Before Feng Suzhen could react, his face came down and kissed her lips. She was so startled that she grabbed his lapels—he made no sound, his breathing slightly heavy, and pried open her lips. That warm tongue… even encompassed and sucked on her tongue, his arms powerfully encircling her shoulder blades to let her sink deep into his embrace.

That nauseating feeling quickly surged up from Feng Suzhen’s abdomen, but she feared angering him and dared not bite, yet her instinct could not lie. She couldn’t help but push forcefully with her hands and feet. How could Li Zhaoting not feel this? He stared at her intently and finally withdrew the force from his hands, slowly releasing her.

The two looked into each other’s eyes.

Suzhen’s heart was alarmed.

She had always believed that Quan Feitong’s talk of romantic feelings was merely a judgment made from Li Zhaoting’s several acts of “tolerance” toward her for the Feng family’s sake.

But at this moment, what was in his eyes—the dark burning desire faintly suppressed in his pitch-black bright pupils—was not unfamiliar to her. She had seen it in Lian Yu’s eyes, and also in Quan Feitong’s eyes. And what he had just done to her… how could she still think this had anything to do with the Feng family, or some nonsense about childhood friendship!

But, but how could Li Zhaoting…? Hadn’t he always regarded her feelings as worthless since childhood?

She was shocked and couldn’t help but blurt out, “You… like me?”

Li Zhaoting had been staring at her, and hearing this, his gaze flickered slightly. He turned his head away. After a long while, Suzhen thought to herself that perhaps she really was overthinking, and maybe this was just a man’s sympathetic feelings toward a woman out of pity?

In the past, her brother had told her that if she wanted to win a man’s favor, she absolutely could not be like herself—she needed to know how to show weakness, how to act coquettishly, rather than being fierce and throwing tantrums like her.

Seeing his silence, she finally felt somewhat relieved and said, “I knew I had misunderstood. Your Majesty, please don’t take it to heart. You know I’ve always spoken without restraint. In the past, I was immature, but now I won’t have such thoughts anymore, and won’t aim too high.”

“What if I allow you to aim high?” he suddenly spoke.

Suzhen’s heart jumped violently. Instinctively, she stepped backward, and her leg bone suddenly struck the bed’s edge. She cried out in pain. Li Zhaoting was startled by her, then pressed her shoulders and pulled her to sit back on the bed.

“You always act like this,” he frowned and actually wanted to lift her skirt to examine her injury.

Suzhen firmly held down his hand, “Your Majesty, Lian Yu and I have nothing… but I truly no longer harbor any thoughts toward you either. I…”

Her heart beat even more violently. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him, but she really couldn’t bear his touch. Yet she didn’t dare offend him too much—the provocation at the laundry bureau earlier could happen once but not again. She feared he would hurt her, thereby harming little Lianzi.

Looking at the confusion in her eyes and the hidden resistance, Li Zhaoting’s heart at this moment was also extremely turbulent and complex.

Earlier at the laundry bureau, he had already realized something.

Seeing her helpless and frail appearance, his heart ached terribly.

This wasn’t the first time.

Previously, when she was kicked down by him and sat on the ground glaring at him hatefully, he had felt this way. Clearly wanting to punish her severely, yet unable to strike, and even softening his words to comfort her a few sentences.

He seemed to have never been like this even with Aluo.

He actually loved her too.

Even if it couldn’t compare to his love for Aluo, at least he liked her the way he liked Miaoyin.

But for some unknown reason, even though Aluo hadn’t initially loved him, he had been able to handle Aluo with ease. For over twenty years, everything he did was clear and straightforward. Only with this person, many things he simply couldn’t explain clearly.

When she first entered court as an official, he helped her cover up the lie about the name Li Huaisu. At the time, he thought it was merely out of gratitude to the Feng family, or even consideration for their childhood friendship—after all, as she said, she had been fluttering before his eyes since she was small.

But today, he finally knew—it wasn’t that.

It wasn’t.

His feelings for her weren’t limited to just those things.

“…” He opened his mouth, then stopped speaking, quickly stood up, and stood with his hands behind his back.

“Your Majesty—”

Behind him came the sound of her kneeling, “Regarding leaving the palace, Suzhen begs you again and again—please grant this. I’m not afraid of your laughter, but though Wei Chenghui is formidable, I may not be unable to escape his pursuit. If I truly cannot, then it’s my fate. I—”

“Why must you force me!” His heart sank, and he turned around abruptly, “Yes, I do have feelings for you. I neglected this in the past! I want you to stay not because of your father, but because of you. Are you satisfied with this admission?!”

Suzhen’s ears buzzed. He really… but when did this happen? Yet the fierce gleam blazing like flames in his eyes contained not a trace of jest.

She opened her mouth to say she still only wanted to leave the palace, but in his eyes, besides self-mockery, was written a domineering determination to possess.

