The big wedding is here, what a lively and extraordinary grand wedding!

  The efficiency of the Wang Fu was indeed not very high, and it took a while to bring the dishes. As he looked at this unfamiliar servant girl, she had stumbled once when drinking with Li Xiao earlier... Ah, should be one of the night shift servant girls that Yuqin mentioned tonight.

  The four dishes and one soup in front of her, although not all were her favorite, but filling her stomach was the truth. Unfortunately, she had just picked up her chopsticks when she slammed them down, looking at the pretty and elegant maid with a stern face. "Is this how the servants of the Wang Manor do things? Serving me cold leftovers?" She took another look at the dishes on the plates, and her anger grew even more. Even though she was only a minor daughter of the Fang Manor, she had never eaten leftover food before.

  The girl calmly said: "Princess, it's indeed late now. When I went to get them, the kitchen staff had already finished work and they were still hot just now, but on the way back, I'm afraid they've been blown cold by the wind."

  As if deeply inhaling, calming the anger in her chest, she suddenly turned her head to face Linglong with a cold smile: "Did you hear? The kitchen in the Wang mansion has stopped working and won't be cooking anymore. What do you think I should do about this empty stomach of mine?"

  Ling Rong scolded the maid for a while, but the maid knelt down and said: "Your Highness, please calm your anger, it's all this slave's incompetence."

  Zhou's mother could no longer bear it, and angrily said: "I think you're not incompetent, but too capable. I just don't believe that the prestigious Wang Fu can't even provide meals?"

  She restrained Zhou Mama and said calmly, "Alright, Zhou Mama. Since the kitchen in the Wang Estate has already finished work and the servants of the Wang Estate are all noble, we can't invite them over, so let's just take care of ourselves." Then she turned to Linglong and said, "You go outside and ask around, see if there are any delicious pastries available, buy some back for me. If anyone asks, just tell them straight out."

  Her bright eyes sparkled, and she responded with a full voice, glaring at the maid before storming out in a huff.

  She glanced at the kneeling maid, who was dressed extremely neatly, with intricate pearl decorations and exquisite clothing that could rival those of a wealthy family's daughter. Looking at her attire, Li Xiao's personal maidservant seemed to be in a precarious position. Upon closer inspection, her appearance wasn't bad either. Ru Qing thought to herself with great distaste; it seemed that her bedmate was indeed a piece of meat that everyone coveted.

  She stared at the maid for a long time, but didn't get angry. She just said: "You are all noble, I'm afraid this princess can't even order you around. Alright, go down."

  The maid got up and backed out respectfully.

  The fragrance rose and fell in her chest, "This person is too arrogant, not even giving you a glance, you are the dignified princess, yet even a servant dares to treat you this way."

  As expected, she had already anticipated that Li Xiu's Tang monk meat would be coveted by everyone. From the imperial concubines to the little maidservants, no one was to be underestimated. Unexpectedly, on her wedding day, they gave her a taste of their power. These maidservants were indeed not vegetarians.

  ……

  But soon, he couldn't stand his growling stomach anymore.

  Even if Li Xiao's personal maid had the intention of giving Ruo Xue a hard time, those cunning and clever housekeepers outside wouldn't dare to offend the new princess. The degree of importance that their own prince attaches to the new princess is clear for all to see; even if they were kicked in the head by a donkey, they wouldn't dare be slow in serving the princess.

  So, when the housekeeper of the Wang Fu's inner courtyard was caught by Linglong and asked if there were any vendors selling snacks outside, this seasoned housekeeper became suspicious and smiled to ask: "Miss, are you hungry? Each courtyard in the Wang Fu has a small kitchen, whatever Miss wants to eat, just go and get it."

  Linglong blinked her eyes, looking puzzled, and said: "My princess is hungry, but the maid beside the king said that the kitchen in the palace has already closed. Our princess can't eat leftover rice or food that's been cold for a long time, so she ordered me to go out and buy some back to fill her stomach. Nanny, heaven have mercy, my princess hasn't eaten anything until now, and she's already starving, with her chest stuck to her back."

