Triangles are supposed to be the most stable structure, but their triangle is about to fall apart.

Because Li Hua couldn't stand being watched by the emperor anymore.

Since entering the room, Gan Lin had been carefully staring at Li Hua's face, just as Gan Qiongying had instructed.

For a while it was alright, but after a while Li Hua became restless under her gaze, especially since Gan Lin had been told by Gan Qiongying to be polite to the prince consort. So, while looking at Li Hua, he always wore a mysterious smile.

Li Hua was sweating profusely. When he looked to Gan Qiongying for help, he found that Gan Qiongying was also wearing a mysterious smile and winking at the emperor.

Gan Qiongying winked – “Well, little brother, did you see anything?”

Gan Lin raised an eyebrow – “I’m watching… nothing has been found yet.”

Li Hua inexplicably felt like she was sitting on pins and needles in this great hall, like a little rabbit that had accidentally wandered into a cage of wild beasts, being stared at by two beasts that were full but not hungry. Although the beasts did not get up to attack, Li Hua still felt that her life was in danger.

He secretly wiped the sweat from his brow. When he could no longer bear it, he slowly moved his foot under the table and kicked at Gan Qiongying opposite him, hoping she would help him out of the predicament, as he couldn't stand the Emperor's inexplicable stare.

Moreover, Li Hua was also very puzzled as to why the emperor kept staring at him.

Then he kicked her, but Gan Qiongying didn't react at all. She was still exchanging glances with Gan Lin. On the contrary, Gan Lin suddenly paused and looked at Li Hua with a strange expression.

Li Hua kicked Gan Qiongying three times in total. When Gan Qiongying finally looked at him, she heard Gan Lin, who was sitting next to her, ask, "Is there something wrong, Prince Consort? Why are you stepping on my feet?"

For a moment, Li Hua had an urge to crawl under the table. Her ears turned bright red, and she quickly stood up to apologize, "Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

Gan Lin stared at Li Hua's bright red ears, his eyelids twitching slightly. He finally figured out something and suddenly turned his head to look at Gan Qiongying.

Although Gan Lin was not born to be an emperor, he had been on the throne for many years and had dealt with cunning and powerful ministers like the regent for years. He was not a fool.

He hadn't noticed anything unusual before, but now Li Hua's ears were red, and the color on the side of her cheeks didn't quite match her ears!

Gan Qiongying nodded emphatically, her face full of relief—Yes! It's a fake face!

What an exquisite fake face.

Upon noticing that Li Hua suddenly stood up to apologize, Gan Qiongying quickly reacted based on what Gan Lin had said. She got up and walked to Li Hua's side, grabbing his sleeve and saying, "So what if I stepped on you? The Prince Consort definitely didn't mean to step on you, he was just joking with me. You got caught up in it. We often joke around like this at home."

These words made Li Hua's ears burn even more. What respectable couple would not eat properly and instead flirt under the table?

Fortunately, Gan Lin didn't react much, nor did he say anything. He just kept staring at Li Hua's ear, picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and suppressed his shock.

“Don’t be nervous, His Majesty won’t blame you for such a small thing,” Gan Qiongying said, walking over to Li Hua and pressing his back. “Sit down quickly… Hey? Your clothes are all wet.”

"Is it that hot today?" Gan Qiongying asked curiously, touching the fabric of Li Hua's clothes. "Is your clothing too thick?"

Li Hua glanced at Gan Qiongying, his eyes pleading, for the emperor was still watching him!

Gan Qiongying didn't understand what Li Hua meant, but guessed that he probably wanted to change his clothes. She blinked to indicate that she understood.

"Your Majesty, may I use the side hall? The Prince Consort's clothes are damp and need to be changed, and I've also been sweating a lot and am about to change into my undergarments."

Gan Lin nodded, "Now that you've had lunch, Sister and the Prince Consort should go to the side hall to rest. Tonight is the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, and all the officials will be bringing their families to the palace. It might be quite late. Take a short rest to conserve your energy. The palace entertainers are excellent at both music and dance, so you can enjoy them to your heart's content. I also need to rest now."

As Gan Lin spoke, he coughed lightly twice. Eunuch Li, ever observant, stepped forward and whispered, "This old servant is helping Your Majesty. Physician Xiao has personally brought Your Majesty's medicine over, and the temperature is just right for drinking."

Gan Lin nodded, and as Eunuch Li helped him to stand up, Li Hua immediately bowed to greet him, but Gan Lin raised his hand to stop him.

“Your Highness, we are family. Excessive formality makes us seem distant.”

Eunuch Li sent a maid to lead Gan Qiongying and Li Hua to a side hall of the Bixi Palace. The Bixi Palace was the emperor's sleeping quarters, so its scale was naturally magnificent and grand.

Although the regent and empress dowager were vicious, they dared not be harsh on the emperor's food, clothing, and daily necessities. Holding great power, they could rightfully use the emperor to command the other lords. Anyone who dared to mistreat the emperor would be a treacherous official.

Gan Qiongying and Li Hua were led to a side hall. Gan Qiongying sent a maid to fetch spare clothes for Li Hua. Once the hall door was closed, only the two of them remained in the room.

The two stared at each other for a moment, and Gan Qiongying noticed that Li Hua was still standing there, tense and wary, scanning his surroundings.

This was, after all, the imperial palace; walls have ears, so he dared not act recklessly.

Gan Qiongying, however, knew that this place was absolutely safe. After all, Kou Ning'an looked down on Gan Lin, a puppet with no power or ability to protect himself. Kou Ning'an disdained to plant spies in his palace.

Moreover, Gan Qiongying had bodyguards around her to help her clear her ears.

"Why are you so nervous? Relax. This place is far from His Majesty's bedchamber. His Majesty won't come over." Gan Qiongying thought Li Hua was afraid of Gan Lin.

After all, from the moment Li Hua entered the palace, she showed that she was afraid of Gan Lin.

Gan Lin is so cute, she even tries to smile and show her dimples, what's there to be afraid of?

Little did others know that, in the eyes of others, the emperor, though young, possessed no shortage of imperial authority. His brows were sharp, his phoenix eyes were upturned, and he was extremely thin yet also very gloomy. When he stood up, he was a little taller than Li Hua. His forced smile was far from cute; in fact, it was somewhat eerie.

To put it bluntly, taking them out is actually quite intimidating.

With a sharp gaze fixed on Li Hua, Li Hua felt as if he were being pricked by thorns, and thus became very reserved in his words and actions.

"Come sit here." Gan Qiongying pulled Li Hua to the table and pressed him down to sit. "Don't treat him like an emperor, he's my brother!"

Gan Qiongying laughed, her face full of pride: "My little brother, whom I raised single-handedly, is so..." Gan Qiongying wanted to say how cute he was, but she held back.

He simply said, "He would never make things difficult for you."

Gan Qiongying was unaware that the emperor had actually made things difficult for Li Hua in private quite a bit.

Not to mention the several tracking tests before the marriage, or the fact that there are still some of the emperor's spies in Li Hua's shops.

Before Li Hua moved to the princess's residence, she was often humiliated and made things difficult by the princess. The next day, someone from the palace would always come to her aid.

Each time, it was Eunuch Li who came in person, bringing some insignificant gifts to appease her. Otherwise, how could Li Hua have become familiar with Eunuch Li?

What appeared to be appeasement was actually a warning. The meaning was very clear: a princess is always a princess, the princess is never wrong, and Li Hua, the prince consort, should either tolerate it or die.

He died, but there were countless princes-in-law.