At that moment, Yanshu had only one thought in her mind: to bite this perverted bastard to death!
How dare he peep on the emperor's concubines, and even enter their chambers directly? Such an audacious lecher must be severely punished!
She used all her strength, biting down with full concentration and without mercy, until the intruder finally couldn't take it anymore and spoke in a low voice, "It's me, the Emperor."
...Huh?
This voice... why did it sound familiar?
It seemed like she had just heard it somewhere.
She froze, looking up to see the intruder's face.
There was no light in the room at this time, but fortunately, the moonlight was decent. As she barely made out the outline of his face, she was completely stunned.
Yuwen Lan was finally freed and quickly pulled his hand out of her mouth.
The next second, Rendong's voice came from outside, "My lady? Are you alright?"
Yanshu quickly came to her senses and hurriedly said, "It's nothing, I just got up to drink some water. You don't need to come in."
Rendong made a sound of acknowledgment and went back to sleep.
Yanshu continued to stare in shock at the tall man before her, stuttering, "Y-Y-Your Majesty, w-why are you here?"
Yuwen Lan had already prepared an excuse and said with a straight face, "I came to check on you."
Yanshu was full of questions, "W-w-why would you come to check on this humble servant?"
Yuwen Lan deliberately probed, "You don't know why I came?"
Yanshu shook her head in confusion, "N-n-no, I don't."
[Heavens, what kind of game is this? Sleepwalking?]
Yuwen Lan: "..."
Unable to detect anything unusual for now, he had no choice but to lie again with a straight face, "I like you."
"What???"
Yanshu felt as if she had been struck by lightning, [Even if he's impotent, he can still like women?]
Yuwen Lan's brow twitched, and he was on the verge of anger.
System: [He may be impotent, but he's not gay. Why can't he like women?]
Yanshu: [...Is that so?]
System: [That's right. He already has a defect, you shouldn't discriminate against him.]
Yanshu: [...I'm so sorry, Emperor. You're already so pitiful, I shouldn't discriminate against you. My apologies.]
Yuwen Lan: "..."
What was this all about now?
Then he heard her muttering in her mind, [But why does he like me? Shouldn't an iron-blooded emperor like those devastatingly beautiful women? Although I consider myself quite good-looking, I don't think I qualify as the type to bring ruin to a nation or cause chaos...]
Yuwen Lan: "..."
At a moment like this, how could she still be pondering such nonsense?
He couldn't help but say, "What? Are you not happy that I like you?"
Yanshu thought to herself, that's right, is it a good thing to be liked by you? One wrong move and I'll become the target of the entire harem.
But outwardly, she could only respectfully say, "This humble servant wouldn't dare. This humble servant is overwhelmed."
Yuwen Lan let out a light snort, "You are audacious."
All the women in the harem were dying for him to look at them even once, yet she was the only one who disdained him.
Yanshu shrank back a little, but mustered up the courage to ask, "This humble servant doesn't understand, why has Your Majesty appeared in such a manner?"
Yuwen Lan casually lied, "The gates have already been locked. I didn't want to disturb others."
The palace rules were strict. Every night at the hour of Hai, the palace gates were locked on time, and no one was allowed to move about freely. Even if the emperor wanted to come to the harem, he would have to summon the eunuch in charge of the keys to open the doors.
This reason seemed somewhat credible, so Yanshu didn't ask further. However, she suddenly remembered something very important and hurriedly asked, "This humble servant didn't know it was Your Majesty earlier. Is Your Majesty's hand... alright?"
Yuwen Lan furrowed his brows and said, "It hurts."
Yanshu was startled and quickly took out the bedside lamp to examine it. She saw that his hand was already swollen, and blood had seeped out.
Tsk, she had indeed bitten down hard earlier.
She was so frightened that she immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness, "This humble servant d-d-didn't know it was Your Majesty. Please, please forgive this humble servant. Should I summon the imperial physician for you?"
Yuwen Lan said with a stern face, "What crime would you be charged with if the imperial physician came?"
Yanshu paused.
Indeed, biting the emperor was a capital offense. If the imperial physician came, wouldn't she be walking right into a trap?
Tsk, what rotten luck! Who in their right mind would peep and enter someone's room in the middle of the night? Isn't that what a pervert would do?
Yuwen Lan: "???"
Although he didn't know what "pervert" meant, he vaguely guessed it wasn't a good word.
Then he heard her say, "This humble servant didn't mean to bite you. This humble servant thought it was a lecher..."
"..."
This was indeed not a pleasant word to hear. He could only say, "Forget it, I'll go back and bandage it myself."
With that, he turned to leave.
Yanshu hurriedly bowed, "F-farewell, Your Majesty."
Yuwen Lan paused and turned back to look at her, "Don't speak of this to anyone."
Yanshu quickly shut her mouth and nodded vigorously.
All the way back to his bedchamber in Qianming Palace, Yuwen Lan lay on the dragon bed and only then realized that the wound on his hand was quite painful.
So he got up and called out, "Someone come."
Fu Hai responded immediately, but before he could speak, he caught sight of the wound on the emperor's hand and his eyes widened, "Your Majesty..."
Yuwen Lan raised his hand to stop him and only said, "Bring the wound medicine."
Fu Hai could only comply and hurried to fetch the medicine, not daring to disturb anyone along the way.
