Shang Xiye stared at the nervous little thing in front of her, and her heart melted.

This little bandit girl is sometimes aloof and ethereal, and sometimes playful and unruly.

One moment she exudes murderous intent, the next she is more gentle and tactful than anyone else.

How much must God love her to give her so many facets, making her so adorable?

Afraid of frightening her, despite his heart and body screaming with desire, Shang Xiye still restrained himself and quickly pulled out a small square table to cover his unusual behavior.

Ji Fengyao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she had escaped another disaster. She thought to herself that she should give a good reminder to the maids around her, and that they should never make such a blunder again. If they did it a few more times, someone might really die!

At this moment.

The imperial carriage had already arrived. Upon seeing the emperor's carriage, everyone consciously fell silent under the emperor's imposing presence.

Following the imperial carriage were the empress and empress dowager's carriages;

Following them were the carriages of Consort Yin, the princes, princesses, and other concubines.

After the concubines' carriages had passed, the Ninth Prince's carriage followed, followed by Consort Jia and Consort Jin.

As the procession moved forward, the carriages of the other accompanying officials followed one after another according to their respective ranks and positions. Like streams forming a river, the procession gradually grew into a large and magnificent spectacle.

When they arrived at Liting Ferry, Ji Fengyao got out of the car and looked back. There was a huge crowd of people, and it was very lively.

"With so many people, can the Summer Palace accommodate them all?" Ji Fengyao couldn't help but mutter to herself.

Shang Xiye, who got off the carriage before her, heard this and extended his right hand to her, saying, "There are many women in the palace on this trip, so the accompanying ministers naturally cannot stay in the villa. There are places for them to stay nearby outside the villa."

"So we'll be staying outside too?" Ji Fengyao asked hopefully.

Shang Xiye shook his head: "His Majesty has already ordered people to clean a secluded villa for us in the Summer Palace."

A secluded villa.

Ji Fengyao chuckled inwardly. It sounded like a secluded place, but in reality, it was a remote and deserted place that had been neglected for years.

If the Empress Dowager or the Emperor summons her and the Ninth Prince for questioning, they'll have to walk for ages under the scorching sun. If they're summoned several times a day, they'll be tanned to a crisp after a few days.

The Nine Kings are known to keep strangers away, so they probably wouldn't dare to cause trouble. It's conceivable that she would be the only one to suffer in the end.

Baby doesn't want to go, baby wants to go home.

Although she could use extreme fire to absorb the remaining heat from her body, she disliked the feeling of being tormented but unable to do anything about it; it was very frustrating!

Ji Fengyao pouted, unhappily pulling on Shang Xiye's hand, taking one slow, deliberate step after another.

"What's wrong?" Shang Xiye sensed that the little bandit was unhappy, so he turned his head and looked up at her.

Ji Fengyao pouted innocently: She had just been scolded, what else could she say?

Shang Xiye suddenly tightened his grip on her hand, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly in front of everyone. He reached out and gently stroked her small, fair nose, smiled sweetly, and whispered, "Weren't you supposed to be fearless? Now you're timid?"

Who's backing down? I've never been afraid of anyone!

Once I gather all the antidote for the Time-Freezing Pill, I won't even be afraid of you, hmph!

Ji Fengyao pouted and turned her face away disdainfully: "I'm afraid that if I resist too much, I'll cause trouble for Your Highness and get scolded by you again."

"I'm not that kind of person," Shang Xiye said, lifting her up to make her more comfortable in his arms.

Upon hearing this, Ji Fengyao pouted even more: "See? You yourself said you have a bad temper."