Faced with his fierce and predatory gaze, Su Yushan instantly cowered and began to feign ignorance, "What did I say? I didn't say anything!"
Her big, innocent eyes blinked. Normally, he might have softened, but tonight was different. Her words clearly questioned his abilities, and he had to prove himself!
"You said... seven times!"
At this moment, Su Yushan wished she could bite off her own tongue, and responded with an awkward laugh, "It was just a joke, don't take it seriously."
Hongli shook his head slightly, looking serious. "I should fulfill my Shanshan's wish, otherwise you'd think there's something wrong with me."
"No problem, you're very capable, I've seen it," Su Yushan said, regretting her actions as he leaned closer, and begged for mercy repeatedly.
"I was really just kidding, I absolutely didn't mean to doubt you."
To show her stance, she even raised her finger to swear an oath, but Hongli grabbed her wrist and pressed her down in the tent. In that instant, she felt as if the vast sky was covering her, and she had nowhere to hide.
She had said those words herself, and no matter how much she regretted them, it was useless. Hongli would not forgive her, and she could only silently accept his "punishment."
Then again, she was the one who wanted to punish him, so how did she end up getting herself involved? It's a losing proposition!
However, Hongli didn't give her a chance to think, insisting that she understand the consequences of saying the wrong thing...
The stars and moon were sleepless, and so was Hongli. Tonight, he seemed exceptionally vigorous, eliciting repeated cries of pleasure from Su Yushan. After being teased by him several times, she had no strength left. Her eyes were half-closed, and she wearily reminded him:
"It's already past midnight. You have court tomorrow, so you need to get some sleep and not cause any more trouble. What if you miss court? All the officials are waiting!"
"Let's just wait!" At this moment, Hongli was preoccupied with romance and didn't care about such things.
He was fearless, while Su Yushan trembled. "But I'm so tired! Can you let me rest for a while?"
Hongli, unperturbed, propped his forehead with his hand and playfully tapped her delicate nose. "I didn't ask you to move! I figured you were quite comfortable lying down."
At first, she did enjoy it, but after a while, she began to feel uncomfortable. She looked at him pitifully and complained in a soft voice:
"But it will hurt there, I can't bear it. Flowers are delicate and need to be protected. They shouldn't be as unreasonable as you."
Hongli was always chivalrous towards women, but he knew clearly that sometimes, Yushan preferred his domineering nature.
"But when I'm being unreasonable, your voice seems to be louder."
He whispered in her ear, but his hands were still wandering. To prevent him from doing anything else, Su Yushan threatened him.
"If you bully me again, you are not allowed to touch me for the next seven days."
She wouldn't let him touch her? Hongli had plenty of ways to coax her, "We can talk about tomorrow's matters tomorrow; taking care of the present is the most important thing."
She couldn't threaten him at all! Su Yushan racked her brains for a long time and finally came up with a plan.
"Your birthday is in a few days. If you upset me, I won't send you a gift."
Hongli was still looking forward to her gift, but he knew she was just saying it casually, so he wasn't afraid.
"You are the best gift God has given me. I already have you, nothing else matters."
"You mean the gift I gave you isn't important?" Su Yushan's red lips pursed slightly, clearly displeased, and she huffed angrily.
"Since you don't care, I'll throw away the gift I prepared tomorrow."
Realizing he had misspoke, Hongli immediately corrected himself, "I didn't say I didn't care, I just said you're the most important person to me. It would be better if there was a gift, but it doesn't matter if there isn't."
Turning her head to the side, Su Yushan nodded sullenly, "Yeah, I know, it doesn't matter."
Hongli had good reason to suspect that she was picking a fight. "Why do you only listen to the second half of the sentence and not the first half? Are you deliberately misinterpreting my meaning?"
"That's what you said!" She pretended to be unhappy, just trying to find an excuse to avoid him. Hongli had already seen through her little scheme and didn't give her a chance to escape. He turned his head and sealed her lips with his once again.
She protested softly, but her protests were in vain. The night was still long, and he had plenty of time to suffer her punishment...
As the saying goes, "once bitten, twice shy," Su Yushan secretly vowed that she would never again speak carelessly and dig a hole for herself. She absolutely could not make that mistake again!
The next morning, Hongli slept more soundly than usual. Li Yu called him from outside once, and Hongli responded groggily, but then went back to sleep.
Su Yushan was so sleepy from being disturbed by him for most of the night that she didn't hear a sound and couldn't wake him.
Fifteen minutes later, still no sound, Li Yu grew anxious and mustered her courage to call out twice more.
Hongli then opened his eyes. He had only slept for an hour and a half, and his eyes were sore. He wanted to sleep a little longer and had no desire to go to court.
But if we don't go, wouldn't that be exactly what Yu Shan said?
Thinking of this, he forced himself to sit up, mustered his spirits, changed his clothes, and went to court.
Since he ascended the throne, he has been punctual for court every day and has never been late.
This was the first time the emperor had been nearly 15 minutes late. The court officials were all talking about it, wondering what was wrong with the emperor. Could it be that he was unwell?
Hongzhou was also curious: why was his elder brother, who was always self-disciplined, late today?
After the court session, Hongzhou followed the Grand Councilors to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to discuss state affairs with the Emperor.
After the discussion of political affairs concluded, everyone took their leave, but Hongzhou remained and asked a question out of curiosity.
"What were you busy with last night, Your Majesty? Why have you been so late today?"
Hongli's expression was clearly unnatural. He coughed and retorted, "Do I need to report my affairs to you?"
If it were a matter of politics, the Emperor would certainly speak frankly. Since he refuses to speak, then it must be a private matter!
Hongzhou, understanding the implication, smiled and replied, "Of course there's no need to report to your brother; you only need to report to Consort Chun."
Hongli, feeling offended, glanced at him and said, "You talk too much. I still have memorials to review. Go back if you have nothing else to do!"
It seemed that his guess was correct. Hongzhou smiled knowingly, cupped his hands, and took his leave.
In the following days, Su Yushan did not want him to get close to her anymore, but if she refused him directly, he would definitely disagree. After thinking it over, she simply pretended to be sick, saying that she had caught a cold, and asked the imperial physician to prescribe medicine for her.
In the past, if she caught a cold, her voice would change, but this time her voice was normal and her complexion was rosy, not like she was sick.
But she insisted that she was ill, and Hongli could not force her, so he had to forgive her and personally take care of her, serving her tea and water.
Using her illness as an excuse, she finally managed to rest for a few days.
That evening, Su Yushan was playing with the children in the courtyard when Eunuch Liu from Cining Palace came to see her, saying that he was conveying the Empress Dowager's decree that the concubines of all the palaces should gather at Cining Palace early the next morning, as the Empress Dowager had important matters to announce.
Eunuch Liu did not specify what it was about. Su Yushan guessed that the Empress Dowager was planning to announce the selection of someone to assist in managing the inner palace.
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