Whether they can hear it or not, there’s no way to stop it now—what else can you do but adapt——

So, how exactly did Grace Quinn manage to get entangled with the Crown Grandson and at the same time enter the palace as a concubine? Hurry up and tell us!

All the civil and military officials: This is driving me crazy!!!

Such a group of big shots, who could shake the whole court with just a stomp of their feet, could only wait anxiously as that ninth-rank minor official slowly finished eating his steamed bun, slowly wiped his mouth and hands, and only then did they finally see him open the artifact.

[Damn it, why doesn’t the system provide pictures or videos? I really want to know just how stunning Grace Quinn is.]

Evan Foster stared unblinkingly at the gossip he had just uncovered, his face full of regret.

The system used a lot of words to describe how delicate and beautiful Grace Quinn was, but where there should have been images, there was only a blank space, so he could only imagine it himself.

[No family background, no power, no means of making a living—no wonder when the Crown Grandson confessed his feelings, he arrogantly thought Grace Quinn had nowhere else to go. What a pity, what a pity. At that time, Grace Quinn was very determined to escape from the Crown Grandson, and actually relied on her looks to become a dancer in the Princess Royal's residence, and was later noticed by the Emperor who visited the Princess Royal's residence.]

[Grace Quinn felt that after leaving her beloved, it didn’t matter who she was with, so she entered the palace with the Emperor.]

[The Crown Grandson finally managed to find his beloved again, only to learn that his grandfather had snatched her away. He went crazy and rushed into the palace during morning court!!! Tsk tsk tsk, did he lose his mind?]

The officials: “……”

This isn’t madness, it’s insanity.

Just because you’re the Imperial Grandson, you think you don’t have to worry about implicating your whole clan?

Eating so much gossip, I’m stuffed.

The Minister of Ceremonies even overheard some colleagues whispering: “I thought it was His Majesty who took a fancy to the Crown Grandson’s mistress and forcibly seized a commoner girl, but it turns out Grace Quinn entered the palace of her own accord.”

“Yeah, yeah, I thought His Majesty was old but still young at heart, planning to be wild even in his sixties.”

Muttering…

Muttering…

Minister of Ceremonies: “……”

He didn’t know why, but ever since he could hear that minor official’s inner thoughts, the whole court’s atmosphere had changed, and nothing could bring it back.

＊

“I’m furious! Absolutely furious!”

The The Old Emperor stormed into the palace hall, shouting angrily, his voice echoing through the entire hall. The palace attendants lowered their heads, afraid the emperor would see them and vent his anger on them.

The The Old Emperor plopped down into a soft chair, sitting across from the Empress.

“Sister! You have no idea what that troublesome grandson of ours has done—he actually barged into the harem and had an affair with his grandfather’s woman!”

“And! The entire court knows about it!” His voice grew even more shrill, as if it could blow the roof off the hall.

Empress Dawson raised her brows slightly: “Could it be that Xu…”

The The Old Emperor snapped, “It’s him! He doesn’t even focus during court, just stares at people’s secrets! He’d better not let me catch him neglecting his duties, or I’ll have him flogged thirty times!”

Empress Dawson’s cloud-like hair was loose, the four-pearl earrings on her ears swaying gently. She got up and walked over to gently massage the The Old Emperor’s temples. The anger on the The Old Emperor’s face slowly faded away, his head resting lightly on the back of the chair, eyes closed in enjoyment.

After a while, he suddenly said, “I’ve thrown Jack Key into prison.”

Empress Dawson looked pained, but still said, “Jack Key has been spoiled, it’s time to temper his character, lest he cause even greater trouble in the future.”

The The Old Emperor grunted, then added, “And that wretched maid—once she gives birth to a great-grandson, I’ll have her put to death. For the merit of bearing an imperial heir, I won’t have her beaten to death.”

The hand massaging his temples stopped. Even the faint fragrance on her clothes seemed to drift away.

The The Old Emperor sat up, puzzled, and turned his head: “Sister?”

The look of pity on Empress Dawson’s face became even more pronounced.

“Fifth Brother, Grace Quinn is pitiful too. Could you spare her life and let her become a nun at Tianzhen Temple, spending her life with the blue lamp and ancient Buddha, praying for the royal family?”

The The Old Emperor blinked: “What’s pitiful about her? If she dares to cause chaos in the harem, she must pay the price!”

Empress Dawson spoke gently and slowly: “If Jack Key hadn’t provoked her in the first place, if Jack Key had directly asked for her to be his official wife, if after she entered the palace, Jack Key had let go, she wouldn’t have ended up like this. In my opinion, though she is at fault, she doesn’t deserve to die.”

The The Old Emperor said angrily, “Is it my fault for being cuckolded?”

The green hat is an allusion from the previous dynasty. It’s said that a foolish emperor took a fancy to a minister’s wife, and whenever the husband was away, he would go to meet her. The two agreed that if the husband was home, the gatekeeper would wear a green hat, so the emperor would see it from afar and not come.

Later, the affair was exposed, and the green hat became a symbol of mocking men.

Empress Dawson looked into the The Old Emperor’s eyes, her gaze still gentle: “So, for the sake of the royal family’s reputation, let her spend her life as a nun, never to know joy again.”

The The Old Emperor was still displeased: “There’s food and drink in the temple—what kind of punishment is that?”