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

Although he knew Yue Li was skilled, he had never witnessed her abilities firsthand. How could he possibly trust her to lead a group up that mountain alone?

He could go with her and take better care of her. Moreover, if it was really decided that they would go, he would arrange for more skilled people to accompany them.

"How do you know that there are often wild beasts on that mountain? Have you ever been there?"

"Yes, Prince Chen's mansion has a hot spring resort there. In winter, I like to stay there for a few days occasionally and soak in the hot springs. In my spare time, I will take some people to hunt some wild animals on that mountain."

Yue Li: ……

She was still hesitating about whether to buy a piece of land in Qingshan Village and build a courtyard so that it would be convenient for her to go up the mountain to cultivate in the future.

It seems there's no need for so much trouble now; we can just stay at Jin Chenyuan's estate whenever we go there.

"Don't you have anything to do? If you're busy, don't worry about me. I'm used to being alone. I can just bring a few more skilled people with me when I go up the mountain." If she takes her servants with her, she can find an excuse to leave them behind and go up the mountain by herself.

If Jin Chenyuan accompanies her, it will be more difficult for her to go up the mountain alone.

Seeing that Yue Li didn't want to take him along, Jin Chenyuan knew that Yue Li was definitely not just going to find tea trees, but had other purposes, which she just didn't want him to know.

However, this time Yue Li went to the mountain behind Qingshan Village, not to go shopping, so he couldn't let Yue Li go by herself.

"I have nothing else to do but take care of you."

Yue Li understood; it meant she couldn't shake him off.

After thinking about it, Yue Li agreed.

After all, if tomorrow she uses the excuse of searching for tea trees to explore the mountain behind Qingshan Village and finds that the spiritual energy is indeed rich and suitable for cultivation, then she will definitely go there often in the future and stay at the manor there frequently.

Jin Chenyuan was always by her side, and she couldn't keep making excuses to leave him every time.

However, given her repeated actions on the mountain, Yue Li still needed to come up with a suitable reason to tell Jin Chenyuan.

As for what reason to give?

We'll have to see if the spiritual energy there is suitable for her cultivation after we go up the mountain to investigate tomorrow.

The two played with the colorful little fish swimming in the pond by the artificial hill for a while before turning around and going to the pavilion.

As dusk approached and the last rays of sunlight faded, the servants lit up all the lanterns in the Morning Light Courtyard.

Yue Li sat on a bench in the pavilion, leaning against Jin Chenyuan, her eyes half-closed and her head resting on Jin Chenyuan's shoulder, enjoying the rare cool breeze in the summer.

Jin Chenyuan sat behind Yue Li, half-embracing her, relaxing his strong muscles to make her more comfortable, while playing with Yue Li's soft, boneless fingers with one hand.

Suddenly, he remembered that when he returned to the manor today, You Yun reported that Shao Qi had personally delivered a box to Yue Li, but seeing that Yue Li was not in the manor, he put the box down and left.

After returning to his residence, he thought he would take advantage of Yue Li's afternoon nap to deal with the official duties that had piled up over the past few days. He hadn't yet seen what was in the box.

"Li Bao, when we returned to the manor today, You Yun reported that the young master sent you a box this morning." After all, it was for Yue Li, so she needed to know, lest Shao Qi ask about it and Yue Li was unaware of it.

Upon hearing this, Yue Li opened her eyes, even stopping the jade pendant she was playing with in her other free hand. She asked curiously, "Shao Qi sent this? What is it?"

"I don't know, I haven't had a chance to look at it yet. Why don't you have someone bring it over so we can look at it together?" Looking at the jade pendant that originally belonged to Feng Yuanxi, which was being played with by Yue Li, Jin Chenyuan had quite a few questions in his mind.

In fact, Feng Yuanxi's jade pendant was neither particularly exquisite nor beautifully carved, and it was too big for Yue Li.

But for some reason, Yue Li liked to play with this jade pendant when she had nothing to do.

Unaware of Jin Chenyuan's thoughts, Yue Li would hold the jade pendant seemingly to play with it when she had nothing to do, but in reality, she was using it to absorb the sparse spiritual energy around her.

In this world where spiritual energy is scarce, every little bit I can absorb is a good thing.

"Hmm, let someone bring it over. Let's see what Shao Qi sent," Yue Li said, putting the jade pendant in her hand into her bosom and sitting up straight.

"it is good."

After agreeing to Yue Li's request, Jin Chenyuan spoke in a voice that Qingyun, who was waiting outside the pavilion, could hear, "Qingyun, go and bring the box that the young master brought this morning here."

"Yes, Master." Qingyun, who was waiting outside the pavilion, responded and then withdrew.

Seeing that Qingyun had left, Jin Chenyuan asked, with an ambiguous tone, about the jade pendant that Yue Li had carefully placed in her bosom.

"Does Li Bao really like this jade pendant that much? Didn't you like the Qilin jade pendant I gave you? Even if you didn't like the Qilin jade pendant, there are other jade pendants, aren't there? I've never seen Li Bao wear them."

Hearing Jin Chenyuan's somewhat strange tone, Yue Li looked at him with suspicion before hesitatingly saying, "Well, all the jade pendants you gave me are quite beautiful, but this one is more useful to me."

A pretty jade pendant is only good for decoration; a useful jade pendant is worth wearing often.

However, as Jin Chenyuan mentioned the Qilin jade pendant he had given her, Yue Li also remembered the blood-red hairpin she had seen in the storeroom last time, the one that looked like water was flowing inside.

She had noticed it last time in the storeroom; the hairpin was radiating a very strong spiritual energy. She had only ever seen such a thing in the records of strange tales in the sect's library in her previous life.

The record only contained a short sentence: "The Spirit Marrow Liquid is wrapped in the Spirit Jade. One drop of Spirit Marrow Liquid is equivalent to the spiritual energy contained in a high-grade spirit stone."

If she wanted to confirm whether the red hairpin contained spiritual essence liquid, she would have to break the jade hairpin and pour out the liquid inside.

If the hairpin really contained spiritual essence liquid, Yue Li thought that she might be able to use it to improve her cultivation level.

She was reluctant to use the high-grade spirit stones stored in her space, but she was willing to use the spirit essence liquid. After all, even if she didn't use it, the spirit essence liquid would slowly evaporate if it was wrapped in the spirit jade for a long time, since the spirit jade couldn't isolate the spiritual energy inside.

Thinking this, Yue Li felt a little anxious. She wanted to quickly confirm whether the red hairpin contained spiritual essence liquid.

Just then, Qingyun's voice came from outside the pavilion: "Master, Princess, the box sent by the young master has arrived."

"Bring it in," Jin Chenyuan said.

The two people's words reached Yue Li's ears. Yue Li suppressed her somewhat anxious feelings and looked at the box that Qing Yun had brought over.