When Gan Qiongying woke up the next morning, she and Li Hua were embracing each other, and she slept with Li Hua in her arms all night.
Gan Qiongying got up, looked at Li Hua's sleeping face, and sighed in her heart, "Habits can be harmful."
To be honest, Gan Qiongying had never been in a relationship while she was alive. Logically speaking, after being reborn, sleeping with a grown man should make her blush, her heart race, and her mind wander.
That's how it's written in novels, things like marriage before love.
But in fact, just being able to live cautiously had already exhausted all her strength and energy.
Her only thought now is to control the current situation and create a different kind of happy ending from the predetermined tragic conclusion.
Therefore, even if she hugged Li Hua like a pillow, she didn't feel any romantic feelings.
On the contrary, she felt that her habit of sleeping with something in her arms was harmful. When she went to sleep again, she would ask Manyue to give her an extra blanket, so that the prince consort would not think that she was deliberately taking advantage of him.
Seeing that Li Hua was still fast asleep, she slowly withdrew her hands and feet, gently got out of bed, slowed down all her movements, and only called Manyue to help her wash up after she was a good distance away from the bed.
Gan Qiongying assumed that Li Hua was still fast asleep because he had his back to her, and she was afraid of disturbing him. After all, judging from her own experience, being woken up in the morning could be considered one of the ten most cruel tortures in life.
Little did she know that the person on the bed had already slowly opened their eyes, their long, dark eyelashes fluttering twice, their gaze calm and gentle, perhaps even earlier than she had woken up.
Full Moon deftly served Gan Qiongying, half-squatting beside her to straighten her clothes.
Gan Qiongying was still sleepy, thinking about what to eat for breakfast. After a long day yesterday, only delicious food could soothe her.
"Princess." A maid came to report from outside, interrupting Gan Qiongying's thoughts. Manyue had also finished tidying up and stepped back to the table to pour tea.
Gan Qiongying walked slowly to the chair and sat down, waiting lazily for breakfast to be served.
He nodded to the maid, signaling her to speak.
“Early this morning, Eunuch Li arrived. Seeing that the princess was still asleep, he asked me to convey his message,” the maid said, bowing her head and speaking at a measured pace, “His Majesty said he wants to summon the princess to the palace today.”
Gan Qiongying, who had been sitting loosely, felt a jolt in her heart upon hearing this and instinctively sat up straight.
Manyue was also taken aback upon hearing this. She handed over a cup of hot tea. Gan Qiongying pretended to be calm, her expression completely expressionless, but in reality, she was very flustered. "Today?"
The maid replied, "Yes."
Why were you suddenly summoned?
Gan Qiongying quickly figured out why, and couldn't help but feel annoyed. It was probably because she had received the imperial physicians twice in a row last night. The imperial physicians on duty had fixed shifts, and she had disrupted the order. Wouldn't that alarm the palace?
Of course, the emperor wouldn't pay attention to the imperial physicians' shifts, but he did pay attention to her.
After dismissing the maid who delivered the message, she instinctively wanted to rub her forehead and think of a solution, but she stopped and went to get some hot tea, hoping to drink a sip to calm her nerves.
It must have been those eighteen surveillance cameras that secretly sent a message to the palace. No matter how much you try to guard against it, surveillance is hard to prevent!
With over a dozen pairs of eyes watching, even the slightest movement would be noticed; the emperor would probably know exactly which foot she stepped through the door first.
You're going to suffer.
This is bad.
Gan Qiongying has been somewhat relaxed lately, and I can't recall her saying or doing anything inappropriate right now.
.
She wasn't unprepared; it had been almost two months since she transmigrated, and she was bound to meet the emperor sooner or later.
But when the time actually came to meet her, she couldn't help feeling nervous and scared, because apart from the little bit of plot she had read, she was completely clueless about the emperor, the dynasty, and all court etiquette.
Moreover, Gan Qiongying's panic did not stem from her ignorance of everything and her insistence on entering the palace, but rather from her secret collusion with court officials and acceptance of bribes.
After transmigrating, Gan Qiongying was shocked to see the letters of Princess Duanrong's bribery openly displayed in the study. Who would embezzle and accept bribes and put the evidence in the open?
But she didn't have the time or inclination to deal with it at the time, so she left it aside. Since she transmigrated, she hasn't received any reply to those letters.
At this stage, her situation in the plot is like being surrounded by enemies. Although the emperor has been indulging her in the plot, even a princess cannot escape severe punishment for the serious crime of disrupting the officialdom. Moreover, Gan Qiongying has done countless absurd things in the plot.
