It's just accompanying the little girl to spend her birthday. Lin Wan still didn't have such a small mind, thinking that this unloved princess came over to fawn on her again.

  "I've also invited Zhao Wang and Empress Changning over." Shan Yu's voice dropped even lower: "Lin Niangniang... won't you mind the commotion?"

  Lin Wan was truly surprised this time. She slowly put down the jasmine tea in her hand, and her eyes were fixed on Shan Yu without blinking.

  The fan was looked at by her with some fear, and he dared not make a sound anymore.

  After a while, Lin Wan lightly laughed. She stood up and pulled over Fan Yu's wrist, warmly saying: "It doesn't matter. I've been fine since pregnancy, and you several children are all well-behaved, how could you disturb me?"

  Fan Yu let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

  The one who is pitiful is not Chang Ning, but Zhao Wang. Zhao Wang is the imperial son living in Ganxi, and they don't often meet face to face. However, towards this younger brother two years his junior, Fan Yu has a sense of sympathy - he also lost his birth mother. In the past, Shen Youfei was so noble, and Zhao Wang was made king at a young age. But overnight, Shen Fei died miserably, her family was completely executed, and Zhao Wang fell from the clouds to the ground, with an equally miserable situation.

  But the only difference is that Zhao Wang is a prince...

  The prince has an inherent value that cannot be compared with the princess.

  No matter how fallen a prince is, he still has a place in his father's eyes.

  So she invited Zhao Wang over today, letting the emperor see Zhao Wang's pitiful state and then seeing her own equally pitiful state, he would likely bestow his favor on both of them at the same time. She would have thus benefited from Zhao Wang's influence. The location was chosen as the Crimson Smoke Building because it is a place the emperor visits every day.

  When she made such a request to Lin Wan, with Lin Wan's cleverness, how could she not see her little thoughts.

  Lin Wan just smiled and looked at Shan Yu, but what she was thinking about in her mind was Zhao Wang.

  That child... is quite valuable after all.

  "Where is His Majesty now?" Lin Yanyu asked Chengzi casually.

  "It's not like it used to be in Xianfu Palace." Chu Tao interjected, "Your Majesty is pregnant and cannot serve the Emperor. Recently, Wen Bin from Bixiao Hall has been favored, but for some reason, Xianfu Palace is no longer as prosperous as before. However, you are well aware of Quan Bin's tactics, and today she forcibly invited the Emperor to Xianfu Palace from Bixiao Hall."

  Lin Wan listened and didn't get angry: "If she doesn't have this ability, she's not worthy of competing with me." Chu Huashang was cold-shouldered by the emperor, naturally because of the fire burning Jingren Palace. Now even if she has won over the emperor again, with this stumbling block here, Tuoba Hong will not treat her as doting as before.

  Wen Pei is not a soft persimmon either, once she sees an opportunity, she will naturally make trouble for her.

  Lin Wan couldn't help but secretly laugh. Chu Huashang thought about climbing to the position of imperial concubine, let alone competing with herself, first passing through Wen Pin's level was what mattered most.

  "Shall we go to Xiangfu Palace and invite the Emperor, Your Majesty?" Xiaochengzi smiled mischievously: "With the Emperor's deep love for our Empress, there is no need for any tricks. Just say that the Empress misses him, and the Emperor will surely dismiss Concubine Tian and come directly to Hongyan Building. At that time, let's see where Concubine Tian puts her face."

  Lin Yan let out a snort of laughter, but shook her head and said, "No, I'm pregnant now, not as reckless as before." After speaking, she smiled slightly with pursed lips: "There's no need to go invite him. The emperor comes to see me every day at noon, it's been like this for many days. Let's wait slowly, the emperor will come on his own."

  ***

  As expected, Lin Wan and Shan Yu had sat idle for less than half an hour when the imperial carriage arrived.

  Tuoba Hong strode into the room with a gust of wind, his face full of smiles, and grasped Lin Yuan's hand, saying: "Did he bother you today?"

  Lin Yan's face turned red, and she lowered her head to glance at Fan Yu and the others beside her, reminding the emperor that there were outsiders present. Emperor Tuoba Hong had never taken Fan Yu seriously, and his eyes flickered briefly in her direction without lingering before he spoke to someone behind him: "Hua Shang, bring that good thing over for Yan to take a look as well."

  Only then did a slender figure flash out from behind Tuoba Hong. Lin Yu only then discovered the existence of Chu Huashang, her fingers slightly shrinking, and she smiled: "I'm not feeling well, these days I have to thank Concubine Tian for serving the Emperor."

  But in her heart, she was secretly scolding Chu Shi for being a nuisance. The emperor wanted to come to the Brocade Smoke Building, and she had dragged him along, purely to spite herself.

  Chu Huashang's face was filled with a gentle smile, but her eyes were fixed intently on Lin Yuan's abdomen. A flash of resentment and discontent quickly flickered across her face before disappearing. Lin Yuan smiled again and said: "I heard the Emperor say that Concubine Tian has something precious, and she specially brought it here for me to see?" Her face was full of curiosity: "What is this precious thing?"

  Without waiting for anyone's instructions, a clever palace maid had already brought a bright red, long-shaped box to Lin Yuen's front. Emperor Taizong of Tang took it and opened it, saying to Lin Yuen: "Take a look, this is a grain fruit, so big, you've never seen one before, have you?" His words were filled with joy: "This thing was found by the Governor of Huguang in Jingzhou this year and presented as an offering. It's said that several merchants from Nanyang sold it to the people of Jingzhou, who planted it in their fields, unexpectedly achieving a bumper harvest. The fruit is not only huge but also very easy to grow, and can even thrive in winter."

