However, after what happened with Kim Min-jung, Hongli's indecisive and soft-hearted attitude completely broke her heart. From then on, she closed her heart and dared not give it away easily again.

“Drawing a portrait of you may seem like a small thing, but it is a big thing to me. I have never drawn a portrait of any man before, so this first one is particularly important. If it weren’t for love, I wouldn’t want to put pen to paper.”

But I'm still unsure if I can open my heart again, bravely accept you, and love you wholeheartedly. Before I make up my mind, I... don't want to write anything hastily. I'm sorry.

As long as she was telling the truth, even if it was unpleasant to hear, he felt gratified. He raised his fingers to hold her hand, gently stroking it, as if trying to soothe her unease and guilt.

“I understand your concerns. It’s alright. I will wait patiently until you resolve your inner conflict. If one day you are willing to accept me but are too shy to say it, then paint a portrait of me, and I will understand your feelings.”

He didn't pressure or blame her; he didn't want to put any pressure on her, only silently watching over her. This made Su Yushan feel grateful for his understanding.

"Okay, I've got it."

Lately, she's become increasingly gentle when speaking to him, but she still doesn't initiate small talk much; he always has to start the conversation.

"You trust me so much that you don't even ask where I went last night?"

Su Yushan vaguely remembered that he had mentioned it yesterday morning, "Didn't you say you had something important to do? If it's official business, it might not be appropriate for me to ask."

"Do you think it's reasonable to do office work so late at night?"

“With the year-end approaching and government affairs being so busy, it’s not impossible,” she thought for a moment and then added, “but judging from your tone, I think I’m wrong.”

Hongli shook his head, smiled slightly, and let her guess again.

"Hmm...went to Fifth Master's residence again?"

"How could that be!" Hongzhou is now a married man, unlike before. "If I go there every day, the Fifth Prince's wife will start to dislike me."

Su Yushan became increasingly puzzled. "What important matter could it be? You could at least give me a hint!"

With a slight curve at the corners of his eyes, Hongli smiled meaningfully, "It concerns you."

Upon hearing that it was related to her, Su Yushan immediately thought of a possibility, "You wouldn't have gone to see the Fujin, would you?"

Seeing him nod, Su Yushan's delicate eyebrows instantly furrowed with worry. "What did you say to the Fujin?"

"Speak plainly and warn her not to come to see you again, and you don't need to pay your respects to her anymore."

Is this all the methods he has? Su Yushan was filled with anxiety, her voice trembling with worry, "You said you had a solution, I thought you had some brilliant ideas, but to put it so bluntly, won't that just make the Princess Consort dislike me even more?"

The reason why Hongli was so direct in confronting his wife was because he understood Fucha's temperament.

“A lady from a distinguished family is different from a narrow-minded and ruthless woman. She disdains to use any despicable means. As long as she understands my attitude, she will give up on her own and will not make things difficult for you. You can rest assured.”

That makes sense, doesn't it?

It's been almost five months since the Fujin entered the household, and Hongli has visited Lanzhao Courtyard very rarely, spending most of his time with her. If the Fujin were truly petty and wanted to punish her, she would have had plenty of opportunities. Apart from this visit to remind her, the Fujin hasn't deliberately picked on her, showing considerable leniency towards her.

"Okay! Hopefully I'm just overthinking it."

He gently ruffled her hair and said with a smile, "Don't worry about me. No one will bother you anymore. Just focus on your pregnancy."

Hongli's wish was good; he believed he had removed all obstacles in his household. Little did he know that there were still people in the palace watching Su Yushan.

Since he refused to take Jin Minjing back to the mansion last time, Consort Xi has been secretly investigating Su Yushan. She sent people to investigate for a long time and actually found some clues.

One day in mid-December, snowflakes began to fall again. The north wind howled, and the world was bitterly cold. With the end of the year approaching, the court was unusually busy. Various accounts from the Imperial Household Department and the Six Ministries needed to be reviewed and summarized. Yongzheng had assigned many tasks to Hongli. Recently, he had been busy dealing with various political affairs and had no time to spend with Su Yushan during the day.

It was nearly evening when he finally finished his work and was preparing to leave the palace early to have dinner with Su Yushan, but his mother invited him over again.

He had to obey his mother's invitation, no matter how unwilling he was.

However, upon entering the hall, he saw that Consort Xi had a somber face, and Hongli immediately had a bad feeling. He cupped his hands in greeting and asked, "Mother, you don't look well. Are you feeling unwell?"

Consort Xi originally intended to resolve the matter calmly, but upon seeing her son, she could not suppress her anger and spoke in an extremely harsh tone, "Isn't it all because of the outrageous things you've done!"

Hongli frowned slightly, still respectfully lowering his eyes, "Your subject has always been well-behaved and has done nothing wrong except for his relationship with Lady Jin. I do not know why Mother is angry."

Consort Xi, abandoning her usual gentle demeanor, frowned and questioned in a stern voice, "Let's set aside Jin Shi for now and focus on Su Shi. Su Shi has been away from the manor for two months, and you've claimed that she went to Qiongyuan to recuperate, but she never stayed there. Tell me honestly, where has she been these past few months?"