As the high-quality wound medicine was applied to the injury, it felt cold with a slight burning sensation. Yuwen Lan furrowed his brows slightly as he endured it, his mind involuntarily recalling what had happened earlier.
The more he thought about it, the more perplexing it seemed—
What exactly had he done when he went there tonight?
He hadn't discovered anything useful, but instead ended up with an injury.
That girl had a soft body, but quite a strong bite.
Was it because of what she ate?
As he was lost in these random thoughts, he suddenly heard Fu Hai, who was bandaging his wound, pondering in his mind, [Oh my, this wound on His Majesty looks like a human bite. Look at these small teeth marks, could it be from a woman??? Good heavens, what was His Majesty up to earlier...]
"Keep your mouth shut," he said sternly.
Fu Hai was startled and quickly complied.
After the bandaging was done, he waved his hand to dismiss everyone.
Lying back on the bed, he still couldn't sleep. He couldn't help but ponder again.
Judging from her reaction tonight, that girl didn't seem to have much courage, so it was unlikely that she was a spy or anything of the sort.
But he still hadn't found the answer he was looking for.
Early the next morning, Noble Consort Zhou had just finished washing up and applying her makeup, not even having had time to eat breakfast, when she saw Consort An leading Consort Wang to pay her a visit.
After hearing what the two reported, Noble Consort Zhou was surprised and suspicious, "The Empress Dowager summoned Li Beauty the day before yesterday? And His Majesty was there too? How come I haven't heard about this?"
Consort Wang insisted, "How dare this humble servant lie to you? The Empress Dowager issued an edict not to spread word of this matter. If it weren't for my palace maid Cuiyan finding out from her fellow townsman in the Palace of Benevolent Peace, even I wouldn't have known."
Noble Consort Zhou paused, "The Empress Dowager even kept it from me?"
Then she heard Consort An say, "I heard that His Majesty spoke several sentences to Li Beauty, and even specifically inquired about her father's position. This is probably unprecedented in the harem... The Empress Dowager is likely trying to protect her."
Noble Consort Zhou was burning with anger. That was her own aunt, yet she was protecting an outsider no one had even heard of?
Consort Wang added, "Indeed, this Li Yanshu must have used some trick to calculate so accurately, managing to see His Majesty directly. Her luck seems a bit too good, doesn't it?"
Hearing this, Noble Consort Zhou's jealousy flared up even more.
Relying on her relationship with the Empress Dowager, she visited the Palace of Benevolent Peace almost daily. Yet in three years, she had barely managed to see the emperor a few times. Even on those rare occasions when they did meet, the emperor said nothing to her beyond "You may rise."
What right did that Li Yanshu have!
She gritted her teeth and said, "Who is this Li Yanshu? I've never even noticed her before!"
Consort An said, "This humble servant hasn't paid attention to her either. Wasn't she the one sitting at the same table as Concubine Zhang during the New Year's Eve banquet the other day?"
Consort Wang quickly nodded, "Yes, it's her. That day she deliberately dropped her spoon, causing everyone to look at her."
Noble Consort Zhou sneered, "No wonder, she's quite the schemer!"
Consort An coughed, "These people from the backwoods naturally try every means to stand out."
She then instructed Consort Wang, "You're not far from her. Keep a close eye on her these days, and remember to report any movements to the Noble Consort."
Consort Wang quickly agreed, "This humble servant understands."
Noble Consort Zhou then looked at Consort An, "We can't let someone like her have it easy."
Consort An also quickly agreed.
Having spent a night worrying and fearing, Yanshu woke up a bit late.
With dark circles under her eyes, her mind was filled with thoughts of biting the emperor last night. She wondered if the emperor's anger had subsided and if anyone had discovered his wound.
Rendong was helping her with her hair when she saw the little palace maid Lianxin running in to report, "My lady, when this servant went to the Internal Affairs Bureau this morning to collect rouge, powder, and pearl cream, they said they had run out and had no stock left. But later, Consort Wang's people were all able to get some."
As the words fell, Rendong paused, wondering if someone had found out about the incident at the Palace of Benevolent Peace the other day and was now seeking revenge.
Yanshu naturally understood as well.
However, at this moment she was facing an even bigger problem—as long as it wasn't the emperor taking revenge on her, it would be fine.
"It's no matter. If there's no rouge, we'll do without. It's not like I need to go out and see anyone. We can just use the pear blossom fragrant cream we made ourselves."
Lianxin complied and obediently went to fetch the pear blossom fragrant cream.
This pear blossom fragrant cream was made by Yanshu and her palace maids using spring pear blossoms, along with various Chinese herbs. It was all-natural and non-toxic, very nourishing for the skin. Besides, her skin was fair, so not wearing powder actually looked more natural.
Rendong, however, felt somewhat indignant. "How could they do this? His Majesty merely spoke a few words to you, and now they won't even give you rouge and powder! You are His Majesty's consort. What's wrong with His Majesty speaking to you?"
Yanshu thought to herself, if only it were as simple as "speaking a few words."
Last night, she had even bitten the emperor.
And the emperor had said he liked her.
Tsk, tsk. If those people found out about this, wouldn't they be furious to death?
Just at that moment, they heard an announcement from outside the door, "Consort Wang has arrived."
Simultaneously, the system chimed in with a "Ding!" [Bingo! The furious one has arrived. Get ready, old friend.]
Yanshu: "..."
