Page 304

The more she thought about it, the lazier she felt. The questions she asked hadn’t gone through her brain but were just blurted out. She was preoccupied with thinking she hadn’t done enough for His Majesty.

The Emperor’s heart skipped a beat, a strong sense of crisis welled up within him. He had an intuition that this was a trick question – "other people" was a very subtle term that referred to a broad scope, most directly implying the other concubines.

This was a difficult question to answer. One misstep could anger his Little Concubine and ruin her good mood for the day, and she would not be easily soothed afterward.

In fact, he had almost never asked other concubines to help him change into his court attire before morning court. He found others slow and clumsy, which delayed his affairs.

Only his Little Concubine had been asked to help since the beginning of her stay at Canglan Court. At that time, he thought her sleepy and cute appearance was amusing, and it was fun to watch her dazed and bewildered. He couldn’t help but tease her.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t simply say that – if his Little Concubine became jealous because of this, it would cause a lot of trouble.

Although sometimes he wanted to see her jealous and wished she would show it more often, this kind of longstanding jealousy was poisonous and not to be trifled with.

Past events were history and should not be brought up again. From now on, he had only her, and his only regret was not having met her sooner.

With these thoughts, he realized this question was extremely difficult to answer. Should he say he never had anyone else help him with his court attire before? That would spur her to think about others who had been present in the past.

To say that only she had helped him with his court attire wasn’t suitable either, for such a statement hid a large trap that could lead to many questions from her, such as why he had made such a decision. Could it be because he found her amusing and wanted to tease her?

If the situation were worse, she might even ask if no other concubines had ever done so.

In any case, answering in this way would complicate matters and make them difficult to explain later.

No matter how he answered, it would be wrong. He couldn’t approach it from this angle.

Just then, Zhang Qing came to the rescue in time, "Your Majesty, it’s almost time; we need to hurry."

Lian Hua glanced outside the window, noting that it was indeed late, and exclaimed, "Ah!"

She quickly became as agitated as he was. She had asked without thinking, and the change of topic made her forget what she had just asked.

The Emperor breathed a slight sigh of relief, but he didn’t want his Little Concubine to think she was lazy. If she carried that thought, she might strive to overwork herself in the future, and he would find that distressing.

After pondering for a moment, and having changed into his court attire, the Emperor spoke to her earnestly, "Little darling, you are not lazy at all.

Do not belittle yourself. Changing court attire is a trivial matter; do not be bothered by it.

If anyone dares to say that my little darling is lazy based on this alone, I will be the first to disagree.

How can the hard work you put into preparing meals for me every day be overlooked? "

Lian Hua, who was helping him with a final check, looked up with shining eyes upon hearing this. She had forgotten what she said earlier. Was she not lazy?

The Emperor cupped her face with his hands, nodding affirmatively, "Not lazy at all. It’s natural for my little darling to feel more sleepy since there’s a child in your belly, and besides, I couldn’t bear to have you get up early.

Zhang Qing and the others can handle the changing of court attire.

All that matters is that my little darling eats well, sleeps well, and takes good care of herself. That’s all I need for peace of mind."

Lian Hua’s eyes crinkled with a smile, finding His Majesty’s words so sweet they warmed her heart. Noticing Zhang Qing and the others were also present, she couldn’t help but bury her face in the Emperor’s chest, whispering a suggestion, "My Lord, please save these words for when we’re alone..."

Ah, it was rather embarrassing to hear such things in front of Chief Steward Zhang and the rest.

Seeing her shy away, the Emperor chuckled softly.

Zhang Qing pretended to be deaf and blind as he stood respectfully to one side with the others. He, too, had felt anxious for His Majesty; Master Lian’s question was not an easy one to answer even for a eunuch.

Having helped His Majesty out of a tight spot, he sighed with relief. His Majesty and Master Lian were affectionate with each other again.

How should I say this, they’re just standing there and it’s quite conspicuous now, but morning court will soon begin, they must attend to His Majesty as he goes to morning court.

Lian Hua lingered in the Emperor’s embrace for a while, fearing any delay, she dared not linger too long, and started pushing the Emperor towards the door, "Your Majesty, please hurry, it’s getting late."

As she spoke and pushed, the Emperor looked somewhat amused, and went along with her push to head outside.

But when they reached the entrance of the Side Hall, Lian Hua started to feel reluctant again, knowing that once His Majesty stepped out, she wouldn’t see him again until the evening.

Thinking this way, she pursed her lips and said pitifully, "It’s better to be asleep, that way I wouldn’t know about Your Majesty leaving, and then I wouldn’t feel so reluctant to let you go."

His little darling was truly a sweetheart, listening to her say these words, his heart felt both sweet and warm, utterly soft, full of reluctance as well. He truly wished he could take her with him wherever he went.

The Emperor bent down and couldn’t help but cup her face in his hands, from her forehead down to her cheeks to her lips, he fervently kissed her several times, causing her to giggle and laugh in his embrace.

He said sternly, "You little rascal, you know how hard it is for me to leave every day, don’t you? Be good and wait for me in Canglan Court, understand?"

Lian Hua raised her hands to block, laughing and pretending to be disgusted as she started to hurry him, "I get it, go on, if you don’t leave now, I won’t need to wash my face – Your Majesty’s saliva has cleaned it for me, haha."

The Emperor, feeling helpless, chuckled. Such a little rascal, she was the one reluctant and causing a scene, but also the one showing disgust. In the end, he gave her a few more firm kisses before he could bear to leave, striding away with his entourage.

Lian Hua, with her hair disheveled and feeling content, leaned against the door post, smilingly watching the Emperor leave until his figure disappeared from sight, still looking in the direction he went.

Xiao Linzi came over and also looked in the same direction, scratching his head in confusion as to what his master was looking at.

After the Emperor left, they all came closer.

Xiao Jizi waited for a while and, seeing that Lian Hua made no move, couldn’t help but approach and asked, "Master, are you going to get up now?"

"Oh my!" Lian Hua snapped back to her senses; she urgently needed to urinate but had forgotten about that.

She hurriedly turned to head for the washroom, while Xiao Jizi, not understanding why, thought something was wrong and followed her inside, with Xiao Linzi trailing behind.

Just a few steps away, Lian Hua heard a noise from behind, turned her head, and glared at them fiercely, "Don’t come in, I need to relieve myself."

"Oh, oh, oh..." Xiao Jizi retreated awkwardly.

Cough cough, the master who was just softly endearing in front of His Majesty suddenly turned fierce in an instant, she was still very cute though.

He backed straight out, bumping into a confused Xiao Linzi behind him, which startled him.

After realizing what happened, he glared at Xiao Linzi and harshly said, "Idiot, what are you doing in here? Get out, don’t disturb the master."

"Oh..." Xiao Linzi scratched his head and turned to leave, but then seemed confused and quietly asked, "Brother Xiao Ji, didn’t we say we can’t leave the master alone?"

With His Majesty gone, wasn’t the master the only one left in the room? That didn’t seem right, it contradicted what was said before!

He suddenly felt uncertain.