Today they forcefully bring the son of a disgraced official into their household, and tomorrow they chase after the hostage of an enemy state, making a scene known to all and causing the royal family to lose face.
With all these incidents, if the emperor wanted to get rid of her, it would be a piece of cake.
The plot contains very little description of the relationship between the emperor and Princess Duanrong. It only says that the emperor indulges her, but the emperor knows that she is in love with Zhongli Zhengzhen, the hostage from Jinchuan, yet he still marries her off to a lowly merchant. This is something that Gan Qiongying can never understand.
She recalled multiple times but couldn't remember any interaction between the two. The plot didn't even mention any scenes of them spending time together.
Gan Qiongying recalled that the original owner of the body had refused the emperor's summons twice before, and not only was she not punished, but the emperor even sent people to visit her. This showed that Princess Duanrong had always been arrogant in front of the emperor.
Gan Qiongying has always maintained her public persona and has never made any mistakes, but today she plans to admit defeat in front of the emperor.
To avoid losing my life.
While having breakfast, Gan Qiongying was still thinking about this matter. Usually, she would enjoy her delicious meals, but today she was clearly distracted, and Li Hua kept glancing at her.
Li Hua looked up several times and saw Gan Qiongying with a solemn expression. He had been enjoying the meal, since he hadn't eaten well last night, but seeing Gan Qiongying's worried face and her barely eating anything, he also lost his appetite.
Li Hua put down her chopsticks, looked up to meet her gaze, but never saw the other woman look up.
Li Hua took a deep breath and, after thinking for a while, asked, "What's troubling you? Is General Qu not doing well?"
Gan Qiongying was pulled back from her daze by his pleasant voice and looked up at him.
Li Hua continued, "If the princess is really worried about General Qu's injuries, she wouldn't be so worried as to lose her appetite. Even if the imperial physicians can't cure him, there's still a way."
“There is a legendary doctor in the area, whose skill can bring the dead back to life, but he is aloof and never accepts payment for his services.” Li Hua paused here, pursed his lips, and seeing that Gan Qiongying was listening attentively, he spoke again, but his voice was two degrees colder.
He slowly raised his head, looked at her, and his eyes turned cold: "That divine doctor collects a kind of fruit, and I happen to have some on my estate."
At this point, Li Hua stopped again and glanced at Gan Qiongying once more.
He then said slowly, "I can go and visit that divine physician, and invite him to my residence to treat General Qu."
After saying that, he lowered his head and stopped looking at her.
Gan Qiongying remained silent upon hearing this. She had no time to care about others, as she was concerned about whether she could save her own life.
She was already annoyed and didn't want to bother with anything, so she casually said to Li Hua, "You're in charge of things in the manor. You can handle it as you see fit."
Then, thinking of that matter, she hesitated for a moment and said, "I have to go to the palace today, and I don't know if I will be able to come back tonight."
Gan Qiongying looked down at the bowl, completely absent-minded. "If I don't come back tonight, you... will have to sleep alone tonight."
"Sigh," Gan Qiongying sighed, "I'm going to sleep by myself now." She wondered if she'd even have a place to sleep.
Li Ye was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. These words sounded... strange, as if they were so reluctant to part, as if they couldn't sleep if they were separated.
They didn't sleep together more than a few times.
Thinking of this, Li Hua's ears began to turn red again. He picked up his chopsticks again, and the warmth in his eyes gradually returned.
So she couldn't eat, not because she cared about General Qu, but because she was worried about going to the palace.
Li Hua paused, picked up a piece of food, chewed it repeatedly, and swallowed it. He wanted to persuade Gan Qiongying, but it was difficult for him to say anything like admonition.
"No..." Li Hua lowered her head and paused, finally speaking to persuade, "Don't clash with His Majesty."
He was afraid that if he rashly advised Gan Qiongying, she would get angry and put on the arrogant and domineering manner she had two months ago. Seeing that he was not interrupted, he continued, "Tame yourself a little."
Why?
Is it rising too fast?
Would he still say such things?
Gan Qiongying was surprised, but a smile spread across her face as she readily agreed, "Thank you for reminding me, husband. I promise to do as you say."
No wonder she was hesitant and stammering earlier; she finally realized that Li Hua's hesitation was actually an attempt to persuade her.
Of course she's not ungrateful. Li Hua is starting to worry about her. How far are we from being on the same side as them?
"I'll listen to you," Gan Qiongying added solemnly.
The two looked at each other. Gan Qiongying smiled, but Li Hua couldn't stand her gaze and lowered his eyes to avoid her intense stare.
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