The flowers were even more beautiful after a night of wind and rain. Before dawn, Hongli had already woken up, as it was time to attend court again.

Turning his gaze to the beauty beside him, Hongli affectionately kissed her fair and smooth cheek, and whispered,

"I should get up now, you can sleep a little longer."

Every morning, he would greet her, but sometimes she was too sound asleep to hear him and wouldn't respond. This morning, she happened to hear him, and unconsciously reached out to hug his neck, closing her eyes and softly whimpering:

"Don't go, stay with me a little longer."

Yu Shan never clung to him before, and this was the first time they'd been in such a situation. Hong Li smiled knowingly and tapped the tip of her nose.

"Is this an attempt to solidify the accusation of the wicked concubine?"

Nodding, Su Yushan nestled in his arms, rubbing against him like a cat, and said in a muffled voice, "No matter how reasonable I am, others will still say I'm a troublemaker, so I might as well cause you trouble once, so I won't have to bear this accusation for nothing."

Hongli couldn't stand her coquettish manner, so he hugged her tighter and pretended to be troubled, saying:

"But I still have to go to court; the court officials are all waiting for me. What should I do?"

Su Yushan clung tightly to his arm, pleading sweetly, "It's okay if we don't go back sometimes! We can just find an excuse to get rid of him!"

"What if there are any important political matters that need to be reported?"

"Let him wait for the most important things. We can discuss them separately at the Hall of Mental Cultivation after you wake up, okay?"

Su Yushan's beautiful eyes were filled with autumn waves. With just one glance, Hongli's heart was slightly dazed, and he only wanted to press her down and continue to appreciate her.

His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and Hongli looked at her with eyes that were as sticky as silk. He replied in a hoarse voice, "Okay, I won't leave. I'll stay and sleep with you a little longer."

He emphasized that word, as if he meant something, and his nose was rubbing against her brow bone, his breathing becoming rapid, something was clearly wrong.

Realizing he was up to no good again, Su Yushan immediately changed her mind and began pushing him away with her small hands that had been holding him.

"Oh dear! I was just joking. I don't want to be a demon concubine!"

Hongli raised his eyes, his gaze filled with displeasure. "You were the one who wouldn't let go of me, and I was even planning to skip court. Now you're saying it was a joke? Too late!"

He pretended to continue, which frightened Su Yushan so much that she shrank into his arms, refusing to let him kiss her.

"You are the ruler of a country, and you must deal with important matters of state every day. You cannot afford to delay."

"Who just said that taking a day off wouldn't matter?"

Su Yushan was speechless at his question, and said awkwardly, "I was just trying to be a little pretentious!"

Hongli wondered to himself, "Do you want to see whether I value court affairs more or you more?"

"I'm not that naive! These two things are incomparable; naturally, politics is more important."

News from other provinces often reaches the capital long after it has been passed, such as reports of disasters or urgent military situations. The people are suffering terribly, and your orders are of utmost importance. Issuing the decree an hour earlier means the people can escape their misery sooner, so there is no time to waste. I won't hold it against you, rest assured!

She analyzed the situation seriously, offering him comfort with an air of nonchalance, which showed that his Yu Shan truly lacked the potential to become a femme fatale.

In truth, he was just teasing her. The late emperor had always been diligent in his duties, and now that the empire had been handed over to him, Hongli should also take it seriously and not arbitrarily skip court sessions. He then released her.

"Okay, I won't scare you anymore. You're still sleepy! Go back to sleep."

Hongli got up and left the tent. Su Yushan's soft body rolled over slightly, and she lay down in the tent, resting her head on her arm and smiling at him.

"We sleep together at night, but you have to get up early in the morning, while I can sleep in a little longer. Being an emperor must be tough. Have you ever envied me?"

Hongli had a different opinion on this: "Being an emperor is not as hard as being a groom. I should envy you, you can enjoy yourself without moving."

"..." For no reason at all, he was mocking her again! Enraged, Yu Shan grabbed the pillow in her hand and threw it at him.

Hongli laughed heartily, took it casually, and put it back in the tent.

Just as she was about to retort, the palace servants came in to help him change his clothes. She was too embarrassed to bring it up again, so she turned over, covered herself with the blanket, and ignored him.

Before they knew it, it was the fifteenth of October. Hongli had planned to hold a banquet for Su Yushan and invite all the concubines to come and celebrate with her. However, Su Yushan thought that Yonglian had only been gone for a short time and the Empress was in grief. She felt that she should not celebrate at this time. Therefore, she decided to cancel the banquet and just have the family gather together at one table.

Even though she didn't hold a banquet, the other concubines still sent her congratulatory gifts, taking the opportunity to curry favor with Su Yushan.

Su Yushan glanced at it, then ordered someone to record it and put it in the storeroom so that it would be convenient for them to return gifts when they celebrated their birthdays in the future.

Today, Yu Shan did not invite the concubines to dine, and explained the reason to them. They all expressed their understanding and did not hold it against her.

Only when Yongcheng came to deliver his congratulatory gift did Yongzhang take the initiative to invite him to stay and have a meal together.

The children are innocent and unaware of the grudges of the previous generation. Although Su Yushan hates Jin Minjing's actions, Yongcheng is indeed innocent and she has no hostility towards him.

Su Yushan thought that since the children got along well, she would let Yongcheng stay for a meal, and she figured that Hongli wouldn't be angry.

She had let go of past grievances and no longer held grudges, so Hongli naturally wouldn't mistreat a child and agreed to let Yongcheng stay.

Before lunch, the children presented their mother with gifts. Yonghuang presented her a painting of pine trees and cranes that he had painted himself. Although he was young, his painting skills were becoming increasingly refined, with smooth lines and a profound artistic conception.

Rong Yu gave her a bracelet made of various gemstones and red cord, including tridacna, coral, rhodochrosite, prehnite, and aquamarine. Although it was a bit flashy, it was the thought that counted, and Su Yushan liked it very much and immediately put it on her right hand.

Yongzhang presented her with a monthly rose bush that he had planted himself, hoping that "Mother will be like this monthly rose bush, blooming every month and remaining beautiful forever."

Hongli was surprised and praised with a smile, "The third prince has such a sweet tongue, he's even better at sweet-talking than I am."

Su Yushan smiled happily, she really liked the pink rose. "Good child, you are so thoughtful. Mother will take good care of this flower and make it bloom often."

Yongcheng presented her with a light blue glass bottle. In those days, glass was extremely rare, especially a blue glass bottle like this, which was particularly precious. Su Yushan smiled and asked:

"Did you two plan this out? One of you sent flowers, and the other sent a vase. Once the flowers bloom, they can be put into a glass vase, which will complement each other perfectly."

In reality, Yongzhang and Yonghuang had not discussed it, but the gifts they gave each other were surprisingly well-matched.

Next came the gifts that Hongli had prepared. He originally intended to show them to her alone, but the children were very curious and wanted to know what their father had prepared.

So Hongli stopped hiding the gifts and ordered them to be opened.

Li Yu opened the sandalwood brocade box and presented it to Consort Chun. Upon seeing this, Su Yushan's smile gradually froze, because the object in front of her looked strangely familiar!

Inside the long box was a ring, set with a teardrop-shaped opal. Opals are color-changing; when gently rotated, they display a dazzling array of colors, beautiful and radiant.

Su Yushan was so surprised because she had seen this opal ring on the day she traveled through time!