  The old woman's face turned dark with rage, and she shouted: "Which shameless wretch dares to be slow in serving the princess? Go fetch her, I'll teach her a lesson."

  Linglong was overjoyed in her heart, but on the surface she pretended to be silly and said, "That sister is so majestic, wearing such beautiful clothes, a whole set of silk gauze, I thought she was a young lady from a wealthy family, speaking and acting with such grandeur."

  That old woman was so angry that she gritted her teeth. The six senior maids by the king's side were all personally selected by her. Now, the maid under them actually dared to be slow and lazy in front of the queen. If the king blamed her for this, she would also lose a layer of skin. So, she couldn't help but hurry and grab a servant, letting her lead Linglong to the kitchen to serve food to the queen, then she rushed with the person to the bridal chamber like her buttocks were on fire.

  Looking at the old woman who was wearing a spiritual dark red embroidered silk jacket, he said in a gentle tone, "It's cool on the ground, Granny has something to say, get up and speak."

  The old woman knelt down and refused to get up, slapping her own cheeks with both hands while wailing and crying, "Your Highness, it's all because I didn't teach them properly. How could these maids be so lazy in front of Your Highness? Please calm your anger, Your Highness. I'll bring this worthless maid here to you, whether to beat or scold her, it's up to you." As she spoke, she stood up and shouted at the woman behind her who was wearing a pink satin jacket with crimson embroidery, "Still not kneeling down!"

  The maid looked at the old woman with a somewhat dissatisfied expression and stiffly asked, "May I ask, Old Lady Hong, has this servant done something wrong?"

  That old woman's face turned iron-green with rage, and she shouted: "How dare you serve leftover food to the princess? Have you eaten bear heart and leopard gall? Don't you want to live anymore?" As she spoke, she frantically made eyes at her when no one was looking.

  Unfortunately, the maid didn't seem to have noticed and instead said stubbornly: "I am from the prince's residence, even if I made a mistake, it would be up to the prince himself to decide my punishment. Why does Hong Yiniang need to make such a big deal out of this?"

  "You, you..." Madam Hong was so angry that her eyes were about to split open. Seeing Ru Xue's suddenly enlightened expression, she finally couldn't bear it anymore and slapped her heavily with a loud shout: "You shameless woman! It seems I didn't discipline you enough when things were calm. How dare you say such rebellious words!"

  The maid who had been slapped covered her face, still staring defiantly at Mrs. Hong, "Mother doesn't need to get angry, if this servant really did something wrong, I will apologize to the master and let him deal with it. Mother is only in charge of the inner courtyard, but Master's private matters are best left unmanaged."

  This child, like a lover, was no longer angry, but instead looked at this stubborn servant girl with great interest, wondering whether to admire her toughness or her stiff waist.

  Old Lady Hong was so angry that her eyes almost turned black, and she pointed at her with trembling fingers. Afraid that Old Lady Hong would get even angrier, she hastily placated her: "Old Lady Hong, I've just married into the family and don't know the rules of this mansion yet. I only wanted to ask, if a lowly slave maid is so lazy in serving the mistress, what should be done?"

  Hong's body shook, she turned around, with a respectful face and a smile, "Princess, please calm down, this humble servant is usually spoiled by the old lady, so she has no sense of propriety. Princess, please rest assured, I will take her away and severely punish her."

  As if suddenly enlightened, she looked at the face of Hong's mother and forgot the face of the maid, and suddenly had an epiphany. She asked: "I just asked my mother, what should be done to the servant who was slow in serving the master according to the rules of the Wang family? Mother only needs to answer."

  Hong's face turned green and she said gruffly: "According to the rules, punishment will be meted out according to the severity of the offense. For lighter offenses, twenty strokes of the cane will be administered, while for more serious ones..."

  "What if it's heavy?"

  Hong's aunt looked at her gentle and warm face, gritted her teeth and said: "He will be beaten to death."

  Looking at that maid with a smile, "On the day of the grand wedding, you dare to give me leftover rice, this crime is not light."

