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

Yue Li had just stepped into Chenxi Courtyard, where Jin Chenyuan lived, when Jin Chenyuan followed her in.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Yue Li walked even faster.

Just as Yue Li stepped into the room and was about to close the door, Jin Chenyuan also stepped one leg into the room.

Looking at the leg that was trapped because she closed the door, Yue Li snorted, but in the end she didn't push the two doors open. Instead, she turned around and went into the room, sitting on the soft couch.

Jin Chenyuan glanced at the leg trapped in the door and smiled indifferently. With his skills, he could have entered the room before Yue Li closed it.

He was simply betting on Yue Li's reluctance to do something. Pushing open the door, Jin Chenyuan thought to himself, "It seems I made the right bet."

Jin Chenyuan slowly walked to Yue Li's side and sat down next to her on the soft couch. Even after Yue Li rolled her eyes at him, Jin Chenyuan's expression remained unchanged, and he smiled gently.

Just as Jin Chenyuan was about to say something, Haoyun, who had been instructed to go to the accounting office to organize the assets, walked in carrying a pot of freshly brewed tea.

After pouring a cup of tea for Jin Chenyuan and Yue Li respectively, Haoyun bowed slightly to Jin Chenyuan as he left.

Upon seeing this, Jin Chenyuan knew that Haoyun had something to report, or something that was inconvenient for Yue Li to know.

However, Jin Chenyuan didn't care. If something serious had happened, Haoyun wouldn't have looked so relaxed. It must be a small matter.

He had no time to deal with anything right now. Looking at the ice basin next to the soft couch, which was almost melted into water, Jin Chenyuan instructed Haoyun, who was about to walk out the door, "Have someone bring a few more ice basins and replace the ones in the inner and outer rooms. Also, have someone boil some hot water for the bath next door."

Having played outside for so long and sweating just now, Yue Li will definitely need to take a shower later.

Upon hearing Jin Chenyuan speak, Haoyun immediately stopped and listened attentively to the instructions. After Jin Chenyuan finished speaking, Haoyun immediately replied, "Yes, Master. I will immediately instruct people to carry it out."

It seems that the master is not planning to deal with the matter he needs to report for the time being. But that's fine too. Anyway, it's a fait accompli. Let Qingyun get a good night's sleep and report it tomorrow morning.

Yes, Haoyun was reporting that Qingyun, whom his master had sent to investigate the Princess Consort's whereabouts, had returned.

Qingyun returned shortly after her master and the princess went out. When she returned, she couldn't find her master, but she found Haoyun, who was organizing the Prince's Mansion's properties in the accounting office.

Haoyun looked at Qingyun, who was exhausted after nearly a month of running around, and told him to go and rest first.

Haoyun knew that even if Qingyun found out some information that was unfavorable to the princess, given how much his master doted on her, he definitely wouldn't care. Didn't he see that he had already started to reorganize the property of the royal family?

He came this time also to see if his master had time to listen to Qingyun's report.

If not, he wouldn't go to Qingyun's room to wake him up.

Clearly, his feeling was correct; as long as the princess was present, the master didn't want to deal with any official business.

After Haoyun left, Jin Chenyuan immediately pressed his body close to Yue Li's back, resting his chin on her shoulder, and whispered in her ear, "Li Bao is still angry."

"Hmph!" Yue Li raised her hand and pushed the head off her shoulder, letting out a cold snort from her nose.

Her body language made it very clear that she didn't want to talk to Jin Chenyuan right now.

Jin Chenyuan didn't care about being pushed backward; instead, he clung to her even more, putting one hand around Yue Li's waist and pulling her back even closer to him.

His chin rested on Yue Li's shoulder again, and from this angle, he could see the fine downy hairs on Yue Li's small earlobe.

"It's so hot, stay away from me." Yue Li raised her hand again to push Jin Chenyuan's forehead, but this time she couldn't move him because Jin Chenyuan's arm was around her.

"Li Bao, don't be sullen. I was just trying to scare you in the carriage. The carriage we were in was very soundproof. Unless you were shouting inside, no one outside could hear you at all." Knowing what Yue Li was probably angry about, Jin Chenyuan took the initiative to explain.

"Really?" Yue Li asked doubtfully.

“Of course it’s true. This carriage is not only soundproof but also very safe. There are iron plates in the interlayer of each side of the carriage. I had someone test it before. Even if you shoot an arrow at the carriage, it won’t penetrate. Well, at most it can only penetrate the wooden plank on the outside of the carriage.” This time, Jin Chenyuan explained in more detail.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door, and Jin Chenyuan knew that it was You Yun bringing servants to replace the ice basin.

Fearing that Yue Li would become shy again, Jin Chenyuan released his embrace from Yue Li and sat up straight.

Only after You Yun led his men to replace all the ice basins inside and outside, and also brought Yue Li's small bundle packed at the inn, did Yue Li turn around, her face stern, and look at Jin Chenyuan who was about to approach again, saying, "Then you can't mess around in the carriage anymore."

Who knows if the sound insulation of this train carriage is reliable with current technology?

"Li Bao, actually I didn't do anything in the carriage, did I? When you told me to stop, I stopped, didn't I?" Jin Chenyuan said innocently.

Seeing Yue Li's face turn red with anger as he finished speaking, and her eyes even blazing with fury, Jin Chenyuan leaned closer to Yue Li and coaxed her in a low voice, "Why is Li Bao making that face? How about I listen to Li Bao tonight?"

"Really?" Yue Li asked, half-believing, completely unaware that the topic had been steered off course.

Thinking about the scene of being threatened in the carriage just now, Yue Li's heart began to stir. She completely forgot that on the way back, she had been thinking about having Jin Chenyuan sleep somewhere else tonight.

