Keep your voice down. Are you trying to look glamorous dressed as a forced lover?

Changfeng Hall.

"Young General, His Highness has arrived."

"What is she doing here?" Ji Mingzheng sat up in surprise. Wasn't she with Song Cejun all day?

Did they come to settle scores with him? Or were they rejected by Song Qinian... and now they're coming to consummate their marriage?

It's not impossible.

She left after saying those words yesterday, which made him overthink all day.

Especially when he saw the fingernail scratches on his body.

He suspected that she had also made advances towards him.

Thinking of this, Ji Mingzheng's face couldn't help but flush, and he felt a strange sense of panic.

"Just say I'm going to sleep."

It's evening now, and he shouldn't be seeing her.

Just as she finished speaking, she heard Li Qingyan's voice: "Asleep? It's nothing."

Hearing that he was asleep, Li Qingyan's eyes lit up: That's great.

Having just experienced the awkwardness of Song Qinian and Wen Sheng's interaction, hearing that Ji Mingzheng was asleep gave her a sense of redemption.

It's better to be asleep than awake. She's here to sleep anyway, and she can also earn points for sharing a bed with someone. It's pretty good.

When Ji Mingzheng heard that she had actually arrived at the door, he quickly lay down and pretended to be asleep with his back to her.

He thought that since he was already asleep, she would probably know to leave.

Unexpectedly, Li Qingyan left, but only to wash up. Soon after, the bed next to him collapsed.

She actually lay down right next to him?

How could she just lie down on someone else's bed?

Ji Mingzheng froze, pretending to be dead.

Li Qingyan stretched and yawned. She was tired after a long day and decided to go to sleep.

But she quickly opened her eyes again, unable to ignore the heat emanating from Ji Mingzheng.

"Why is it so hot again? Is it a fever or is it because of the Chinese medicine?"

Li Qingyan stood up and craned her neck to look at Ji Mingzheng, then asked in surprise, "Why is your face so red and you're sweating? Do you really have a fever again?"

She reached out to touch his forehead and found it was indeed a little hot, so she couldn't help but turn Ji Mingzheng around.

"Ji Mingzheng, wake up, you have a fever."

Ji Mingzheng couldn't keep up the act any longer and opened his eyes: "I don't have a fever."

"Then why are you so hot? Did you just... do something naughty in bed?"

This was the only reason she could think of.

Ji Mingzheng: "What chicken? I can't possibly eat chicken in bed, and I'm even less likely to do anything bad."

"Isn't it your appearance that's misleading?"

Ji Mingzheng finally realized what the bad thing she was talking about was.

"You...you're simply...I didn't."

"It's normal if there is..." Li Qingyan changed her mind. "If there isn't, then there isn't. I want to discuss something with you."

Ji Mingzheng sat up: "What does Your Highness wish to discuss?"

He raised his hand in a gesture of respect, implying, "Your Highness previously stated that our marriage is merely a political alliance."

Based on what she said before, there's no way he could have a future with her.

He is disabled, not blind, and he won't eat anything indiscriminately.

Ji Mingzheng looked languid and listless, with a touch of indifference, lacking the sunshine of daytime, which somewhat resembled the image of the disabled villainous general in the book.

Li Qingyan nodded: "It's a marriage alliance, so you need to assign some people to protect me."

Her goal for tomorrow is no longer the processed memorials, but the new, real memorials that need to be processed.

She might not be able to get it if she went alone.

Therefore, she had no choice but to call for help.

She needs protection, but even more so, she needs military support.

Ji Mingzheng is her husband now, so she should naturally make good use of his people.

"Ji Mingzheng, I have to take action. Last night, the small kitchen in Jingchen Palace caught fire. If I'm unlucky, I might be burned to ashes. You and I are bound by life and death; if I die, you will die too."

Ji Mingzheng's expression changed slightly. When the former Crown Princess died, all the servants who had served her, including the Emperor, died for love.

Because one of her concubines was a master of Gu magic from the Miao region.

He is currently unsure whether he has been bewitched by Sannoye, but there is certainly such a risk.

It's highly likely that Sannoye will also use poison on all of Li Qingyan's harem and close associates; if Li Qingyan dies, they will die too.

"How many men does Your Highness need? Let it be agreed beforehand that Your Highness can only protect yourself and cannot allow them to carry out assassinations or frame-ups."

They were all soldiers on the battlefield, good at killing the enemy, but they shouldn't get deeply involved in such royal struggles.

"Give them as much as you can, but will they be able to get there by tomorrow morning?"

"Okay." Ji Mingzheng thought for a moment and then gave the order.

A response came from outside the sleeping quarters.

Li Qingyan lay down contentedly and stretched with his back to him.

"You...you're not leaving?" Ji Mingzheng thought she would leave once the matter was settled.

"I'm not leaving." She yawned. "I'm doing this for my own safety."

She must spend the night at Changfeng Palace to increase her chances of success tomorrow and avoid further misfortune.

To summarize the events of the past two days, she was fine on the second day after spending the night at Changfeng Palace, but she slept alone last night, and coupled with her attempt to harm the male lead, the Wise Prince, she kept falling and having bad luck.

Tomorrow, success is the only option; failure is not an option. Of course, I can't leave.

Li Qingyan was more relaxed around Ji Mingzheng than around Song Qinian, perhaps because of his personality, or perhaps because he had deliberately messed with him before.

But this is good, otherwise she wouldn't be able to stay in an awkward and nervous state all day.

She wasn't nervous or embarrassed, but Ji Mingzheng's lips twitched as he listened. Lying on the man's bed, she actually said that for safety reasons, she didn't know how dangerous men were.

"Your Highness..."

Li Qingyan immediately raised her hand to interrupt: "Ji Mingzheng, you are my concubine."

Having learned from her experience with Song Qinian today, she has figured out some of the rules and decided to focus on developing her character and storyline. She can't just keep taking advantage of Song Qinian.

In order to survive, she decided to interact intimately and equally with her four husbands.

Tonight it's Ji Mingzheng's turn.

Li Qingyan smiled and tilted her head, saying, "Ji Mingzheng, have you forgotten what you did last night?"

Ji Mingzheng wants to distance himself from her now? It's too late.

He even groped her.

Ji Mingzheng looked at her smiling face, her eyes and brows soft and sweet, and he could almost smell her sweet, girlish scent, just like he remembered her.

His momentum faltered, and his Adam's apple bobbed...

"I……"

Ji Mingzheng hesitated for a moment, then propped himself up on the bed with his elbows, feigning difficulty: "Your Highness, as you know, I'm not feeling well and usually need Yin Gong and the others to take care of me personally. It might not be convenient for you to be here..."

She had previously looked down on him for his disability, so he deliberately brought it up.

"Ha." Li Qingyan knew he was doing it on purpose, so she turned over, pointed at his arm, and even poked his waist.

"You're still lying to me, Ji Mingzheng. I know you're very independent, and I also know that you have strong hands and a strong waist, better than the average person."

These are all descriptions from the original text, but when spoken in the quiet of the night, when a man and a woman are alone in bed together, the tone seems to change.

It's as if to say, even though your legs are crippled, you can still... with your strong hands and waist.

What's even worse is that vivid images flooded into their minds.

Li Qingyan succeeded because he was well-read, while Ji Mingzheng succeeded because his mother knew his special circumstances and not only gave him booklets but also had his father give him extra tutoring.

Even more coincidentally, Ji Mingzheng was so sensitive to her gentle poke that he immediately lay down.

He was on the bottom, and she was on top.

Everything perfectly matched the scene they had envisioned.

An awkward silence ensued.

The indoor temperature seemed to rise instantly.