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

Therefore, after meeting that young master from Kyoto once, Yuan Xinyi...

She tried every means to arrange a chance encounter with that young master, but that young master had seen all kinds of women in the capital and did not take a fancy to Yuan Xinyi.

Moreover, Yuan Xinyi already had two husbands at that time, and as a young master from a prominent family, he already had a marriage partner, so he would be even less likely to accept it.

He then sternly rejected Yuan Xinyi's advances.

Yuan Xinyi, who had been pampered since childhood, had never suffered such humiliation. In a fit of anger, she slipped an aphrodisiac into the drinks at a banquet.

What's baffling is that she didn't give the aphrodisiac to the man; she drank it herself.

Perhaps she was overly confident in her beauty, or perhaps she thought she was under the influence of an aphrodisiac, in which case the young master would risk his life to save her.

In the end, the man did not attend the banquet; instead, his family had to temporarily return to Kyoto.

After Yuan Xinyi drank the aphrodisiac, she couldn't hold back and eventually grabbed a random man to give her the antidote.

Coincidentally, this man was Yueyue's father.

Yueyue's father had simply hunted wild animals in the mountains and was delivering them to families holding banquets in the county town.

But I never expected to encounter such a thing on a secluded path outside the mansion.

Yuan Xinyi was naturally furious about what had happened. But she couldn't take her anger out on Yuecheng.

In the end, Yuan Xinyi could only pretend that nothing had happened.

In this world, relationships between women and men are perfectly acceptable as long as they are not bound by marriage and are consensual.

And what about Yueyue's father, Yuecheng?

The woman didn't complain, so why should he, a man, complain? Besides, he actually benefited from this situation.

And so, the two of them acted as if nothing had ever happened.

However, ten months later...

However, a servant from Yuan Xinyi's household brought over a child, claiming that it was his child.

Under Yuecheng's persistent questioning, the servant who brought the child finally explained what had happened.

It turns out that more than a month after Yuan Xinyi and Yuecheng had their relationship, Yuan Xinyi discovered she was pregnant. However, she didn't think much of it, after all, she had two husbands.

She was very happy to tell her two husbands the news.

All three of them were eagerly anticipating the birth of the child.

After a ten-month wait, Yuan Xinyi enjoyed ten months of queen-like treatment before her child was finally born.

However, an unexpected incident occurred when they tried to identify the child's father.

Because the tests showed that the child was not the father of either of her two husbands.

Because this world practices polyandry, items that can detect blood relations have long existed to distinguish which husband's child a wife gave birth to.

To avoid any errors, the two underwent five or six tests. But in the end, they still determined that the child was not the offspring of either of them.

This time, not only were the two husbands dumbfounded, but Yuan Xinyi was also dumbfounded.

Seeing the unpleasant expressions on her two husbands' faces and the questioning looks from the three families, Yuan Xinyi was also full of doubt.

At this moment, Yuan Xinyi's mother broke the heavy atmosphere and said, "You all go out first, I want to talk to Xinyi."

Everyone knew that she wanted to know who the child's father was. So, even her two husbands, who looked unwell, went out with the others.

After everyone left, Yuan Xinyi's mother sat down beside Yuan Xinyi's bed, who had just given birth, and said, "Xinyi, are you confused? How could you have a child with a man you've never been married to? And it's a girl, no less. Your two husbands don't even have a child. Who is the father of this child? You still have two husbands available, why don't you just give one to him?"

Yuan Xinyi looked very unwell because she had finally remembered who the child's father was.

However, she would never marry a man like that. He clearly came from a poor family.

How could Yuan Xinyi possibly marry into such a family?

So Yuan Xinyi told her mother everything that happened at the banquet ten months ago.

Yuan Xinyi's mother also looked very upset upon hearing this, but since it was her own child who had caused trouble, she naturally had to help cover it up.

Yuan Xinyi's mother thought for a moment and said, "Since you don't plan to marry him, then don't let him know about the child. After all, it's a girl, and many families would be eager to have one. If he finds out, he will definitely make a fuss and try to take the child away."

Yuan Xinyi, who was initially overjoyed to learn that she had given birth to a girl, couldn't hide the disgust in her eyes when she looked at the child again after finding out who the father was.

She said to her mother, "Mother, I don't plan to keep this child with me. Although it's a girl, if I can have one, then I can have two."

Meeting her mother's surprised gaze, Yuan Xinyi continued, "Mother, you should send this child away. Send her to her father. Although I don't want to raise her, she is my daughter after all, so let her father raise her."

Looking at her daughter's determined expression, Yuan Xinyi's mother hesitated before nodding and saying, "Alright, I'll have a servant take her to her father."

And so, without even having a sip of milk, the newborn Yueyue was sent to her father's side.

Fortunately, Yuan Xinyi stayed at her parents' home in Pingchuan County to give birth after learning she was pregnant, fearing the bumpy journey. If she had gone to Qingyuan Prefecture to give birth, the journey from Pingchuan County to Qingyuan Prefecture would have taken more than a month, and the newborn Yueyue might have starved to death.

Yuecheng raised Yueyue with great difficulty until she was 15 years old, and he never remarried.

Isn't the point of marriage to have children? He already has children, so there's no need for him to put in any extra effort.

Moreover, he was all alone, and no one was forcing him to get married and carry on the family line. He felt that having a daughter was quite good.

But it's incredibly difficult for a grown man to raise a newborn baby. And girls are especially difficult to raise, yet he wanted Yueyue to have a good life.

To raise Yueyue, Yuecheng endured all kinds of hardships and exhaustion.

Because of this, years of overwork took their toll, and Yuecheng fell ill right after the New Year this year.

Because he couldn't let go of Yueyue, he didn't close his eyes until the end of summer, and breathed his last.

He probably never imagined that Yuan Xinyi, whom he couldn't contact while he was seriously ill, would cause his beloved daughter to die of anger not long after his death.

When Yue Li woke up, she was surrounded by a woman's incessant chatter and sarcasm: "Your father is dead, and I'm your only support now. How can you not listen to me about your marriage? Don't worry, I've already inquired about those six men in the next village. Although they're a bit old, they're all very capable. They can definitely support you. Besides, you're just a country girl; do you really think you can marry into the county or the prefectural city? When your father was alive, I talked to him about several good marriages, but he just wouldn't agree. Now that he's dead, you can just listen to me about your future marriage."