  Hong's maid and the servant girl both trembled, the servant girl also opened her eyes wide, looking up at Hong and said: "The lazy princess is the fault of this slave. Let the king deal with this slave, whether it's life or death, this slave will accept it."

  Several people glared at her with anger in their eyes, wishing they could go up and slap her a few times.

  It seems like you have a close relationship with Wang Ye. I also expected that Wang Ye wouldn't heavily punish you.

  The maid's body shook slightly, but she still straightened her back.

  Old Lady Hong was sweating profusely and secretly regretted it, if she had known that this dead girl was so reckless, she should have transferred her far away.

  "Your Highness, this servant girl is so arrogant, it's also due to my lack of discipline, Your Highness..."

  "Still, trouble the nanny to take care of it properly. It's not worth troubling the king with such a small matter, that would be making a big deal out of nothing. Can't let the king blame the nanny for being incompetent."

  That old woman wiped the cold sweat from her face and smiled, saying: "The princess is absolutely right. I'll take this servant girl away and severely punish her." Then she took a step forward, like an eagle grabbing a small chicken, grabbed the servant girl's arm and dragged her out while scolding her loudly.

  "Lowly maid, how dare you have so many guts? You even dare to be rude to the princess, today I'll see if I don't beat you to death... Wang, Wang Ye..." Just as Hong Yiniang was secretly delighted that this maid would finally get what's coming to her, she suddenly saw Li Xiao wearing a bright red long gown and was shocked and terrified, for a moment forgetting how to react.

  Li Xiu's body reeked of alcohol, but his face looked terrible. He glared at Hong Niangniang and the maid beside her, saying in a low voice: "Hong Niangniang, who do you want to beat to death?"

  Hong's aunt secretly thought it was not good, and just wanted to avoid the heavy and light to get through this matter. However, the maid beside her suddenly knelt down in front of Li Xiao and cried out: "Your Highness save me, the new queen wants to beat me to death. Please have mercy on me and let the queen spare my life."

  Zhou's mother stormed forward in anger, just about to scold her, but Qing pulled her back.

  "What a wonderful reversal of the palace's head maid." Yu Qing got up, strolled over slowly, looked at the maid and then at Li Xiao, with a mocking expression. "The king should have come back earlier, otherwise he would have missed a good show."

  Li Xiao was just outside getting drunk, then a little maid rushed over and loudly shouted that the princess wanted to beat up the big maid by his side, so he couldn't drink anymore and hurried back to see what's going on.

  Just as he returned, he saw Hong's servant girl Miao Yin being grabbed by her and saying she wanted to beat her to death. Seeing this, the servant girl cried out that Ruo Xing was going to beat her to death. At this moment of confusion, he also saw Ruo Xing's sarcastic and cold expression, and his head immediately cleared up.

  He said in a gentle and affectionate tone: "The weather is cold, why don't you wear more?" Then his eyes flashed, and he added: "Has the wine sobered you up?"

  With a faint smile, "Mmm, I slept for a bit and feel much better. I was woken up by hunger."

  "Can someone downstairs deliver food?"

  With a sarcastic tone, looking at the maid kneeling on the ground crying to herself, she said lightly: "You called, but the maids by Wang Ye's side are really noble, they only brought me leftover food."

  "Your Highness, the meal that young lady brought in earlier is still on the table inside. You can go take a look for yourself. Is it that our family's daughter married into the Wang estate not to be the mistress, but to follow the whims of the maids and eat leftover food?"

  That old woman's eyebrows jumped, and she secretly looked at Li Xiong's face, only to feel cold sweat bursting on her forehead.

  Li Xiu's eyebrow arched slightly as she gazed at Miao Yin with a clear and piercing gaze, "Is this true?"

  The lovely sound trembled slightly, but only sobbed: "Your Highness, please forgive me, I really didn't mean to."

  Chen Xiang couldn't bear it anymore and rushed forward, angrily saying: "Sister of course didn't mean to, but sister obviously did it on purpose. She had my daughter serve leftover rice, and even said that the kitchen was already closed for work, forcing my daughter to have someone go out and buy food."

