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

Yue Li sat on the stool, listening to the conversation between the two, but her eyes were sizing up the emperor of this country out of the corner of her eye.

With fair skin and sharply defined, sculpted features, his brows bore a resemblance to Jin Chenyuan's. However, while Jin Chenyuan's brows possessed a more domineering air, the Emperor's were more gentle.

Wearing a long yellow robe embroidered with dragon patterns, he appeared to have broad shoulders and a narrow waist, with an upright posture, exuding the aura of a ruler. Perhaps because he had just finished court, he was not wearing an imperial crown, but only a yellow jade crown to tie his hair up.

Looking at the young emperor before her, Yue Li clicked her tongue in admiration. Jin Chenyuan had told her that the emperor was only 22 years old this year. At 22, one would still be in university in modern times, yet here he had already shouldered the heavy responsibility of a nation's rise and fall.

"It's almost noon, why don't you have lunch in the palace before returning home, Uncle and Aunt?" Sensing the occasional gaze cast from across the room, the Emperor slowly sat up straight, deliberately presenting his best self to that gaze, and invited them after finishing his casual conversation with his uncle.

Jin Chenyuan did not immediately reply to the Emperor's words, but instead looked at Yue Li.

The Emperor also took the opportunity to openly and legitimately turn his gaze to Yue Li, subtly scrutinizing her even more closely.

Yue Li: ……

Two highly noticeable gazes fell upon her, causing Yue Li to snap out of her reverie and glance at Jin Chenyuan sitting beside her with a puzzled look.

Why are you looking at her? She wasn't even listening to what the two of them were saying.

Seeing Yue Li's confusion, Jin Chenyuan knew that her mind was not on their conversation just now, and asked with amusement, "Does A-Li want to have lunch at home, or at the palace?"

As soon as Jin Chenyuan finished speaking, the Emperor interjected, "Let's have lunch in the palace before returning to our residence. Later, have Fuquan instruct the Imperial Kitchen to prepare a few more of their signature dishes. We can then have lunch at Shou Kang Palace to accompany the Empress Dowager. She will surely be delighted, and it will also allow my aunt to taste the skills of the Imperial Chefs."

The Emperor really didn't want the person in front of him to leave his sight so quickly, so he had to find an excuse to ask the person to stay.

Yue Li glanced at Jin Chenyuan, then at the Emperor, and nodded. Anyway, it didn't matter where she ate, and the food in the palace was probably better than that at Prince Chen's residence.

Upon hearing Yue Li's words, Jin Chenyuan smiled indulgently, roughly knowing what Yue Li was thinking.

The Emperor was delighted to hear Yue Li's reply, knowing that he could spend more time with her.

Although he felt somewhat at a loss because he suddenly had a secret crush on his uncle's fiancée, this did not diminish his desire to see her at all times.

After instructing Fuquan to inform the imperial kitchen, the Emperor resumed his discussion with Jin Chenyuan about the previous topic.

Yue Li hadn't been paying close attention to what the two were saying earlier, but now that her thoughts had been interrupted, she started listening to their conversation.

The Emperor said, "The officials and merchants who colluded to illegally mine iron ore, which my uncle investigated in Qingyuan Prefecture last time, have been dealt with. I have issued an edict to confiscate the property of those who should be confiscated and to exile those who should be exiled. The iron mine that has been partially mined has also been taken over by an imperial envoy. I plan to issue an edict to the imperial envoy to recruit people to continue mining. The memorial sent back to the capital by the imperial envoy says that the area of ​​this iron mine is not small."

The Emperor spoke seriously, but Jin Chenyuan clearly did not want to participate in these court affairs; otherwise, he would not have stopped attending the morning court sessions after the Emperor took over the administration.

"These matters are best handled by His Majesty; every policy matter His Majesty has handled has been excellent."

emperor:……

"I said all this just to get my uncle's advice, especially since he was involved in this matter."

From their conversation, Yue Li learned that the reason she had encountered Jin Chenyuan and Shao Qi at Qingyuan Mansion was because the two were investigating a case there. She also sensed that the Emperor seemed to rely heavily on Jin Chenyuan, yet Jin Chenyuan was very secretive about matters of state.

Looking into Yue Li's clear, bright eyes, which were sparkling with curiosity, Jin Chenyuan suddenly remembered what Qingyun had told him after returning: Madam Yuan's husband, Zhong Qishuo, was involved in the case.

Knowing that Yue Li definitely wanted to know about Madam Yuan, Jin Chenyuan thought for a moment before casually asking, "Is A-Li very curious about this case?"

"No, it's not that. I just found out that we met in Qingyun Prefecture because you were investigating a case." She remembered that when they first met, Shao Qi said they were going on a trip, and she really thought they were. She didn't expect that they were there to investigate a case.

Clearly, Jin Chenyuan also remembered their explanation at the time. He explained with a smile, "The case was of great importance at the time. When we went to investigate the case, we did so in secret. That's why we told the outside world that we were going on vacation."

"I know, and I don't mind these things. It was just a moment of curiosity."

"Yes, this case has been investigated and there's not much to say about it. However, there is one thing that Ah Li will definitely remember."

"What is it?" According to what the Emperor just said, this is a major case of collusion between officials and merchants to illegally mine iron ore. What could she possibly know about it?

"Ah Li, do you remember when we last strolled through the night market in Qingyuan Prefecture, did you hear people talking about that seriously injured Madam Yuan?"

Upon hearing the words "Madam Yuan" from Jin Chenyuan's mouth, Yue Li's mind went on high alert. She casually observed Jin Chenyuan's expression and saw that he didn't seem to know her identity.

Yue Li then tried asking, "Madam Yuan, is that the Madam Yuan that people mentioned when we were at the night market? What happened to her? Is she related to this case?"

Seeing Yue Li become so wary after hearing about Madam Yuan from his own words, Jin Chenyuan found it amusing, but he had no intention of exposing Yue Li's true identity.

Firstly, revealing Yue Li's true identity would not benefit him at all; on the contrary, it would expose that he had investigated her, which would provoke Yue Li's resentment.

Secondly, he had already registered Yue Li's household registration in Kyoto, so there was really no need to expose her identity again.

Jin Chenyuan explained, "It's not her who's involved in this case, but one of her husbands named Zhong Qishuo. Zhong Qishuo is one of those who colluded with people in the Qingyuan Prefecture government to mine iron ore, and he's also on the list of those to be dealt with by the court this time."

"Oh, what will happen to Zhong Qishuo then?" This time, Yue Li was purely curious and gloating. If Yuan Xinyi's biggest support fell, she would probably be even more upset, given her current half-dead state.