The Empress Dowager’s first instinct was to spit out the candy ball.
How could a candy ball be sour?
But when the Empress Dowager saw Duoduo staring at her with bright, glistening eyes, she was caught off guard.
Duoduo puffed out her cheeks.
“I worked on this for a long time before I finally made it!”
“Great-Grandmother, please don’t spit it out. Changle will be sad!”
Suppressing the sour taste in her mouth, the Empress Dowager slowly shook her head.
“I won’t spit it out! Great-Grandmother likes it!”
Duoduo beamed as she took the Empress Dowager’s hand. “Mm-hmm! I think it tastes good too!”
The Empress Dowager endured her nausea, slowly letting the candy dissolve in her mouth before swallowing it.
She wanted to pick up her teacup and drink some water, but Duoduo took both her hands and tried to pull her to her feet.
“Great-Grandmother, I haven’t been to the palace in a long time!”
“I want to go see how the peonies in Kunning Palace are doing!”
The Empress Dowager paused. “Then Great-Grandmother will have someone take you there.”
Duoduo shook her head.
“I don’t dare! Great-Grandmother, please come with me!”
“I won’t be scared if you’re there!”
The Empress Dowager had known about the time Duoduo was framed.
She affectionately stroked Duoduo’s head.
“All right! Great-Grandmother will go with you!”
“Don’t worry. With Great-Grandmother there, none of those demons and monsters will dare show themselves.”
Duoduo happily clapped her hands.
“That’s wonderful! Thank you, Great-Grandmother!”
When her personal nanny heard that the Empress Dowager intended to go out, she was startled.
She hurriedly arranged for a palanquin to be prepared.
“The Cining Palace and Kunning Palace aren’t far apart. We can walk there slowly!” Duoduo objected.
“I’ll help Great-Grandmother!” Duoduo reached out and carefully supported the Empress Dowager by the arm.
Seeing Duoduo like this, the Empress Dowager waved at the nanny.
The nanny had no choice but to step back.
The Empress Dowager had not eaten for several days and had been clinging to life on ginseng broth alone.
Before they had even left the Cining Palace, her legs had already gone weak, and she was panting for breath.
The Empress Dowager saw Duoduo doing her best to support her with her tiny body while encouraging her without pause.
Gritting her teeth, the Empress Dowager shuffled forward one tiny step at a time until they reached the main entrance.
Behind them, her personal nanny was crying from distress.
She deeply regretted listening to the Empress Dowager and inviting Princess Changle into the palace.
How was this supposed to be a visit to keep the Empress Dowager company?
It was simply a visit to torment her!
Yet her mistress clearly favored Princess Changle. As a servant, all she could do was obey.
“Great-Grandmother, I saw a black chrysanthemum at the Li residence today!”
As she supported the Empress Dowager, Duoduo chatted with her to distract her from her fatigue.
Sure enough, the Empress Dowager’s attention was drawn away.
“A black chrysanthemum? Those are very rare!”
“Do you like them too, Great-Grandmother?”
“Madam Li gave me a pot. It’s so pretty!”
“But I gave it to Father. Otherwise, I would have given it to you, Great-Grandmother!”
The Empress Dowager was amused.
Changle truly was still a child.
Whenever she had something good, the first person she thought of was her father.
“Then Great-Grandmother wants one too. What should we do?” she teased Duoduo.
Duoduo tilted her head and thought for a moment.
“Do you really want one, Great-Grandmother?”
“I’ll go back right away and ask Father to have someone send it over!”
“As long as you want it, Father will definitely be willing to part with it, even if it hurts him!”
The Empress Dowager laughed.
This child had “I can’t bear to part with it” written all over her face, yet she still did not forget to put in a good word for her father.
“Great-Grandmother was only teasing you!”
The Empress Dowager stopped to catch her breath.
If she had not been leaning on Duoduo and gripping her cane, she felt she would have collapsed onto the ground at any moment.
Ah, age!
