"As long as you like it."
Xie Zhaohua put down the box of pastries and hugged Pei Jingheng.
"You gave it to me, how could I not like it?"
"Zhaohua, I haven't congratulated you yet, you got what you wanted."
Pei Jingheng's voice was gentle, "You can finally leave the palace and no longer be involved with His Majesty."
Hearing this, Xie Zhaohua paused slightly while holding Pei Jingheng's hand.
But in a flash, she raised her lips and smiled and said, "Yes, then, Jing Heng, will you still accept me?"
"Of course, we have been friends since we were young."
Pei Jingheng looked at Xie Zhaohua tenderly, and then when Xie Zhaohua's infatuated gaze met his, he turned away lightly.
Xie Zhaohua's smile froze on his face.
Something seemed to be wrong, but she couldn't tell what it was.
She just felt that Pei Jingheng didn't treat her as well as before.
Moreover, when he spoke, he neither promised to marry her nor refused her, which directly cut off her thoughts.
It was like she was hanging.
No, it's impossible.
She and Pei Jingheng were childhood sweethearts, and she knew Pei Jingheng well.
It must be that Xiao Yuchen suddenly made Fu Yu his queen, which made her lose her mind for a moment and start to have wild thoughts, even thinking of Pei Jingheng as a bad man who abandoned her after having fun with her.
"By the way, Zhaohua, I heard that His Majesty dismissed the harem because of Empress Fu Yu. Have you met her?"
When Fu Yu was mentioned, Xie Zhaohua's eyes dimmed a little.
"Of course I have, she almost became my aunt!"
"Oh, there's this one?"
Pei Jingheng became interested.
"Yes, the Fu family fell on hard times. All the fifty or so members of the family were wiped out, leaving only Fu Yu, an orphan. She wanted to borrow the favor of being a distant cousin to stay at my house, hoping to catch my father's eye and be taken in as a concubine."
"Who knew she would be so ungrateful, running away on her wedding night, and somehow hooking up with... Your Majesty."
"Throughout history, which emperor didn't have three harems and three thousand beauties? The harem exists to maintain balance in the court. Now, Your Majesty is doing this for a woman..."
Xie Zhaohua removed himself from the story, omitted the previous events, and portrayed Fu Yu as a flattering and calculating concubine who would do anything to seize the emperor's favor.
After she finished speaking, she waited expectantly for Pei Jingheng's reaction.
With Pei Jingheng's upright and awe-inspiring personality, he would definitely hate Fu Yu and would want to get rid of her as soon as possible.
Just as Pei Jingheng was about to speak, the secret guard came running over and whispered something in his ear.
Pei Jingheng narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Zhaohua, something happened with the Imperial Guards and I need to deal with it urgently. I'll come find you after you leave the palace and settle down at the Xie family."
"Okay, I'll wait for you!"
Xie Zhaohua's chest trembled slightly as he looked at Pei Jingheng's departing back with some kind of secret hope.
The head of the secret guards who left with Pei Jingheng glanced at Xie Zhaohua thoughtfully.
"Shao, those cakes..."
"Buy another one and send it to the palace."
Pei Jingheng's fox eyes narrowed into a line.
In the dark night, it was like aiming at its prey, waiting for an opportunity to deceive and lure the wild fox.
Xie Zhaohua went to the harem.
At this time, the harem was empty.
Except for her, everyone who should have left, whether they should have left or not, has left.
Two palace maids came over from a distance, laughing sweetly.
It was in stark contrast to the quiet and cold palace.
"Including this time, I have delivered water eight times."
"That's nothing. Last time, I sent it twelve times."
"I don't know if your Majesty's waist is sore, but mine is about to break."
"Only the Empress can make His Majesty so addicted to it."
"Of course, our Queen is the best, she..."
Before Dong He could finish her words, Xie Zhaohua came towards her and slapped her in the face.