  Lin Yan lowered her head and looked at the treasure in Tuoba Hong's hand, her mouth twitching slightly. Is this thing what made Tuoba Hong so happy? Isn't it just that sweet potato that tasted ordinary and was so cheap it wasn't worth selling from Grandma's village when we were young?!

  Sweet potatoes... Ah, Lin Yuan remembered that this crop was not native to the Central Plains, it was indeed an introduced foreign species.

  Compared with wheat and rice, it is cold-resistant, drought-resistant and fast-growing. Its value is as great as that of Yuan Longping in the past.

  No wonder she has a good father... Lin Yan looked at Chu Huashang and felt annoyed, her father was too capable, he actually managed to get the sweet potatoes from the Southeast Asian merchants by mistake! The crisis of Chu Huashang losing favor was solved just like that.

  Anyway, Lin Wan still made a surprised expression, and said to Tuoba Hong: "Ah, is this really food? It's so big..."

  Tuoba Hong is in a good mood today, and he sits down with Empress Dowager Tian to chat with Lin Yuan. Just as they were talking, someone outside the door announced that Prince Zhao and Princess Changning have arrived.

  Although Fan Yu was an unfavored imperial daughter, the Crimson Smoke Pavilion was a place of good fortune, and Zhao Shuyu knew that the Emperor would definitely come here every day. She naturally agreed to Fan Yu's invitation to Changning. As for Prince Zhao, after losing his birth mother and the Emperor's favor, he would understand how to live better.

  Shan Yu didn't dare say another word in front of Tuoba Hong, so Lin Wan explained for her: "...it was Princess Shan's birthday and she invited all her younger brothers and sisters over. I'm pregnant now and I love children even more, so I let them come here to play."

  Tuoba Hong nodded slightly and smiled: "Well, I'm busy every day and can't often see them. Now they're all here."

  Zhaowang and Changning, one seven years old and the other six years old, both at a tender age like jade, stood together in line to enter the house and pay their respects, just as lovely as the child attendants of Guanyin. Lin Yu looked at them but couldn't muster up any enthusiasm. At such a young age, they already had to know etiquette, understand propriety, be prepared for everything, and maintain the dignity of the imperial family...and yet still face the cruel fate of life and death struggles...In the future, wouldn't her own children also have to go through the same thing?

  Chang Ning had Zhao Shuyuan accompany her in and out over the past few years. After this year, Zhao Shuyuan also intended to train her, allowing her to see her father on her own. Tuoba Hong smiled at his children, ordered someone to take a look, but when he turned around, there was not even a hint of a smile, and with a serious face, he asked Zhao Wang: "How well have you memorized the 'Wu Zi'?"

  Zhao Wang Tuoba Yan was not a child with exceptional talent. He did not inherit his father's wisdom and temperament, nor did he inherit the cunning and city of his deceased mother. He raised his head and looked at his father, then quickly lowered his head and muttered: "Your son... forgot five sections..."

  "Hmm? I heard from Taifu that you've been rather lazy with your studies lately. Never mind, today in front of Lin Niangniang, I won't let you lose face. Tomorrow after school, come to Jianzhang Palace to recite books." Tuoba Hong didn't like his attitude and remained expressionless.

  Other people's children are not easy to manage, and Lin Wan is too lazy to manage them. She smiled sideways: "Your Majesty, you want to be a strict father, wait until you return to Jianzhang Palace to do it. Today is Fan Yu's birthday, let them go out and play." She ordered the servants to bring melon fruit tea and wind chimes, seven clever boards and other toys to entertain these little guys.

  What Lin Wan took out was not an ordinary trinket, but something she had been interested in her past life. The so-called "Seven Clever Pieces" were actually the "T Puzzle". After Fan Yu and the others paid their respects and withdrew, Chang Ning, although taught to be dignified, couldn't help but feel excited when he saw Lin's unusual toys, which were different from what they used to play with before, and pulled Fan Yu to go and play in the side hall.

  Just as they were leaving the grand hall, the wet nurse serving beside King Zhao suddenly tripped and fell with a cry of "Aiyo".

  Not far away, Lin Yu and several others on this side could see clearly that it was not Wang's fault for falling down, but Fan Yu had stretched out her foot to trip her up. Before she could get up, Fan Yu picked up a jade pendant-like thing from the ground, but it was already broken. She held it high in her hand and said: "Wang, are you hurt? Look, this is what fell off your body!"

  The queen mother fell to the ground in front of the emperor, hastily scrambling to her feet, but with an angry face she glared at Fan Yu and said: "Your Highness, as a princess you should be dignified and composed, how could you, how could you stick out your foot and trip up an old servant like me?" As she spoke, she saw the jade that Fan Yu was holding in her hand, hastily snatched it away from her, clutched it to her waist and repeatedly said: "This is my jade, thank you Your Highness for picking it up..."

  "Empress Wang, you said I tripped you?" Zhan Yu's tone suddenly became sharp and severe: "You're just a lowly servant, yet you dare to obstruct me? I can scold or beat you as I please, how dare you servants become so insolent now?" As she spoke, she stretched out her hand and ordered: "Hand over your jade!"