"Of course, when have I ever broken my word?" Jin Chenyuan immediately assured her, noticing that Yue Li seemed somewhat tempted.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Your Highness, the bath in the side room has been filled with warm water." Just then, You Yun reported from outside the door.

The side bathroom has a small door, so you don't need to go through this door to fill the bathtub.

"Understood." Jin Chenyuan replied, then looked intently at Yue Li.

Upon hearing that she could take a bath, Yue Li immediately signaled Jin Chenyuan to release her, and then quickly got off the soft couch.

Seeing Yue Li walk into the inner room, Jin Chenyuan knew what she was going to do. He immediately said, "Li Bao, go take a bath in the side room first. I'll bring you your change of clothes later."

Hearing this, Yue Li glanced at Jin Chenyuan sideways, as if to say, "I know you inside and out," and snorted, "No need. You bring out your change of clothes, and I'll take them in myself."

Seeing that Yue Li hadn't fallen for the trick, Jin Chenyuan had no choice but to walk to the wardrobe, take out the undergarments Yue Li needed to change into, and hand them to her, watching helplessly as she went into the side room.

A short while later, the sound of water could be heard from the side room, and Jin Chenyuan knew that Yue Li must have entered the bath.

However, remembering that he had angered her today, Jin Chenyuan did not barge into the side room. Instead, he took out the undergarments he would change into from another wardrobe.

The two hadn't been together long enough for him to dare to test his place in Yue Li's heart too much. He could only slowly test the waters and gradually increase his importance in Yue Li's heart.

..............................

Meanwhile, at the Duke of Yi's residence.

Since Shao Qi returned to the manor, Duke Yi noticed something was off about his son's expression. His usually cheerful and carefree son had been frowning ever since he came back from outside tonight, as if he had some unsolvable problem.

The servants prepared tea in the pavilion in Shao Qi's courtyard. Duke Yi, seeing Shao Qi lost in thought since he sat down, finally couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you say you were going out tonight to meet Yue Li, who came to the capital with you? What happened? Tell your father what happened, and I'll help you solve it."

Duke Yi was able to say this with confidence.

The ancestors of Duke Yi were the ones who fought alongside the founding emperor to establish the dynasty. Moreover, Duke Yi's ancestors were from a military family. However, because too many of their descendants were lost on the battlefield, and some of their clansmen did not even live past the age of 30, the last general of their ancestors left an ancestral instruction that the descendants of the Shao clan were not allowed to enter the battlefield again.

Of course, whether the last general of their ancestors had the idea of ​​retiring while still at the peak of his career is unknown.

From then on, the Shao family abandoned martial arts and embraced literature. Furthermore, because the emperor at the time bestowed upon them the title of Duke of Yi, a hereditary title, they became leisurely dukes.

However, no matter how leisurely Duke Yi was, he still held some influence in the Duke Yi's mansion in the capital.

Shao Qi snapped out of his daze and noticed his father's worry. He put his hand to his chest and said, "Father, do you think I'm sick?"

"puff!"

Shao Qi's words caused the Duke of Yi, who was sitting opposite him, to spit out a mouthful of tea and then cough uncontrollably from the choking.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Shao Qi, whose face was splashed with tea by his father, fanned himself with a folding fan in disgust.

After Duke Yi coughed up the tea that had gotten into his throat, he saw his son looking at him with disgust.

"You little brat, what kind of look is that?" Unable to hold back, Duke Yi picked up the folding fan beside him and tapped his troublesome son on the shoulder.

Forced by the tyranny, Shao Qi ultimately did not utter a word of rebuttal.

After reprimanding Shao Qi, Duke Yi asked curiously, "Why do you think you're sick?"

Although doctors cannot heal themselves, how could they not feel if they themselves were unwell?

So Duke Yi spent a quarter of an hour listening to his son recount the events of the evening that made him seem ill.

"Hahahahaha."

After listening to Shao Qi's account, Duke Yi finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Dad, what are you laughing at?" Shao Qi was confused by the laughter. He was sick, and his father was still laughing like that.

When Duke Yi finally finished laughing, Shao Qi was already somewhat embarrassed and annoyed.

Ignoring his son's embarrassed and angry look, Duke Yi looked his son up and down, sitting opposite him.

Yes, he is a handsome and cheerful young man.

He never expected that his son would fall for the future Princess Consort Chen, and it seemed that the two had a good relationship.

"Dad, what do you think? Should I go see my maternal grandfather tomorrow and ask him to take my pulse?"

Looking at his still somewhat bewildered son, Duke Yi said, "You don't need to go to your maternal grandfather, just go to Princess Consort Chen."

"Huh? Go find Yue Li, Father, Yue Li doesn't know how to treat illnesses."

“Son! This isn’t a physical illness, it’s a mental one! As the saying goes, a mental illness requires a mental cure.” Duke Yi looked at his silly son with a smile.

"A mental illness?" Shao Qi was even more bewildered.

"Yes, son, you've fallen for Princess Chen. Now all you have to do is get her to accept you, hahaha."

"Father means I've fallen for Yue Li." Shao Qi repeated his father's words in disbelief.

"Yes, your current situation is exactly the same as when I fell for your mother back then."

Lady Yi was about ten years older than Duke Yi. When Duke Yi was still a boy, he fell in love with Lady Yi, who already had four husbands, at first sight. He eventually married her after much persistence, and that's how Shao Qi came to be.

This is why Shao Qi is so much older than Feng Yuanxi.

Seeing his son's still somewhat bewildered look, Duke Yi decided to put in some effort and explain the relationship to his son.

Seeing his son's enlightened expression after hearing his words, Duke Yi got up and leisurely left Shao Qi's courtyard.

Shao Qi was left alone in the pavilion to process the sudden information.