The empress is both charming and seductive, rising through the ranks of palace intrigue.

The next day, Xiao Yu looked at the chess pieces on the chessboard in front of him and felt extremely bored, still thinking about what happened the night before.

"Runqi, come in," he called out loudly towards the palace entrance.

A moment later, a guard who looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old entered. He was quite handsome.

He was an imperial bodyguard and Xiao Yu's childhood playmate.

Xiao Yu tapped the table and said calmly, "Sit down! Play chess with me."

After Runqi sat down, he noticed Xiao Yu's expression and asked, "Is Your Majesty troubled by something?"

Xiao Yu didn't speak, but simply placed the white pieces on the chessboard. Run Qi didn't ask any more questions and began playing chess.

After a long pause, Xiao Yu suddenly spoke up: "How is your relationship with your spouse?"

Runqi paused, holding the chess piece, and smiled, "Your Majesty knows that I and Lansheng are childhood sweethearts."

Xiao Yu nodded. Indeed... he had personally arranged the marriage.

It was supposed to be Xiao Yu's turn to make a move, but he suddenly looked up and stared directly at Run Qi, a strange smile on his face, and said, "Run Qi, tell me the truth. Do you only have this one woman?"

Runqi naturally understood what he meant by "a woman".

He replied earnestly, "Of course, Lan Sheng and I made a pact when we were ten years old that we would not marry anyone but each other. Besides, Your Majesty knows that I would never go to a place like Yan Chun Lou."

Xiao Yu picked up a chess piece and said thoughtfully, "Women, they all seem the same, yet they all seem different."

Runqi said, "Of course I don't understand. I am a person who doesn't understand romance."

Xiao Yu placed a chess piece on the chessboard and laughed, "But when a woman gets alluring, she's a natural beauty."

A complex look flashed in Runqi's eyes, and he understood something. He simply smiled faintly and said, "I am dull-witted in this matter."

The next day, after paying her respects at Fengqi Palace, Consort Xue followed her out. Her eyes were tired and dim, and she said in a low voice, "Sister Ning, does the Emperor not like me?" Her voice was slightly choked, as if she was very aggrieved and upset.

Ning Shuyan thought she was really good at pretending; she had met her match. She responded with a very faint smile: "I'm not the Emperor's mind reader; you should ask him that question, sister."

Lady Xue nervously twisted her handkerchief. "I think the Emperor seems to like you quite a bit, sister. Could you tell me how to win his favor?"

Ning Shuyan stroked the lustrous jade bracelet on her wrist and said gently, "His Majesty said he doesn't like fake women. I don't know anything else; only you, my sister, have been trying to figure it out."

Lady Xue paused slightly, then said softly, "I understand, sister."

Ning Shuyan smiled gently and quickly stepped forward without waiting for her.

Xiao Yu didn't come that day. However, Ning Shuyan didn't take it to heart.

For the next ten days, Xiao Yu neither summoned her to his bedchamber nor came to Lan Yue Pavilion.

Ning Shuyan reads books whenever she has free time. If she wants to win a man's heart, she can't just attract him with an empty face.

Besides, he's the emperor; what kind of woman hasn't he seen? If he discovers that his favored concubine can't even read a few characters or recite a few lines of poetry, he'll only think she's shallow and incredibly foolish.

So for the past two years, she has been reading books to enrich herself. She also hopes to find some stories in these books.

Holding a copy of the Book of Songs, she recited: "The plums are falling, seven fruits ripen. Gentlemen, seek me now, for this is the auspicious time. The plums are falling, three fruits ripen. Gentlemen, seek me now, for this is the time."

This was probably the most straightforward way for women in ancient times to express their feelings.

Qiu Le hurried in, curtsied, and said, "Your Majesty, I heard that Consort Chu won the Emperor's favor with her dance in the Imperial Garden. She has been staying in Zhaochen Palace all afternoon, so she will probably be serving him tonight."

"Chu Baolin..." Ning Shuyan murmured slowly. She was indeed as her name suggested, with a petite face the size of a palm, willow-leaf eyebrows, and a graceful figure that seemed to float on water and sway in the breeze, making her quite charming.

Ning Shuyan smiled slightly, picked up her fan and waved it: "Our Emperor really does bestow his favors equally on everyone."

Qiu Le said softly, "Then, Your Majesty, would you like to stroll around in front of the Emperor as well?"

Ning Shuyan stroked the smooth tassels hanging from the round fan, looked at her fair hands, and said, "Go to the imperial kitchen and ask for some milk. These hands need to be properly cared for these next few days."

Two days later, on June 15th.

According to the regulations of this dynasty, imperial concubines were exempt from going to Fengqi Palace to pay their respects on the fifteenth of each month.

Ning Shuyan went to the imperial kitchen in the afternoon to personally prepare a delicious dish.

I cooked a batch of small glutinous rice balls, then added sweet red beans, raisins, cooked glutinous rice, crushed peanuts, and squeezed some osmanthus honey on top. Finally, I added some chilled brown sugar syrup.

After all that fuss, I returned to the palace to change my clothes. It was almost late afternoon.

Upon arriving at Zhaochen Palace, Yang An greeted her. "Young Master Ning has arrived."

Ning Shuyan smiled and said, "I've prepared some food for His Majesty. I wonder if His Majesty has time to see me?"

In fact, Ning Shuyan was not sure if the Emperor would accept the dessert, nor was she sure if the Emperor would see her.

Eunuch Yang bowed and said, "Please wait a moment, Your Highness. I will go and inform them immediately."

Although Ziying held an umbrella for Ning Shuyan, the scorching sun in Zhaochen Palace still shone brightly on her. Combined with the journey, she had even broken out in a light sweat. Fortunately, she hadn't used any perfume or face powder today, otherwise the smell mixed with her sweat would have been truly unpleasant.

Instead, I put some gardenias in the cuffs before wearing them, so that even if I sweat, there will be a faint floral fragrance.

A short while later, Yang An came out with a smile and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor wants you to come in."

Ning Shuyan nodded and allowed the eunuch to test the poison before entering the main hall.

This was Ning Shuyan's first time visiting the front hall of Zhaochen Palace. It wasn't as big as she had imagined, but it exuded luxury and status.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects."

The woman's sweet, clear voice reached Xiao Yu's ears, saying indifferently, "No need for formalities."

He looked up and saw Ning Shuyan walking forward gracefully. Today she was wearing a lilac-colored gauze dress, her slender waist bent as she took small steps, revealing her fair wrists through the light gauze.

"Your Majesty, I have made some desserts. Would you like to try some?"

Xiao Yu glanced at the food box in her hand, then continued looking at the memorial: "I have never liked sweets."

Ning Shuyan snorted inwardly, thinking to herself that he was being aloof again.

She smiled and said, "This dessert is different from what Your Majesty usually eats. Your Majesty can take a look first."

As she spoke, she opened the food box, held the bowl with both hands, and said sweetly, "Your Majesty, I prepared this myself. Won't Your Majesty even glance at it?"

Xiao Yu took a deep breath, put down his brush, and saw her slender, fair fingers holding the blue-green bowl, which made her hands look as smooth and lustrous as jade.

Seeing the various foods mixed together in the bowl, he curiously took the bowl and asked softly, "What's this?"

Seeing him take the bowl, Ning Shuyan smiled brightly, her beauty captivating: "I figured this out myself, and it's quite refreshing. Your Majesty will know once you try it."