  Linglong also followed, "Because the people in the Wangfu are unfamiliar with the local customs, I asked this mama for directions and asked if there was any good food outside the Wangfu. This mama said that she wanted to punish this sister. However, from start to finish, our young lady didn't say a word about punishment. How could this sister distort the truth in front of the prince and say that our young lady wanted to kill her?"

  Right after that, Yuqin took over the conversation, "Earlier when Wang Ye left, there were only us three servant girls left in the room. Previously, another sister said she wanted to stay and serve, but was also dragged away by this sister, saying that our young lady has enough with just us few serving her."

  Li Xie's forehead bulged with blue veins, he wasn't the kind of person to be fooled by his subordinates. After being washed clean by the three maidservants, he had already figured out what was going on. His hair stood on end as he suddenly glared at the little maid who had followed him all the way back and roared: "Didn't you say earlier that the princess wanted to kill the servant girl? Wasn't this something you said?"

  That little girl saw Li Xiu get so angry, she was already scared out of her wits, and couldn't help but kneel on the ground, trembling with fear as she said: "Your Highness, please calm down, it's Sister Miao Yin who told me to tell you this, saying that the new queen wants to kill Sister Miao Yin and told me to quickly inform Your Highness so that you can come and save her."

  With a cold smile, he gazed at Miao Yin, what a clever and cunning servant.

  Miao's face was pale, but she still had a stubborn temper and didn't make excuses. She only said one sentence: "I have committed a crime, please punish me, Your Majesty."

  Hong's aunt closed her eyes and shouted "It's all over! It's all over!"

  Li Xiu looked at her with a heavy disappointment and said, "You're a good servant, I've been lenient with you all these years because of your father being the outer courtyard's manager and your aunt being the inner courtyard's manager. You've been bullying the younger maids, but now you dare to defy the queen? You really don't know how to live." He then turned his head and ordered Hong Yiniang, "Take this insolent servant away and execute her by flogging!"

  Several people let out a sigh of relief, but also stared at Miao Yin with extreme resentment. However, Ru Qing's expression was complex, on the one hand, she felt relieved, on the other hand, she was secretly worried.

  Miao Yin was also staring at Li Xiao incredulously, her face pale as ash.

  The old woman was even more severe, and she knelt down to Li Xiong, "Your Highness, this slave girl Miao Yin indeed deserves to die, but today is Your Highness's grand wedding day. If there's bloodshed, it would be inauspicious."

  Li Xiao's expression was calm and collected, "What's your take on it?"

  The old woman's heart was delighted, and she quickly wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, saying: "Let this girl be punished to go back and reflect on her mistakes, and also deduct half a year's worth of silver. I will make sure to severely reprimand her, so that she won't dare to anger the king again."

  Several people glared at him with anger in their eyes. Qing Ze's face was expressionless, but he stared at Li Xiao, wanting to see how he would handle the situation.

  Li Xue's expression remained calm and unruffled, showing no signs of joy or anger. He merely sneered at Hong Yiniang and said: "This lowly maid has angered the princess and been slow to react, yet you've turned things upside down and said that she's the one who's angry with me. This slave is so arrogant, it seems that you're the one who's indulged her. It looks like you're not suitable for managing the inner courtyard either. You'd best hand over your duties and go to my mother, the empress dowager, to receive your punishment."

  "Your Highness......" The old nurse's face turned ashen, and she collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud, unable to utter even a word of plea.

  Not only was the beauty shocked, but Miao Yin also took a cold breath, staring at Li Xiu in horror, crawling to Li Xiu's face, grasping Li Xiu's robe, and crying out: "Your Highness, it was this slave who offended the princess, if you want to beat or punish me, please do so, but this matter has nothing to do with Hong Yiniang, I beg Your Highness to have mercy and not vent your anger on others."

  Li Xiu kicked her away with a foot and shouted: "Does this king need you to comment on how to deal with incompetent slaves? What is your identity?"

