Returning after a three-year escape from death, the tyrant has turned evil.

Chapter 89 Birthday Gift
Song Yi glanced inside the hall to make sure Jiang Lanye wasn't paying attention, then lowered her voice and said:

"His Majesty's birthday is coming up in a few days. Could you find me some things?"

Eunuch Cao was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Your Majesty, you wouldn't be thinking of giving this to His Majesty, would you?"

"A surprise."

Song Yi answered.

However, she really didn't know what to give as a gift.

As an emperor, Jiang Lanye naturally lacked nothing. He possessed countless gold, silver, jewels, and rare treasures, as well as many famous paintings and calligraphy works.

It wouldn't be very original of her to give something expensive, but she doesn't have anything expensive to give right now anyway.

After much thought, she had no choice but to come up with this solution.

Eunuch Cao was both excited and worried.

"Your Majesty, if His Majesty knew of your good intentions, he would surely be deeply moved. However, His Majesty forbids you from leaving the palace at the moment, so please don't think too much about it."

"I know."

She waved her hand, gesturing for Eunuch Cao to come closer.

"Tomorrow, after His Majesty attends the morning court session, go and find him."

Eunuch Cao was somewhat surprised: "Your Highness can do this?"

"No, but there's still time, so we should give it a try."

After a moment's hesitation, Eunuch Cao said "okay".

Seeing that Eunuch Cao had agreed, Song Yi excitedly patted him on the shoulder and followed the palace maid to take a bath.

Half an hour later.

Song Yi, her hair still wet, strode inside and immediately saw Jiang Lanye reading a book again.

She couldn't help but sigh:
"Jiang Lanye, how can you be so bored? Didn't you have anything else to do while waiting for me?"

After saying that, she imitated Jiang Lanye, directly snatched the book from his hand, and casually flipped through a few pages.

Then, she coughed.

"Why are you reading this book again?"

Jiang Lanye raised an eyebrow and said leisurely, "I'm looking at how exactly to write about romantic love between men and women."

After thinking for a moment, Song Yi suddenly sat on his lap.

“What’s the point of looking at other people’s stories? There are so many officials in the court who can speak out against us. Why not just summon them over to observe us every day and compile our story into a book?”

Jiang Lanye sneered mercilessly, "I think you want to anger them to death."

Song Yi curled his lip, "A bunch of boring ministers."

Seeing that Jiang Lanye didn't react at all, she suddenly leaned closer and said quickly, "There's another boring emperor!"

Jiang Lanye put his arm around her waist: "What makes something interesting?"

"I'll play chess with you, make you a swing, and read you stories. What more could you want?"

Song Yi initially thought Jiang Lanye was annoyed with her, but upon seeing his expression, she realized he was asking her questions with unusual seriousness.

He asked her very seriously how he could keep her from getting bored.

Song Yi lowered her gaze and smiled, "Do you still want me to go out? Actually, I'm already tired of staying in this palace. I wish you could take me out of the palace sometime soon."

She thought Jiang Lanye would reject her outright, but after saying those words, Jiang Lanye seemed to be caught in some kind of difficult decision.

"Let's talk about it after my birthday."

Song Yi asked in confusion, "Why...why wait until after your birthday? Will something happen then?"

Jiang Lanye said calmly, "No."

It seemed like a firm decision, but Song Yi didn't believe it.

But Jiang Lanye refused to say, and no matter how she asked, she couldn't get the answer out of him.

Jiang Lanye glanced at the night outside and said, "It's time to sleep. We really can't stay up this late next time."

Song Yi pointed to his hair.

Not done yet.

Jiang Lanye's face was cold, and he reasonably suspected that Song Yi was doing it on purpose.

He suddenly picked Song Yi up, strode to the low couch, put her down, and opened the window.

Suddenly, the wind blew in from outside. Then, Jiang Lanye took a very thick cloak and wrapped her up completely.

Only her wet hair was visible.

Song Yi stared straight at him.

Jiang Lanye said, "This way we can do it faster."

Song Yi's hair was blown about by the wind and soon became a mess.

After a while, her hair dried, and she became drowsy.

Jiang Lanye didn't let her stand up. He walked to the dressing table, took her wooden comb, and carefully combed Song Yi's hair. He asked softly, "Do you want it braided?"

Song Yi's head bobbed up and down, but she didn't answer.

Seeing that she was indeed extremely tired, Jiang Lanye did not make any further moves. After closing the window, he gently picked her up and placed her inside the dragon bed.

Song Yi fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, her slender, thick eyelashes drooping obediently. The candlelight shone on her face, elongating the shadows of her eyelashes.

She pursed her lips, her breathing was deep and even, and her sleeping face was serene.

Jiang Lanye lowered his eyes and stared for a long time.

As he looked at her, he couldn't help but lean down. He wanted to kiss her lips, but then he hesitated for a moment, worried that she would wake up, and instead kissed her cheek.

The candle went out.

The next morning.

Song Yi rolled over and ended up in Jiang Lanye's arms.

Jiang Lanye subconsciously raised his arm to hug her, his voice low and hoarse, tinged with drowsiness.

"what happened?"

Song Yi had no recollection of what happened last night and didn't know when she fell asleep.

She was now in Jiang Lanye's arms, the bed warm and cozy. She gave up thinking and mumbled softly, "It's okay, keep sleeping."

It's a cloudy day, and the wind is howling outside the window.

When Jiang Lanye got up, Song Yi had already been awakened by the sound of the wind.

Seeing her sitting on the couch looking lost, with her hair all messy, Jiang Lanye couldn't help but lean down and kiss her again.

Song Yi slowly looked at him.

"I'm going to the morning court session."

Not long after Jiang Lanye left, Song Yi suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly slipped on his shoes and walked to the palace gate, tentatively opening the door.

Eunuch Cao went to court with Jiang Lanye, and another eunuch gave the items to Song Yi.

Song Yi accepted it and thanked him.

She placed the items on the table, carefully rolled up her sleeves to reveal a section of her fair forearm, and then unfolded the cloth.

Inside was a lump of yellow soil.

However, this soil is not soil that can be dug up randomly from the ground, but is clay specially used to make porcelain. Therefore, it is not very sticky, but it is highly malleable.

Just as Song Yi was about to mold the clay, he thought for a moment, then took out a piece of paper, picked up a pen, dipped it in ink, and carefully drew a miniature Jiang Lanye on the paper.

Although she couldn't draw the facial features, she could still tell that the overall figure belonged to Jiang Lanye.

After finishing the painting, she had a palace maid bring in a small basin of warm water.

Then, she picked up a piece of clay and, somewhat hesitantly, shaped it into a head and limbs.

After being wetted, the clay becomes moist and easier to shape.

She simply didn't know how, and after shaping it and piecing it together, it ended up looking like a strange, unrecognizable mess.

It's so ugly.
The eunuch even thoughtfully brought her a file.

She picked up a small curved knife and carefully shaved the clay.

Then it became even uglier.

She was covered in mud and made several sculpted figures, but each one was exceptionally ugly.

She was so focused that she didn't even eat breakfast.

Suddenly, the palace doors were pushed open.

(End of this chapter)