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

"What did you say?" Jin Chenyuan felt that Yue Li's blink had directly touched his heart.

Meanwhile, Gong Hanmo and Jin Moyu, who were standing nearby, had been watching Yue Li closely. They had naturally noticed Yue Li's actions, but after seeing her blink, they simply lowered their eyes. As for what they were thinking, no one knew.

Shao Qi looked at Yue Li, and the smile on his handsome face seemed a bit silly.

"Exactly, a little dirt won't hurt you! Hahaha... You've never heard of that, have you?" Yue Li found it amusing to see Jin Chenyuan stunned by her words.

Realizing he was being teased, Jin Chenyuan simply smiled indulgently and tapped Yue Li's forehead.

So, Yue Li then led the four of them on a stroll along the long street, ordering whatever they thought looked delicious, after confirming that the four of them didn't intend to eat it.

Even so, the four of them ate quite a few snacks at Yue Li's invitation, snacks they rarely ate before.

So after walking around, Yue Li didn't have any leftover snacks, since she had four people with her to cover for her.

Only when Yue Li felt she had eaten her fill did she let go of the four people behind her who were there to cover for her.

Seeing that Yue Li had finally stopped buying food, the four of them couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. However, seeing Yue Li's bright smile, the corners of their mouths also unconsciously turned up.

"Sister Li, there's a little game over there where you can guess riddles and win lanterns. Would you like to go check it out?" Gong Hanmo, who was following behind, suddenly asked.

"Really? Then let's go check it out."

Yue Li didn't feel awkward at all when Gong Hanmo called her Sister Li, since it was with her permission when they were at the inn.

At the time, Gong Hanmo said, "Princess Consort Chen is not much older than me. It feels awkward to call you Princess Consort Chen. How about I call you Sister Li instead?"

After saying that, he opened his clear, bright eyes and stared longingly at Yue Li.

Yue Li didn't think much about it at the time and readily agreed.

From that time on, Gong Hanmo always called her Sister Li.

It was from that time that Jin Chenyuan and Shao Qi both vaguely guessed what Gong Hanmo was planning.

However, neither of them took it to heart. After all, given Gong Hanmo's age, it would take at least four more years before he could truly be with Yue Li.

Moreover, who knows what might happen in the next four years?

Moreover, given Yue Li's current age, she's still a long way from turning 25, so there's no need to rush anything.

Seeing that Yue Li had been seduced by Gong Hanmo again, Jin Chenyuan glanced at Shao Qi, who was also happily standing beside him.

I don't know what's wrong with this person.

He promised to take Yue Li out to play, but now that he sees someone else luring Yue Li away, he doesn't seem to have any sense of crisis at all.

Did he use his cunning against himself?

While instructing Qingyun and the other three to keep a close watch on Yue Li and prevent any treacherous people from appearing around her, Jin Chenyuan strode forward and stood protectively beside Yue Li.

And so, Yue Li was tacitly protected by the four people in the middle.

To her left was Jin Chenyuan, and to her right was Gong Hanmo, who was pointing the way. Jin Moyu and Shao Qi followed behind the three of them, and on the outermost layer were the servants and guards of the four of them.

"This riddle-guessing area is really huge!" Yue Li exclaimed as she looked at the vast expanse of lanterns of all kinds hanging in front of her, with red papers bearing riddles written on them.

"Yes, during the Lantern Festival every year, this place has the most lanterns and is the most lively," Shao Qi explained from behind.

Then, pointing with his folding fan to a restaurant next door, he said, "And this restaurant has the biggest lanterns every year, which extend all the way from the fifth floor to the ground. I also heard that the owner of this restaurant arranged all these lanterns for solving riddles."

Following the direction Shao Qi pointed, Yue Li saw a five-story restaurant not far away. A large sign reading "[Baiweilou]" hung above the entrance, and the restaurant was brightly decorated with various lanterns, making it quite beautiful.

"The owner of this restaurant is really ingenious. With his decorations, this restaurant is immediately distinguished from other restaurants, and it makes you want to go in." Yue Li said with a smile as she admired the various lanterns hanging in the restaurant.

Little did she know that while she was admiring the scenery, she had become part of the scenery in the eyes of others.

At this moment, Sheng Yifan, the young master of Baiweilou, who was standing by the window on the fifth floor of Baiweilou, did not know how to describe his feelings.

Moths and willows, golden threads, laughter and fragrance linger. I searched for him a thousand times in the crowd, then suddenly turning around, I found him there, in the dim light.

Looking at the girl, who appeared like a fairy, bathed in the hazy and dreamlike light of the lanterns, Sheng Yifan couldn't help but look away.

Wearing a flowing red brocade dress with wide sleeves, she looked even more radiant, with her snow-white skin and exquisite features.

Sheng Yifan, who was solely focused on the family business, never imagined that he would see the woman he admired, the fairy in his eyes, at the lantern festival in Kyoto, a place he had attended since he could remember.

And she fell in love at first sight.

Why did he think of Yue Li as a young lady, rather than a lady?

Because any married woman would comb all her hair up in a bun. Even if a woman thought it was ugly to comb all her hair up, she would only leave a few strands on her shoulders.

Instead of having her hair styled into a bun on top like Yue Li, with the lower half draped over her shoulders, she had a different hairstyle.

However, as his fairy turned around, he also saw several men surrounding her.

Upon seeing the faces of the men, Sheng Yifan's pupils involuntarily contracted.

Having frequented Kyoto for many years, he naturally recognized who those men were and knew that they were all scions of prominent families.

Especially Prince Chen, with whom they had only recently met.

A sudden thought flashed through my mind—what came to mind?

Sheng Yifan immediately turned his gaze back to his fairy.

Seeing his fairy-like face smiling as she spoke with Prince Chen, Sheng Yifan could roughly guess her identity.

His fairy should be the young lady who caused a sensation in the upper-class circles of Kyoto some time ago, who was brought to Kyoto by Prince Chen, and later stayed in Prince Chen's mansion after drinking spiked wine at the Lexiang Pavilion under the Sheng family.

Her maiden name is Yue Li.

As for how Sheng Yifan knew all this so clearly, it was because he had his men find out everything before he went to Prince Chen's residence to apologize.

Perhaps it was Sheng Yifan's gaze that was too intense, causing Yue Li, who was currently looking around at an exquisite revolving lantern, to subconsciously cast her gaze in that direction.

Seeing the gaze directed at him by his fairy, Sheng Yifan acted faster than he thought, instantly hiding behind the wall next to the windowsill.

After hiding, Sheng Yifan realized what he had done and tapped his forehead with his folding fan in frustration.

How could he forget?

Given his current position, the bright lanterns outside the window, and the darkness of the room, his fairy couldn't see him at all.

After figuring things out, Sheng Yifan returned to the windowsill.

However, now that he knew her keen perception, he stopped staring intently at his fairy.

Yes, his eyes were fixed on the lanterns, but out of the corner of his eye, he kept glancing at the fairy in his heart.