Gu Jiangli stiffened. She knew the emperor might get straight to the point, but wouldn't that be too direct?
But since he had asked the question, Gu Jiangli had no reason not to answer: "Your Majesty, my aunt has taught her everything she should have."
Upon hearing this, a hint of amusement appeared in the emperor's eyes.
He beckoned, "Come here."
Gu Jiangli walked towards him in small steps and stood next to the chair.
The emperor grabbed her hand and pulled hard, causing her to lose her balance and fall directly into his arms.
"Why are you so nervous, my dear consort? You are now a concubine in the harem, and serving me is what you should do."
Gu Jiangli was taken aback.
Yes, she shouldn't be so nervous.
The emperor now wants her to serve him in bed, which is also to fulfill her mission.
She should enjoy it and accept it gracefully.
Thinking of this, she swept away her fear, hooked her arm around the emperor's neck, and smiled easily: "Your Majesty is right. Today, I will serve Your Majesty well and strive to bear children for Your Majesty as soon as possible."
"Bear children?" The emperor's smile deepened, and he picked Gu Jiangli up and carried her to the bed. "If you have the ability to bear children for me, the people in the Imperial Observatory will probably consider you a lucky star descended to earth."
"Your Majesty is joking."
Gu Jiangli did not resist. After the bed curtains were drawn, she immediately swallowed a "one-time success pill" and would not waste any opportunity to contact the emperor.
Gu Jiangli slept soundly through the spring night.
The next morning, she was awakened by a strange smell.
As if someone were lighting incense in Jing'an Palace, she slowly opened her sleepy eyes.
Outside the bed curtains, three palace maids were dressing the emperor.
Their movements were skillful and gentle, as if they were afraid of making any noise that might disturb Gu Jiangli's rest.
Gu Jiangli lay on her side on the bed, just watching without saying a word, until they draped the outermost robe over the emperor.
Looking at the emperor, who was dressed neatly and dignifiedly, Gu Jiangli couldn't help but shake his head.
They're dressed perfectly fine now, but who knows when the emperor might go mad and their clothes will become loose and baggy.
Anyway, what she saw most often was the emperor with his outer robe disheveled and his hair not in a bun.
Perhaps the emperor's attire was at its most perfect during the morning court session.
After the emperor finished dressing, he seemed to realize that she had woken up, so he turned around and lifted the bed curtains to reveal Gu Jiangli's clear and pure eyes.
"woke up."
Gu Jiangli sat up. "I just saw several palace maids dressing you, and I dared not disturb them."
"Even if you speak up, they won't make a mistake just because they have to bow to you. People who work at Jing'an Palace are capable of that."
The emperor approached and sat down by the bed.
Gu Jiangli took a sniff and indeed smelled a strange fragrance.
It was very faint, but she found it hard to ignore.
The smell is like incense...
"What's wrong? Are you still dreaming from last night?"
The emperor's gentle voice instantly pulled Gu Jiangli back to reality from her thoughts.
His demeanor was really unsettling; his gentleness was bound to make people lower their guard.
She would never forget that the emperor was a man who could go mad at any moment.
Gu Jiangli shook his head and then noticed an outer robe hanging in the corner. It was very similar to the black outer robe worn by the emperor, except that the gold thread on it was more exquisite and it was more valuable than the emperor's robe.
Having found a good excuse, Gu Jiangli replied with a light smile, "I have already woken up from my dream last night. I was just lost in thought when I saw that dress. I could already picture His Majesty looking majestic and handsome in that dress."
The emperor followed her gaze, then quickly turned his head back, cupping Gu Jiangli's chin between two fingers, and spoke in a calm tone:
"You have a way of making people happy with your words."
"Hehe, I'm telling the truth. Your Majesty specially hung that dress there, so you must value it very much, right? It's also clear that the dress is exquisitely made and matches Your Majesty's temperament."
Gu Jiangli kept praising the emperor, determined to make him happy.
A faint smile appeared on the emperor's face. "That dress was a gift from Prince An. The gold dragon on it was made by the twenty most skilled embroiderers in Hezhou over three months. It was given to me as a birthday present."
When the emperor said this, he happened to turn his head away, so Gu Jiangli couldn't see the expression on his face.
Judging from his tone, he should be very happy with the gift.
Gu Jiangli replied, "I heard that His Majesty trusts and favors Prince An very much. Now that I see His Majesty attaching such importance to the birthday gift sent by Prince An, I know that this is true."
"Is that so?" the emperor suddenly asked, and then stopped.
A eunuch announced from outside that it was time for court.
"I'm leaving now. I'll send someone to escort you back to Yongning Palace later."
"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty."
Not long after the emperor left, two people appeared before Gu Jiangli.
One of them was Du Shuo, a eunuch from Yongning Palace.
The other man was someone Gu Jiangli had never seen before. He was in his early twenties, tall and thin, and dressed in gray-black clothes, not like a eunuch. He stood there coldly, neither speaking nor looking at her, his eyes fixed on the ground.
Du Shuo spoke first, saying cheerfully, "Your Majesty, let's go back."
"Um."
After Gu Jiangli stood up, the unknown man followed behind her. She got into the sedan chair, and the man followed closely behind, never leaving her side.
Upon arriving at Jing'an Palace, Gu Jiangli couldn't help but ask him, "Were you sent by His Majesty?"
Upon hearing her question, the man knelt on one knee and clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Your Majesty, I am Qi Jin, and I have been ordered by His Majesty to escort Your Majesty back to the palace."
"Get up, get up, you get up first."
Gu Jiangli was caught off guard by his grand gesture and quickly told him to stand up.
Qi Jin obediently stood up, and just like before, looked at the ground, standing as straight as a pine tree.
His words had already raised many questions for Gu Jiangli, so she had no choice but to ask them one by one.
"Your surname is Qi? Which Qi?"
Gu Jiangli was somewhat surprised. If she remembered correctly, the emperor's surname was Qi, which was the royal family's surname.
“Your Majesty,” Qi Jin said firmly, “it is the Qi of ‘Qishan, which has always been as red as the sky’.”
"Isn't that Qi? You share the same surname as the royal family?"
"Yes, Your Majesty saved my life back then. I had no name, and it was Your Majesty who bestowed upon me a name and surname."
I see.
As Gu Jiangli was thinking this, the next question slipped out, "You just referred to yourself as '臣' (chen), so you are not a eunuch."
Eunuchs would refer to themselves as "slave" instead of "subject".
Qi Jin replied, "Your Majesty, I am His Majesty's personal guard in gray robes, responsible for protecting His Majesty's safety."
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