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

Yue Li's grand return to the manor once again attracted the attention of those with ulterior motives. Moreover, the guards surrounding the carriage were all from the palace, and they were all wearing the uniforms of palace guards.

In the Li family mansion, which is separated from the Yue family mansion by only one other mansion, several ladies in their thirties were enjoying tea and chatting, and boating on the lake. At this moment, when the guards at the gate came to report the situation outside, the ladies looked at each other in bewilderment.

A beautiful woman curiously asked Li Xiaoxiao, the mistress of the Li residence, who was drinking tea, "Xiaoxiao, wasn't that mansion next to yours always empty? When did someone move in?"

Before Li Xiaoxiao could answer, one of the ladies, a woman with a round face, smiled and said, "Why is Aqi's news so outdated this time? The person living in that mansion now is the future Princess Consort of Prince Chen. Haven't you heard that Prince Chen's mansion has been preparing for the wedding banquet to be held tomorrow? Prince Chen's mansion is already decorated. Or did you not receive an invitation?"

Aqi ignored the lady's teasing and said with a smile, "Of course I received the wedding invitation from Prince Chen, but I didn't know that Prince Chen's future princess was living in that mansion not far from here! Didn't I take my two new pets to travel somewhere else a while ago? I didn't receive any news about it, and that mansion has been empty all this time. Now that I see someone living there, I'm just curious, so I'm asking."

At this moment, Chen Xiaoxiao spoke up, "That mansion was indeed empty before, but ever since the news of Prince Chen's marriage spread, the mansion has been under renovation. Princess Chen only moved in a couple of days ago, probably to prepare for her wedding."

One of Chen Xiaoxiao's husbands is the Minister of Rites. The Ministry of Rites has been busy with Prince Chen's wedding banquet lately, and the Minister of Rites would mention it when he returned home. So she naturally knows more about it, but she can't say it now. As for how many people will know in the future, that depends on their abilities.

Upon hearing Chen Xiaoxiao's words, the plump-looking lady asked curiously, "But I heard that the young master of the Duke of Yi's mansion has also moved into the mansion next door?"

Hearing her words, Chen Xiaoxiao smiled and glanced at her sideways, saying, "What's so strange about that? Don't forget that she will be the Princess Consort of Prince Chen in the future. Although Prince Chen is a bit old, she has a high status!"

"Although the young master of the Duke of Yi's mansion is a well-known young talent in the capital, and many people have their eyes on him, he is still far inferior to Prince Chen."

"Look at what you're saying, which young talent in Kyoto can compare to Prince Chen?"

As she spoke, the plump lady chuckled, glanced around at the ladies present, and winked, saying, "Didn't they say that Princess Fu Ning had already spread the word in our circle that she was interested in the young master? So now..."

Her words were quite meaningful.

The young master of the Duke of Yi's mansion was indeed very popular with these ladies because of his handsome and sunny appearance. However, he was, after all, the only son of the Duke of Yi's mansion. These ladies, who had already chosen their husbands and had several children, had no interest in him except for the Princess of Funing.

After all, they're already old enough to keep pets, so instead of eyeing the young master, they might as well choose a few more young and handsome men to keep.

What does it mean to keep a small pet?

In this case, without a marriage contract, a woman would find several young and handsome men to keep in her house. In this situation, the woman was not required to have children; their only requirement was that the man keep her company.

However, Princess Fu Ning did indeed make a statement at a banquet, saying that she had taken a liking to the young master of the Duke of Yi's mansion and that they should not make any moves on him. She also boasted that if she married the young master, she would definitely give birth to a daughter for him.

However, Princess Fu Ning did have that confidence before, after all, she was the one who had given birth to a daughter.

The ladies' eyes all turned meaningful upon hearing her words.

Now, who in their circle doesn't know them?

Princess Fu Ning has been secretly tormented terribly lately, and she's hiding at home, too afraid to come out.

After all, as soon as Princess Fu Ning comes out, no matter how many guards she brings, she will be knocked unconscious, and when she reappears, she will be in a dilapidated temple.

The first time, her family didn't know, but that time even the government was alarmed and searched extensively in the capital. But who knew that in the end they would find Princess Fu Ning, almost naked and unconscious in a pile of straw in a dilapidated temple outside the capital, clearly having been violated.

The first time was like a signal, and for a period of time afterward, no matter where the county magistrate of Funing went after leaving home...

They will all eventually appear in the dilapidated temple, and when everyone finds her, they will see the exact same scene as the first time.

So later, whenever Princess Fu Ning went missing, everyone would go directly to that dilapidated temple to look for her.

Although people don't pay much attention to these things in this day and age, no one can withstand such torment, let alone a woman who has been pampered since childhood and has never experienced any setbacks.

Isn't the current Princess of Funing already tormented by such matters and somewhat paranoid?

Moreover, she hasn't left the house in a long time.

They no longer cared about the young master.

Even with the intervention of the Censorate, they still couldn't find out who hated Princess Fu Ning so much that they were driving her to the brink of despair.

Aqi, standing to the side, curled her lip and said, "Isn't she just an orphan girl who was brought to the capital by Prince Chen? Have you met the future Princess Chen? I don't know how Prince Chen took a liking to her, but now even the young prince is living in her residence."

Aqi, whose full name is Zhao Ruiqi, comes from a family that is the first family after the Jin family. Originally, the Zhao family was the second largest family, but after the Jin family ascended the throne, her family naturally became the first family.

Moreover, the Zhao family contributed significantly when the Jin family seized the throne, which further solidified the Zhao family's position as the leading family.

Zhao Ruiqi was very fond of Jin Chenyuan back then, and even expressed her feelings for him many times.

Zhao Ruiqi originally thought that as the daughter of the first noble family, she would marry Jin Chenyuan and make him her first husband. Jin Chenyuan would not refuse, after all, their marriage was a powerful alliance.

Unexpectedly, Jin Chenyuan not only rejected her, but also all the women who had feelings for him, and has remained single ever since.

Which of the ladies present doesn't know how much Zhao Ruiqi was in love with Prince Chen back then? But who hasn't been rejected by Prince Chen?

Don't let Prince Chen's current composed appearance fool you; in his youth, before the late emperor passed away, he was the most handsome young man in the capital.

At that time, Prince Chen was full of vigor and couldn't have been more unrestrained.

Think about Prince Chen back then, and then look at Prince Chen now. If you only look at his personality, they're like two different people.

PS:

Thank you for the donations, my darlings!