Where prosperity ends, flowers never end

Seeing the unusual atmosphere, Shi Huan walked over first, and Tan Qianhuan followed with a turn of his eyes.

It seemed as if the two of them had not had a very pleasant conversation just now.

"Hey? What happened to you two?"

Tan Qianhuan smiled.

"Nothing, which one do you want to eat?"

Ran Qianxi turned to look at Shi Huan, it was obvious that both of them were up to something.

"My aunt bought it for me..."

Tan Qianhuan smiled.

"In that case...Xi'er, is there anything else you want to eat?"

"Let's take a look first."

Several days passed and the Queen could not stay in the inn all the time. She also wanted to stay in the royal villa, but the imperial guards felt uncomfortable there. So she rented a courtyard in the waterside village for herself.

Late autumn in the south of the Yangtze River is not as good as early spring. Although the maple leaves are as gentle as the ginkgo leaves in Huoshui Lane, it is still cold. Ran Qianxi is bored and is too lazy to go out every day.

That day she was catching cats outside the courtyard wall, and she didn't know whose little cat was going to suffer such a terrible fate.

"Little kitty... hey hey hey... don't run~"

She followed stealthily all the way, and the raccoon jumped onto the courtyard wall. Not wanting to be outdone, she also climbed up.

“Mimi~mimi mimi~”

Finally, when she took out the dried fish, the little fox was caught.

"Oh, you can really run..."

The afternoon sun was warm and the sunlight was pleasant. She was sitting on the wall playing with the cat with great interest when she suddenly saw a figure walking into the backyard.

"Why does it look so familiar?"

Driven by curiosity, she staggered down the wall, still holding the cat in her arms.

There were two figures in the room, and one of them could be recognized as Tan Qianhuan by looking at his attire.

"Adoptive father?"

She carefully moved closer to the window and finally heard someone speak first.

"King Jibei, this is no small matter."

She carefully identified the person's voice for a moment and found it very special, as if it was a servant of Shi Huan.

"Why bother talking in official language? Do you think I don't know why you are here?"

The guard was silent for a moment, obviously having some unspeakable secret.

"You don't have to worry too much. If this fails, it won't be a loss for Nanyue. But if it succeeds, it will only benefit Nanyue and me."

The guard was obviously unwilling to agree to what he said.

"His Highness said that Nanyue should not alert the enemy this time."

"Hahaha…"

Tan Qianhuan laughed wildly a few times.

"Who said it was Nanyue who did it? It was Xixing who did it."

The guard was silent again, and after a moment he agreed.

"King Jibei had better keep his word."

Tan Qianhuan raised the corner of his mouth with satisfaction.

"Humph, this king never breaks his word."

After the guard turned and left, he left another sentence.

"I'm afraid there might be something unclean in the Jibei King's yard."

Ran Qianxi thought to herself: "My foster father's yard?"

Suddenly, a brush flew out of the wooden window. Before Ran Qianxi could react, Tan Qianhuan saw her face clearly. He waved his right sleeve, and the brush flew half a meter away.

Ran Qianxi was exposed. Although this was her adoptive father, she always felt like he had discovered something fatal.

"Godfather, you must listen to my excuse..."

Tan Qianhuan frowned, and when he saw the cat slave in her arms, he knew that she almost exposed his conspiracy because of her mischief.

"What did Xier hear?"

Ran Qianxi hugged the cat tightly in her arms, having imagined countless possibilities. For the time being, she could only play dumb.

"Why does this yard belong to my foster father?"

Tan Qianhuan's expression was obviously a little relaxed, and he slowly walked out of the house.

“But it was bought in the early years.”

Ran Qianxi smiled fearfully. She heard everything but didn't understand it. Those words had no cause or consequence and were totally incomprehensible.

"Then why did godfather rent it to me?"

Tan Qianhuan smiled faintly, even though she heard everything...

"Xi'er can't live in the Imperial Garden. If she lives with me, His Majesty will get suspicious. It's better to rent it to Xi'er and become Xi'er's boss."

Ran Qianxi smiled stiffly, she was so nervous that she was speechless, and the cat slave in her arms was tightly held by her.

"Haha...father is so good to Xier..."

Tan Qianhuan smiled and took off the ginkgo leaf on her head.

"Where did you go to play again? You didn't even know you got covered in leaves."

"Hahaha…"

At this moment, Ran Qianxi was even more confused about the man in front of her.

She lifted up the raccoon and continued to act stupid.

"Catch the cat..."

Then he took a few steps towards Tan Qianhuan, deliberately shortening the distance.

"Godfather, look at this kitten. She is black and looks very cute."

Tan Qianhuan smiled faintly with loving eyes. He raised his hand, touched her face, and kissed her.

"Xi'er, stop petting the cat, pet me instead."

After saying that, he carried her back to the room.

Nightfall

Ran Qianxi lay on the bed holding Li Nu, thinking back to what happened today. She always felt that the two were plotting something big.

"From what my foster father said... is he trying to get Nanyue to do something? And then put the blame on Xixing?"

"Tsk...my foster father is so powerful, why bother with all this..."

"Xi'er."

Just as he was thinking about it, Xu Yuanchao knocked on the door.

"My Lord? Please come in. I am not asleep yet."

Xu Yuanchao gently pushed open the door. He didn't know when he started to feel safe in him.

"What's wrong, sir?"

Xu Yuanchao smiled gently, very gently.

"The emperor will arrive tomorrow, and I'm afraid I won't be able to see you every day, so I came to see you tonight."

"So fast?"

Seeing her happy face, Xu Yuanchao felt indescribably disappointed.

"You missed him?"

A romantic and passionate woman like her will think about everyone who has a relationship with her.

"I just sighed. I always wanted to go far away."

Xu Yuan smiled at Er, knowing that she was talking nonsense again.

"There's no need to comfort me. I'm already satisfied."

The next day—

Upon hearing that Baili Yong was about to arrive, Ran Qianxi ran to the dock to greet him enthusiastically.

Seeing the imperial ship from afar, her eyes were filled with joy, even though she knew that the emperor must have visited the concubine many times in the past few days.

Today is another rainy day, the sky is gray and the dock is eerily quiet.

As the imperial boat approached, the first person Ran Qianxi saw was a woman, and her smile froze instantly.

Baili Yong brought a small number of guards with him on this trip, and the only ministers he brought were Xie Ying, Liu Xun, and Zuo Qiuhe.

He slowly got off the boat. Ran Qianxi's smile became even more stiff, as if she could smell blood.

"Xi'er!"

Baili Yong immediately took a step forward and hugged her in his arms. Their love for each other grew stronger after such a long separation, but Ran Qianxi just couldn't feel happy at all.

"Is that your Majesty's favorite concubine?"

Baili Yong still didn't let her go and held her tightly.

"She is the daughter of Zuoqiu Zaicheng. I did not marry her."

Ran Qianxi answered perfunctorily, and her mood was still not good.

"profound."

Baili Yong slowly let her go, longing filling his whole body.

"Hurry up and take a good look at me. Are you sick? Are you having trouble eating or sleeping?"

Ran Qianxi smiled faintly, looked into the woman's eyes, and immediately realized what she was thinking.

"Everything is fine with me."