Apart from them, in the imperial garden, there was only snow covering the branches on the ground and clusters of pink and white camellias in bloom.

The huge courtyard is empty and quiet.

Rong Ting's heart felt like a thousand horses passing through, and the whole place was in a mess.

As luck would have it, Jiang Rao blinked her moist eyes and looked at him very seriously, "Are you really as bad as you say?"

When she thought that he might not want to get engaged to her, even though his face looked pure and innocent, and cleaner than the falling snow around him, she actually felt a little annoyed.

She interpreted this annoyance as meaning that if he didn't want to get engaged to her, then all the hard work she had endured recently would have been in vain.

Jiang Rao took a deep breath.

Now, not only did her father and aunt have the impression that they were fond of him, but even Chen Bing and Chen Congyun knew that she was deeply in love with him.

If she wants to regret it, she will have to explain that she no longer likes him.

Otherwise, given her aunt's temper, if she knew the man she wanted to marry didn't want to marry her, she would probably act like a mountain king and go directly to the emperor to snatch her away.

Jiang Rao had her hands behind her back.

But the slender fingers have already shown a tendency to clench.

The back of Rong Ting's ears was dyed red, the same color as the camellia flowers on the branches.

However, the tiny bit of joy that had just sprouted in his heart was uprooted and trampled into mud in an instant when he recalled what he had just said.

The tall and straight figure was tensed at this moment, his robe as black as ink, and his figure seemed stiffer than the stone wall behind him.

It was as if he had become mute, his Adam's apple moved, but he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Jiang Rao frowned even deeper because of his silence.

"It can't be... true?" she asked hesitantly.

“No.” Rong Ting denied immediately.

His voice was exceptionally low and hoarse.

I didn't control my voice well, and the ending sound was slightly trembling.

He lowered his eyes as he had done before, with an expression that showed the kind of pity that would earn her the most sympathy.

But... this expression made Jiang Rao suspicious, "You... didn't wrong yourself and lie to me again?"

She looked at him distrustfully, and seeing him lower his eyes and look gentle, she felt that he really was the kind of person who would do this. She couldn't help but think more, "Don't be like you did before, afraid of causing trouble for me, and would rather keep some things in your heart than tell me."

The word "again" made Rong Ting choke, "No hidden meaning."

He just didn't think that the person whom he would think of from time to time, scold from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and even had planned what means to use to punish him after finding him, would be himself.

Originally, if that man dared to pester her, she had already thought about which knife to use to chop him.

"Really not."

He exhaled heavily, looking somewhat depressed. He turned the wheel of his wheelchair and said in a dull voice, "I...I will go back today."

Jiang Rao shouted at his back, "You should go west."

Rong Ting’s back stopped.

He turned stiffly in the right direction and left from the Moon Gate in the east. Only a moment after he disappeared from the Moon Gate, he quietly emerged from behind the Moon Cave Gate.

Jiang Rao was about to leave when she saw his figure reappear outside the Moon Gate. She took a step back, but he came back reluctantly.

In just a short while, his cheeks were already flushed.

It was as if I had just walked out of a hot spring, and even this snowy day didn't seem that cold.

The blush did not detract from his handsomeness, but instead made his face no longer as otherworldly and cold as before. It was as if he saw blooming flowers and a prosperous age, with a bit more worldly air.

"I didn't mean to not want to get engaged to you. I... didn't know that person was me before."

His tone was regretful.

If he had known it was him, why would he think about cutting himself into pieces every day?

Instead, I should have come earlier to get entangled with her.

"I am only engaged to you."

"I will only be yours."

His voice finally returned to normal, abandoning the panic, and became low, caught in the cold wind, the voice was slow, deep and pleasant to the ear.

Every word was spoken with extreme solemnity.

After saying this, he glanced behind her, suddenly stuffed the oil paper bag full of snacks into Jiang Rao's arms, and left again.

Jiang Rao looked at his back, feeling a little strange.

She wasn't very fierce just now, so why did he leave as if he was running away?

This was the first time she saw him so flustered.

The snacks in the bag were still slightly warm. She looked down at them, thinking about his deep voice when he made the last promise to her. Her ears suddenly felt itchy.