  Miao Yun's voice was shocked and desperate, her face as pale as earth, gazing at Li Xiao in disbelief, with a look of being utterly defeated.

  Li Xiu despised her extremely and didn't even look at her, but instead coldly shouted at Hong Niangniang: "What are you still standing there for? Do I need to tell you again?"

  Hong's aunt only felt a dizziness, and scenes flashed before her eyes: when she first entered the palace, trembling with fear, swallowing her breath, and enduring humiliation; later, when the maids saw her, they respectfully called her "Aunt", and there were also scenes of maids serving her in the house. All these memories intertwined, but now everything was going to return to the past... And her decades of hard work, the results she had fought for all her life, were all ruined by her foolish niece...

  Miao Yin could no longer pretend to be elegant and proud, crying out as she crawled back to Li Xu's feet, tugging at his robes. "Your Highness, it's all my fault, I'm the one who's wrong, I was blind and didn't see that I had offended the princess. If you want to punish me or kill me, do it to me alone, but please don't implicate my aunt, she has always been loyal to you, day and night. You may not care about my face, but you should consider your own conscience, Your Highness. I've served you all these years, pouring tea, serving food, attending to your every need, and this is how you repay me? Because of an outsider, you want to sentence me to death? I won't accept it, I won't accept it..."

  "After watching coldly for a long time, she timely inserted a sentence, 'Your Highness, now I finally understand where this girl's confidence comes from. It turns out that she relies on serving in your bed to become a personal item.'"

  Li Xiao was speechless, just thinking of explaining, but seeing Ruo Qing's mocking expression and pale face, he calmly said to himself: "The master's family affairs are not good for me to intervene, I'll go in first." Li Xiao knew Ruo Qing for many years, without saying that she was the worm in his stomach, but also understood that this was her extremely angry appearance. His heart suddenly anxious, he took two steps forward and grabbed Ruo Qing, "You are my wife, what's mine is yours. The treatment of the maid below is up to you to decide." He glared at Miao Yin with hatred, "This slave is so rude to you, you don't have to be polite, do whatever you want to do."

  Miao Yin suddenly lifted her head, her eyes fixed intently on Li Xiao.

  "However, it's coldly said: 'The king is indeed promoting me. The entire mansion knows that I am the princess of the Jing Wang Fu, but there are still people who dare to offend me and risk being beaten to death. If it weren't for the king's tacit permission, how would they be so arrogant?"

  As soon as the words of affection were spoken, they were already regretted. From ancient times to the present, the more powerful and prestigious a man is, the more troubles he has at home. No matter how annoying or infuriating things get, one must never quarrel with a man. But she was so angry that she actually provoked the person who should not be offended.

  Li Xiu was indeed annoyed, but seeing the tears in Ruo Qing's eyes, he was startled. He knew that this girl seemed gentle, but was actually a determined person. Once she got angry, it would be hard to get her smile back. So he softened his voice, "It's all my fault, I couldn't control the people below me, and on our wedding day, you had to suffer." As he spoke, he put his arm around Ruo Qing's shoulder, "He's just a slave, not worth getting angry with. Let's go inside, it's late, we should rest."

  The warmth of his palm, transmitted through her clothes to her shoulder, made her instinctively want to pull away from him, but thinking that the man in front of her was already her husband, she lowered her eyes, suppressed her inner instincts, and nodded.

  Before passing by the carved longevity character mirror screen, Li Xiao turned his head to Chen Xiang and said: "You, go outside and call over the guards. Have them deal with these slaves for me."

  Xiang was assigned a task, his mind went blank, and his heart became tense. After a while, he came to his senses and rushed out without thinking, running around the courtyard several times before finding the guard standing outside, whom he then invited in.

  The guard saw that it was Hua Niang and a few others, his expression changed slightly, and he asked Chen Xiang: "Miss, did the prince give any instructions on how to deal with them?"

  The fragrance is faint and she doesn't know either...

