“How did you know I sought out Miss Miao?” Finally, after a long silence, she slowly spoke, her voice carrying a slight ripple.

Li Zhaoting’s heart felt as if it had been violently squeezed. She hadn’t answered his question—this wasn’t the response he wanted!

“Don’t worry about how I knew! Tell me, is it possible or not, what would it take!” He gritted his teeth slightly, his voice rising momentarily.

Immediately after, he regretted it. How could he speak to her in that tone again? He looked remorsefully at her expression, but she seemed unbothered, showing not the slightest trace of anger on her face. This made his heart even more restless, yet he dared not say anything more, only waiting for her to speak. At this moment, no matter how long, he would wait.

“You said you’d take me to the mountains where I used to gather jade. Does that still count? This palace is too suffocating.” She thought for a moment and asked.

Li Zhaoting truly felt a mixture of joy and worry. Joy because though she hadn’t explicitly said so, she seemed to have agreed to his request. Worry because she remained so calm, neither crying nor making a fuss, as if she had become numb or seen through everything. This realization pained him—he would have preferred her to cry and make trouble with him as she had at the laundry bureau.

“Good.” He immediately agreed.

“Thank you.” She nodded, then said, “Let me finish this work first. If you have business, attend to it.”

It was like punching cotton with nowhere to apply force. These words made his anger flare!

Seeing her bend down to pick up the lantern, he reached out and firmly grasped her hands. Finally, he untied the ribbon from her sleeves, tucked it into his own sleeve, and rolled down her sleeves to cover her thin arms.

At last, he held her hands tightly.

The rough feeling immediately filled his palms—her hands had even more calluses than his. These were hands that should hold a brush. Since childhood, she had never suffered such hardships.

She didn’t blame him, didn’t struggle, didn’t make a sound—just silently lowered her head to the ground.

He would rather she shout at him loudly, as she had the first time, but clearly she never would again!

“If you have complaints in your heart, you can direct them at me—”

“I wouldn’t dare, afraid that good times never last long.”

His jaw clenched as his grip tightened. This time she responded quickly, cutting off his unfinished words in his throat.

He could no longer contain his restraint. Following his instincts, he used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from her forehead, then pulled her into his embrace.

She still didn’t move.

But that empty, panicked feeling within him was finally filled.

He held her for a while, gradually calming down. Finally realizing his loss of composure, he released her but still took her hand, turning to the Jin Prince Consort, “I’ll trouble Mother with this.”

“Let servants do servants’ work. If they can’t even handle such small matters properly, they shouldn’t be in those positions. I trust you two understand this clearly. You must assist Mother well—don’t disappoint me.” Finally, his gaze fell on Wei Wulei and Miaoyin as he spoke sternly.

Wei Wulei and Miaoyin each showed complex expressions but quickly bowed in compliance.

Their conversation hadn’t been loud enough to hear clearly, but words like “together” and “is it possible” had reached their ears. His subsequent wiping of her sweat and embracing her was full of tender emotion.

It seemed that each time she suffered, his love for her grew stronger. This time wasn’t even a life-threatening ordeal like the laundry bureau, yet his concern and tension were obvious to all.

Xiao Shanshan and Mei’er were also shocked. Mei’er said fearfully, “My lady…”

“If they can’t handle such small matters properly, they shouldn’t be in those positions”—these words were directed at her, yet deliberately overlooked her! Aluo watched helplessly as he pulled Feng Suzhen away quickly, as if she’d been slapped hard across the face, the burning pain stinging fiercely!

So many consorts and palace servants looked at her—their gazes could devour a person.

Something seemed to have happened again between him and Feng Suzhen, somewhere she didn’t know about. Otherwise, why would he settle old scores with Ji’er to vent her anger! But logically, he shouldn’t know about what she had instructed Ji’er to do. How could this be?

Her lips were unconsciously bitten through, the metallic taste of blood sliding into her mouth, making her feel nauseous! She endured the burning in her eyes, gritting her teeth as she looked at the servant being escorted away by guards. Ji’er had already collapsed like mud on the ground, her eyes filled only with terror, not even noticing her meaningful glances.

Unable to think of anything else, she went directly over, bent down, grabbed the servant’s clothes, and demanded, “Speak! What did His Majesty say to you, and what nonsense did you tell him?”

“Your Majesty, you must save this servant! Those words were all taught to me by you. How did they suddenly become the Noble Consort’s achievement… And what visiting card? I don’t know, I really don’t know…” Ji’er also clung to her sleeves, clearly on the verge of collapse.

Aluo was immediately shocked. What she was talking about wasn’t the previous instructions at the laundry bureau, nor even the false testimony about Quan and Feng through Wei Wulei.

She was about to ask more when Si Lanfeng said, “Your Majesty, His Majesty instructed that this servant must receive palace punishment. It’s time for this subordinate to take her away and send her to prison first.”

He bowed respectfully, then directed the guards to take the person away. Aluo felt grief and anger in her heart, shooting a cold glance at his retreating figure before turning to Liang Song who remained nearby, “Manager Liang…”

The old eunuch smiled with some difficulty, “My lady, regarding these matters, this old servant is truly confused, following behind and hearing only fragments. I still need to attend to His Majesty, so I’ll pay my respects to you later.”

