Azi was having Qinghe pin a rose on her hair when the palace servants around her started praising her, making her a little embarrassed.

To everyone's surprise, a strange man suddenly appeared before them. Qinghe helped her to her feet, and Zheng San stepped forward and asked, "May I ask who this gentleman is?"

"I am Gong Yuhan of Nanling." He spoke to Azi beside him with a smile in his eyes. Di Jingyuan, who had walked over, recognized the man before him. So it was Gong Yuhan. He had forgotten that there was such a person in the palace.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Seeing that Azi seemed a little shy, Di Jingyuan quickly broke the silence, and Gong Yuhan was also forced to look away from Azi.

Hearing Emperor Jingyuan address the beautiful woman before him, he realized she was the Empress whom the Western Emperor cherished dearly. Such stunning beauty was indeed captivating. Even he, seeing her for the first time today, couldn't help but be drawn to her, and walked over as soon as he saw this charming woman from afar.

"Prince Yuan." Gong Yuhan nodded slightly to Prince Yuan while lost in thought, then bowed to Azi: "Gong Yuhan greets Your Majesty the Empress."

"No need for formalities." Azi smiled demurely, trying her best to maintain a virtuous and proper demeanor, which was truly difficult for her. Qinghe knew she didn't want to talk to these two anymore, after all, the atmosphere was really awkward, and the two of them were staring at the Empress without any attempt to avoid suspicion. Didn't they know how to avoid suspicion?

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is still waiting for you in the palace. You are not feeling well, so you should not overexert yourself," Qinghe said at the right moment.

Azi smiled slightly at the two men and turned to leave, but Zheng San stepped forward to stop them: "Your Highnesses, please enjoy yourselves." Di Jingyuan and Gong Yuhan followed Azi's retreating figure with their eyes. The former looked somewhat forlorn, while the latter savored the soft, sweet voice and stunning beauty she had just displayed.

After Azi and her entourage left, Di Jingyuan withdrew his reluctant gaze and glanced indifferently at Gong Yuhan beside him: "The Prince of Nanling is obsessed with poetry and writes poems in the palace every day. Since April, he has rarely set foot in the Imperial Garden. How come he has such leisure and leisure today?"

Upon hearing this, Gong Yuhan felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. It still hurt deeply to have his wounds reopened. He had lost his country and was now living under someone else's roof. These days, he had indeed relied on poetry and songs to alleviate his sorrow and rarely went out.

I just happened to come out for some fresh air today, but I never expected to run into Emperor Jingyuan, whose words were anything but forgiving. However, what was comforting was meeting this wonderful Empress.

He forced a smile and shook his head slightly: "It's fine to be in a leisurely mood, I just came out to relax."

Di Jingyuan turned away, feeling very annoyed. If it weren't for that damned Gong Yuhan interrupting him, he could have spoken a few more words with Azi. He had only taken two steps when Gong Yuhan called out to him.

"Prince Yuan seems very displeased that I spoke with the Empress."

Di Jingyuan stopped and turned around, looking at him with sharp eyes, a stark contrast to his gentle demeanor.

“You are an outsider, yet you dare to offend my Empress Xijing. If you were to harm my sister-in-law and her unborn child, you would have several heads to chop off.”

Di Jingyuan's words were meant to make Gong Yuhan give up, but Gong Yuhan didn't seem to care.

"Prince Yuan is right. I was rash and misunderstood Your Highness." Gong Yuhan still had a smile on his face, but his thoughts were unknown.

Di Jingyuan said no more and left in a huff. Gong Yuhan's face immediately fell. Di Jingyuan had never been so confrontational with him before; he was usually a humble and gentle person. It seemed he had been too rash. But it seemed that his brother-in-law liked his sister-in-law, which explained the situation.

Azi returned to the palace and sat wearily on the soft couch. Emperor Jingcheng happened to enter from outside and, seeing his beloved daughter seemed tired, dismissed the palace servants and stepped forward to embrace her: "My darling, where did you go to play?"

He raised his hand and gently touched the rose in her hair: "Baby, you smell so good!" He leaned in and took a deep, intoxicating sniff.

Azi gently pushed him, pouting, "Be serious!"

Di Jingcheng touched her belly and chuckled, "Where is my husband being improper? Isn't he just completely infatuated with my A Zi?"

"You're so glib. What would happen if the children learned to be like you?" Azi felt very hot and wanted to push the man away, but he couldn't let her go.

“Where is the glib talk? My husband is telling the truth.”

"Alright, alright, whatever you say." Azi was too lazy to argue with him and began to tell him about the people she had met in the Imperial Garden that day.

Di Jingcheng sneered inwardly. Why were they all trying to get close to his precious treasure? Di Jingyuan could still tolerate it, but what kind of trash was Gong Yuhan, daring to covet his treasure?

Of course, Azi had no idea what the two men were thinking, since when she met them, all she wanted to do was leave.

Emperor Jingcheng immediately issued an edict ordering Gong Yuhan to remain in his palace and not to leave, effectively confining him. Sending him out of the palace was not feasible; if he were to escape back to Nanling and return with a vengeance, it would be difficult to defend against.

When Emperor Jingyuan received this news, he felt that his elder brother had done the right thing.

Azi was pampered by the man every day, and nothing that bothered her was ever mentioned to her. As Azi's belly grew bigger, Di Jingcheng took even more care of her, treating her as if she were a fragile treasure.

When the fetus was six months old, Di Jinghan returned. After dinner, Di Jingcheng was helping Azi take a walk in the yard to digest her food when Di Jinghan happily ran in.

"Royal brother, royal sister-in-law!" She was as happy and carefree as a butterfly, rushing straight towards Azi, wanting to hug her. But her own royal brother raised his hand to stop her.

"Your sister-in-law can't take any more trouble right now. She needs to stay quiet and peaceful," Emperor Jingcheng said softly.

Di Jinghan pouted but didn't mind. Seeing her beautiful sister-in-law's big belly, her eyes were full of excitement. She couldn't help but think of Li Yannian, who was far away on the frontier. Her heart warmed. In the future, she would also bear children for the man she loved.

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