  At this time, Li Xue came out from inside and said calmly: "Hong's servant is not doing her job properly, deceiving the superior and subordinates, and reversing right and wrong. She was slow to serve the princess and brought shame to my mother. Let's take her to see my mother and let her handle it." Then she stared at the little maid in green clothes outside and said: "Slander the princess, forge orders, and be a traitor. Take her away and give her twenty strokes of the rod. Slap her twenty times. Punish her by making her do hard labor in the laundry room."

  Finally, she stared at Miao Yin, "Lazy and cruel princess, still reversing black and white, slandering and causing trouble. One stick would be enough to kill you, it's your own fault. But today is the king's big wedding day, seeing blood is unlucky, go outside and kneel in punishment. Before the king calms down, don't dare get up."

  ……

  Li Xiu disposed of the offending servant and returned to his bedroom, where he saw a maidservant with two buns on her head rush out and say: "Your Highness, the young lady wants to take a bath..."

  Li Xuyang raised an eyebrow, "It's so late already, just... go ahead and let the woman outside prepare hot water."

  Linglong was overjoyed and hastily lifted her skirt to rush out. Li Xiu entered the bedroom, where several maids were neatly searching for clothes. At this time, a few maids rushed in from outside, led by a maid wearing a pink-purple lake silk embroidered lily flower robe, who respectfully asked Li Xiu: "Your Highness, do you want to take a bath?"

  Li Xiu turned his head and murmured a soft "hmm". The maid immediately instructed the people below to prepare hot water, then quickly opened the nearby purple sandalwood carved cloud-patterned wooden cabinet to find Li Xiu's sleeping clothes. Several maids, well-trained, lifted the charcoal stove, took out the clothes, and prepared everything. After that, several rough servant women outside had already carried in two large buckets of hot water and two buckets of cold water, which were separately placed in a slightly smaller room next to the bedroom. At this time, the room was divided into four sections by a screen made of black lacquer wood carvings with a large glass frame, behind which Li Xiu and Ru Qing took their baths separately.

  There were Zhou Mama, Chen Xiang, Ling Long, Yu Qin, and two other maidservants from the Wang Fu to attend to Ruo Xin. On Li Xiao's side, it was even more lively. Although she was behind a screen, Ruo Xin could still sense the commotion on the other side. However, she had no interest in taking a bath, so after washing off all the powder and grease, she got out of the tub. Chen Xiang quickly wrapped her body in a large towel, while several maidservants helped her put on her undergarments and a thick, crimson velvet cloak with embroidered lotus flowers on the chest to keep warm.

  When Li Xiu came out from inside, he was also wearing a refreshing white undergarment. He sat in front of the mirror and let the maid wipe his wet hair for him.

  The two maidservants who were waiting on Ruoxi secretly sized her up, and saw that she was sitting on a round wooden stool, while the maid below her was also working in an orderly manner, with a clear division of labor and cooperation, yet without any interval or pause. Her movements were smooth and unimpeded, without any awkwardness or stiffness, and Ruoxi couldn't help but feel a little surprised and impressed, thinking to herself: "I didn't expect that this young lady from the Fang family would have such poise and elegance, she's really not someone to be underestimated."

  Li Xiu saw that her hair was almost dry, so she waved her hand and let the maid retreat. At this time, Ru Qing had also finished dressing up. Zhou Mama and a few others looked at Li Xiu, then looked at Ru Qing, their faces filled with unspoken words, but in the end, they still led the maids away, not forgetting to give Ru Qing a meaningful glance before leaving.

  As bitter as her smile was, her poor health wasn't her fault.

  The room was quiet, but her emotions were stirred up instead. She secretly glanced at Li Xiong and saw that he was also looking at her. She couldn't help but smile awkwardly, "Ah, Prince Wang, it's getting late, I...I should retire for the night."

  Li Xue noticed her awkwardness, smiled slightly, nodded and stretched out his hand. "Come on, let's talk."

