Li day.

When Guan Zhiyue got up, her whole body was covered in sweat, as if she had been lifted out of the water.

"Bilian, go prepare some water for me, I'm dying of heat! Li Qiji, you bastard, you stinking thing, you mangy dog, you're really suffocating me."

Guan Zhiyue sat on the bed and started cursing.

Bilian was speechless after hearing Guan Zhiyue's words.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" Bilian asked.

Upon hearing this, Guan Zhiyue opened her mouth wide and began to sob. Then she looked at Bilian and said, "Bilian, last night your mother almost suffocated to death because of this tattered quilt."

"Li Qiji, he's not human! It's already May, and he's covered me with three thick quilts! He won't even let me lift the covers in the middle of the night! I'm so ashamed, I'm burning up!"

"That's not how you fry pancakes! He could at least flip them over for me, or turn the heat down a bit! But that guy just wouldn't take off the blankets for me!"

Bilian finally understood: last night, they wanted so many blankets to make her mistress suffer from the heat!

"Your Majesty, you have suffered so much! Your Majesty, why is your life so miserable!"

"My Lady, ever since you married into the palace you've been living in the Cold Palace! Now the Emperor is trying to kill you with the heat! Your life is so miserable! Even Bilian feels sorry for you!" Bilian knelt in front of the bed, looking at Guan Zhiyue sitting on the bed, and shouted at the top of her lungs.

Sitting on the bed, feeling heartbroken, Guan Zhiyue looked at Bi Lian, who was wailing in front of her, and her lips twitched. She then asked, "What are you wailing about?"

After closing her wide-open mouth, Bilian looked at Guan Zhiyue and said, "Your Majesty, weren't you the one complaining just now? Wasn't I just playing along with you?"

Guan Zhiyue: "..."

About fifteen minutes later, Guan Zhiyue finally cleaned herself up, feeling refreshed and incredibly happy.

"Let's go see how Lord Xin is doing with the accounts!" Guan Zhiyue said to Bilian, tidying her hair.

"Oh, right, bring some fruit and tea with you." Guan Zhiyue had just stepped out when she remembered something. Since they were doing this work for her, she had to reward them halfway through.

"Yes, Your Highness, I will go prepare immediately. Please wait a moment."

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Bilian came running from the direction of the kitchen, carrying a food box in her left hand and a large ceramic jar in her right.

Guan Zhiyue glanced at it and said, "What have you done?"

"Oh dear, Your Majesty, what good things could we possibly have? It's just some leftover snacks from last time."

"Let's go, let's hurry up! Otherwise we'll be late when we get back."

Guan Zhiyue could only nod. The two strolled slowly within the deep palace walls. Suddenly, Guan Zhiyue remembered something and asked, "I haven't seen Prince Xiaoyao for a month. Where did he go? Have you inquired about him?"

Bilian said, "This servant went to Chaoyang Palace, but the prince was nowhere to be seen. Also, his guard was not there. I don't know where the two of them went."

"This carefree prince is unruly and unpredictable. Could it be that he really has absconded with the money?"

Bilian shook her head and said softly, "Your Majesty, could you please keep your voice down? How can you talk about your brother-in-law like that?"

"I think the Prince of Xiaoyao must have gone on a long trip!"

Guan Zhiyue put her hands behind her back, looking like an old man, shook her head in disbelief, and then asked, "How's the arrangement for the glass shop outside the palace going?"

"I haven't sent anyone to inquire about what happened outside the palace yet, but I imagine it's been mostly settled by now! It's just that I don't know where the Prince of Xiaoyao has gone."

"I found it strange last time. Such a wonderful banquet, yet he wasn't there. It's really unbelievable!"

Speaking of this, Bilian leaned closer to Guan Zhiyue, looked around cautiously, and said, "Your Majesty, you've been sharing a bed with the Emperor for over a month now, why haven't you consummated your marriage yet?"

"You mean the emperor, right?"

Upon hearing this, Guan Zhiyue rolled her eyes, but upon closer reflection, it seemed that the emperor really did have some problems.

"You treat each other with the utmost respect, and Your Majesty behaves very well at night! This is exactly what I've been hoping for," Guan Zhiyue said with a smile.

Bilian pouted and said, "Could it be that the Emperor is impotent?"

Guan Zhiyue neither listened nor responded, so Bilian reluctantly stopped talking.

The two chatted as they arrived at Huahuan Palace, a place Guan Zhiyue had specially arranged for ten students from the Imperial Academy who were good at mathematics to help her with her calculations.

Huahuan Palace.

"Your Majesty, should we inform them?" Bilian asked.

Guan Zhiyue shook her head and said, "What's the point of reporting? Let's just go in and see how these students' accounting went."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The two of them tiptoed toward the main hall, and as soon as they reached the door, they heard conversations coming from inside.

"Teaching Assistant, may we leave the palace as soon as possible today?" a student asked.

Xin Chenchen sat down in the area resembling a podium, looked up at a student on her right, and asked, "Is there anything on your mind today?"

"Reporting to the teaching assistant, there will be a flower appreciation event outside the palace today. In the evening, the shops on the street will prepare a lot of fresh flowers for everyone to enjoy. There will be all kinds of flowers. I would like to go and take a look tonight, so as to improve my aesthetic sense."

"Yes, yes! Sir, this is the annual flower viewing party."

"My lord, let's leave the palace as soon as possible!"

"Shall we continue settling the accounts tomorrow?"

Guan Zhiyue and Bilian looked at each other at the door, and both saw surprise in each other's eyes.

"Cough cough~~"

Just as Xin Chenchen was at her wit's end, Guan Zhiyue's cough interrupted the noise inside the room.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress!"

"Alright, don't be shy. I heard what you were talking about earlier about the flower viewing party. Let's eat this first, and then leave the palace. We can settle the score tomorrow," Guan Zhiyue said.

Upon hearing this, the group quickly clasped their hands in greeting and said, "Yes, thank you, Your Majesty!"

Xin Chenchen walked to Guan Zhiyue's side and said softly, "Your Majesty, what brings you here?"

"What, Lord Xin, am I not even allowed to come and pay my respects?"

Xin Chenchen said, "How dare we! It is our honor that the Empress has come to visit us!"

"Alright, let's stop this. You're the Emperor's cousin, which makes you my cousin too. I've heard this flower viewing party is really that fun?" Guan Zhiyue asked in a low voice.

Xin Chenchen nodded, "I had forgotten about it if they hadn't mentioned it. This flower viewing party is really fun, and I wonder if the Empress also wanted to attend."

"Hehe, you really know me, Cousin Xin!"

"When does the flower viewing festival start? I'd like to go out of the palace too, but I wonder if Lord Xin can..."

Lord Xin thought for a moment and said, "Then I will wait for Your Highness at the city gate?"

"I love someone like Cousin Xin, he's got the hang of it!" Guan Zhiyue laughed.

So Guan Zhiyue hurriedly took Bilian back to the Cold Palace, as she needed to freshen up and dress herself up.

She's going to have a blast out on the streets tonight. It's been so long since she's left the palace, she's going to have a really good time this time.