Chu Yuan replied calmly, "Your Majesty, it is a scripture."
Young girls under twenty years old mostly like to read storybooks and the like; they certainly don't like to read dry and boring scriptures.
Therefore, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but ask in surprise, "You like reading scriptures?"
Chu Yuan certainly didn't want to watch it; she had only borrowed it to attract the Empress Dowager's attention. On the surface, she nodded and even recited a classic passage from the book for the Empress Dowager.
The ability to memorize it was thanks to the system's "Photographic Memory" item. Just a few glances while casually flipping through the scriptures in the library were enough for Chu Yuan to firmly remember it.
After hearing this, the Empress Dowager squinted her eyes, like a dozing cat, feeling inexplicably comfortable.
He nodded and said, "That's right. Starting tomorrow, come and read scriptures to me for half an hour every day."
"Okay." While Dugu Ling and Dugu Yue were still completely baffled, Chu Yuan readily agreed.
He thought to himself, "This 'holy light' effect is so amazing!"
She had been thinking about how to gain the Empress Dowager's trust.
Originally, she had planned to follow the example of Dugu Pingting and use food or medicine to help people recover, but the Empress Dowager was once bitten by a snake and is now extremely wary of anything that comes into contact with her.
She couldn't even get through the second door of the small kitchen.
So, Baba recommended the "Holy Light" item to her.
Simply put, it was through reading scriptures that she emitted a faint, imperceptible light. This light had a restorative effect, allowing those who were injured or unwell to recover slowly. This is why the Empress Dowager felt comfortable and thus made her request.
"Hmph, all that fancy talk!" Dugu Yue scoffed, pulling and shaking the Empress Dowager's arm. "Grandmother, you promised me you wouldn't fall for her tricks. If you want to hear scriptures, fine, Fushun will read them to you whenever he has time."
Dugu Yue dared not say she would come every day, after all, there were so many fun things to do outside the palace.
But she didn't want Chu Yuan to come either, because that would give Chu Yuan a chance to bewitch her grandmother.
As expected, this woman is annoying; she's always trying to steal her man or Pingting's job!
The Empress Dowager patted Dugu Yue's hand, both amused and exasperated, "Come on, do you have the patience to read scriptures? Don't fall asleep in front of me after reading only a few words!"
Upon hearing this, Dugu Yue playfully stuck out her tongue, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
And that's how the matter was settled.
The Empress Dowager said she was tired and told everyone to make themselves at home.
Dugu Yue glared at Chu Yuan and asked Dugu Ling, "Brother Crown Prince, you're here. Where is Shen You'an?"
"They went home." Dugu Ling said, glancing at Chu Yuan.
Chu Yuan ignored him.
Dugu Ling didn't care and managed to coax Dugu Yue away in just a few words.
He followed closely behind Chu Yuan, and even after Chu Yuan returned to her own courtyard, he still followed her.
Suddenly, Chu Yuan stopped and turned around: "Your Highness, why are you following me?"
"I'm not doing anything."
Dugu Ling blurted out, her eyes, as cold as ice in the night, now full of laughter, "Do you know what he said to me when I was just about to warn Shen Youan not to talk nonsense?"
Chu Yuan remained silent, gazing blankly at Dugu Ling.
My heart is pounding like a deer's. The man in front of me has one flavor when he's cold, but he has another flavor when he's warm and affectionate like this.
It's quite a novel feeling to have both "puppy dog" and "wolf dog" attributes in the same person.
Dugu Ling took half a step closer to Chu Yuan. "He told me that you have a fixed price, one thousand taels per time."
Chu Yuan roughly knew what he was talking about, but this way of speaking was far too easy to be misunderstood!
She frowned. "Your Highness, please, next time, please finish your sentence! It's alright now that it's just the two of us, but if others overhear, they might suspect me of being like those famous courtesans."
What he was really thinking was that he had to find an opportunity to get Shen Youan to pay the one thousand taels!
That bastard! He didn't even tell her beforehand that he was going to act, and he almost got her killed.
"I have a feeling that the person I knew before was a fake." Dugu Ling moved even closer, the scene of Chu Yuan drugging him that day flashing through his mind.
Looking back now, if something had actually happened back then, it probably wouldn't have been so bad?
Chu Yuan blinked, remaining calm. "People are inherently complex. What you see isn't necessarily the truth, and what you hear isn't necessarily the lie. Your Highness, we weren't very close before, so it's normal for us to have misunderstandings, isn't it?"
Upon hearing this, Dugu Ling smiled, her eyes crinkling like a gentle spring breeze.
She smirked and said, "Then you drugged me and clamored to spend a night with me. That shouldn't be a misunderstanding, right?"
Chu Yuan nodded, "Of course not, I truly admire the Crown Prince and long to become your woman."
I just don't know if you're really incapable or just pretending.
Chu Yuan didn't dare say the last sentence.
As a result, Dugu Ling shamelessly refused to leave. After having dinner with Chu Yuan, he threw the scriptures he had borrowed from the Empress Dowager that day at her and said, "Read them to me, I'm going to take a nap."
It's obvious they're using Chu Yuan as a sleep aid.
Chu Yuan was speechless as she looked down at Dugu Ling, who was already lying on the couch. "Your Highness, it's getting dark."
"Read it."
Chu Yuan, "..."
So you're completely unafraid now, right?
Chu Yuan lazily turned to a page and began reading the most difficult and obscure passage.
Before long, a warm sensation spread through my body; the holy light was working again.
Sure enough, Dugu Ling's breathing soon became steady, and she placed her hand on her forehead, her eyebrows and eyes relaxing.
She waved her hand in front of the man's eyes to make sure he was really asleep, then stopped reading.
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