  As she swallowed hard, she still took small steps towards him. Li Xiu stretched out his hand and scooped her up, and she fell into his arms with a soft cry. She was firmly wrapped in Li Xiu's arms, her face red, feeling extremely uncomfortable as this was the closest physical contact she had ever had with someone of the opposite sex. She struggled slightly, but the next moment, she discovered that his hand was no longer behaving itself. Shocked, she hurriedly stopped him from trying to explore under her clothes, stuttering "Your Highness, I'm not feeling well..."

  Li Xiang suddenly stood up, under Yu Rou's soft cry, he horizontally hugged her and walked steadily towards the bedside.

  The large red silk embroidered dragon and phoenix mandarin duck bedspread, the large red silk bed canopy, and the large red silk mandarin duck quilt all showed joyful colors. As if the quilt had been thrown onto the bed, it rolled to the inside corner, eyes wide with fear. Seeing Li Xiao take off his blue silk gauze padded jacket, revealing his clean white underclothes, he got into bed. He couldn't help but swallow hard, and then saw Li Xiao reach out to grab and pull at his own jacket. His heart in his chest could no longer bear it, and he let out a sharp cry: "I... my body is not convenient..."

  Li Xiu stopped in his tracks, a serious expression on his face. "I know you're not feeling well, but does that mean you don't need to sleep?"

  The two eyes sparkled with emotion, "What the king means is..."

  Li Xiao irritably pulled off her outer cloak and said, "Can't sleep without undressing?"

  As if suddenly enlightened, she realized that she had misunderstood him. She got up, quickly took off her outer robe and slipped into the quilt, only revealing a small face, blinking her eyes, pitifully and nervously staring at Li Xiao in front of her who might turn out to be a big bad wolf.

  Li Xiao smiled and looked at her movements, shaking his head, waving his hand to put down the two layers of crimson thin gauze and scarlet thick satin bed curtains. The heavy bed curtains blocked out the bright candlelight, and under the reflection of the multi-layered bright red bed curtains, the man's expression in front of him became blurry, but a pair of eyes were exceptionally bright, as if... uh, unable to find an accurate description, it could only be described as a wild wolf that had been hungry for several days in the deep mountains, seeing food and emitting green light from its eyes.

  Li Xiao found that the quilt was wrapped tightly around her and couldn't help but sigh: "It's so cold, are you going to freeze to death for your husband?"

  He said dryly, "There's another quilt."

  Li Xie smiled slyly: "But I just want to sleep with you." With a big scoop, he used a bit of force, and Ruo Xin's defenses completely collapsed. She could only blush and let the man in front of her invade her last sanctuary. Her heart was racing like thunder as she leaned against Li Xie's broad shoulders. This man really didn't know what it meant to be content with his lot. As soon as he lay down, not only did he occupy Ruo Xin's territory, but he also wanted to conquer and plunder. Ruo Xin endured her smoldering face, pried open his restless hands, and angrily shouted: "What are you doing? Don't!"

  Li Xuan's eyes sank, and she let out a hot breath as she continued to dig into her clothes, muttering: "Heavens, the delicious meat that's right in front of me can only be looked at but not eaten, isn't this going to suffocate me? Can't I just take a sniff of the fragrance?"

  Only a man like him could utter such shameless words, unfortunately, Ru Qing was just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, struggling left and right but to no avail, ultimately still being stripped of her clothes in the midst of struggle...

  The two were at odds, and Li Xun was not willing to tolerate the unrest and wolf-like behavior of the other party. Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside, and at first, Li Xun didn't pay attention, but gradually, the voices grew sharper. Finally, from behind the purple sandalwood carved screen, a hesitant voice spoke up, "Prince Lin, it's reported that Consort Yao's mother has sent someone to inform you that she is pregnant. She specifically asked for this message to be conveyed to Your Highness."

  Li Xuan's movements suddenly froze, as if he had also returned to reality. His mind was racing: It wasn't midnight yet, but at least it was around 1 am. Moreover, today was her big day, and she was in the midst of "doing it" with a man. Suddenly, a maid came to report that there was good news. This fragrant maid... um, I don't know whether to say she's stupid or arrogant, but she had ruined the face of this new queen. After despising the maid, Li Xuan looked at her expression and said loudly: "Didn't the king promise me earlier that all the maids in his house would be obedient? Now it seems..." Even if that maid was really pregnant, did they have to send someone to report it on the man's big wedding day, especially at such a late hour? This woman, regardless of whether she was instructed by someone or not, was also despicable.

