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Moreover, Lian Hua was afraid that in her excitement and joy, she would forget herself; if something happened here, it would harm Sister Zhaoyi.

When going out as a guest, she had to behave herself.

Afterward, Xu Zhaoyi asked her if she wanted to play with the chariots, but Lian Hua refused again.

Xu Zhaoyi understood something and did not persuade her further, thinking that when Xiao Lian Hua was free, she would send the items from here to Lian Hua.

This room was originally built in memory of her own younger sister, so if a sister liked it, what was the harm in giving everything inside to her?

As for the Emperor, after discussing state affairs with several ministers in the Administration Palace following the court session, he returned to Star Palace and summoned Zhang Qing to inquire about Lian Hua’s situation.

The Emperor put down his pen and looked up, asking, "How is it? Does she like them?"

Each piece of jewelry had been meticulously selected by him, most suitable for his Little Concubine, and would surely look beautiful on her.

Thinking of this, a gentle smile flickered in the Emperor’s eyes. He really wanted to see her sweet, surprised smile. He would be able to see it when he returned, wouldn’t he?

Zhang Qing bowed and stepped forward with a troubled face, saying, "Your Majesty, Master Lian has not yet seen the jewelry..."

How should he explain to His Majesty? He was quite worried. It was not a good start; he had just returned to duty not long ago, and he couldn’t even manage this small matter.

The Emperor was somewhat surprised, "What? She hasn’t gotten up at this Shichen?"

The sun was nearly at its zenith. He hadn’t disturbed her the previous night, so why hadn’t she woken up by now?

Could it be that she was tired from preparing things for Xu Rongying these past days?

He should have discouraged her from the start. What a miscalculation!

Various thoughts flashed through the Emperor’s mind in an instant.

Zhang Qing bowed even lower, struggling to say, "She has gotten up, she has... When this servant went, he encountered Master Lian... just that at the time, Master Lian was about to go out..."

The Emperor frowned, "Go out? Where to?" Hopefully, it wasn’t what he was thinking.

"This servant asked. Master Lian said she was going to Huaying Hall to visit Xu Zhaoyi..."

As expected, although the Emperor had been mentally prepared, when it came right down to it, he still felt uneasy.

He composed himself and continued to ask, "Did you not tell her about the jewelry?"

That way, at least, she might have been stopped and returned. It might have bought some time, diverted her attention, and ideally, upon seeing the jewelry, she would have been so pleased that she forgot about going to Xu Rongying’s place.

Here it was, His Majesty was sure to inquire. Thankfully, the Young Eunuch below had reminded him, and he didn’t mind the trouble, running over to intercept and ask; otherwise, he would have no answer now.

Zhang Qing felt sweat trickle down his temples, making him feel itchy.

He swallowed and said, "This servant did tell her. Master Lian had this servant convey her thanks for Your Majesty’s gift; it’s just that she was in a hurry to go to Huaying Hall and didn’t have the chance to see..."

"..." The Emperor was silent for a while, holding back, and again holding back, until finally, he could restrain himself no longer and slammed the pen down onto the table in a fit of anger.

This ungrateful creature, he had expended so much effort to choose for her, pondering her reaction here, full of expectations, and there she was, hurrying to see Xu Rongying, not even giving a glance to his gifts!

Couldn’t she have looked once?

Was Xu Rongying more important than him?

"Her skin is itching for another punishment, isn’t it? Just can’t take it anymore!"

His Majesty’s heart was even more congested, and he truly wished he could fly back right then to grab her and spank her hard to relieve the stifling feeling in his chest.

Zhang Qing was startled by a loud "smack" from above; His Majesty was displeased, and a sense of oppression instantly filled the hall.

Fearing that His Majesty would blame Master Lian, he clenched his teeth and laboured to explain, "Your Majesty, it was only after Master Lian had left that this servant spoke; she didn’t do it deliberately, and if she had to return after leaving, it would have taken extra effort, thus..."

The Emperor interrupted, "No need to say more, withdraw."

Zhang Qing clearly thought he was speaking in her defense, but didn’t His Majesty know exactly what kind of temperament his Little Concubine had?

Given her meddling spirit, if she were truly interested, she would’ve been unable to resist rushing excitedly to see it, even if it meant returning from the entrance; just leaving would mean nothing.

Zhang Qing had to bow and withdraw, his heart sweating for Lian Hua, realizing that he had not been of help with His Majesty looking like this.

It was evident His Majesty was angry; why couldn’t Master Lian have taken a look first? Oh dear, that was His Majesty’s gesture of affection, but now what to do...

Over at Star Palace, Zhang Qing was anxious and secretly worried, while the Emperor, suffocating with pent-up irritation, dealt with state affairs.

The Emperor was restless and couldn’t focus on the memorials; glancing at the sky, which was nearly high noon, he decided to return to Canglan Court for lunch.

Without delay, he ordered his men to carry back the memorials for him to review later, and led Zhang Qing and a few others back first.

He was determined to have a thorough talk with his Little Concubine today, to properly discuss matters.

Meanwhile, at Huaying Hall, Lian Hua’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she hurriedly asked, "And then? Sister, what happened to the little horse in the end?"

After showing Lian Hua around the residence, Xu Zhaoyi came back to the hall to tell her about amusing military anecdotes.

The stories were filled with dramatic ups and downs, even better than the storytellers in teahouses, and most importantly, Xu Zhaoyi did not have a wooden clapper or leave listeners with a "to be continued," captivating Lian Hua immensely.

She was telling the story of a military horsemaster’s mistake and the young general who was covered in "dog’s blood," when a mare gave birth to a foal right on the spot.

There was a mare that appeared plump and strong, showing no signs of pregnancy. A young general thought the horse was majestic and suited him better than his own mount, insisting on riding this mare, taking it out for training and patrols without noticing anything unusual.

One day, as usual, the young general wanted to patrol on this mare. No sooner had he mounted when suddenly, the mare let out a series of farts, ingeniously foul-smelling.

Finding the horse’s farts novel and unaware of the mare’s condition, he dismounted to investigate and while he stood behind, a gush of liquid sprayed from the mare’s rear, drenching his face and infuriating him with curses.

After a few curses, he saw two pointed objects emerge, terrifying the young general, who immediately shouted for the horsemaster.

When the horsemaster arrived and saw what was happening, it turned out that the mare was giving birth to a foal, with the two pointed objects being the foal’s little hooves.

Xu Zhaoyi couldn’t help but smile at the memory, still finding it amusing to this day.

Hearing Lian Hua’s urgent question, she replied with a smile, "The foal turned out to be just like its mother, very strong, and when it grew up, it was extremely fast and even earned quite a few merits."

It became her mount.

Lian Hua nodded in relief and commented, "That’s good, that mare was quite careless, and so was that young general."

Nostalgically, Xu Zhaoyi agreed, "Indeed, both were quite careless..."

"Ming Jing sister, are you all right?" In a corner of the hall, Ming Xin quietly asked Ming Jing.

She felt that today’s Ming Jing was very different, not like her usual calm and rational self.