Time travel, quick transmigration

Since Dongling Temple was designated as a royal Taoist temple, not only has its incense offerings become more abundant, but more people have also come here to enter the Taoist path and cultivate themselves.

Now, because it is winter, the temple grounds are quiet but also show a touch of desolation.

When Li Longji, Gao Lishi, and the Imperial Guards arrived, Abbot Qingfeng and Wenying led three newly recruited female Taoist priests out of the Sanqing Hall.

Upon seeing the imperial procession, Qingfeng immediately bowed, and Wenying, seeing this, led the other three to bow as well.

Li Longji glanced at the group of people, gave a soft hum, and then turned his gaze toward Huanqing Residence, where Shi Yan lived.

Gao Lishi and the Imperial Guards immediately followed closely behind.

After Li Longji and his entourage had gone far away, Qingfeng and the others raised their heads to look into the distance. The three newly recruited female Taoist priests, in particular, were all stunned by the emperor's majesty.

When Li Longji arrived at Huanqing Residence, Shi Yan and Xiao Die were chatting and laughing by the fire in the flower pavilion.

Upon seeing the unexpected visitor, Shi Yan secretly rejoiced that 0804 had informed her in advance; otherwise, she would have been worried that Li Longji might have overheard her conversation with Xiao Die.

"Your Majesty, why did you come here in such cold weather?"

Shi Yan stood up from a square stool and went forward to greet Li Longji, inviting him to sit on the couch by the window in front. She then thoughtfully took a warm ceramic pot and poured Li Longji a cup of hot tea.

"Your Majesty, it's cold outside. Have some hot tea to warm yourself up. This tea was brewed this morning. Try it and see how it tastes."

Li Longji smiled, reached out and picked up a teacup from the table beside him, then took a couple of sips.

"Indeed. Yu Huan, your tea-making skills are truly unparalleled. It's just a pity that I can't enjoy it every day."

"Come sit next to me."

As he spoke, he grasped Shi Yan's right hand and pulled her to his side.

Shi Yan was pulled to sit down by Li Longji against her will.

Xiao Die looked up at Shi Yan, the emperor, and hesitated, unsure whether to leave or stay, before Gao Lishi, who was frequently giving her meaningful glances, pulled her away.

For a moment, only Shi Yan and Li Longji remained in the Flower Pavilion. Because the atmosphere was too ambiguous and too quiet, Shi Yan broke the silence first.

"With the New Year approaching, Your Majesty must be very busy. It is good for you to be here, so Your Majesty need not worry about you all the time. Traveling back and forth is tiring and arduous, and the cold wind is biting. Why don't you stay in the palace, where it would be more comfortable? You can come again when the weather is warmer."

As Shi Yan spoke, she glanced at Li Longji, whose eyes were brimming with a smile, and continued.

"Your Majesty's feelings for Taizhen are clear to Taizhen. But if anything were to happen to Your Majesty because of Taizhen, Taizhen would be uneasy."

What Shi Yan disapproved of was perceived by Li Longji as coquettishness and reproach.

"Good, good, good, I know you care about me."

"I only came out of the palace because I missed you so much. Are you not happy to see me?"

Shi Yan rolled her eyes inwardly and pouted, but didn't show it on her face. Only a hint of shyness appeared in her eyes.

Li Longji, too shy to express his feelings, smiled in a good mood.

"I came out of the palace to discuss bringing you into the palace to spend the New Year together. Although this temple is nice, it is a bit deserted. The thought of the palace being lively while you are all alone outside without anyone to accompany you makes me feel sad and unable to bear it."

"Would you like to come to the palace with me?"

"Since you understand my sincere feelings, you should also hope to be with me every day, just like me."

She had seen narcissists, but never a man as arrogant, narcissistic, and self-righteous as Li Longji. If she could change history, she would have told Li Longji that she didn't need his so-called sincerity at all, and felt nothing for him. But she couldn't.

“Your Majesty, it would be inappropriate for Taizhen to spend New Year’s Day with you in the palace.” “This Dongling Temple is not really deserted, except for being a bit quiet. You can rest assured that I am very good at entertaining myself and will take good care of myself.”

"After spending these days with you, even the hardest-hearted Taizhen cannot remain completely unmoved. The Taizhen Temple in the palace was arranged by you for Taizhen, so it will naturally have its purpose."

Although Shi Yan refused Li Longji's request to enter the palace to spend New Year's Day together, her subsequent words undoubtedly gave him a response. Although Li Longji was initially somewhat disappointed, his disappointment dissipated considerably after hearing Shi Yan's later words, and he became even more looking forward to spending time together with her.

"Yu Huan, I finally feel like the clouds have parted and the moon is shining through."

"On New Year's Day, since you are unwilling to go to the palace, I will bestow upon you more of what you like. You must take good care of yourself while you are away, and do not worry me."

Shi Yan smiled gently and agreed softly.

Afterwards, the two had Xiaodie set up a chessboard and played chess in the Flower Pavilion. Shi Yan's chess skills were not good, but in order to keep Li Longji from having too much time to think about it, Shi Yan found an excuse to ask Li Longji to teach her chess. Although Shi Yan lost every time, her chess skills gradually improved over time.

There are many ways to make a man happy, and Shi Yan chose to learn from Li Longji during their chess matches, asking questions diligently and adding a touch of admiration and worship. As a result, Li Longji always left with a pleasant mood.

After seeing Li Longji off, Shi Yan returned to the Flower Pavilion and sat down in her original spot to continue the previous game of chess, playing against herself.

Xiaodie walked into the flower pavilion and went to the inner room. She saw Shi Yan focused on the chessboard, so she didn't go up to disturb him and left directly.

Looking at the gifts brought by His Majesty the Emperor through the Imperial Guards on the octagonal table, Xiaodie couldn't help but sigh.

"What use are these gifts from His Majesty? My wife has never opened them, nor used them. No matter how valuable they are, they are just kept locked away in the storeroom by me. Sigh..."

He sighed inwardly and then resigned himself to his fate and went to move his things.

In the Qingxuan Hall of the Xiao family's Biluo Pavilion, Xiao Huanling, having been disciplined by his family, was placed on a couch by Chen Hui and Xiang'er. After Chen Hui cleaned and applied medicine to his back wounds, the bleeding had stopped, but it still looked somewhat frightening.

“Ling-ge, try to be as agreeable as possible in front of the master. No matter what, you are still his child. What father doesn't love his child? Why go against the master? You know his temperament perfectly well… you…”

Chen Hui looked at the several wounds on Xiao Huanling's back with a pained expression and couldn't help but try to comfort him. However, when she saw Xiao Huanling closing his eyes and not responding with a stubborn look on his face, she was helpless.

“Brother Ling, as the saying goes, our bodies and hair are given to us by our parents. Although you have been punished by the master, he must also be feeling bad.”

"I'll go and brew some medicine to help improve blood circulation and remove blood stasis. You should lie down and rest well, and be careful not to put pressure on the wound."

After saying that, he looked at Xiao Huanling for a while, then turned and left.

Xiao Huanling slowly opened his eyes after Chen Hui left.

"It's impossible for me to learn to obey him. He actually wants to control my life and arrange my marriage... Humph, how ridiculous."

The wounds behind this should be much better before the Yuanzheng Festival. Xiao Huanling thought about the promise to spend the festival with Shi Yan and was troubled for the first time because of something that was uncertain.