The uneasiness and annoyance just now suddenly disappeared.

She moved her toes, rubbed the snow leisurely, and muttered, "You've made me fat." Then she turned around and was stunned for a moment.

Concubine Yun was leaning against the hanging flower door on the other side, looking at her with a smile. It was unknown how long she had been standing there.

Jiang Rao subconsciously hid the bag in her hand behind her back.

The white fur of the fox fur cloak was piled beside her delicate and beautiful face, and the fur trembled in the wind.

"What is so precious?" Concubine Yun walked over gracefully, opened the oil paper bag of Li's in Jiang Rao's hand, fed Jiang Rao two pieces of snacks, and ate one herself.

She teased with a half-smile, "You came to the Imperial Garden these two days. Are you here to see the Ninth Prince?"

Jiang Rao held a snack in her mouth and nodded.

Concubine Yun made a "tsk" sound and stuffed the bag back into Jiang Rao's arms with some disgust, "Too sweet."

"Where did my aunt go just now?" Jiang Rao swallowed the Yunpian cake and asked Concubine Yun, "I got up at 12:00 this morning, but I couldn't find my aunt in Shuxiang Palace."

"Ah? I went to cause trouble for others."

Concubine Yun lifted her skirt and jumped around on the snow, raising her eyebrows and smiling mischievously. Jiang Rao understood, "Empress?"

Concubine Yun nodded, "The emperor suddenly fell ill two months ago. Although he recovered, he often coughed after the winter. It was snowing, so I got up early in the morning, cooked some pear soup, and waited for him on his way to the imperial study, and gave him the pear soup."

Concubine Yun looked very sleepy, but she always had a leisurely smile on her face, as if she had just returned from a victorious battle.

She leaned close to Jiang Rao's ear and whispered, "Look, my makeup today makes me look haggard, doesn't it, as if I didn't sleep all night?"

Jiang Rao took a closer look. Concubine Yun was wearing light makeup today. The bottom of her eyes were deliberately painted dark blue to make her look haggard, and she didn't even wear lipstick. Jiang Rao said helplessly: "It hurts me just looking at it."

"That's what I want." Concubine Yun smiled charmingly, "Otherwise, how can I make that man think that I have deep feelings for him?"

But she raised her chin proudly, "Even if my makeup is so bleak, I still look much better than the queen."

On snowy days, the palace servants had difficulty carrying the sedan chair on the palace road.

Qin Yun and Jiang Rao got off the sedan chair and walked back to Shuxiang Palace together. After entering the warm room, Concubine Yun spoke to Jiang Rao in a louder voice.

"The emperor's illness this time has caused the queen to make a fuss."

"She serves the emperor every day, acting like a virtuous lady. Not only that, but she also wants to add insult to injury by saying that other concubines don't care about the emperor and don't come to visit him, as if she is the only one who would risk her life for the emperor."

She muttered to herself, complaining unhappily, "It was clearly her who issued the imperial decree, not asking other concubines to go."

"I really can't stand her behavior, so I went to the emperor to complain under the pretext of sending him pear soup. The empress changed her tune and said that the emperor needed to rest, so she didn't ask other concubines to disturb him. She just changed her attitude according to the situation."

"What does the Emperor say?"

Concubine Yun raised her eyes disdainfully, "Just trying to smooth things over."

"He just wants to sit back and enjoy the good life, to make all the women in the harem love him sincerely, and to make them live in harmony." Concubine Yun looked as if she had nothing to do with it and sneered, "Sincerely?"

She yawned, looking tired, "He's only inside the palace walls. I'm afraid he won't get what he wants."

Jiang Rao had heard Concubine Yun say these words many times, which could get the emperor beheaded if he heard them. So she was not as nervous as before. She just secretly pulled Concubine Yun's hand and thought about taking her out of the palace in the future many times in her mind.

Concubine Yun looked at the neatly arranged cloud cakes on the plate and smiled, "Stop talking about these boring things. I think the Ninth Prince is different from his arrogant father."

"He is very cautious in front of you and seems a little afraid of you. Your marriage has not changed at all, but you have done a good job in establishing your wife's authority."

