see behind her placid smile and realised that she must be against his closeness with her son.

He also didn't want to put Princess in between a rock and a hard place, so he sensibly bowed to the mother-daughter duo and said, ”This lowly one will take his leave now.”

Su Li couldn't understand why Zhou Sheng was leaving so briskly as soon as the Empress Dowager entered.

Thinking that it might be due to the fiasco of when they all had met in the Imperial Gardens, she wanted to stop him from leaving, she raised her hand to stop him.

However, before she could do that, the Empress Dowager gave a beatific smile to everyone present and said, ”Ajia hasn't had her lunch as of yet. Ajia's palace is too lonely. Why don't we ask the Imperial Kitchen to set up the feast outside and we all can enjoy the food and each other's company.”

At the present moment, only two out of the four people present understood why the Empress Dowager was allowing outsiders to have a meal in her presence even when there was no occasion worth celebrating.

She wanted to have a meal in the presence of her son and the person in his heart to personally watch the interaction between her son and the person he professed to have in his heart.

Ning Fu also realised this truth.

But, alas, our heroine and Zhou Sheng were unaware of this fact.

Su Li simply thought that the old lady was feeling lonely at her palace because even though she had untold riches and was the most powerful woman in the dynasty, she had no one to share her thoughts and feelings with.

Au contrary, Zhou Sheng thought the old lady might want to make things difficult for him because her precious child had been put in a bight spot because of him.