When he pressed her for an answer, Ji Ying'er blushed and twisted her fingers shyly as she replied, "How could the private conversation between the Princess and the Empress Dowager be known to everyone? I... overheard it secretly."
After she finished speaking, Ji Ying'er's face turned bright red. When she met Shen Shi's shrewd gaze, her face felt even hotter, as if it were burning.
"I never expected that Ying'er would have the ability to eavesdrop."
Ji Ying was unaware that her shyness was like a sweet peach; the more embarrassed she was, the more Chen Shi would tease her.
Realizing that Shen Shi might have misunderstood, Ji Ying'er quickly waved her hand, "No! It's not what you think."
"When I went to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager, she wasn't in her chambers, so Ying'er was about to leave. But before I could even step out from behind the screen, the Eldest Princess and the Empress Dowager arrived together..."
"They kept talking, and the princess seemed very agitated. I don't know why, but I just stood there without moving."
Ji Ying'er said a lot in a row, afraid that she would leave a bad impression on Shen Shi.
Chen Shi thought to herself, "What is that little thing babbling about? It's kind of cute."
"Alright. Now you know our Yingying didn't do it on purpose." Shen Shi held Ji Ying'er on his lap and patted her back gently to coax her.
The two hadn't been this close in a long time. They fell into a familiar embrace, and the cool pine scent on Shen Shi's body enveloped her in layers. Ji Ying'er's heart pounded wildly, and she felt like she had a rabbit in her arms.
"you……"
With such a warm and soft woman in his arms, Chen Shi naturally couldn't neglect himself. His hand first caressed Ji Ying'er's slender waist, lingering for a moment before moving upwards.
The two figures were faintly reflected in the window, entangled until dawn.
The next day, when Ji Ying'er opened her eyes, it was already dawn, and the person next to her was nowhere to be seen.
Ji Ying'er was instantly wide awake. She subconsciously reached out and touched the spot where she had been lying, only to find it was already ice-cold.
"Master, you're awake." Upon hearing the commotion inside the room, Peony walked over with a joyful expression.
"What time did the Emperor leave? Why didn't he call me?" Ji Ying'er complained softly.
I finally get to see him once in a while, and I was planning to help him get dressed, but how could he just fall asleep like that?
"His Majesty ordered that you not be woken up, saying that Your Highness was tired last night and needs to rest well."
Noticing the joy on Shaoyao's face, Ji Ying'er blushed instantly.
It's all that bad guy Shen Shi's fault. He kept tossing and turning her around last night, otherwise she wouldn't have stayed in bed!
The news that Chen Shichen had left the Wutong Pavilion and stayed overnight at the Yingmei Palace spread throughout the entire harem.
The first reaction everyone had upon hearing the news was, "Who is Sakura Beauty?"
When Shen Shi was a prince, he only had Ji Ying'er as his woman. All the concubines in the harem entered the palace after he ascended the throne. In addition, Ji Ying'er's rank was not high, which conveyed the wrong message to everyone.
An old woman who had been keeping company in the royal palace was not even a concubine after the new emperor ascended the throne. Therefore, everyone believed that Sakura was not only out of favor, but also the kind of person who was disliked.
For the reasons mentioned above, Ji Ying'er had a pitifully low profile in the harem, and no one expected that the Emperor would actually visit her.
The entire harem was in an uproar, with everyone talking about it.
Although they were discussing it animatedly, they all believed that the Emperor had only suddenly thought of her on a whim.
Everyone treated her as a fleeting memory, and no one took Ji Ying'er seriously.
But what happened next left everyone speechless. The Emperor stayed at Consort Ying's place for half a month, and all sorts of precious things were sent over like a flowing stream. The gold and silver jewelry in the Wutong Pavilion were piled up like a small mountain.
Now even the big things started to sway.
Even the favored Imperial Concubine hasn't seen the Emperor for half a month, which shows that this Consort Ying is quite capable, and she might really be able to maintain her position for a long time.
So the opportunistic crowd rushed to curry favor with Ji Ying'er.
As the saying goes, "When one person attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven." Those who follow the favored master can also have a bright future, right? The threshold of Wutong Pavilion was almost worn down by the crowds.
But those who were busy were mostly the subordinates, such as Consort Xu and Prime Minister Zhang's daughter. The two of them, who had enough power, still looked down on Ji Ying'er, this helpless orphan.
Consort Qi's indifference stemmed from the fact that she didn't like the Emperor at all, and didn't care who he favored.
The reason she held the title of favored concubine and acted arrogantly in the harem was simply to hope that these things would reach that person's ears and attract his attention.
Qi Zhenzhen didn't blame the Marquis of Zhenbei for forcibly sending her to the palace; she only blamed herself for falling in love with the wrong person, her nominal father.
She shouldn't have had those thoughts about the Marquis of Zhenbei, even though they weren't related by blood.
Qi Zhenzhen's biological father was a soldier under the Marquis of Zhenbei. During a dangerous raid, in order to allow the Marquis of Zhenbei to escape unscathed, Qi's father disguised himself as the Marquis of Zhenbei and lured away a large number of pursuers by himself. Then he died from being pierced by a thousand arrows.
Qi Zhenzhen was his only daughter. Out of gratitude to his subordinate, the Marquis of Zhenbei, he brought her to his mansion to raise her personally and publicly declared her to be his daughter.
Because they were stationed on the border for many years, the aristocratic families in the capital did not know much about the Marquis of Zhenbei, and they did not find anything wrong with the daughter who suddenly appeared in his life.
After all, it wasn't uncommon for a marquis to have a maidservant with him when he went to war, and for the maidservant to get pregnant and raise her child outside the palace.
Qi Zhenzhen entered the Marquis's mansion at the age of three. There were not many servants in the mansion, and the only master was Qi Xiao.
Qi Zhenzhen has always been attached to Qi Xiao since she was a child, and Qi Xiao also dotes on her. He not only carefully raises her, but also teaches her to read and understand principles.
As a child, Qi Zhenzhen believed that there would never be such a good person in the world again.
When she reached marriageable age, marriage naturally became a priority.
At first, Qi Zhenzhen did not object to marriage, after all, a girl always has to get married, and she attended quite a few matchmaking banquets.
But as more and more people came to look at her, Qi Zhenzhen felt more and more that it wouldn't work.
Those scions of noble families were either idle playboys or ugly monsters with wretched looks; she couldn't find a single one of them pleasing to the eye.
Then she complained to her close friend, who tapped her forehead and said, "Look at you, how many have you met? It's always the same. You either complain about their looks or say they're not good enough. What kind of person are you looking for?"
Hearing her ask this, Qi Zhenzhen was stunned. She was always being pushed around by others and seemed to have never really thought about what kind of man she wanted to find.
Who is the right person for me? What do I really want?
After thinking for a moment, Qi Zhenzhen understood. "I want someone like my father, who is heroic and strong and takes meticulous care of me."
After saying that, Qi Zhenzhen nodded emphatically, "Yes, I want one like my father."
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