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

A pair of large, well-defined hands gripped her soft waist, forcing her to face him.

At this moment, Yue Li felt like a lone boat on the sea, battered by the surging waves with nowhere to escape, yet forced to endure everything.

"Li Bao!"

He kissed away the tear that had welled up in Yue Li's eye, and a satisfied sigh escaped from Jin Chenyuan's lips.

The rustling of the bed curtains in the inner room continued until dawn.

After casually throwing on a long robe, Jin Chenyuan went to the door and instructed the servants guarding outside the courtyard to fetch hot water. After personally washing the two of them, Jin Chenyuan held the already unconscious Yue Li and fell asleep again.

As dawn broke, a ray of sunlight shone through the window onto the bed curtains in the room.

On the large bed surrounded by bed curtains, a handsome man was embracing a fair-skinned, exquisitely beautiful woman who was fast asleep with her eyes closed.

Suddenly, the man's eyelashes fluttered, and then he opened his deep, obsidian-like eyes. Noticing the soft touch in his arms, he instinctively pulled the delicate body closer to him.

Looking down, I saw the peaceful little face of the girl sleeping soundly nestled in my arms.

Seeing Yue Li still nestled in his arms, Jin Chenyuan couldn't resist and gently kissed her still swollen lips.

Seeing her still red and swollen eyes and tear stains on her face, Jin Chenyuan's handsome face broke into a satisfied smile.

Although what happened last night was not in his plan, he was still very satisfied with the final result.

However, thinking of Yue Li's condition last night, Jin Chenyuan narrowed his eyes. It was fortunate that he was the one who encountered Yue Li last night, otherwise, given Yue Li's condition at the time, Jin Chenyuan dared not imagine what might have happened.

Thinking about what he had asked You Yun to investigate last night, Jin Chenyuan decided to get up and ask him about it.

Looking at Yue Li, who was still sleeping peacefully in his arms, Jin Chenyuan gently removed her small hand from his waist and carefully got out of bed, afraid of making any noise that might wake the sleeping girl.

Jin Chenyuan carefully got out of bed and looked at Yue Li, who was still sleeping peacefully in his big bed. Only then did he relax and close the bed curtains again.

Jin Chenyuan casually grabbed a robe and put it on. He then left the bedroom, went to the outer room, opened the door, and looked at the servants still guarding the courtyard. He ordered, "Bring some hot water. I want to take a bath."

The servants standing outside the courtyard saw Prince Chen emerge from the room and were about to bow when they heard the prince's instructions. They immediately bowed and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

"Yes, you can take a shower in the bathroom next door."

There are two bathhouses in his courtyard. One of them is a bathhouse that he had specially built next to his bedroom.

The other bathroom was in the makeshift study in the yard, but it was smaller and contained only a larger-than-usual bathtub.

He likes to bathe in the bathtub, but isn't Yue Li sleeping right next door? If the servants make a lot of noise while refilling the water, it will definitely wake her up.

Knowing that Yue Li only fell asleep when it was almost dawn, Jin Chenyuan decided to make do this time and take a bath in the tub.

The bath can be used in the evening when bathing with Yue Li.

With that thought, Jin Chenyuan returned to his room in a very good mood.

"Yes."

Seeing that the prince had returned to his room, one of the two guards outside the courtyard remained in place to await the prince's instructions, while the other left to go to the kitchen to relay the prince's orders.

The Prince Chen's residence has only one master, Jin Chenyuan, and he does not live in the front courtyard. He only uses the front courtyard for official business.

Therefore, the courtyard where he lived was the largest in the Prince Chen's mansion. The courtyard not only had a garden full of exotic flowers and plants, but also rockeries and forests arranged in a well-organized manner. A path paved with bluestone divided the small garden in two. At the end of the path was a beautifully designed hexagonal pavilion, and a chess game that was half-finished was placed on the round table in the pavilion.

Next to the pavilion, there is an artificial hill of the same height as the pavilion. The artificial hill sits in a stone-built pond. The trickling water flowing down from the artificial hill gathers in the clear pond below. The water in the pond is so clear that you can see the bottom, and every now and then, a few small fish of different colors swim leisurely through it.

But at this moment, no one is appreciating this serene and beautiful scene.

At this moment, the owner of the courtyard had arrived and entered the study set up in the courtyard.

There was a large study in the front yard, which Jin Chenyuan used specifically for handling official business. However, since he had to go to the front yard for everything, Jin Chenyuan found it troublesome, so he had a small study set up in his own yard.

At this moment, in the small study, Jin Chenyuan, who had already washed up and was looking refreshed, sat in a chair behind the table, sipping tea and listening attentively to You Yun's report standing below.

After You Yun finished explaining what he had investigated since receiving the mission the night before, he cautiously looked at his master sitting at the head of the table.

Setting down his teacup, Jin Chenyuan tapped the table with his index finger and said, "So, Yue Li's condition last night was simply caused by drinking the beverages from Le Xiang Ge."

"This is the result of the investigation," You Yun said cautiously.

"Who conducted the investigation?"

Jin Chenyuan knew Yue Li's condition best last night, and he didn't believe that Yue Li would look like she had been drugged just because she drank ordinary wine with added ingredients.

"These past few days, the owner of Lexiangge has been in the capital inspecting his properties here."

Jin Chenyuan could guess what would happen next without You Yun having to tell him.

The steward of Lexiang Pavilion certainly wouldn't dare to act on his own regarding the matters that Prince Chen's Mansion wanted to investigate; he would definitely notify the owner who was inspecting the properties in the capital.

With the involvement of the owner of Le Xiang Ge, the matter will definitely be thoroughly investigated.

The current result is that Yue Li was indeed not drugged.

But Yue Li's condition last night didn't seem like she hadn't been drugged?

Who owns Le Xiang Ge?

"Reporting to Master, the owner of Lexiang Pavilion is the Sheng family. And the one who helped investigate this matter last night was the young master of the Sheng family, Sheng Yifan," You Yun immediately reported.

He hadn't expected during his investigation last night that the Le Xiang Ge, the entertainment venue known as the largest money pit in Kyoto's red-light district, was actually owned by the Sheng family, the richest family in the country, and that the person who appeared last night was Sheng Yifan, the young master of the Sheng family.

Clearly, Jin Chenyuan hadn't expected that Lexiang Pavilion was actually owned by the Sheng family!

He certainly knew about the Sheng family. The Sheng family's ancestral home was in the south of Qian Yuan Kingdom. Their ancestors made their fortune in cloth, and the heads of the Sheng family for generations were also very good at business, so the Sheng family's business continued to expand.

The Sheng family has expanded into more and more diverse businesses, and now, to say that the Sheng family is the richest in the country would be an understatement.

Because the Sheng family is not only the richest family in the country in Qian Yuan, but also has many businesses in the other four countries.

The Sheng family is renowned for not only donating money and supplies when the country is in trouble, but also helping the vulnerable in ordinary times.

Therefore, the Sheng family has an excellent reputation among commoners, nobles, and royalty.