A chill rose from the soles of her feet straight to her heart. She still couldn’t leave. Originally, she had thought that after this ordeal, if he were willing to save her, he might relax his control over her.

If she spent more time pleading, perhaps she could find hope of leaving the palace.

It was useless.

Seeing the confusion and shock on her face, and the resistance in her eyes becoming even clearer, Li Zhaoting felt irritated in his heart. But seeing her kneeling straight on the cold ground, no longer as defiant as in the past but showing more submission, his heart ached again. He forcibly pulled her up and pressed her to sit back on the bed.

Then he reached out and embraced her.

“I know,” he kissed her ear, “I treated you poorly in the past, but I don’t dislike you as much as you imagine. More often, I was angry at your father, wary of your father, because he saved me, and future restoration would be impossible without his assistance. Because of this, even if I didn’t like you, I had to play with you, and so toward you I…”

“Regarding Lian Yu’s matter, I’ll give you time to recover. You needn’t envy Aluo—her food, clothing, and expenses, I’ll privately give you the same quality. I said we two can still be like before.”

Suzhen desperately suppressed the urge to push him away, but the trembling beneath her skin and blood only intensified as she listened. He still loved Aluo most. She couldn’t refuse him like she used to with Lian Yu. Between her and Lian Yu, as Lian Yu said, he was indeed an emperor, and he was never a merciful ruler, but he was somehow bewitched by her. Except for matters concerning Aluo, every time it seemed like he was bullying her, in reality, the one who yielded was always him. But this person before her was different. Unless someday he loved her as much as Aluo, or even more, she couldn’t negotiate with him directly.

This path could only continue like this.

Stay, pretend to comply, gain his trust. Only when he let down his guard would he allow her to leave the palace.

In a few more days, her belly would show. She couldn’t panic, couldn’t make mistakes.

Since she had left that hellish place, the laundry bureau, she still had a chance!

“Alright.” She answered quietly, then used this excuse to push him away, “I’m dirty. Let me return to the side palace first. You’ve delayed court affairs for me—please handle them now.”

“The Empress Dowager and Empress are probably displeased in their hearts. You should also go visit them.”

Li Zhaoting listened quietly, not pointing out the subtle hint in her eyes. He had plenty of time to wear her down. Her feelings for Lian Yu, her feelings because that person treated her well—he would slowly grind them away!

“I’ll investigate the cause of today’s incident later.” He reached out to touch her cheek, then slid down to her neck, gently caressing the shallow marks on her neck, “Does it still hurt?”

He deliberately used the rough part of his fingertips to slide and rub against her skin intermittently. That strange sensation made Suzhen’s face burn, but she endured it secretly and smiled, “You know I’ve always been thick-skinned and tough since childhood.”

Hearing this, he smiled slightly and said lightly, “Tonight, I’ll turn over your tablet. This way, with iron-clad evidence, no one can say anything anymore.”

This statement shocked Suzhen greatly. She suddenly remembered the white handkerchief she had found in the side palace after he left that day. She hadn’t known what it was then, but now she understood immediately. She stared blankly for a long while before managing to squeeze out a weak voice, “Can we wait until the sixteenth of next month?”

Li Zhaoting’s eyelids lifted slightly, “Why?”

His voice carried a hint of sinister coldness.

She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, Li Zhaoting paused and suddenly remembered something, “That day is my birthday.”

“Good.” The arc of his lips gradually softened as he looked into her eyes and lowered his head to kiss her lips again. Suzhen knew she couldn’t resist too much and clenched her clothes with one hand. At this moment, there was a slight sound outside the palace door.

“Your Majesty, this servant has brought the medicinal ointment.” Xiao Si’s voice came carefully.

This interruption temporarily saved her. Li Zhaoting got up and walked to the door. When he returned, he held a porcelain bottle and gauze. Just as Suzhen was about to take the bottle from his hand, he suddenly reached out and pressed a pressure point. Suzhen immediately fell back onto the bed, unable to move.

“Why did you press my pressure point?” She was trembling with fear. Li Zhaoting didn’t answer but put the bottle aside, wrung out the cloth that had fallen into the basin again, then began wiping her face, followed by her neck, and finally took her hands, placed them on his lap, and wiped them twice. He wiped carefully and gently, afraid of hurting her.

“When you were little, you were like a wild monkey. On days when I refused to keep you company, you’d always take Leng Xue and Hong Xiao out to run wild. Sometimes you’d return covered in mud and dust, then cling to me to wash your face. I thought you were really annoying then. But that day when you were beaten with rods by Lian Yu, I hated you for harming Aluo, but kneeling there, I still thought that someday I would beat him to death with rods, just as he did to you.” He looked at her with a half-smile, then poured some medicine and applied it to her various small wounds.

Suzhen bit her lip, not knowing how to respond. When he finally released her pressure point, she quickly left. Before going out, she heard him say lightly, “Tonight, I will still turn over your tablet.”

This time, he used “I” (the imperial “zhen”).