Five days later.

Guan Zhiyue was tending to the vegetable garden on the back hill of the Cold Palace when she heard Liu Debao's shouts.

Little Chang Le, who was standing to the side, was already crawling on the ground. Guan Zhiyue even took out a mat from her space so that she could play on the flat ground behind the mountain.

"What's the matter that you're so panicked?"

Holding the whisk, Liu Debao scrambled to Guan Zhiyue's side and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"

"What's wrong?"

Liu Debao exclaimed, "Oh dear, Your Majesty! The Seventh Prince isn't summoning us to the capital!"

Guan Zhiyue frowned. The Seventh Prince? That Seventh Prince? Doesn't Li Qiji only have one younger brother? Where did this Seventh Prince come from?

"What Seventh Prince?"

Liu Debao said, "It's the Emperor's seventh uncle, the seventh prince who was banished to the frontier!"

Guan Zhiyue snapped out of her daze and suddenly remembered something. Good heavens! They hadn't even dealt with those overseas personnel yet, and now the Seventh Prince had arrived. Was he trying to drive them to their deaths?

"You're here, so what's with this flustered behavior?" Guan Zhiyue stood up from the ground and looked at Liu Debao kneeling beside her.

Liu Debao quickly said, "Oh my goodness, Your Highness, you don't know that the Seventh Prince came to the capital without being summoned, which is a crime! The Seventh Prince has already arrived in the capital and will be entering the palace soon."

Guan Zhiyue didn't quite understand, staring blankly at Liu Debao in front of her, and said, "And then? Didn't you just come back?"

"Let him come back if he wants. I heard that the Empress Dowager raised this Seventh Imperial Uncle."

Liu Debao quickly said, "Your Majesty, this Seventh Prince is probably up to no good!"

Guan Zhiyue understood Liu Debao's meaning and quickly said, "Then you get up first, I'll go find the Emperor and see what his countermeasures are."

So Guan Zhiyue threw the small hoe in her hand to the ground, lifted her skirt and ran towards the Cold Palace. She wanted to ask Li Qiji if he had some scheme in mind, otherwise he wouldn't be able to remain indifferent even after hearing that his royal uncle had returned.

*

In the Imperial Study, Li Qiji had already received the message from Ji Shang that his seventh uncle had returned, and had entered the capital without being summoned. It seemed that the act he had put on a few days ago had finally worked, and his uncle could no longer sit still!

"Alright, I know about this. It should have been done a long time ago."

"It's a pity that my seventh uncle is so patient; he's been able to tolerate me for so long."

Ji Wu, who was standing to the side, said, "Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince was able to arrive in the capital in such a short time. It seems he had already set off long ago!"

"That's exactly what we wanted—for him to appear so early. But it's surprising that he's only starting to show up now, given how much time has passed since this happened. We've seriously underestimated him," Li Qiji said.

"Jishang, you go to Tianji Star yourself and find out exactly when my seventh imperial uncle left his fiefdom!"

Ji Shang quickly clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes, Your subordinate takes his leave!"

So Ji Shang left, and Guan Zhiyue walked in from outside. Seeing Li Qiji reading the memorials and appearing calm on the surface, she quickly stepped forward and asked, "How come you're still in the mood to read memorials?"

As Li Qiji watched Guan Zhiyue walk in, he quickly pulled her to sit down on the dragon throne to the side. He then waved for everyone in the room to leave before looking at the sulking Guan Zhiyue and asking, "My little Yue'er, what's wrong?"

"Did someone in the palace upset you?"

Guan Zhiyue crossed her arms and pretended to be angry, saying, "Hmph, who says otherwise! It's because someone made me feel bad that I came to you to complain."

Upon hearing this, Li Qiji was shocked and quickly grabbed her hand, asking, "What's wrong? Who dares to make you angry with such a big order?"

Guan Zhiyue stretched out her slender hand and struck him directly, then scolded, "In this palace, who else but you dares to make me angry?"

Li Qiji looked completely innocent. He seemed to have done nothing wrong, so how could he have made her angry, and so seriously at that? He had no idea!

That shouldn't be the case; I didn't offend her, did I?

"Yue'er, I've done something wrong. You can hit me or scold me, but you can't get angry. You'll hurt yourself if you do." Li Qiji took Guan Zhiyue's hand and placed it on his chest, caressing it gently.

Guan Zhiyue blushed and pulled her hand away from Li Qiji's, then said, "I heard that your so-called Seventh Imperial Uncle is back. Did you know about this? He's some kind of Wuzhao Rujing. He didn't even come back for our wedding back then. What's he doing back now?"

Li Qiji thought Guan Zhiyue was going to say something, but when he heard it was about this matter, he immediately said, "I know about this. Yue'er, let me tell you something first."

Guan Zhiyue looked at Li Qiji and said, "What is it? Are you hiding something from me?"

Li Qiji pulled Guan Zhiyue into his arms before slowly saying, "Actually, it's not a big deal. It's just that I provoked the Seventh Imperial Uncle back to the capital, and it's also because of me that you were attacked by the officials..."

Once Li Qiji said that, Guan Zhiyue understood everything. Those few days, he had been whispering sweet nothings to her day and night, actually just to spread rumors and force this so-called Seventh Imperial Uncle to come forward. He was using her as bait!

"Fine, fine, Li Qiji, you're really something else, you're a complete beast..."

Guan Zhiyue stood up abruptly, pushed away Li Qiji who was hugging her, and pointed at him condescendingly, saying, "You really are something else! How could you treat me like this? I had a sincere heart, and you actually used me like this?"

Li Qiji was stunned. He quickly pulled Guan Zhiyue into his arms and gently hugged her, saying, "Yue'er, let me explain. It's not what you think. I did this for you and our future child!"

"You're quite the eloquent one!" Guan Zhiyue's voice had become cold and distant at this moment, as she no longer wanted to have anything to do with Li Qiji.

"Yue'er, please let me explain. Even a sinner should have their reasons heard! Your judgment is making me very sad. Yue'er, don't be upset, let me explain in detail."

Guan Zhiyue's rationality began to return at this moment. She tried hard to break free from Li Qiji's hand, but after struggling for a while, she still couldn't break free and could only let him hold her tightly in his arms.