He asked you to serve him in bed and become his concubine, how did you manage to win his heart and s

In the past, Li Ruolan would never have missed an opportunity to speak with the Emperor.

Once they meet, they want to stick to each other, and they would like to drag Mu Xiaoci to their palace and make him stay overnight.

After all, favor is the most important thing. So what if the methods are unethical?

Now that the person had appeared right in front of her, she was only worried about her ruined makeup, so she kept her distance from the emperor's entourage and dared not go near them.

On the contrary, the emperor, seeing people in the distance who were avoiding him, suddenly became curious.

It's just like a cat.

I saw someone, but I wasn't sure who it was, so I went up to them and took a closer look to see who it was.

Even though Li Ruolan was unwilling, she still had to exchange a glance with the Emperor.

"May Your Majesty be well..."

When she saw that bright yellow dress, she became so nervous that she couldn't speak, and even thought about finding a hole to bury herself in.

It was too dark for Mu Xiaoci to see the person in front of him clearly. He wasn't fully sober yet, so it was difficult for him to remember immediately.

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Li Ruolan was so excited that she almost cried, but realizing that her clothes were disheveled, she could only grit her teeth and lower her head even further.

"Your Majesty, I am Consort Lan..."

"Lady Lan, why have you come to such a dark place?"

Upon hearing these three words, the Emperor's mood improved considerably for some reason.

He even fiddled with the jade pendant in his hand, wanting to hear how the other party would speak so he could reply.

His interest was piqued, and he really wanted to find the other party today to get to the bottom of things.

The Emperor's intentions were clear enough, but Li Ruolan could only pretend to be mute, or rather, blind.

She didn't dare to look up, and always spoke with her head down.

"Your Majesty, I think I caught a chill today. I was drinking and caught a cold just now, and I feel a little unsteady. Please allow me to return to the palace to rest."

There was no room for falsehood in this statement; whatever was said was the truth.

All I ask is that it's dark enough here so the Emperor can't see me at my most wretched.

Heaven knows how much Li Ruolan cares about her image. She has become a prisoner of her appearance, and even thinks that the emperor chose her to enter the palace because of her face, and that it was because of her face that he agreed to work together again next time.

What if you don't have a face?

The more you gain something, the easier it is to lose it. Now she's even starting to fear being seen without makeup.

As I pondered, my inner thoughts began to coalesce, and I even felt a surge of impulse.

Even if it angers the Emperor, she absolutely cannot risk letting him see her in this state.

Li Ruolan wasn't sure if things would be good in the future, but she was certain that the Emperor would never like an ugly, slovenly woman.

And right now, I'd definitely be incredibly slovenly.

I sneezed a few times and felt like I was covered in saliva; getting close would be the easiest way to give myself away.

When people get anxious, they may even think they are hallucinating, and they don't care how Mu Xiaoci replied. Li Ruolan has already taken the initiative to break the silence.

"Your Majesty, I have been disrespectful in front of you. Please forgive me."

"What wrong have you done?"

Mu Xiaoci was truly wicked. Thinking about how he had just been manipulated by Lan Meiren, he suddenly wanted to take revenge.

He was quite familiar with the process of seeking revenge.

Seeing someone trying to escape, he hooked his hand around Li Ruolan's collar, grabbed her chin, and forced her to look at him.

But the moment their eyes met, things took an unexpected turn.

"Hmph—"

While she was speaking, Li Ruolan had been holding back her sneeze.

But the moment she was stopped, her body tensed up, and she couldn't help but sneeze.

The sneeze was so hard to hold back that it came out even more violently.

Mu Xiaoci was sprayed in the face, and his face even showed anger.

What a beautiful woman!

Do you always have to make this gesture to get my attention?

It has to be said that Mu Xiaoci's initial curiosity turned into disgust.

No emperor would like to be treated like this, and no emperor would allow someone to sneeze on him.

Li Ruolan, who usually spoke sweetly in front of him, panicked and hurriedly picked up her handkerchief to wipe the emperor, only to find that she was not far from death.

He wiped it a few times, then knelt down without saying a word.

"Your Majesty, please spare me! I was drunk and caught a chill. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."

When people are fearful, their minds work faster than they imagine.

Li Ruolan was the same.

The same words used against Consort Su were also applied to the Emperor, with no other purpose than to get back to the palace first.

Taking advantage of the dim lighting, she could still avoid the emperor seeing her face.

If I were to go to the banquet, the Emperor would surely be disgusted by my current appearance!

Her strong sense of pride wouldn't allow her to lose face like that, not even in front of her beloved emperor.

Given what had happened, Mu Xiaoci had no reason to stop her.

He shook his hand, barely suppressing his anger as he released her.

"Get out of the way. If you are ill, summon the imperial physician to take a look."

"I understand..."

She bit her lower lip, trying hard not to let out the sneeze that followed.

