Xiao Zai sat up straighter. What his grandmother meant was that it pleased her to see them both so flustered.
He chanced a sideways look at his dam, who was sitting across from him and Chu Yun, drinking a cup of tea leisurely.
The Queen Dowager was sitting at the head of the table, inspecting all of them like a weiqi(1) player, considering where to put down her stones next.
His dam had said he invited the Queen Dowager, but it was more likely that she had invited herself.
She was never as antagonistic towards Gu Wei and Xiao Zai as the king, but it was hard to tell what she was thinking. She gave the impression of someone who amused herself with everyone else's bad decisions.
There was also the mystery of her past -- how she came to marry the late king, and of course, her odd scent, that belied years of trying to live as something other than an omega.
Xiao Zai couldn't say he was happy to see the Queen Dowager, but he was curious about what her presence meant.
