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

"Go to sleep if you want."

In the midst of the chaos, Ji Mingzheng spoke first, but his words inexplicably felt like an invitation to her.

"Of course." Fortunately, Li Qingyan answered immediately, as if he hadn't thought much about it.

Ji Mingzheng breathed a sigh of relief.

But actually, Li Qingyan was overthinking it, so when she lay down again, she gasped.

The cut on Li Qingyan's arm was still there, but because it didn't hurt, she forgot about it. This time, she hurriedly lay down and pressed on the wound, instantly feeling the pain.

She frowned slightly and peeked out from under her sleeve.

Ji Mingzheng immediately looked at her arm, his nose twitching slightly: "Are you injured?"

In an instant, his eyes sharpened like knives, and his entire demeanor changed.

He transformed from a harmless, cheerful, and sunny young man into a formidable battlefield general.

Li Qingyan witnessed his change: "It's just that I didn't see the Empress yesterday, and I was distracted, so I cut myself with a hairpin. The wound isn't serious, I'm fine."

"We asked you for people because we wanted to protect the Queen Mother."

Upon hearing Ji Mingzheng's question, she suddenly thought of Wen Sheng.

He knew she was injured when he touched her wound, but whether it was because he was under the influence of the medicine or because he didn't care, he apologized respectfully but didn't say a word of concern.

Even when he saw her again today, he didn't say a word of concern.

Ji Mingzheng didn't seem very welcoming to her, but after hearing that she was alright, he still checked her wound.

He has a fiery temper and seems difficult to get along with, but in reality, he is easier to approach than Song Qinian, who seems the most gentle and considerate, or Wen Sheng, who seems easy to get along with.

Seeing that there was no bleeding, Ji Mingzheng's expression improved somewhat: "Don't move around. I will tell them to protect you. As for His Majesty, she has her own arrangements. The Prince of Xian wouldn't dare to actually make a move. We just need to observe secretly. Interfering will only make things worse."

Protecting His Majesty and protecting her was also his duty.

"Alright."

Li Qingyan nodded. Ji Mingzheng made sense. The emperor must have his own backup plan and someone to protect her. As long as she successfully seizes the protagonist's halo, things might get better for her.

Currently, Ji Mingzheng remains a good candidate for in-depth experimental subjects.

The change in Ji Mingzheng's expression just now created a strong contrast, which was very captivating.

In the original story, although he killed the wise king, he was so powerful that some readers liked him and said he was captivating.

Some readers even wanted Qiu Nanxing to take him in, which shows that the character of a disabled, sinister, and madman is quite popular with readers.

He's a sunny and cheerful guy, but sometimes he suffers a lot. However, that's also a good thing, because it means he hasn't been driven to become a gloomy and crazy person.

Perhaps I could try acting?

She turned over and poked Ji Mingzheng's back, moving closer to him. He only smelled of soap, clean and refreshing, with the scent of sunshine.

"Ji Mingzheng, the change in your expression just now was very attractive. How about we try playing with contrast? During the day you're a sunny, cheerful guy, but in bed... no, at night..."

"You change at night, revealing another side of yourself, becoming crazy and dark, often in great pain, going mad with red eyes."

"Then you became addicted, domineeringly demanding that I love only you, and even darkly threatening me, saying that if I dared to find someone else, like Wen Sheng, you would make me pay."

Li Qingyan was bursting with inspiration, feeling that this character design was very appealing and would definitely help him steal the spotlight from the male lead.

Ji Mingzheng, who was lying with his back to Li Qingyan, moved away from her hand: "...It itches, I don't understand. I don't want to understand."

What nonsense! How could she say such shameless things without any restraint?

With red eyes, what "love fiercely"... that's too explicit.

It's true that he suffers only at night.

During the day it's alright, but at night my old leg injury flares up from time to time, causing unbearable pain and making it impossible to sleep.

Outsiders don't know about this. Did she know and deliberately tease him?

But that doesn't seem to be the case, because she said, "It's okay if you don't understand, just cooperate with me in acting from now on."

She spoke lightly and patted his shoulder like a good brother.

"Let me think about it carefully and write a script. Then you can act it out. That's all for tonight. Time to sleep."

After a day of extraordinary mental exertion and genuine learning, Li Qingyan was exhausted and quickly fell asleep.

But she had a dream where she became smart and then stupid. Because she failed to win over Ji Mingzheng and the others, they all hated her, causing her to fail in seizing the protagonist's halo. In the end, she became stupid and couldn't speak anymore, only able to say "Aba aba".

She was so anxious that, in order to become smarter, she would rush up and kiss her four husbands whenever she saw them.

"I'll kiss you, kiss you, kiss you, kiss you, and then kiss you again!"

"Kissing isn't enough? Then I'll hug you, I'll press against you! I'll try my best tonight to raise our intimacy level. If that doesn't work, I'll try everything!"

In the dream, Ji Mingzheng and the others resisted, but Li Qingyan suppressed them relentlessly!

"Nobody's getting away! I want to live! I want to become smarter!"

"I'm not stupid, I don't want to become stupid!"

And so, Li Qingyan fought all night.

In reality, she's a bit timid, but in her dream, she was frightened by Aba Aba and let loose a bit.

The next day, Li Qingyan felt very tired.

Her first thought upon waking was that she really had to proceed step by step, one step at a time; this was exhausting.

Thinking this, I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was a fair chest.

Her face pressed against that soft yet firm skin, the muscle lines understated yet perfectly proportioned, slowly extending downwards until it disappeared into the brocade quilt.

I saw a beautiful view early this morning.

Li Qingyan froze. Could it be that she wasn't dreaming last night, but that it was real?

Her gaze slowly moved upwards, and she noticed several scratch marks.

Especially around the Adam's apple, there's a strawberry-like mark.

Looking up further, she saw Ji Mingzheng's face, which looked as if it had been drained dry; even with his eyes closed, his exhaustion was still evident.

He seemed exhausted.

Her hands pressed down and held Ji Mingzheng's hands tightly, a very domineering posture.

Li Qingyan's mind went blank for a moment, and she quickly touched herself.

The clothes are still there...

She did not unleash her animalistic desires in her sleep.

Li Qingyan quickly released Ji Mingzheng's wrist and quietly climbed off the bed.

Seeing that Ji Mingzheng was still asleep with his eyes closed, she breathed a sigh of relief and carefully pulled his clothes up for him.

The scratches were covered by clothing, as if to conceal evidence.

Last night, she did let her animalistic instincts kick in a little.

It's really going too far that Ji Mingzheng's leg is already inconvenient.

Hearing Huai Xu's hushed voice outside, she responded softly, glanced at Ji Mingzheng, and hurriedly opened the door.

"Your Highness, you told me to wake you at this time last night."

"Um."

Li Qingyan nodded and looked at Yin Gong standing to the side.

Yin Gong glanced at the bedchamber, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes. The general was very alert; why had His Highness gotten up, but the general hadn't?

He bowed and said, "Your Highness, the men you requested have been assembled."

"Okay." Li Qingyan perked up. "Take me to see it."

Everything went smoothly; staying overnight last night definitely paid off!

Li Qingyan left in high spirits.

She would never admit that she had cowardly run away.

Inside the room, Ji Mingzheng listened to the sound of her leaving, covered his eyes, and slowly exhaled.

He had been awake for a while, or rather, he had barely slept at all last night.

To put it dramatically, his innocence is gone.