The Emperor, with more men than women, made me his mistress.

The tangled vines growing haphazardly on the ground in front of me are indeed watermelon seedlings.

"Ah Li, what is this? Is it dangerous?" Jin Chenyuan was so frightened when he saw Yue Li touch the ball-like thing with her hand that he quickly pulled her up and took a few steps back to keep her at a distance.

Watching the watermelon she had been longing for slip from her grasp, Yue Li regretted that she had been too slow.

However, looking back at Jin Chenyuan's tense expression and Qingyun and the others around him looking wary, Yue Li quickly comforted him, "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous. I recognize this. I used to eat it when I was in my hometown. It's really delicious."

Seeing the skeptical looks on everyone's faces, Yue Li simply said, "If you don't believe me, we'll open one right now and everyone can try it and see, right?"

She never expected that watermelons, which are not grown outside, would be found growing wild on the mountain.

Once we discover watermelons and have watermelon seeds, will we ever have to worry about not having watermelons to eat again?

Upon hearing Yue Li's words, Jin Chenyuan gave Qingyun a wink. Qingyun immediately picked up the dagger at his waist, stepped forward, picked up the nearest watermelon, cut it off, and then presented it to everyone.

Seeing this, everyone gathered around.

"Your Highness, I don't know how to eat this thing." How can anyone eat something so round and bigger than a head?

Yue Li squatted down and looked at the watermelon that Qing Yun had placed in front of her, saying, "This thing is called a watermelon. You have to cut it with a knife. Take a dagger and cut it from here."

As she spoke, Yue Li looked at the dagger in Qing Yun's hand and suddenly said, "Is your dagger clean?" Wait a minute, if they find out after cutting open the watermelon that Qing Yun's dagger was specifically used for killing, then no one will be able to bring themselves to eat it.

"Yes, Your Highness, my dagger is clean."

As if afraid that Yue Li wouldn't believe him, Qingyun took out a slightly longer dagger from the other side of his waist and said, "These two daggers of mine are for separate use."

"Alright then, you can begin."

Following Yue Li's instructions, Qingyun first cut the watermelon in half, and instantly, the cut watermelon revealed its red flesh.

Yue Li was quite close, and she smelled the sweet aroma of the watermelon the moment it was cut open.

This was a scent she hadn't smelled in ages. In her previous life, she had spent over 100 years in the cultivation world and had never even seen a watermelon. Yet, unexpectedly, she had stumbled upon it on the mountain in this life.

He quickly instructed Qingyun to cut the watermelon into small pieces.

The moment Qingyun finished cutting the watermelon, Yue Li grabbed two pieces and handed one to Jin Chenyuan, who was squatting next to her. "Try it, how does it taste?"

A piece was already stuffed into my mouth, and instantly, the sweet taste filled my mouth.

"Ah Li!" Jin Chenyuan cried out in fright when he saw Yue Li so recklessly put this unknown thing into her mouth.

But Yue Li had already spat out the watermelon seeds and was stuffing a second bite into her mouth. Seeing Jin Chenyuan's expression, Yue Li, with watermelon in her mouth, mumbled, "What's wrong? Why aren't you eating?"

Seeing Yue Li like this, Jin Chenyuan simply snatched the half-eaten watermelon from Yue Li's hand and took it for himself.

Yue Li: ……

What is this guy trying to do?

Is this an attempt to snatch food from a tiger's mouth?

But Jin Chenyuan, with a stern face and an unprecedentedly serious attitude, said to her, "Ali, this hasn't been checked. How can you eat it like this? What if it's poisonous?"

Facing the oppressive aura emanating from Jin Chenyuan for the first time, Yue Li timidly shrank back, withdrawing her hand that had been trying to snatch back her slice of watermelon.

Seeing that there was no clear answer and Jin Chenyuan had no intention of returning the watermelon to her, Yue Li had no choice but to spit out the watermelon seeds in her mouth and say, "Didn't I just say that I've eaten watermelon before? Otherwise, how would I know that this thing is edible?"