Wife Tsuna...

Jiang Rao: “…”

She recalled Rong Ting's fleeing figure and lowered her eyes. "He is too timid, not cowardly."

"Not much different." Concubine Yun curled her lips in satisfaction. "In front of such a weak and gentle man, you don't need to pretend to please him like I do. He will think of ways to please you. If you stamp your feet, he might be scared and hide back in his shell like he did today."

Jiang Rao: “…”

It's not worth it for cowardice.

Hiding back into the shell is somewhat apt.

She touched her cheek.

Although she didn't think of herself as a rare beauty, she knew that she was pretty and likable. "Do I look so fierce?"

"It's better to be more aggressive, so you won't suffer any loss in the future."

That's really fierce.

Jiang Rao was a little depressed, and Concubine Yun peeled a handful of pomegranate seeds and fed them to her, "Chen Xiuying, do you remember that you mentioned to me before, the second daughter of Lord Chen Que."

"nature."

"Just now when Queen Jiahe and I were confronting each other, a eunuch came to pass on a message and called her away early, saying that Miss Shen Er was waiting for her in Jinxiu Palace. Queen Jiahe was in a hurry to leave."

“I find it a little strange. Obviously, Shen Xiuying is just the daughter of an ordinary official, but the queen is very respectful.”

Concubine Yun looked puzzled, "I have only seen the Queen show such respect to the monks in the temple before."

Jiang Rao frowned.

She still remembered the scene she had dreamed of before entering the palace to attend the flower-viewing banquet at the end of August this year. Shen Xiuying had angered Empress Jiahe and was carried by the palace maids around Empress Jiahe and thrown out of the Imperial Garden, looking very miserable.

Only a few months passed, and Empress Jiahe's attitude towards Shen Xiuying changed?

This is really weird.

She thought again and again, and said in a precise tone: "Chen Que was obviously very close to my uncle before, and had nothing to do with the Xu family. At the flower-viewing banquet in the palace at the end of August, Chen Xiuying bumped into the queen. Although she was not punished, the scene was very embarrassing."

"I don't care who the queen associates with, but this Chen Xiuying has always provoked you. I am always worried that she and the queen will harm you." Concubine Yun looked at Jiang Rao and her eyes softened. "Niannian, are you afraid of what I said?"

"I'm not afraid."

Jiang Rao shook her head.

She is not afraid of anything except what happens to the Jiang and Qin families.

Chen Congyun has been placed with high hopes since birth, but has been mistreated since childhood. He compares his family to shackles, and now he just wants to abandon his home and run away.

But her situation was different from hers. No one put pressure on her, but she was willing to carry this shackle on her back.

As noon approached, the sun's shadow moved eastward, and a ray of dawn appeared in the gloomy sky.

At this time, a palace maid bowed and walked in from outside, reporting: "Madam, someone has come from the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion."

"Let her in quickly!" Concubine Yun turned around and looked at Jiang Rao with a bright smile.

"Your father is a man with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. It's only been two days and he can't hold on any longer."

Jiang Rao didn't smile. Instead, she felt a little sour when she thought about her father softening so quickly.

The tassels on the heavy curtain moved a few times, and after it was opened, the person waiting outside stepped in.

Jiang Rao was surprised and delighted when she saw the face of the person who walked in. Her dimples sank softly and she looked joyful. "Ming Shao?"

There was white frost on Ming Shao's eyelashes and her face.

The frost on her eyelashes was the white snowflakes that had accumulated as she walked in the snow, but the frost on her face was the traces of tears dried by the cold wind.

Jiang Rao didn't have time to be happy. When she saw Ming Shao's sad face, she was stunned for a moment.

Ming Shao's lips were trembling and her face was blue and pale.

She did not even bow to Concubine Yun. When she saw Jiang Rao, her knees went weak and she knelt down, saying hastily, "Miss, something happened."

She spoke in a flustered tone without pausing for a word, "Someone impeached the Fourth Master for his earlier paintings, saying that he was disrespectful to the Emperor. Just now, the Imperial Inspector broke into the mansion and arrested the Fourth Master and took him to the Metropolitan Procuratorate."