"A needle hidden in the shoe, is this what you mean by twisted ankle?"

The emperor's voice was flat, revealing neither joy nor anger.

But Gu Jiangli knew that he wanted to hold someone accountable again.

Just now, in an attempt to take the blame, he made the excuse that he hadn't practiced enough and twisted his ankle, which caused the dance to go wrong.

Now that the needle is right in front of the emperor, the excuse of "twisted ankle" is no longer acceptable.

"Is it a needle? No wonder my foot hurt so much. I thought I twisted it. Maybe I was too nervous and misjudged it."

"Can't you tell the difference between pain in the sole of your foot and pain in your ankle?"

"Cough... Your Majesty's imperial might has clouded my judgment of the source of the pain."

"You're quite good at making excuses for yourself."

"That's absolutely the truth."

The emperor shook his head, got up and walked to another corner, but soon returned.

When they came back, they were carrying a small suitcase.

If Gu Jiangli wasn't mistaken, it should be a medicine box.

Sure enough, when the emperor opened the box, he found white gauze and various small medicine bottles inside.

He took out a piece of gauze, cut it into a thick small square, and poured out a dark brown liquid from the medicine bottle to soak the entire piece of gauze.

Immediately afterwards, the emperor placed Gu Jiangli's feet on his thighs, and before Gu Jiangli could refuse, the cool gauze was already pressed against the soles of her feet.

Gu Jiangli was somewhat panicked. She had already guessed what the emperor was going to do, and her voice immediately rose several octaves: "Your Majesty! Wait, perhaps we should call the imperial physician!"

The emperor glanced at her, then fixed his gaze on the soles of her feet, and coldly commanded, "Endure it."

"I think we should find... um!"

The pain came on intensely and suddenly.

Before he could finish speaking, the needle was already in the emperor's hand.

The pain quickly subsided after my feet were wrapped in cool gauze.

"Does it still hurt?"

Gu Jiangli stared blankly, then shook his head: "It's alright."

The emperor was indeed decisive; he pulled out the needle without the slightest hesitation. Fortunately, his decisiveness saved her a lot of pain.

After calming herself down, Gu Jiangli asked again, "Why is Your Majesty suddenly being so kind to me?"

He was trying to kill her just now, but now he's saving her.

The emperor raised an eyebrow and said nonchalantly, "Haven't you heard that I'm capricious and unpredictable?"

Gu Jiangli remained silent; she had indeed heard such things before.

The emperor looked directly at her and said, "I have changed my mind. Rather than sending you to your death, I would rather make you a concubine."

Gu Jiangli: "...Huh?"