"All done." Ah Dai said after fixing the dragon-shaped golden hairpin to Si Ning's ponytail.

Si Ning took a deep breath and moved to check himself in the mirror and he nodded satisfied, he turned to the window and he could see it was almost dusk and he doesn't have any more time to waste so he decided to just head over to the palace, he doubts Xiu Zhicheng would come to see him or welcome him and it was already late for him to go around paying his respects to the Emperor to show that he arrived safely and since he couldn't have lunch anymore with the Emperor means he would probably not see him and Incase if he was summoned to have dinner with him, all he had to do was to go to bed early to avoid meeting him.

"Young Master, I have prepared all the documents which would be moved over to the palace, Commander Chen An also checked them." Ah Dai told him.

"..." Si Ning had no idea when Ah Dai did the packing and he wasn't interested in asking because it seemed like he was the only one ignorant about his moving to the palace. Everybody had been preparing one way or the other and he didn't notice and it was embarrassing to admit it so all he could do was act like he knew Ah Dai had done the packing by nodding in approval.

"Young Master, should I open his Majesty's gift box?" Ah Dai asked as he quickly moved over to the box.

"No." Si Ning replied. He doesn't have to check to know It was a suitable gift and also checking it might put him in a position of wanting the gift just like he wanted the last gift meant for Xiu Zhicheng. Wanting the gifts prepared for when he was already wealthy didn't speak well for his character so to suppress the urge all he had to do was to only see and know what the gift was when he was presenting it.

Since his preparation was done, after taking a quick look around the room knowing he was going to miss it, Si Ning turned to head out, passing Jiang Ye and a guard at the door who seemed to be waiting for him but after taking a few steps, Si Ning noticed Jiang Ye and the guard didn't follow him which was odd so he turned only to see that Ah Dai wasn't following him either, he didn't wait for a second when Ah Dai rushed out with the two food containers while Jiang Ye and the guard also exist the room carrying the box which contained the Emperor's gift.

In the courtyard just as expected, the guards were still standing since the moment they arrived, Si Ning couldn't help but wonder how they could stand for so long but he wasn't bothered about it because that was how Jiang Ye and Xiao Pei also stand for hours just like the rest of the guards in the residence. There were also two carriages and from what Si Ning could see, it was already filled up with different boxes and the servants and guards who were loading the carriages collected the last box which was the Emperor's gift that Jiang Ye and a guard was carrying and found an empty place to place it. Si Ning only took a glance and he could guess the space for the Emperor's gift box was probably reserved and he was quite proud of how his mother had prepared everything just like she said.

When Ge Mengshu saw Si Ning, she didn't say a word and also met him halfway and they both turned and started walking over to the palanquin. A guard moved forward and raised the palanquin curtain so that Si Ning won't have to raise it himself to get into the palanquin.

"When you see the box which contained the gift for Queen Dowager, you should be able to tell the gift is for the Queen Dowager even if you don't open it." Ge Mengshu said softly.

Si Ning nodded. "Thank you, mother." He bowed.

"Don't skip any of your meal, make sure you eat well" Ge Mengshu stepped back. "Take care, my son."

Si Ning stepped into the palanquin and relaxed as the guard lowered the curtain and he felt being lifted, he closed his eyes and crossed his legs, he was finally heading to the palace. It wasn't something he prepared for so it didn't really sit well and was giving him mixed feelings between being excited that he was going to see Xiu Zhicheng soon and dreading the moment he would see him before receiving Xiu TianZhao's letter. Even though if he doesn't move over to the palace, he was still going to see Xiu Zhicheng at the court assembly.

"Ah Dai!" Si Ning called as he flung his eyes open.

"Yes, Young Master." Ah Dai answered instantly.

Si Ning could tell Ah Dai was walking close to his palanquin. "Stop!" He said loudly enough for the bearers to hear.

After hearing the guards saying his order one more time for the others to hear so they would all stop at the same time. Si Ning felt the palanquin being lowered.

"General is there a problem?" Jiang Ye asked.

Si Ning was shocked to hear Jiang Ye. "Why are you following us? Didn't I tell you to stay at the residence!" He almost shouted and even yank the curtain open like he was trying to confirm it was really Jiang Ye that just spoke to him. He gazes at Jiang Ye from head to toe before raising a brow.

"I want to escort General to the palace gates." Jiang Ye replied sincerely, his head bowed waiting for Si Ning's order whether to allow him to continue being his escort or send him home.

"That's good lieutenant Jiang." Si Ning said and saw a wide smile plastered on Jiang Ye's face as he bowed deeply.

"It is my pleasure to serve you, General." Jiang Ye said shyly in a low voice.

"Ah Dai come in" Si Ning beckon to Ah Dai who was standing behind Jiang Ye. He lowered the curtain and waited, he was about to yell only to see the curtain being pulled up and Ah Dai entered carrying a covered bowl, taking a seat across him.

It was weird for Si Ning to tell Ah Dai to come in but he was afraid of being alone and start thinking up different scenarios without giving himself time to rest and the only solution he could come up with ways to find someone to start discussing with and since Chen An wasn't around so the next person he could talk to was Ah Dai but knowing that he could never have any interesting discussion with Ah Dai placed him in a position of having no choice thane to find different questions to ask, just to keep a conversation going so Si Ning waited till he felt the palanquin being lifted once again.

"Ah Dai so what is with you and Ji Ran?" Si Ning asked as he accepted the bowl Ah Dai stretched to him.