Huo Xi hadn't expected Chu Yuan to ask such a direct question in front of so many people.

It really startled him.

What startled me even more was the question itself: "What? Sister-in-law, you're not joking, are you?"

Chu Yuan stared intently at Huo Xi's expression and also glanced at the reactions of the others, finally confirming that Huo Xi wasn't faking it.

At least, he genuinely hadn't thought in that direction, and even if others noticed, they didn't expose him.

In other words, Huo Wu's feelings were one-sided.

Whether it's Huo Jin or Huo Xi...

That makes things much easier, doesn't it?

Chu Yuan gripped the "recording conch" she had bought from the system. "Then... what if I said that I never want to see her again, and my punishment for her is to cripple her martial arts, banish her from the capital, and never allow her to return? Among my brothers, is any one willing to go with her?"

Logically speaking, Huo Jin's brother should also be her brother.

But Chu Yuan didn't want to be taken advantage of, so she tested the waters beforehand and kept her distance if things didn't look good.

However, after she asked the question, the four Huos remained silent and did not step forward.

Chu Yuan nodded. "I have finished asking. Please forgive me if I have offended any of you brothers."

"You're too kind, sister-in-law." Huo Xi and the others bowed.

That night, Huo Jin took Chu Yuan to the Lakeside Villa.

Huo Wu was sent back to this place and locked up again.

Upon seeing Chu Yuan alone, Huo Wu's blank eyes were filled with disappointment. "Where are the others? Why didn't they come?"

Why let a stranger come to see her?

Even if she made a mistake and should be punished, it shouldn't be Chu Yuan who should be punished. Who does she think she is!

Chu Yuan saw the disdain in Huo Wu's eyes and smiled. "Do you think I have no right to deal with you?"

"You're a shameless slut! A vixen! You seduced Huo Jin, and you won't even let your other brothers come to see me? Let me tell you, no way! They won't let you bully me. We grew up together, we're very close, we depend on each other, and you, an outsider, can't separate us!"

"Is that so?" Chu Yuan chuckled softly, taking out a recording conch shell from her bosom.

"Sister Huowu, you think too highly of yourself."

What Huo Xi and the others want to say to you is all in this conch shell. Listen to it for yourself.

As for Huo Jin, indeed, he is already my man. I've always been a domineering person and don't want my man to be involved with any woman with filthy thoughts. In this life, even until death, you will never see him again.

Huo Wu's eyes were filled with hatred as she slammed the conch shell heavily on the table. "You're lying! How could Huo Jin not acknowledge me as his sworn sister? It was you, you must have slandered me to him, you despicable little bitch!"

Chu Yuan remained unmoved by her curses, glanced at the conch shell which was not damaged, and stood up directly.

The door slammed shut with a bang, and Huo Wu threw the conch shell onto the doorframe.

Huo Jin put a cloak over Chu Yuan's shoulders, saying, "It's cold, don't catch a cold."

Chu Yuan teased her deliberately, puckering her lips further in, "Aren't you worried about it?"

Huo Jin said, "Weren't you going to cripple her kung fu? I'll have Shen Su come over right now. He's good at this, so it won't hurt much. He'll be quick and swift. That will fulfill our friendship from when we grew up together."

Chu Yuan was in a daze, already on the carriage heading back to the city.

Huo Jin is truly ruthless.

They really went all out.

Looking at his stunningly beautiful, otherworldly features, she wondered, "If a man like this were to change his mind in the future, would he be particularly heartless?"

Noticing Chu Yuan's distraction, Huo Jin pulled her onto his lap and asked, "Did you just tell Huo Wu that I'm your man?"

Chu Yuan came to her senses and realized her posture...tsk tsk, so embarrassing.

She straddled the man's lap with her legs apart, leaning slightly forward as if half-lying on him.

Instinctively, I punched his chest. "What are you doing? Put me down right now."

"Didn't you say, Yuan'er, that I'm your man?" Huo Jin's voice was tinged with laughter, yet unusually hoarse, brushing against Chu Yuan's ear like a feather.

Chu Yuan's face flushed red. "Huo Jin, stop it. I just gave birth yesterday..."

"I know, I won't touch you."

"and you……"

"How about letting Xiaoxiaojin and the two little kites meet, as a substitute...?"

Chu Yuan was still pondering what Xiao Xiao Jin and the two little kites were when she suddenly felt a chill, and the excess fabric flew off.

The carriage was burning charcoal, but it wasn't very warm; it was slightly chilly.

But... it was precisely this perfectly timed low-temperature stimulation that forced the body to fully mobilize its internal heat, triggering waves of shivering.

Any external stimulus will be amplified infinitely.

The sensitivity of perception reaches its peak.

Huo Jin, shameless, turned around and placed her back on the couch in her original position, then pressed himself against her chest.

He lowered his head and kissed her passionately, his lips and tongue entwining with hers.

The whispered words were muffled from her mouth, "Yuan'er doesn't know, but I've actually wanted to for a long time..."

"Okay, be good, sit up straight and don't move around."

Chu Yuan gritted her teeth, not daring to make a sound.

They were afraid that the thin little door wouldn't be able to block out the noise.

There were quite a few guards and coachmen outside.

Huo Jin... he's about to ascend the throne and become emperor, isn't he afraid of being criticized?

What she didn't know was that with the extremely absurd and brilliant example of the Ming Emperor preceding her, what was the significance of Huo Jin joking around with his wife like this?

...

A month later, the ceremony proceeded as scheduled.

Huo Jin ascended the throne, and Chu Yuan was made empress. From beginning to end, she stayed by his side, worshipping the gods, offering sacrifices to the ancestors, and receiving the worship of the people. Chu Yuan did not miss any of the procedures that an empress should or should not have.

Many ministers' faces were so dark they were almost unbearable to look at.

However, the story of how Minister Zhou was rebuked had spread throughout the court, so no one dared to say anything.

After all, our current emperor was once the director of the Eastern Depot.

Whether it's murder or ransacking property, they do it all with practiced ease...

After a day of complicated procedures, Chu Yuan was completely exhausted.

Huo Jin was alright. He held her soft body and walked towards the inner palace. "Are you tired? Let me personally help the Empress with her toilette."

Chu Yuan was on high alert, "Huo Jin, I'm still here..."

The man interrupted her, "Still what? In postpartum confinement?"

Has Yuan'er been sitting in confinement for too long this month?

"I deliberately chose to hold the grand ceremony a month later. Doesn't Yuan'er understand the deeper meaning behind this?"

Chu Yuan blinked, silently asking: What deeper meaning?

Huo Jin was so angry that he bit her neck, leaving a small tooth mark on the side of her white, goose-like neck, before he stopped.

"With the three letters and six rites, the ten-mile-long red bridal procession, and the wedding night, Yuan'er, you are now truly my Mrs. Huo!"

He made this decision the first time he took Chu Yuan.

He wanted Chu Yuan to become his true Mrs. Huo.

Deep in his heart, he didn't have to be the emperor, and Chu Yuan didn't have to be the empress, but the two of them had to be together, for this lifetime and the next, never to be separated.

In the warm spring water, Huo Jin sat leaning against the jade steps, his hands gripping Chu Yuan's waist.

Let the depravity come even more completely...