The man's breath was hot and he awkwardly found her lips and gently kissed them, as if cherishing some precious treasure.

After licking for a while, he lowered his voice and whispered near her lips, "Ji Yun, you're satisfied. I... I think I've fallen for you."

Chu Yuan did not resist, only raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise.

It wasn't that she was surprised that Dugu Ling would fall for her, but rather that someone who wasn't usually very eloquent suddenly came up to her and said this. Was something wrong with that?

She had a feeling that there was a master behind Dugu Ling.

This feeling intensified after the two kissed, when Dugu Ling insisted on asking if he liked her.

Chu Yuan sat in the man's lap, gazing intently into his earnest eyes. "Dugu Ling, what are you afraid of?"

...I'm afraid you like him, not me.

Dugu Ling thought to himself, but on the surface, he still maintained the cheerful demeanor of a big boy, "Tomorrow I will talk to my grandmother and ask her to grant us a marriage. Ji Yun, are you willing to marry me?"

The little deer's eyes were filled with expectation and timidity, as if it were afraid of being rejected by Chu Yuan.

Chu Yuan stroked his face, "Of course I am willing to marry Your Highness, but has Your Highness forgotten something? Ji Yun is a princess of a fallen kingdom. It is not a big deal for her to be a concubine by His Majesty's side, but if she were to become the principal wife, I'm afraid the Empress Dowager and the Emperor would not agree."

Given Ji Yun's feelings for His Highness, she would be overjoyed to be by his side, but Ji Yun once swore to Heaven that she would never be a concubine!

The status of a princess of a fallen kingdom, though noble in name, was actually inferior to that of an ordinary noblewoman.

Many of them did not have a good end.

This is why the original owner went to great lengths to climb into bed with the man.

Under normal circumstances, Dugu Ling probably wouldn't want to touch her.

Don't even mention that Dugu Ling seems to have some issues in that area...

Fortunately, Chu Yuan had a system and was certain that even if Dugu Ling had a problem, Dugu Jue was perfectly fine, otherwise, how could she possibly have a child?

"I have a way to get them to agree, so don't worry." Dugu Ling seemed very confident. At the same time, he kissed Chu Yuan again, this time a little more experienced than before, teasing and flirting with varying depths of kisses. Before long, both of them were a little unsteady on their feet.

Chu Yuan thought things would finally fall into place, but to her surprise, Dugu Ling decisively withdrew at the crucial moment, saying, "It's getting late, Ji Yun. I'll come to the palace to see you again tomorrow."

After saying that, he took off running without waiting for Chu Yuan to react.

It felt like there was a ghost chasing me from behind.

Chu Yuan knew, of course, that he was trying to prevent Dugu Jue from coming out, and she was immediately at a loss for words.

After sitting alone for a while, he headed home.

The sunset painted the entire sky, creating an exceptionally beautiful scene.

Chu Yuan didn't choose the shortest route back, but instead wandered around by herself for a while. Unexpectedly, when she walked near a rockery, she heard a familiar voice emitting a dizzying moaning sound.

Chu Yuan has been spending more time with the Empress Dowager lately, so she easily recognized Chunxiao's voice.

But this...

Having an affair behind the rockery in the Imperial Garden—isn't that a bit too audacious?

Chu Yuan's first reaction was to leave quickly and pretend she hadn't heard anything. However, as soon as she took a step, she saw a group of guards walking menacingly towards her. Meanwhile, the two people behind the rockery were still making intimate noises. If they were discovered, she didn't know what kind of crime they would be guilty of, but she didn't know where she would put the Empress Dowager's face!

In a moment of desperation, Chu Yuan raised her voice and shouted, "Chunxiao, search carefully behind the rockery for me! That Yingluo is very important!"

The guard recognized Chu Yuan and bowed, stopping in his tracks. "Is Princess Ji Yun looking for something here?"

Chu Yuan strained her ears and, finding that the sounds from behind the cave had ceased, subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief and smiled faintly, "Yes, you're still patrolling so late. You must be tired."

"Which aunt is inside?" The guard wasn't stupid; he craned his neck to look around and asked.

Chu Yuan guessed that the tidying up inside should be almost done by now, so she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Chunxiao, why don't you come out quickly and let the guards take a look?"

As soon as she finished speaking, two figures, a man and a woman, walked out with their heads down.

Chunxiao wore a pink and white magnolia-patterned jacket and a light blue horse-face skirt. The person who came out with her was an imperial eunuch with a small braid and a dark blue robe.

Chu Yuan almost dropped her jaw in surprise.

With great difficulty, she managed to suppress her surprise and watched expressionlessly as Chunxiao and Eunuch Xu greeted the guards.

The latter was surprised to find Eunuch Xu, who had recently gained the Emperor's favor, also there. She smiled in a charmingly unexpected way, "Oh dear, Eunuch Xu is here too. Is this... to help Princess Ji Yun find Yingluo together?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Risheng looked up, glanced at Chu Yuan apologetically, and nodded. "Yes, I was just passing by when Miss Chunxiao asked me for a favor, and I haven't found it yet."

Chunxiao's face turned as red as a chili pepper, and she lowered her head, almost burying it in her neck.

The guards didn't notice anything amiss, and after begging Chu Yuan for forgiveness, they quickly left.

With no one around, Chu Yuan stood in front of the two people, intending to say something, but the words turned into a sigh, "Never mind, I won't say anything to you, just be more careful next time."

Especially you, Chunxiao, you've served the Empress Dowager for quite some time, you know her temperament better than I do. As for your affair with Eunuch Xu, you should report it yourself when you have the chance…”

The palace was lonely and the days were hard to bear, so in fact, in every dynasty, there were many cases of palace maids and eunuchs having sexual relations. Although the palace rules explicitly prohibited this, who didn't have some emotional attachments?

Chu Yuan wasn't so naive as to think that Eunuch Xu was a fake eunuch.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!