Just then, a chewing sound came from inside. Yue Li turned her head and saw Qing Yun taking big bites of watermelon. Yue Li immediately pointed at Qing Yun and complained, "Look, Qing Yun is eating too."

Everyone:...

Don't think they didn't realize that the princess wanted her watermelon back but was afraid of upsetting her master, so she was trying to divert attention.

After finishing the watermelon, Qingyun waited a while to make sure she felt fine before nodding to Jin Chenyuan.

Jin Chenyuan then showed her the patch of watermelon that Yue Li had nibbled on, saying, "Qingyun was testing for poison just now."

"Huh? Oh."

Ignoring Jin Chenyuan's words about testing the watermelon, Yue Li immediately took a bite of it after retrieving it, the sweet juice instantly filling her mouth.

Although she knew Jin Chenyuan was being cautious, Yue Li still snorted at him to show her displeasure at someone who was stopping her from eating watermelon.

Then, when he saw Jin Chenyuan take a bite of watermelon and show a surprised expression, he was secretly pleased, thinking, "Damn it, isn't he?"

She ate watermelons all her life, how could she not know if they were poisonous?

After eating two more watermelons, the group reluctantly stopped. Looking at the watermelon patch, Yue Li said, "Let's find someone to move all these watermelons back to the manor. It would be such a waste if they rotted here. Also, the seeds inside these watermelons can be used to grow new watermelons, so we should save some next time we eat watermelons. That way, we can grow watermelons on the manor and won't have to come all the way up the mountain anymore."

"Alright, I'll have someone pick all these watermelons and carry them back to the estate." Having tasted the deliciousness of the watermelons, Jin Chenyuan couldn't bear to let them rot here.

"Yes, after we move them back, we should send a few to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor as well, so they can have a taste as well," Yue Li suggested, thinking of the Empress Dowager who had been kind to her in the palace and the Emperor who had always been very gentle.

"Okay, I'll do whatever Ah Li says."

Then Jin Chenyuan sent someone down the mountain to the manor to fetch people.

Qingyun and his companions took out their daggers and began picking watermelons still clinging to the vines.

They were busy picking and transporting the watermelons until noon, finally moving all the watermelons from that field to the village.

The watermelon patch didn't look very big, but we ended up picking more than 100 watermelons of various sizes.

After instructing You Yun to deliver 20 watermelons to the palace, Jin Chenyuan and Yue Li, who had been busy all morning, finally began to eat lunch.

However, everyone ate a lot of watermelon this morning and their stomachs were full, so they didn't eat much for lunch.

After taking a nap with Jin Chenyuan in bed, Yue Li woke up to find that Jin Chenyuan was no longer in bed.

After thinking for a moment, Yue Li sat up, sat cross-legged, took out the jade bottle containing the spirit essence liquid from her space, and poured a drop of the spirit essence liquid directly into her mouth.

After putting the jade bottle back on and placing it in her spatial storage, Yue Li placed her hands on her knees, palms up, slightly clenched her fists, and then relaxed them.

Her body relaxed, and she emptied her mind to enter a meditative state. Before long, Yue Li sensed the mixed and sparse spiritual energy in the air.

This time, however, Yue Li didn't absorb the spiritual energy in the air; instead, she swallowed the spiritual marrow liquid in her mouth. Instantly, Yue Li felt a surge of rich spiritual energy rush into her body.

Yue Li quickly guided the spiritual energy into her meridians, but without the help of external spiritual energy, the absorption of this drop of spiritual essence was much slower.

Half an hour had passed by the time Yue Li had completely absorbed the drop of spiritual essence liquid in her body and channeled it into her dantian.

too slow.

If this pace continues, when will she be able to absorb all of this half-bottle of spirit essence liquid, and when will she be able to convert it into her own spiritual power?