  Li Xiu's face turned extremely difficult to look at, and he sat up naked, taking a deep breath to calm the inexplicable anger in his heart. He shouted towards the outside: "Which imperial physician treated her? Let him come here, I have something to ask him."

  Yu Lan hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Your Highness, Xiang Niang has become pregnant, won't you go take a look? According to the servants from Yi Fu Yuan, it seems that Xiang Niang's fetus is not very stable."

  As soon as the words were spoken, Li Xu couldn't help but burst out laughing. He immediately stopped and waved his hand, saying: "Nothing, it's just that I think all the pregnant women under this sky seem to have unstable fetal movements... Hmm, Your Highness, it seems that Xiang Niangniang needs you to go over there for her to calm down and ensure a safe pregnancy. For the sake of your descendants, Your Highness should still go take a look."

  Li Xue took a deep breath, and soon had an idea in mind. With a hint of guilt, he gently patted Ruo Xue's face and whispered: "I'll be right back, you sleep first." Then he covered her with the quilt, got out of bed, and shouted outside: "Come in, help this king change clothes."

  Behind the screen, a maid really came in. She looked through the thick bed curtains and it was still the maid who had attended Li Xiu's bath earlier, seemingly named Yue Lan.

  Yu Lan took a robe from the ebony clothes rack and helped Li Xiu put it on.

  Suddenly, Ru Qing discovered that Li Xiao's back was full of scars, and she couldn't help but wonder. If she wasn't mistaken, they should be whip marks. Who was so bold as to flog his entire back like this?

  Yu Lan personally helped Li Xue tie her belt, then took her outer cloak and put it on for her. In the end, she still kept a little distance from Li Xue, and in her movements, she seemed to be guarding herself, as if she had slightly let her guard down.

  That month, Lan served Li Xiu well after changing clothes. She took out a cloak from the closet and said, "Your Highness, it's windy outside, wear this cloak before going out." Li Xiu didn't object, but instead took the cloak and put it on himself. He walked two steps, then thought of something and turned back to the bedside, lifted the bed curtain, and whispered to Ruoxi, "You sleep first, I'll be right back."

  After Li Xue left, I suddenly felt wide awake. There was a feeling of oppression, discomfort and dullness that lingered on.

  Yu Lan did not leave immediately, but instead approached the bedside and asked in a low voice: "Your Highness, are there any other instructions?"

  As she gazed at Moon Orchid through the bed curtains, all she saw was Moon Orchid's respectful and devoted expression, but a pair of eyes were fixed tightly on herself behind the curtains. She couldn't help but feel a slight chill in her heart, and said lightly: "I'm a bit thirsty."

  Yu Lan's movements were still quick and nimble, she turned around and poured a cup of water to hand over to Ru Qing. After Ru Qing drank the warm white water, he handed the cup back to her, "Alright, there's nothing for you to do here, turn off the light and go rest."

  After Yuè Lán left, she got out of bed and put on the clothes that Li Xī had taken off, then continued to snuggle under the quilt, closed her eyes, and tried to shake off the knot in her heart, continuing to sleep.

  Unfortunately, she didn't get to rest for long. After a while, Moon Orchid came in again, "Your Highness, the Hong family wants to see you."

  "With a calm tone, she suppressed the anger in her heart and asked: 'Who is this goddess?'"

  Digression

  Xiao Chun and Xiao Tai's whole body is itchy and blistering, which is caused by seasonal allergies and is also contagious. Xiao Lan is the worst off, this kid has always been prone to disasters, just had surgery, now he has hand foot and mouth disease, can't be careless at all, now he's hospitalized, three brothers need to be isolated, it's keeping us busy. In the next three days, updates will be scarce, don't wait for me anymore.