This sycophantic old fool! Watching him leave as he spoke, this harem was truly a place that devoured people—when one fell, everyone trampled. Aluo stood frozen in place, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

Li Zhaoting, you’re doing well. You’ll regret this, you will regret this…

Leaving Stopping Fragrance Hall and walking some distance, Li Zhaoting glanced at Xiao Zhou and others following silently behind, then said quietly to Suzhen, “Come with me to the bedchamber—it’s time for a meal.”

Without others present, the two could spend time together properly.

“How did you know what I said to Miss Miao?” Seeing him stop, Suzhen also stopped and asked.

Seeing her still dwelling on this process that was no longer important to him, Li Zhaoting couldn’t help but smile bitterly, “That doesn’t matter. You just need to know that I want to be with you properly.”

Suzhen smiled.

It was a listless, quiet smile. As if when he spoke, she listened, but beyond that, there seemed to be nothing more.

Li Zhaoting felt his tongue turn bitter. He then gave Liang Song, who had hurried to catch up, a meaningful look.

Understanding, Liang Song dismissed Xiao Zhou and others. Even the slow-witted Xiao Si was led away, leaving only guards to follow at a distance for protection.

Not far away was a lake with shimmering water and pavilions—quite an intoxicating scene. Seeing everyone had withdrawn, Li Zhaoting could no longer restrain himself. He grasped her shoulders with both hands and moved to kiss her lips.

Suzhen didn’t pull away but slightly turned her head aside.

Li Zhaoting was disappointed but didn’t force her, only saying, “Let’s go. You must be hungry too.”

He turned his head thoughtfully, then said to please her, “I’ll have them arrange travel preparations immediately. Once my birthday passes, we’ll set out to travel for a few days.”

“Zhaoting.”

She spoke.

Without honorifics, Li Zhaoting’s nose tingled with an indescribable surge of emotion rising in his chest.

“Mm.” He suppressed the turbulence in his heart, turning to look at her deeply.

“Could we not wait until after the birthday?” she said.

Li Zhaoting had wanted to tell her that the timing would be too rushed—the emperor’s travel required time to arrange personnel. But instead he said, “Alright. But we must return before my birthday since palace ceremonies cannot be missed. If we postpone, I can accompany you to play for more days.”

“I don’t need to stay too long. I know my place.”

A curve finally appeared at her lips. Seeing this, Li Zhaoting immediately nodded, “I’ll have them make arrangements shortly.”

But her eyes still showed hesitation. Observing her expression, he added, “Is there something else you want to discuss with me? Just say it—I’ll certainly handle it for you.”

“I do want to ask you for two more things.” She looked at the lake surface and said slowly.

“Tell me.” He didn’t hesitate.

“I don’t know how that Ji’er offended you, but seeing her being escorted away by your men just now, you probably won’t show her any mercy, right? If so, I’d like to take her over. That girl isn’t a good person—she never treated me as human in the past. Now that I’ve temporarily risen in status, I want to destroy her first, lest she harm me again if I fall from grace later. Even if you think me vicious.” She spoke softly.

If this Ji’er could make her happy, he would gladly give her ten such people. “Temporarily risen in status”—these words made his heart ache, but he nodded in agreement, “How could that be vicious? This servant deserves it. I wasn’t planning to spare her anyway. In that case, I’ll give her to you. However you want to deal with her, decide for yourself—no need to report to me.”

“What’s the other matter?”

He asked again, hoping to finish quickly. Right now he only wanted to take her back to his palace. At this moment, her voice came through the wind, “Could you let me bury Lian Yu’s remains today?”

He had agreed to let her retrieve that man’s remains, but seeing her so devoted to this, Li Zhaoting’s whole body still tensed with pain and anger. He wanted to touch her, to have her! To take her back to his palace immediately and make her his woman today, to truly fulfill the title of Noble Consort, to have her bear his children, to tear Lian Yu from her heart, skin and flesh. But he said nothing, only took a deep breath and said “Good.”

All the way, Suzhen was held with fingers interlocked by the other person—his hand like gnarled tree roots, crisscrossed and firmly attached to hers.

She wasn’t as calm as she appeared on the surface. She actually didn’t want to mention Lian Yu at this critical moment. But she feared unexpected changes—before leaving the palace, she had to take Lian Yu’s remains with her. She couldn’t let her beloved rest forever in this cold place; she wanted to be with him forever.

She had thought Li Zhaoting would be somewhat angry even if he agreed, but he wasn’t. He even agreed to take her there immediately after the meal. This made her feel that he truly was different from before, though for her, it no longer mattered.

The two walked silently through the corridor. Sharp-eyed Xiao Si suddenly said, “Hey, isn’t that Quan Feitong? How did he enter the palace? Your Majesty, is he here to see you?”

Suzhen was startled and looked in the direction he indicated. Indeed, three people were approaching—Quan Feitong and Chao Huang in front, with a shorter, thinner person behind them oddly wearing a felt hat, their face unclear through the gaps.

“Prime Minister Quan.” Li Zhaoting suddenly spoke, calling out to them.

“When you’re looking everywhere for something, you stumble upon it unexpectedly. I entered the palace precisely to see Your Majesty about a matter.”

From another path in the corridor, hearing the commotion, Quan Feitong spoke with a slight smile. But when his gaze shifted and fell on the tightly clasped hands of Li Zhaoting and the person beside him, his smile slowly faded.

Li Zhaoting seemingly casually released her hand but instead drew Suzhen into his embrace, smiling, “Perfect that the Noble Consort is also here. Prime Minister, come over and pay your respects.”