Struggle as she might, Jiu’er had no choice but to lie sprawled across Ninth Imperial Uncle’s thighs and close her eyes to sleep.

Ninth Prince’s carriage, once it entered the palace, was permitted to travel directly to the Emperor’s Yuxiao Hall.

The carriage moved at an unhurried pace all the way, and before it even reached Yuxiao Hall, the girl draped across Ninth Imperial Uncle’s lap had already drifted into a deep slumber.

The Empress, upon receiving word that Ninth Prince intended to seek an audience with the Emperor, immediately ordered her attendants to dress and arrange her to her best appearance, and set off in haste toward Yuxiao Hall, carrying a box of pastries.

The Empress timed her arrival perfectly — just as she reached the hall, Zhan Qingcheng’s carriage came to a stop outside the main entrance of Yuxiao Hall.

“This subordinate pays his respects to the Empress!” Yu Jingfeng bowed.

“Rise.” The Empress’s gaze remained fixed on the carriage curtain. “So A’Jiu has come today as well? What a coincidence.”

“Yes. His Highness has business to attend to with His Majesty.” Yu Jingfeng nodded, and after completing the bow, went to lift the curtain for the person inside the carriage.

The Empress kept her eyes fixed on the curtain, eagerly anticipating the moment she would finally lay eyes on the hauntingly handsome man waiting behind it.

But the instant Yu Jingfeng drew the curtain aside, the Empress went completely rigid.

She was stunned. She could not believe it. She doubted her own eyes. She — lunged forward, shoved Yu Jingfeng aside with both hands.

She flung back the curtain herself, and pointed with a trembling fingertip at the young woman inside who lay sprawled across Zhan Qingcheng’s lap.

“She… she…”

Zhan Qingcheng cast her an indifferent glance, then raised his hand and waved — a clear signal for her to hold her tongue and not wake the woman still sound asleep.

Could the Empress hold her tongue? She was already at the brink of collapse, on the verge of screaming!

“Feng Jiu’er, Feng Jiu’er! You…”

Zhan Qingcheng’s brow furrowed, a flash of displeasure crossing those strikingly beautiful eyes.

Jiu’er was inevitably roused from her sleep. She rubbed her bleary eyes, still lying prone across Ninth Imperial Uncle’s lap, and tilted her head to glance at the Empress.

In truth, she had sensed something approaching a moment earlier and knew she ought to wake — she could feel something carrying a dangerous energy drawing near.

But Ninth Imperial Uncle’s thighs were simply so comfortable to sleep on, and more than that — with Ninth Imperial Uncle right there, why did she feel so inexplicably at ease?

So the laziness of Miss Ninth prevailed, and she decided to sleep just a little longer — just a little while.

Who would have thought she would still be jolted awake by the Empress’s grating voice.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, have we arrived?” Jiu’er let out a yawn, then suddenly noticed something with a flicker of curiosity and looked up at Zhan Qingcheng.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, you are ranked ninth, and Jiu’er is also the ninth — don’t you think we were simply fated for each other?”

Such a trivial question — had it come from anyone else, Zhan Qingcheng would have given it absolutely no attention.

Yet he lowered his gaze to look at Feng Jiu’er, gave a nod, and replied in a tone that was, by his standards, quite gentle: “Mm.”

“Heh heh…” Feng Jiu’er grinned with a crafty gleam in her eyes, deliberately refusing to look at the Empress standing beside the carriage.

That wretched older woman — one look was enough to tell she harbored improper feelings toward Ninth Imperial Uncle! Had she no idea how old she was? She was practically old enough to be Ninth Imperial Uncle’s mother!

She was going to make a point of getting close to Ninth Imperial Uncle, just to infuriate her. That was what she deserved for having a venomous snake bite her before!

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, my leg is numb — give Jiu’er a rub.” Feng Jiu’er’s gift for playing the fool, it seemed, had only grown sharper.

“Feng Jiu’er, you… you get down from there this instant!” The Empress’s face had twisted beyond recognition with rage.

She could not allow it — could not allow her A’Jiu to touch another woman. She could not!

But what was A’Jiu doing? He had actually taken hold of Feng Jiu’er’s little leg and begun to rub it! The Empress felt darkness swallow her vision, a suffocating pressure slamming into her chest — as though a mouthful of stagnant blood were lodged at the tip of her heart, ready to spill out at any moment.