Among the Semu palace maids who entered the palace with her, some were unwilling to be driven by her and were directly ordered by Ma Ji to have their legs broken and be demoted to the laundry department to do hard labor.

Because Guli worked at the Qianqing Palace and was beautiful, she was repeatedly targeted by Maji.

My face was almost slashed and disfigured.

Although they are both Semu people, Guli prefers the amiable and unpretentious Su Wanwan.

Su Wanwan's heart sank suddenly.

She could tell that Lu Xingjian really wasn't interested in Yanruo.

But that might not be the case for Maggie.

He said he would go and take her back to the palace.

But there has been no news of her all these days, and there is no indication that they will bring her back.

Could it be because Ma Ji is in the palace?

Even by evening, Lu Xingjian had not sent anyone to inquire about her condition.

After thinking about it, Su Wanwan still went to the Imperial Study.

Before they even reached the entrance of the Imperial Study, they saw Ma Ji come out of the Imperial Study looking very happy.

She even twirled around in a big circle, looking radiant and full of spirit.

This caused the eunuchs on duty at the entrance of the Imperial Study to blush with embarrassment and lower their heads, not daring to look.

Su Wanwan stopped in her tracks, remained silent for a long while, and then turned back to Kunning Palace.

Because she was not fully recovered from her illness, she asked Heying to go to Renshou Palace and Cikang Palace to apologize, so that she would be exempt from paying her respects morning and evening, and avoid blaming her illness on her elders.

The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager also kindly conveyed the message, telling her to rest and recuperate.

Su Wanwan was half asleep when she felt the bed sink into her sleep.

The next moment, I fell into a steamy embrace.

"Why did you come back early? Didn't you wait for me to pick you up?" The man's low, husky voice rang in my ears.

Su Wanwan's voice was still heavy with sleep as she calmly asked, "Did I disturb you?"

The man examined her face by the dim light of the candlelight by the bedside.

How could that be?

He paused, staring intently at her face. "I heard you came to see me this afternoon. Why didn't you go in?"

Su Wanwan said, "I don't want to bother you."

The man breathed a slight sigh of relief and ruffled her hair.

"Take good care of yourself these next few days and don't go out."

Su Wanwan paused slightly.

She had just woken up and her mind was working very slowly.

Slowly savor the meaning of his words.

It sounds like they care about her health, and also want to save her from being subjected to the Empress Dowager's warm and kind but insidious attacks.

But considering his deliberate scrutiny earlier, this concern took on a slightly different meaning.

Perhaps, keeping her out of the house was simply to prevent her from bumping into Maggie and getting into a conflict, putting him in a difficult position.

He's so busy every day; if he also has to deal with palace intrigues, he'd probably find it troublesome.

Su Wanwan lay quietly.

The man didn't say anything more, tucked her in, and lay down to sleep.

She fell asleep very quickly.

Su Wanwan, however, lost her sleepiness and gazed at his sharply defined profile.

His gesture of tucking her in just now showed a hint of care and consideration.

He sleeps in a very well-behaved position.

Lie flat on your back with your hands crossed in front of your chest.

It's a sleeping position that shows a strong sense of self-protection.

Sleeping like this can actually cause nightmares because it compresses the chest.

Perhaps this sleeping position makes him feel more secure, which is why he does it unconsciously.

Su Wanwan propped herself up and carefully examined his face.

His brow was slightly furrowed, forming a faint "川" (river) shaped wrinkle.

For some reason, she leaned down and gently pressed her pink lips to his brow, trying to smooth out the wrinkles.

The man was clearly very sleepy. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, gently stroking her arm to comfort her before continuing to sleep.

Su Wanwan nestled obediently in his arms, her lips curving slightly.

She pulled his other hand over and placed it on her body before closing her eyes.

I thought to myself, "He's really stupid."

She wasn't afraid that her illness would affect him.

When Su Wanwan woke up the next day, the man was gone.

It seems that last night's appearance was just a dream.

A faint scent of a man still lingered on the pillow he had slept on.

Su Wanwan remained silent for a long time, lost in thought.

For the next few days, Su Wanwan did not see Lu Xingjian.

Guli tried to persuade Su Wanwan in broken Mandarin:

"I heard that His Majesty has caught a cold and has been coughing a bit these past few days. Would Your Majesty like to go and see him?"

Su Wanwan paused for a moment, then made a bowl of pear soup and had Heying deliver it to the Imperial Study.

...

Steward Li pointed to the three food boxes and asked with a smile:

"Your Majesty, the bird's nest personally delivered by Miss Yanruo from Renshou Palace, and the loquat cream delivered by Miss Ma from Yongshou Palace."

"And this pear soup that Kun Ning sent."

"Would you like to try them all, or should we take them away?"

Lu Xingjian then looked up and casually tossed the memorial he was holding over:

"Old man, you're so bored."

Li Rong stepped aside to avoid the memorial, his smile unwavering, and continued to joke:

"Isn't this because I'm worried that Your Majesty will be too busy?"

Lu Xingjian paused for a moment, then said calmly, "Send a jade ruyi to Renshou Palace and Yongshou Palace respectively."

He pondered for a moment, then said, “From Kunning Palace, they said they heard Lord Su cough a few times during the morning court session.”

He Ying returned to Kunning Palace after finishing her sentence and asked with a worried expression:

"Your Majesty, what does His Majesty mean by this? Why is he showing favoritism? Does he really intend to bestow a title upon a concubine?"

He sent precious jade ruyi to Yanruo and Maji, but only sent a perfunctory message to the Empress.

Su Wanwan merely raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "Why bother with so much trivial matters? I'll go back to the Su family after leaving the palace later."

She also cooked a pear soup, added sugar, and asked Heying to take it back to the Su family.

This time, Su Nan didn't throw away the pear soup, but her face remained cold and sour, and her words were even more indifferent:

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