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

Seeing how cautious they were, Yue Li knew they were doing all this for her sake, so she couldn't help but say, "You don't need to be so cautious. Even if someone finds out, what does it matter?"

And wasn't it just a matter of time before people realized this?

Moreover, she also has ways to deal with being discovered in her online space.

Thinking about it, when she saw Shao Qi's big, dirty face, Yue Li couldn't help but laugh. While laughing, she took out a handkerchief and went forward to wipe the dirt off Shao Qi's forehead and cheeks that he had smeared with sweat.

Upon seeing this, Shao Qi broke into a big smile and leaned down to kiss Yue Li on the cheek.

However, Jin Chenyuan was unaware that Yue Li already had a countermeasure in place.

He looked away, pretending not to see the flirtatious scene before him. After hearing Yue Li's nonchalant words, Jin Chenyuan did not refute her, but patiently explained, "Ah Li, you don't understand the complexity of people's hearts. Sometimes being special is not tolerated by the world, and people will fight over it. Your ability is too miraculous. Even with me and the Emperor protecting you, that's only on the surface. But what about in private? In private, they will go to great lengths and use all sorts of means to obtain your special ability. I don't want you to be hurt, not even in the slightest, so we must solve this problem at its source."

Who wouldn't want the ability to scale walls and leap across rooftops?

If this were to become known now, it wouldn't just be the powerful and wealthy families that would be envious; even the officials and nobles of the capital would likely be extremely jealous and try to obtain it.

"But don't worry, Ah Li, once Shao Qi and I have learned it, we can push the blame onto us."

Yue Li: ……

These politicians really see from the top to the bottom. They think about so many things every day. Don't they get tired?

However, since someone had already arranged everything for her, she was relieved of the trouble. She smiled, stood on tiptoe, hugged Jin Chenyuan's neck, kissed him on the chin, and praised him, "Ah Yuan is so thoughtful. In that case, let's listen to Ah Yuan."

It's better to avoid trouble. As a lazy bum, she'd better just lie still.

"Mmm." Jin Chenyuan nodded reservedly after being kissed. The slight annoyance he felt from Yue Li and Shao Qi's intimacy earlier vanished instantly, replaced by an irrepressible smile in his eyes and brows.

Yue Li found this amusing. After spending so much time together, did she know anything about Jin Chenyuan's personality?

As long as she gives him a little treat at the right time, given his shrewd nature, she won't have to worry about anything else in the future.

The three of them discussed the specific details, such as that Qingyun and the others couldn't possibly pick all the fruit in the valley in one day, and Yue Li didn't have the time to pick people up and drop them off every day.

So, after discussing it, the three decided to let Qingyun and the others stay in the valley for the time being.

Living in this valley, one cannot lack food and other necessities.

That's alright. They don't have time to cultivate today. They'll have someone prepare things when they get back to the manor.

It's very convenient to put the prepared items into the storage bag later.

After agreeing on the details, the three of them did not rush to cultivate or pick up Qingyun and the others, but instead left the valley and came to the intersection where they had come in.

They plan to thoroughly explore the cave today before making any further decisions.

Jin Chenyuan was still in front, holding the luminous pearl, while Yue Li was protected by the two of them in the middle. The three of them walked together from the intersection onto another path.

This time, after walking only three or four meters, a completely different scene appeared before the three of them.

Before them were several man-made caves, some large and some small. Some even contained items that looked like household items, but these items had become rotten and decayed over time.

"I never imagined that people actually lived in these deep mountains." After exploring each cave and examining the traces that could only be seen with careful observation, Jin Chenyuan concluded.

Although the neatly arranged orchards and well-planned medicinal herb fields in the valley suggested that people had once lived here, the traces in the caves further confirmed their suspicions.

"These caves must have been empty for many years, right?" Looking at the rotten household items and the thick layer of dust on the ground, it would take hundreds of years for them to decompose to this state.

They dared not touch anything inside, for fear that even the slightest touch would cause it to fall apart and stir up a cloud of dust.

"Let's wait until Tiandong and the others come in before we tidy up." These people, who have been pampered since childhood, how would they know how to tidy up such things?

"Let's go outside, it's quite smoky in here."

Just as Yue Li was about to use a cleaning spell to remove all the dust from the cave, Jin Chenyuan took out a folded handkerchief and covered Yue Li's mouth and nose, suggesting something.

Although he used a handkerchief to shield Yue Li from the dust, Jin Chenyuan still felt uncomfortable watching the dust swirling in the air under the faint glow of the luminous pearl.

Yue Li, who was raising her hand to cast a cleansing spell: ...

Forget it, let's wait until they leave this afternoon to talk about it!

After the three of them walked out of the cave and returned to the valley from the crossroads, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Compared to this picturesque valley, those caves were incredibly dirty.

Seeing that it was past noon, Yue Li led the two to a shady spot and said, "There's no time to cultivate today. It's past noon now, and I'm hungry. Let's have lunch, pick some fruit, and then head back. When we get back, we'll prepare more things we'll need later, as we'll probably be staying here for a while."

"What does Yue want to eat? I saw rabbits and pheasants in that orchard earlier, otherwise I would have caught some and roasted them for Yue. Putting aside everything else, I'm pretty good at roasting meat." Shao Qi said urgently when he heard that Yue Li was hungry.

In this world, men begin learning cooking skills at a very young age, even those from aristocratic families. They hope that if they were to marry a woman in the future, they could use this skill to please her. Therefore, almost all men in this world have specifically studied cooking skills.

Shao Qi only said that he was good at grilling meat, which was obviously an understatement.

He was so focused on weeding in the herb garden that he didn't notice the time and let A-Yue go hungry.

Jin Chenyuan, however, seemed to have guessed what Yue Li was planning, and for a moment, they all held their breath.

Before, I only had a vague guess in my mind. Could it be that I can see the truth of the matter today?

Looking at Shao Qi's expression, "Tell me quickly, I'll go grab it right now,"...

He glanced at the other side and saw Jin Chenyuan looking at him with a thoughtful expression.

Yue Li knew that Jin Chenyuan had probably guessed something, but he didn't seem to be sure yet.

Yue Li sighed inwardly again. Although having a smart and shrewd man who could plan out all the escape routes for her in advance, she still had to be extra careful living with such a man, especially since she had secrets about him.

"No need to catch pheasants or rabbits, I've already prepared lunch."

As he spoke, he raised his hand, and instantly a table appeared on the flat grass. With another wave of his hand, three chairs landed beside him.

"This, this, A-Yue, this..." Shao Qi was stunned by what he saw and stammered.

Even Jin Chenyuan, who is usually calm and composed and always collected in the face of adversity, couldn't help but shrink his pupils. His eyes were filled with unconcealed shock and astonishment, and he couldn't help but clench his fist tightly as he turned the imperial green jade ring on his thumb.

Before answering Shao Qi's question, Yue Li raised her hand and placed a table full of steaming hot food on the round table. Even the bowl of steamed pearl rice in front of each of the three people was placed neatly.