After a night of passion, the whole room was filled with spring warmth.
Early the next morning, Yue Li, with things on her mind, struggled to open her eyes before the hour of Mao.
She slept on the inner side of the dragon bed. Perhaps the charcoal fire in the hall had burned a little too hot during the night, and a section of her fair, slender calf had slipped out from under the covers, resting atop the bedding.
Yue Li’s sleeping posture was hardly graceful. When she first entered the palace, the Empress Dowager had sent a mama to teach her etiquette, but the woman was driven away in exasperation within two days.
What was the point of learning all those stiff rules? Lying in bed stiff as a dead fish—who would like that?
In any case, He Yanchen clearly liked the way she looked in bed, as could be seen from the intensity with which he ravished her every time.
Yue Li’s thoughts wandered for a while before she remembered that today was an “eight” day—the day of the grand court assembly.
In her previous life, around this time, He Yanchen had already begun showing signs of neglecting state affairs. He almost never attended the grand court assemblies on “eight” days, and occasionally skipped even the smaller assemblies held every three days.
It must have been his absence from court that gave Prince Xian’s faction their opportunity.
Yue Li’s clever little mind spun, and she decided she had to get He Yanchen to attend morning court.
She propped herself up slightly, studying the man beside her in the dim light.
He Yanchen’s features were sharp and coldly handsome. Though beautiful, his face carried an air of majesty and aloofness—and even in sleep, some of that cold severity remained.
They each had their own covers. Yue Li slipped out from under her own blanket, quietly lifted a corner of his, and burrowed inside.
The faint scent of dragon’s incense lingered at the tip of her nose. Her slightly cool fingertips gently traced over his firm chest.
He Yanchen suddenly seized her wrist, his eyes snapping open.
Yue Li let out a soft hiss, collapsing limply onto him before poking her head out from under the covers.
“Do you have a death wish?”
The man’s voice, thick with sleep, carried a lazy rasp as he glared at her with clear displeasure.
Yue Li was a little frightened, but her urge to push him toward morning court overcame her fear. She said sweetly, “Your Majesty, it’s almost the hour of Mao.”
As she spoke, she used her other hand—the one not pinned—to pull aside the bed curtains, gesturing toward the hourglass nearby.
Their position was intimate. The woman wore only a small pink bellyband embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water, her fair, rounded shoulders bare, concealing none of her charms. A few strands of soft hair fell across his cheek, and their gentle brushing stirred his desire.
“Move again, and I’ll throw you out just like this.”
Yue Li blinked at him innocently. “But, Your Majesty, if you don’t get up soon, you’ll be late for morning court.”
Something complicated flickered through He Yanchen’s eyes, gone in an instant.
He shoved the woman away none too gently, closed his eyes again, and said in an indifferent voice, “I’m not going.”
Yue Li landed face-down on the bed, but she stubbornly crawled back and burrowed into his covers again. “Your Majesty, you really won’t go?”
“If you won’t sleep, then get out.”
Yue Li pretended not to hear. She wrapped her arms around the man’s firm waist, rested her head on his chest, and traced slow circles on his abdominal muscles with her finger.
“Then could Your Majesty keep your concubine company today? This concubine misses Your Majesty so much…”
He Yanchen drew a deep breath. His temper was already short in the mornings, and this clingy little minx was provoking him so recklessly.
He suddenly gripped the back of her neck, his other arm circling her waist, and rolled over, pinning her entirely beneath him.
Caught off guard, Yue Li was knocked down, her shoulder striking the bed, and then her chin was seized and tilted up.
“Your Majesty…” Yue Li hastily covered her lips with her hand, and a warm kiss landed on her palm.
He Yanchen’s eyes darkened instantly, cold to the extreme.
Yue Li’s lashes trembled nervously, and she said in a weak voice, “This concubine seems… seems to have gotten her monthly courses…”
“Get out of my sight!”
Ji Ming, dozing against the door, suddenly heard a man’s furious voice from inside. He jolted in fright, nearly dropping the horsetail whisk in his hand.
Before he could even steady himself, he saw He Yanchen storming out.
Ji Ming was astonished. There had been a grand court assembly today, yet he hadn’t seen His Majesty rise this early in ages.
He Yanchen washed and dressed with a cold face. He was full of anger right now—he simply had to go to court and chew out a few old fossils to vent!
Knowing that He Yanchen had gone to court, Yue Li contentedly went back to sleep.
Half an hour later, Lianqiao came in to wake her:
“My lady, it’s time to pay your respects.”
Yue Li rolled around hugging her soft pillow. Damn it, she still had to go pay respects.
She recalled the last year of her previous life. With He Yanchen’s indulgence by then, she had begun throwing her weight around and stirring up trouble, throwing the harem into complete chaos. The Empress Dowager and the Empress had long since exempted her from paying respects.
The two of them—one wreaking havoc in the court, the other in the harem—soon managed to ruin themselves as well.
Yue Li sat before the mirror, doing her makeup. Lianqiao, knowing how much she loved beauty, brought out many pieces of jewelry for her to choose from:
“What do you think of this one, my lady?”
Yue Li gave an absent-minded “mm.” Her mind wasn’t on the harem at all. The women of the harem were neither as pretty as her nor as skilled at winning favor—she had outcompeted them all in her past life, and in this one they were even less of a threat.
The most important thing was finding a way to avoid that rebellion two years from now.
Prince Xian could rebel only because, during He Yanchen’s reign, resentment had long been festering among the court and the people—giving his rebellion a legitimate cause.
As long as she could change He Yanchen and make him a proper emperor, all of this could be avoided.
And if she truly couldn’t change him, then she would scout out that secret passage behind the Zhuyu Palace in advance, and when the time came, just slip away early.
This time, she absolutely could not have a moment of foolish impulse and come back to die.
As good as He Yanchen was, her own little life mattered more.
Advising him to govern diligently and finding a way to warn him to watch out for Prince Xian was already more than enough—going above and beyond the call of duty.
Having thought all this through, Yue Li felt somewhat more at ease.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Consort Shen had just come out of the Yihua Palace and was about to board her sedan chair to pay respects when she heard someone call to her from behind.
Ronghua Jiang hurried forward. “This concubine greets Consort Shen.”
“No need for such formality, sister.”
Consort Shen motioned for the sedan bearers to withdraw, and she walked along the palace path together with Ronghua Jiang.
“Sister, have you heard? Lady Yu stayed the night at the Linde Hall last night.”
Consort Shen smiled softly. “Lady Yu has always been favored. It’s hardly her first time staying over—what’s so surprising about it?”
“This concubine merely heard that His Majesty went to the grand court assembly this morning.”
A glint flickered almost imperceptibly in Consort Shen’s eyes, and then she said, “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“If Lady Yu can persuade His Majesty to devote himself to state affairs, I imagine the Empress Dowager’s opinion of her might change as well.”
Ronghua Jiang understood this logic, but she still felt uncomfortable inside. Especially upon hearing Consort Shen speak up for Lady Yu, she felt a sour sting in her heart.
Lady Yu was of lowly birth and arrogant in manner; hardly anyone in the palace associated with her. Yet for some reason, Consort Shen was somewhat close to her, seemingly with an intent to win her over.
But before she entered the palace, she and Consort Shen had been the closest of friends.
Not only had she stolen His Majesty’s favor, she had stolen Consort Shen’s affection too—utterly detestable!