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

Seeing that Shao Qi had already paid the money, Yue Li didn't say she would return it to him immediately. Instead, she thanked Shao Qi.

Then he said, "I have money. If Shaoqi takes a fancy to anything later, I'll pay for it."

Shao Qi said nonchalantly, "Yue Li, you're being too polite. How much silver was that? It's not even worth a single leaf from the tea you gave me. Yue Li, do you know? When I got home, I gave that packet of flower tea to my mother. She said she felt really good after drinking it, and after two days she felt much younger. My father heard what my mother said, and he didn't want to drink my mother's flower tea, but he took most of my packet of tea. It really broke my heart."

Yue Li: ……

Honestly, if she didn't know what kind of person Shao Qi was, she would have thought that Shao Qi was asking her for tea when he said those words.

However, seeing Shao Qi's distressed expression, she comforted him, "When I find more tea like this in the future, I'll process it and give you more of it."

"Really? Then Yue Li must give me a lot. I'll definitely make my dad angry when I get it."

"Okay, I'll give you a little more." Yue Li waved her hand dismissively.

The only problem is that she has no excuse to take out the tea leaves in her space right now. Otherwise, if she makes Shao Qi drink them three times a day, he'll definitely throw up.

At this moment, Yue Li thought of Qingshan Village outside the capital, where she had registered her household as a man, and the big mountain behind the village.

It seems she needs to find time to go up that mountain and see for herself how concentrated the spiritual energy is.

If possible, she could also scatter some of the seeds of those spiritual plants from her space on that mountain.

Whether it's spiritual herbs, medicinal plants, or tea trees and tea plants, just scatter some seeds and use her wood-type spiritual power to encourage their growth. As long as there are saplings, it will be much easier to produce tea leaves.

Moreover, if they want to look for it, they can find the root cause.

As Yue Li pondered this, Jin Chenyuan, noticing her lost in thought again, led her away from the mask stall.

"Yue Li, what a coincidence!"

In an instant, a surprised voice brought Yue Li back to her senses, which had been wandering off course.

Yue Li and the others looked toward the source of the sound and saw four men and two women walking out of the restaurant next door.

Seeing the two people in front of her, Yue Li was also a little surprised. Weren't they Lian Xinran and Yin Xiyue, who had just parted ways with them in front of the inn?

"Xinran, Xiyue, you haven't gone back yet?" Yue Li said with a smile.

As they spoke, Lian Xinran and the others quickly approached Yue Li and the others. They first bowed to Jin Chenyuan, saying, "Uncle, Prince Chen."

"Greetings, Prince Chen."

Jin Chenyuan nodded slightly and said, "There's no need for so much formality when we're out."

"Yes."

Then Lian Xinran answered Yue Li's question, "Well, we just finished eating too. What about you guys? Where are you planning to go?"

It was at this moment that everyone saw Shao Qi standing on the other side of Yue Li.

Surprise flashed across their faces, and then they all stepped forward to greet them.

"Young Master".

"Princess Xinrong." This is Lian Xinran's title.

"Madam Yin."

...Shao Qi returned the greeting politely with his hands clasped.

They all grew up in Kyoto. Although Shao Qi was much older than them, age really didn't matter in this era.

Looking at Shao Qi's tall and straight figure and handsome, sunny appearance, Lian Xinran recalled what the ladies had said at the banquet a few days ago. It seemed that this young master was also on their list of those ladies' thoughts.

Looking at Shao Qi's appearance now, he is indeed someone others would want to keep in mind. Not only does he come from a good family, but he is also exceptionally good-looking.

Moreover, it is said that this prince is very simple-minded and has a clean conscience, which makes him even more popular with the ladies.

By the time a woman is in her thirties, she has likely already given birth to children for her previous husbands, and naturally, older husbands are not as popular with these wives as younger men.

So, usually when these women are in their thirties, they start looking for young and energetic men for themselves. Their husbands, who have already given birth to their children, cannot interfere much with their wives' behavior.

Moreover, if the relationship between husband and wife is not good, or if it is just a union of interests, the husband has even less right to stop his wife from finding a new lover.

Some husbands from prominent families would even actively seek out young men from their collateral branches to marry their wives when they were in their thirties or forties.

This way, family members won't try to sabotage you, nor will they be involved in any conflicts of interest.

After all, in this era, it was considered very lucky to be able to marry a wife; many people ended up alone in their old age. If one was even luckier, one could have a child of one's own, and even luckier still, one could have a daughter.

Therefore, it can be said that men of this era are quite magnanimous; in fact, it can be said that men born into this era have no choice but to be magnanimous.

Moreover, women who have already given birth, especially those who have given birth to young daughters, are particularly popular. Therefore, in this era, there are many older wives and younger husbands.

However, seeing Shao Qi standing behind Yue Li now, Lian Xinran felt that those ladies who had designs on Shao Qi were likely to be disappointed.

With such a young and beautiful woman in front of him, how could Shao Qi possibly be interested in them?

Moreover, given Shao Qi's family background, he would definitely choose the better option if given the choice.

After greeting everyone and exchanging pleasantries, Yue Li answered Lian Xinran's question: "Shao Qi said that Yinyuan Lake will be very lively at night. We have nothing to do at night anyway, so we decided to come to Yinyuan Lake to see what's going on."

When Lian Xinran heard Yue Li say that it was Shao Qi who said it, she subconsciously looked at Jin Chenyuan. The people behind her also looked at Jin Chenyuan, and then, as if realizing something, they quickly turned their heads away.

At this moment, everyone had the same thought in their minds: Did Prince Chen know what exactly the Marriage Lake was?

Could it be that Prince Chen is too busy and doesn't know that the Marriage Lake is a place for men and women to find a match?

It wasn't appropriate to discuss this matter in front of Yue Li, and besides, she wouldn't dare to offer any unsolicited advice about Prince Chen's uncle's affairs.

Lian Xinran felt she had to go back to her parents' home tomorrow to tell her mother about this matter and ask her mother to go to the palace to speak to the Empress Dowager, so that her cousin Prince Chen wouldn't have found her a brother without his knowledge.

However, given Prince Chen's age, it's likely that any other husbands Yue Li chooses in the future will be a generation younger than him.

Rolling her eyes, Lian Xinran chuckled, suddenly seized by a desire to see her high-ranking, usually imposing cousin, Prince Chen, make a fool of himself. So, Lian Xinran went to Yue Li's side, cheerfully taking her arm and saying, "Yue Li, let's go together. We've got nothing to do back home anyway, and if you go with me, we can keep each other company. Tonight we'll see the nighttime view of the Marriage Lake, and tomorrow afternoon we'll see the daytime view."