But the girl was almost in tears.

When has Li Ruolan ever been so humiliated?

She felt so humiliated in front of the man she loved; she felt like dying!

They were definitely framed!

People ran away crying, but Mu Xiaoci stood there, listening to the aggrieved cries, always feeling that it was his fault.

However, he suddenly noticed the handkerchief in his hand and couldn't resist taking a closer sniff.

It tastes like alcohol.

It also carried a strong fragrance, which, while not unpleasant, didn't smell very pleasant when mixed together.

He thought of that faint fragrance of plum blossoms again, but the handkerchief had too many mixed scents, and he couldn't tell whether there were plum blossoms or not.

Therefore, Mu Xiaoci called out to Richard beside him, "Smell this handkerchief, what's the scent?"

This was truly strange. Richard had no idea what the Emperor was up to, but he obediently stepped forward and sniffed the air.

"Your Majesty, is it wine, and a fine, exquisite brew at that!"

"You can't smell anything else just because I didn't ask you that?"

"this……"

Richard dropped his ingratiating smile, sniffed the air again, and his eyes lit up once more.

"We can smell it; it even has the fragrance of orchids, it's simply irresistible."

"Orchids? Did you smell anything else?"

"Your Majesty, I am but a dog's servant. My nose isn't a dog's nose, so I can't smell anything."

Richard started to smile ingratiatingly, even his speech was laced with a playful grin.

This shows that he wasn't lying; he genuinely couldn't smell it anymore.

Mu Xiaoci was not a foolish ruler, nor would he punish those around him simply because he couldn't smell other scents.

But he felt a strange sense of loss in his heart.

Unable to find the answer I wanted, I didn't even want to hold this handkerchief in my hand.

Mu Xiaoci tossed the handkerchief to Richard and took out her own.

"You deliver it there."

"Your Majesty, this was a gift from Consort Lan..."

"I have my own handkerchief."

"Your Majesty, aren't you just making things difficult for me..."

"You're usually so happy to deliver messages, but why are you being so talkative today when I ask you to deliver something?"

The emperor exuded authority, and Richard didn't dare utter a word. He immediately ordered the eunuch beside him to take away the hot potato in his hand.

"Keep these safe; they are the concubine's personal belongings, so don't lose them!"

Such a personal item as an embroidered handkerchief should not be given away casually, much less discarded carelessly. If it were picked up by someone with ulterior motives, they would certainly make a big fuss about it.

However, since Li Ruolan gave it to the Emperor, she wasn't worried about that issue.

Richard was the only one who was worried, fearing that he might not have handled things well, and even more so that he might offend both sides due to improper handling.

Although Richard is the emperor's trusted confidant, he still can't figure out what the emperor is really thinking.

Is it because he likes Lady Lan as a person, or is it because of the events of the previous dynasty that he has no choice but to favor the Li family?

The imperial harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, but those concubines in the harem are all backed by powerful ministers. How could they not affect the balance of the court?

Richard dared not presume to know the Emperor's thoughts, but he knew that the Su family had been entrenched for a long time, and now that the dynasty had changed, it was time to replace the old ministers in the court.

The Li family is a rising star. Even if they aren't very clean, as long as it's a good knife, the Emperor will use it.

As for Consort Lan in the harem, although she is just a beauty, who knows when she might be taken by the emperor's finger.

Nobody can say for sure about these things.

-

Li Ruolan thought she would sneeze for a long time, but to her surprise, the sneezing stopped as soon as she left the Emperor's side.

She stomped her feet in anger and started to go crazy through gritted teeth.

"It must be that vile Consort Su's doing! She just can't stand me and wants to embarrass me. No wonder she's stopping me from leaving. If I'm still there, wouldn't I become the biggest laughingstock?"

Of course, she didn't think Yun Xi was the one who did it. After all, how could Yun Xi, who was so weak and incompetent, have such thoughts?

Only Consort Su disliked her and even cursed her for being a source of disease infection because of her departure!

I sneezed as soon as I left the main hall. It's good that I ran into the emperor. Isn't this a kind of humiliation?

This was the angrier Li Ruolan had ever been since entering the palace. She didn't even know when she had been tricked, which made her even more hateful!

"Granny, I can't take it anymore! I'll make sure Consort Su sees what I'm capable of! I'm not going to live at her beck and call!"

Granny Gui remained silent with a sullen face. Although she didn't know how Li Ruolan had come to suspect Consort Su, the other party was so certain that she couldn't say anything else.

"Your Majesty, let's return to the palace first and discuss this further. You mustn't lose your composure and make a fool of yourself."

At this point, Granny Gui would always provide the best solution.

Li Ruolan took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, but her mind kept running into vicious ideas, determined to embarrass Consort Su the next time she saw her!

She suddenly thought of Yunxi and quickly turned to ask:

"Granny, when will we be able to announce to the world that I'm pregnant?"