Li Rong secretly came to Pei Wenxuan’s place and arranged for a body double at the Princess’s residence. The next day, she heard that Huale had brought people to surround the Princess’s residence.

It was said that when she arrived, her eyes were red. She had probably been scolded by Li Ming last night, so she just surrounded the Princess’s residence and didn’t dare enter at all.

Li Rong happily listened to Zhao Chongjiu’s report on these matters. Seeing Li Rong happy, Zhao Chongjiu continued, “Besides being reprimanded, Princess Huale has recently had another piece of bad luck.”

“Oh?” Li Rong was somewhat curious. “What else happened?”

“This morning at court, they discussed establishing diplomatic relations with the northeastern border,” Li Rong drank her tea while listening to Zhao Chongjiu speak methodically. “Minister Pei suggested Princess Huale go for a marriage alliance.”

Hearing this, Li Rong spat out a mouthful of tea and choked, coughing.

Zhao Chongjiu calmly handed her a handkerchief. Li Rong took it to cover her mouth, coughing as she said, “He himself, he submitted the memorial himself?”

Zhao Chongjiu nodded, then added, “Princess Huale was so frightened she cried all afternoon.”

Li Rong: “…”

She knew Huale was timid, but didn’t expect her to be this timid.

Li Rong recovered, waved her hand, and was too lazy to bother with Huale’s affairs. She directly asked, “What else? Is there any news about the conscription order?”

“No news yet.”

Li Rong nodded. She had only pressed Li Ming last night, so there was no need to be so anxious.

After asking Zhao Chongjiu about the situations of Cui Yulang, Qin Lin, and Lin Feibai, Li Rong also felt tired and had Zhao Chongjiu leave. She lay down in the courtyard to sunbathe.

Pei Wenxuan had concealed information about her identity. Except for trusted confidants, no one else was allowed into the inner courtyard. Li Rong was happy to be at leisure. Covering herself with a blanket, she lay in a reclining chair and slept until evening.

Pei Wenxuan normally wouldn’t come back this early, but thinking that Li Rong was at home, he hurried back as soon as it was time, not lingering at the government office.

When he returned, he heard Li Rong was sleeping in the courtyard. He didn’t have anyone disturb Li Rong. He silently went to Li Rong’s side, casually took an orange from the table, and while peeling it, watched over Li Rong.

When Li Rong woke up, she saw Pei Wenxuan reading beside her. She looked at him groggily for a moment. Pei Wenxuan noticed she had awakened, turned to look at her, smiled, and said, “Awake? Are you hungry?”

“I’m hungry.”

Li Rong raised her hand to wrap around his neck, softly sat up, kissed him, and said, “You came back so early?”

“With you at home, how could I not come back early?”

Pei Wenxuan turned to have someone fetch an outer robe. He raised his hand to drape it over her, pulled her up, and together they walked toward the small dining room in the inner courtyard.

Li Rong looked around at the furnishings in the residence and couldn’t help saying, “Your residence is indeed quite nice.”

“Father doesn’t like large residences, but Mother does,” Pei Wenxuan explained. “So we followed Mother’s wishes and bought a large residence, but modified the inner courtyard according to Father’s preferences with everything fully equipped. Now it’s just perfect,” Pei Wenxuan turned with a smile, “for me to hide my beauty in a golden house.”

“I heard you impeached Huale at court today?”

Not wanting to let him take verbal advantage, Li Rong changed the subject and poked his waist with her fan. “Why frighten a young girl for no reason?”

“She still counts as a young girl?” Pei Wenxuan scoffed. “Frightening her is letting her off easy. Let me look at your face.”

Mentioning Huale reminded Pei Wenxuan of Li Rong’s wound. He turned to cup Li Rong’s face and examined it for a moment.

Although Huale hadn’t actually hit her yesterday, her fingernail had still left a shallow scratch. Today it had scabbed over and become more noticeable. Seeing this, Pei Wenxuan became angry, frowning as he said, “The one I treasure at the tip of my heart, every day your Li clan recklessly torments you like this…”

“Pei Wenxuan,” Li Rong raised an eyebrow, “you’re overstepping. What Li clan?”

Li Rong tapped him with her fan. Pei Wenxuan dodged with sounds of “Aiya, aiya.” Li Rong reminded him, “That’s called the imperial family.”

“In my heart, there’s no such clan or that clan,” Pei Wenxuan reached out to embrace Li Rong. “In my heart, there are only two types of people.”

“Which two types?” Li Rong was somewhat curious. Pei Wenxuan smiled. “The Princess, and everyone else.”

“The hierarchy in this world exists only between Your Highness and everyone else. The Princess is noble, everyone else is base.”

“Stop talking,” Li Rong raised her hand to cover Pei Wenxuan’s mouth, her eyes full of tenderness. “If you continue, I won’t be able to eat.”

She suddenly understood why Pei Wenxuan received the favor of two emperors.

This little mouth—too good at flattery.

Li Rong dragged Pei Wenxuan to sit down for dinner. The two chatted about daytime matters. There were many court affairs, so Pei Wenxuan spoke for quite a while. When it was Li Rong’s turn to speak, Li Rong thought for a moment and simply said, “Ate, slept, ate.”

As she spoke, she was somewhat unhappy and waved her hand. “Very boring.”

“What do you mean boring?” Seeing her expression, Pei Wenxuan ladled her a bowl of soup. “Right now is when the court is fiercely fighting. You just withdrew from the Constabulary Bureau at the perfect time. When they’ve had enough chaos, they’ll remember you.”

“You don’t need to do anything now,” Pei Wenxuan placed the soup in front of her. “Taking the opportunity to recuperate your body is the important matter.”

Neither of their bodies could be considered good. Pei Wenxuan’s problems came from overwork, while Li Rong’s were from ailments left over from childhood.

When she was young, she had been punished by kneeling too severely. Not only had it injured her muscles and bones, her body wasn’t in good shape either.

Pei Wenxuan watched her sip the soup in small mouthfuls and asked, “Tomorrow I’ll have a physician come to the residence to examine you, alright?”

Li Rong found this strange. “Examine what?”

“Your age is about right now,” Pei Wenxuan’s expression was gentle. He raised his hand and gently placed it on her belly. “I want when you turn twenty for us to have our first child. Is that alright?”

Hearing him bring up children and seeing his somewhat expectant eyes, Li Rong turned her head away and said with forced composure, “Fine. Whatever.”

The next day, Pei Wenxuan returned early from morning court. He had Li Rong cover her face and sit behind a screen for the physician to examine her.

After taking her pulse for a while, the physician sighed. “There’s nothing seriously wrong, but this madam’s foundation is too poor. As for bearing children, I’m afraid it can’t be rushed for the time being.”