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

At this moment, he desperately wished that Yue Li was not his future princess consort, nor his future aunt.

That way, he could do everything he could to keep her by his side, help her ascend to the throne as empress, and have her stay with him for the rest of her life, with only him in her eyes and heart.

But things didn't go as he hoped. She was his uncle's wife, and as far as he knew, the two had already developed a very intimate relationship.

Given the Emperor's temperament, he wouldn't let the young lady get close until he was 100% sure of his own feelings.

Therefore, even if he told his uncle his thoughts at this point, his uncle would not back down.

However, everything must be earned through one's own efforts, and since he is the emperor, many things will be much easier for him.

"Fuquan, go and summon Tian Ye to see me." Suddenly, the emperor, who was standing by the window, called out.

Upon hearing the Emperor's instructions from inside, Fuquan, who was waiting outside the door, immediately replied respectfully, "Yes, this servant will go right away."

Having figured things out, the emperor relaxed, sat down on the soft couch, and slowly sipped his tea while waiting for Tian Ye to arrive.

Before they had even finished drinking a cup of tea, they heard Fuquan's report from outside the door: "Your Majesty, Commander Tian has arrived."

"Let him in."

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, a tall, robust man, about 30 years old and dressed in a commander's uniform, walked in.

Upon entering, Commander Tian saw the Emperor sitting on the soft couch and immediately knelt down to pay his respects, saying, "This humble servant greets Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"

"Get up. I have summoned you here today because I need you to do something."

Tian Ye, who had just stood up, was about to kneel down to receive the imperial decree upon hearing the emperor's words, but the emperor stopped him first.

"You may bow after I have finished speaking."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will listen carefully." Tian Ye's voice was somewhat rough, and he spoke in a very formal and methodical manner.

Tian Ye, the commander of the Imperial City Guard, is a loyal but rigid man.

The Imperial City Guard was established by Jin Chenyuan during his reign to serve as the eyes and ears of the young emperor.

The Imperial City Guard not only possesses extremely strong intelligence gathering capabilities, but also maintains intelligence outposts in other countries.

Since the establishment of the Imperial City Guard, Jin Chenyuan was handed over to the then young emperor for management; otherwise, the current emperor would not dare to trust the people of the Imperial City Guard so much.

"Go and investigate what Princess Consort Chen has been doing since she arrived in the capital. Investigate thoroughly. Also, be careful not to let the Emperor's men find out while you're investigating," the Emperor said.

After some thought, the Emperor held back and ordered Tian Ye to send someone to investigate what happened before Yue Li came to the capital.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I obey." Upon hearing the Emperor's order, Tian Ye didn't dwell on why the Emperor wanted to investigate the Princess Consort of Prince Chen, and immediately bowed in response.

"Okay, that's all. You can go now."

"Yes, this humble servant takes his leave." Tian Ye bowed and left the Zi Chen Palace decisively.

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

Yue Li slept until dinner time before waking up, and when she did, she was already lying on her bed in the bedroom.

After a good night's sleep, I felt much better.

As Yue Li got out of bed, she stretched her limbs and recalled how she had gotten from the carriage to her bed in the bedroom.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall anything.

Although she didn't remember it, she could roughly guess that Jin Chenyuan must have carried her from the carriage to the bed.

I don't know how soundly I was sleeping, but I didn't wake up even after being carried so far.

Feng Chuan, who was waiting outside the door, heard the sounds inside and came to the screen to ask, "Your Highness, would you like me to help you change your clothes?"

"Oh, no need."

Although Jin Chenyuan said that the people he brought from the palace were all castrated, and that he could just tell them what to do.

However, Yue Li always felt awkward and uncomfortable. Having a strange man dress her up and serve her personally made it impossible for her to act as naturally as people in this era and treat these men as women.

Not long after Feng Chuan left, Yue Li had just finished dressing when she heard a familiar sound of footsteps approaching.

Hearing footsteps, she knew that Jin Chenyuan had come in.

"Why didn't you let them come in to serve you? Is it because they're not serving you well? If you don't like these few, I'll go to the palace tomorrow and get you a few more." Jin Chenyuan came in just in time to see Yue Li combing her hair. He assumed the servants outside weren't serving her well, so he said casually.

As Jin Chenyuan finished speaking, Yue Li heard several thuds outside the door, as well as Feng Chuan and the others apologizing.

At this moment, Feng Chuan and the other three kneeling outside the door were extremely nervous. If the prince returned them to the palace, they would never get such an easy job again, and the palace stewards would definitely put them in the laundry room.

The job in the laundry room was hard and tiring; it was nowhere near as easy as serving the master.

Hearing Feng Chuan and the others apologizing outside the door, Yue Li immediately guessed that the thuds she had just heard were the sounds of them suddenly kneeling on the ground.

Yue Li paused in combing her hair, rolled her eyes at Jin Chenyuan who approached, and said in a voice only the two of them in the room could hear, "Tell them to get up. It was my fault for not having them serve me. Besides, I can dress and comb my hair myself. I don't need them now. And I'm not used to having strange men serving me personally!"

Taking the comb from Yue Li's hand, Jin Chenyuan combed her long, smooth, black hair as he said, "Letting them kneel for a while will help them learn a lesson. Besides, I never intended for them to serve you constantly. I only had them serve you when I was busy, so you wouldn't get tired. You see, I was handling official business in the study when I heard Feng Yan say you were awake, and I came right away, didn't I?"

Yue Li: ……

What's so tiring about putting on clothes and combing your hair?

Is this the difference between the mindset of commoners and that of nobles?

After arranging Yue Li's hair, Jin Chenyuan, urged by Yue Li, told the four people kneeling outside to get up.

Yue Li was somewhat displeased by Jin Chenyuan's behavior; his class consciousness was too strong.

If you haven't done anything wrong and are still being forced to kneel as punishment, you'd definitely curse the person who made you kneel to death in your heart.

Despite her displeasure, Yue Li knew that she and Jin Chenyuan had received different educations, which resulted in vastly different ways of handling things.

Moreover, since she has come here and is living in this world, she must accept the rules here.

After having dinner with Jin Chenyuan, Yue Li strolled around the small garden in the yard to digest her food, and then she talked about her plans for tomorrow.

"I plan to go out of town tomorrow to visit Qingshan Village, where I have registered my household."

"What are you going there for?" Jin Chenyuan turned his gaze from the fish swimming in the pool to Yue Li.

"Isn't there a mountain behind Qingshan Village? I'd like to go up the mountain to see if there are any tea trees like the ones we drink. If there are, the flower tea in the manor is almost finished, so we can pick some more." Living with Jin Chenyuan is too inconvenient. There are too many servants in the manor, and her every move is watched. She has to find a reason in advance to go out.

“Really? Then I’ll go with you. That mountain is very dangerous; wild beasts often roam there,” Jin Chenyuan said after hearing Yue Li’s words.