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She flashed a smile as if she had found money, her eyes crinkling and corners of her mouth upturned, uncontrollably so.

The Emperor’s eyes overflowed with love he couldn’t hide, his lips curling upward as he reverently pressed a kiss onto her forehead, released her, and mimicked her words, "My seal, too, is placed."

Lian Hua’s eyes sparkled with laughter, her heart sweet with joy, unable to help herself from burying her face into the Emperor’s chest, beginning to giggle once more.

Laughing sweetly while playfully whining, "Your Majesty, what am I to do? My love for you keeps growing, and I’m just so happy being with you..."

The Emperor stroked her back, his eyes brimming with tender affection, finding his Little Concubine irresistible when she was being sweet.

Listening to her, he felt a deep sense of enjoyment and satisfaction.

A sudden thought crossed his mind and he ventured a suggestion, "Why doesn’t Nannan express her feelings through poetry?"

He had written her many notes, using poetry to express his longing and love, and he wanted to receive a love poem from her as well.

At these words, the voice in his embrace abruptly stopped!

Lian Hua, with her face hidden in the Emperor’s embrace, suddenly felt overwhelmed. Her desire to laugh or be coquettish vanished.

Express feelings through poetry?!!

With her mediocre skills? She, who hadn’t memorized many ancient poems, was expected to come up with one on the spot?

Was His Majesty joking?

This was too difficult; while she had indeed been learning poetry, it was a haphazard effort. Her free time was devoted to planning her grand endeavors, leaving little for poetry.

She had intended to learn, but each time she opened a book, it wasn’t long before drowsiness overtook her. She had tried hard to learn so she could exchange notes with His Majesty, but she either couldn’t remember the new ones or had forgotten the old, retaining nothing after all this time!

The poems she wrote in her notes to His Majesty were found on the fly. If she couldn’t find a suitable one, she’d forgo the dish, seeking instead one that matched a poem.

The poem from yesterday, "Wishing us long life, though miles apart, we share the beauty’s grace," was a rarity, a fluke. She had a faint recollection of learning it in her youth, and it was fitting for the Mid-Autumn Festival, so she used it.

But now, His Majesty sprung a surprise test, asking her to recite poetry by heart. This made her head ache, eyes swim—why was His Majesty acting like a schoolmaster?

It was too hard, much too difficult for her!

"Hmm?" Noticing she hadn’t responded for a while, the Emperor released her to look down, curious to see what the matter was.

Hadn’t she recently been studying poetry? Why couldn’t she recite even a single poem?

To encourage her studies, he had specially found her a copy of the Book of Poetry, which contained numerous love poems, a few of which he had marked for her.

Had she not read it?

If she had, surely reading it once or twice would be enough to learn by heart, and she could casually recite any of them—he wasn’t picky.

Yet, why was the situation like this?

Lian Hua stepped out of the Emperor’s embrace, feeling his gaze upon her, her eyes flickering hesitantly.

In an effort to maintain the wonderful impression she had created of exchanging food and poetic notes in front of His Majesty, she frantically searched her mind, and her lips began to stutter out lines from a book, "The osprey cries on the islet in the river. The fair, virtuous lady..."

After reciting part of it, she felt it was wrong and stopped.

Oh, not this one; this poem speaks of admiration for a woman.

After a moment’s reflection, she hesitantly recited, "That, that what, ’the vast, vast ...’ with white dew turning into frost, the so-called beauty, at, at ..."

Hey, where was it?

Lian Hua thought hard, but she couldn’t remember no matter how hard she tried. After struggling a bit, she gave up trying.

She couldn’t help but look up at the Emperor, hoping His Majesty would tell her where the beauty was. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she had forgotten where they were from, stuck and making her feel uncomfortable.

Seeing her like this, the Emperor understood everything. It was him who had been too demanding ...

Hmm... his Little Concubine was very obedient indeed; she had read the Book of Poetry he gave her, but to expect her to remember it was truly too high a demand...

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly; how could he forget that his Little Concubine was extremely poor at her studies? If not so, she wouldn’t have been frequently reprimanded by her tutor as a child.

Things that could be learned after reading once or twice were simply out of the realm of possibility for her; he was measuring her by his own standard, hmm...

The road ahead is long and winding; indeed, the path of learning for his Little Concubine was narrow, long, and boundless.

He feared that asking her to express her feelings through poetry in the future was impossible.

Well then, he himself wasn’t a person fond of sticky-sweetness either. If his Little Concubine were to learn those cloying manners of others, reciting esoteric and sour poetry at every turn, sighing without cause, he might end up with a headache.

"Your Majesty, where was it again?" Seeing that he remained silent, Lian Hua, with hopeful eyes, asked again.

She counted on His Majesty to resolve her confusion, to relieve the excruciating itch in her heart. The phrase was indeed right there, on the tip of her tongue; she just couldn’t remember, oh dear.

"By the waterside," the Emperor said, patting her head.

He didn’t plan to correct her previous mistake; he feared even if he did, she would forget again later. Why trouble her for no reason?

Lian Hua’s eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands, "Right! It’s by the water side, Your Majesty is truly formidable."

As she spoke, her eyes gleamed with admiration as she looked at the Emperor.

The Emperor was somewhat amused and speechless, feeling that this compliment didn’t quite seem like a compliment and was difficult to accept.

But seeing her serious expression, it seemed impolite not to accept it, so he deftly changed the subject, "It’s my fault. Let’s go. Didn’t you say you were hungry when you came back, and wanted to have the tribute fruit washed?"

Hearing about the tribute fruit, Lian Hua immediately felt hungry: "Oh right, I almost forgot, I am hungry indeed. Your memory is better, Your Majesty." She truly was hungry.

Having said this, her stomach couldn’t wait any longer.

She directly pulled the Emperor to leave, and as they walked, she said, "Your Majesty, I don’t know why, but the food at recent banquets doesn’t taste as good as before.

The dishes are a bit cold, with a layer of congealed oil - very greasy.

I didn’t eat much, and my stomach is not full. "

In the past, she and Xiao Qing used to eat a lot; the food expenses were high. Though they could eat their fill, it wasn’t a feast of meat at every meal. They were always short on oil and fat, so having meat was a real joy, and the banquet food seemed extremely delicious.

But now, no longer lacking meat, and having tasted good food regularly, she began to be choosy.

Indeed, it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to return to frugality from extravagance.

"Have some tribute fruit first to tide you over, then order someone to make some hot food for you," the Emperor said, feeling distressed. The Imperial Kitchen was becoming increasingly negligent; how could he let his Little Concubine eat cold food?

As they stepped out of the Side Hall, the Emperor was about to give an order for some hot food to be prepared.

Lian Hua quickly stopped and shook her head, "No need to make anything else. I feel like having some mooncakes and fruit. Afterwards, there will be a bowl of hot Cow’s Milk, and there won’t be room in my stomach for anything else."

Observing Lian Hua, the Emperor made sure she was truly satisfied and then said, "Alright, next time there is a banquet, I will have the dishes heated properly for you before you eat. We cannot have my dear Little Concubine go hungry."

Lian Hua beamed with joy and couldn’t resist praising the Emperor again, "Your Majesty, you look especially handsome tonight, with your wide knowledge and towering intellect, and your elegant and outstanding bearing like a handsome young noble under the bright moonlight, unparalleled in this world~"