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

"Master, please have some dinner." At this moment, Qingyun led people in, carrying in the prepared dinner.

Looking at the delicious-looking dinner on the tray, Jin Chenyuan instantly thought of Yue Li, who loved to eat fresh food.

I wonder what Yue Li will be able to eat on the mountain tonight?

Will you be hungry?

He waved his hand, signaling Qingyun to have someone put down the dinner.

He has no appetite at all right now.

Seeing his master like this, Qingyun felt helpless. He didn't dare to offer any advice, as his master was already feeling troubled. If he spoke up now, wouldn't he only make his master more upset?

For the next two days, Jin Chenyuan did not lead his men up the mountain. Instead, he had some of the guards from the manor transferred over to scout the route at the foot of the mountain and around its perimeter. He wanted someone to see Yue Li as soon as she came out so that he could receive the news promptly.

Jin Chenyuan stood with his hands behind his back in front of the study window, his eyes looking at the lotus flowers in full bloom in the lake below, but his mind had already wandered to the mountain next to the manor.

He wondered if Yue Li was injured or hungry. Lost in thought, his gaze became unfocused.

When Qingyun entered, he saw his master like this. Qingyun sighed in his heart. Ever since the princess left a message and went up the mountain, his master had not been eating or sleeping well for the past two days. Every time it was time to eat, the food was served up and then taken down. And every night, he could see the lamp in the room that had been lit all night, and his master's figure moving around in the room from time to time.

My master looks noticeably haggard these past two days.

He was really afraid that after the princess returned on the 5th or 6th, his master would exhaust himself.

Remembering the purpose of her visit, Qingyun pulled herself back from her rambling thoughts, cleared her throat, and reported, "Master, the young master has arrived."

"What is he doing here? I won't see him." Jin Chenyuan's mind was already somewhat dulled from not eating or sleeping for the past two days, but upon hearing Qingyun's words, a surge of anger immediately rose within him.

Seeing his master's somber expression, Qingyun carefully said, "Reporting to my master, the young master has come to see the princess."

"Let him go back. Just say that the Princess has not seen anyone these past few days," Jin Chenyuan said, rubbing his throbbing forehead.

Shao Qi was already outside the door, and since the two hadn't deliberately lowered their voices while talking, he heard their conversation clearly. Out of consideration for Jin Chenyuan's status, he didn't dare to barge into the study without permission. However, he called out from outside the study door, "Greetings to Prince Chen."

After exchanging greetings, he said, "Prince Chen, I'm here to see Yue Li. I'll go find her wherever she is. I won't bother you."

If Qingyun hadn't refused to bring him directly to Yue Li's side, why would he have been willing to come to Prince Chen's side?

Even if he were completely ignorant of worldly affairs, he would know that husbands who share a wife only put on a show of politeness, and sometimes they would even sabotage each other behind the scenes.

Just like his father, he had heard his father speak ill of his mother's other husbands to her several times.

Upon hearing Shao Qi's words, Jin Chenyuan arrived at the study door. Looking at Shao Qi, who was dressed smartly and looked energetic, he felt even more irritated. He suppressed his irritation and said, "Young Master, you should go back. A-Li has some matters to attend to these days and it is inconvenient for outsiders to disturb her."

"Why is Prince Chen preventing me from seeing Yue Li? Are you planning to hide Yue Li away so she can't see anyone? Or did you injure Yue Li, so you're preventing her from seeing anyone?" Upon hearing that he was not allowed to see Yue Li, Shao Qi's mind immediately began to race with all sorts of thoughts.

Hearing Shao Qi spouting nonsense in front of him, Jin Chenyuan felt his head ache even more from not sleeping for two days, and his brows furrowed even deeper.

"Young Master, how could our master possibly hit the Princess Consort?" Qingyun immediately stepped forward to stop Shaoqi when he heard him speculate about his master.

"Then tell me, why won't Prince Chen allow me to see Yue Li? Isn't that because he feels guilty?" Shao Qi thought about it more and more and felt that what he said was right.

He looked at Jin Chenyuan and said, "Prince Chen, tell me, did you hear Yue Li say that she was planning to give me a chance because she was afraid that I would replace you in her heart in the future? So the two of you had a fight, and that's why you took action."

Jin Chenyuan: ...

If he hadn't known that Shaoqi was studying medicine, he would have thought Shaoqi was a writer of storybooks.

Qingyun, who was about to speak up to defend his master, fell silent upon hearing the young master's words and took two steps back.

This man might become one of the husbands of his future queen; he couldn't afford to offend him. For now, he should keep quiet and let his master handle it.

"Just tell me, where is Yue Li now? Is she locked up by Prince Chen because she's afraid someone will see her?"

"If you don't speak up, I'm going to the palace to ask the Emperor for justice." Shao Qi stood there babbling on and on, extremely anxious, but he just wouldn't move an inch.

He must see Yue Li unharmed today, otherwise how can he put his mind at ease?

Seeing that he had only thought about whether or not to tell him the truth for a short while, Shao Qi's words were as numerous as flies, buzzing in his ear.

Jin Chenyuan waved his hand, as if shooing away a fly, telling Shao Qi to shut up.

Immediately after seeing Jin Chenyuan wave his hand, Shao Qi stopped talking and waited for him to speak.

"Ah Li went up the mountain. Before she left, she said she would be back in five or six days." After thinking for a moment, Jin Chenyuan decided to tell the truth.

Firstly, it was to shut Shao Qi up.

Secondly, Shao Qi is someone Yue Li has already acknowledged, so he has the right to know the truth.

"What? Yue Li went up the mountain, and she went alone? Why didn't the prince go with her? No, even if the prince didn't accompany her, he could have sent a few people to follow her!" Upon hearing Jin Chenyuan's words, Shao Qi exclaimed in surprise.

Jin Chenyuan's head was buzzing from Shao Qi's noise. He waved his hand, signaling Qingyun to tell Shao Qi what had happened.

Upon receiving the signal, Qingyun immediately came out and recounted the entire incident in detail.

After listening, Shao Qi glanced at the somewhat haggard Prince Chen in front of him.

I was so excited that I didn't notice anything unusual about Prince Chen. Now that I look at him, he does look much more haggard than he did a couple of days ago.

"So we're just going to wait here like this?" Shao Qi asked anxiously.

"Of course we must continue searching. However, this mountain stretches for hundreds of miles, and we don't know which direction Yue Li went. I have already dispatched half of the guards from the manor to the mountain to investigate, so that they can report back in time if there is any major disturbance on the mountain. However, these guards are only patrolling the outer perimeter of the mountain. We still need to lead our own men to investigate the situation in the middle and inner perimeter."

"Then I'll send Tiandong back to the manor now and get more skilled people to help," Shaoqi said, immediately turning around to instruct Tiandong behind him.

PS:

I'm releasing a big chapter today, thank you all for your support.