One truly could not escape growing old.
It was only natural. She ought to be nearing the end of her life as well.
Even the Emperor was old now, let alone her.
The Empress Dowager waved toward the people behind her.
Everyone following them retreated a short distance.
Once her breathing had steadied, the Empress Dowager took Duoduo’s hand and asked, “When you went to the Li residence, did you see him?”
Duoduo blinked, her face innocent.
“Of course I did! I saw lots and lots of madams. Their clothes were so pretty!”
The Empress Dowager lightly pinched Duoduo’s nose.
“Don’t pretend to be foolish with Great-Grandmother!”
“How is your grandfather doing?”
Duoduo blinked again.
She remembered Father telling her that her grandfather was not the Empress Dowager’s biological son.
The two of them had never been particularly close.
But the concern in the Empress Dowager’s eyes could not be faked.
Duoduo pondered this inwardly, though she showed nothing on her face.
Then she put on an expression of sudden realization.
“Oh, you mean him? Changle misunderstood!”
“He’s fine! He’s very healthy!” Duoduo saw the doubt appear on the Empress Dowager’s face. “Imperial Physician Li treated Grandfather’s health, and he also has medicine protecting his body. He was never poisoned in the first place!”
The Empress Dowager let out a long breath of relief.
“You’re not lying to Great-Grandmother? Your grandfather truly wasn’t poisoned?”
She lowered her head and asked in a very quiet voice.
Duoduo rose onto her tiptoes and leaned close to the Empress Dowager’s ear.
“It’s true!”
“Grandfather is even healthier now than he was when he was in the palace!”
The Empress Dowager smiled and nodded.
“That makes sense.”
“Without all those troublesome matters to worry about, his health would naturally improve.”
Duoduo blinked.
“Great-Grandmother, we still have to keep walking!”
The Empress Dowager helplessly nodded.
“All right! Since Great-Grandmother promised you, I’ll certainly accompany you to see the flowers!”
“Mm-hmm! Great-Grandmother is the best!” Duoduo affectionately supported the Empress Dowager.
Everyone loved hearing kind words.
The Empress Dowager was no exception.
All the way to Kunning Palace, the Empress Dowager followed Duoduo with a cheerful smile.
Two eunuchs stood conspicuously at the entrance to Kunning Palace.
When they saw the Empress Dowager, they hurried over and bowed.
“This servant greets Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager!”
The Empress Dowager waved a hand. “Open the gate.”
The eunuchs hesitated for a moment, but in the end, they opened the doors.
With Duoduo supporting her, the Empress Dowager walked inside.
She surveyed the scenery within.
A large tree stood at the height of its leafy splendor. Standing beneath it, one immediately felt a refreshing coolness throughout the body.
After standing there for a while and feeling somewhat better, the Empress Dowager continued farther in with Duoduo.
Duoduo noticed that Kunning Palace was very clean.
It seemed that ever since the previous incident, Grandfather had arranged for people to come and sweep the palace regularly.
Some of the branches and leaves had grown too long, however, and ought to be trimmed.
Some of the trees had withered as well, and new plants should be brought in to replace them.
But Duoduo also understood that Grandfather simply had no time to concern himself with such trivial matters now.
As the Empress Dowager looked at the lush trees and the excessive silence surrounding them, a desolate feeling rose in her heart.
She could not help recalling how splendid Kunning Palace had once been.
When the people were gone, the tea grew cold.
She feared that once she was gone, her Cining Palace would end up just like the Kunning Palace before her.
The fate of the rabbit stirred sorrow in the fox.
The Empress Dowager’s heart was filled with melancholy.
Sensing the emotions radiating from the Empress Dowager, Duoduo turned her head.
“Great-Grandmother, do you also think all these withered plants make the place look ugly?”
“Mm, they do look ugly!” the Empress Dowager replied absently.
Just then, a thin eunuch came hurrying toward them furtively.
He had never expected anyone to appear in this abandoned palace.
