xue around, they wouldn’t stay for long; probably just a short while before returning, so it was best to wait.Came to the streamside, recalling past events from when she first understood things until...The Seventh Chapter: A Clever Idea from Sneaking Snacks

"What are you muttering about"

Huh Before Qi Lin could even shout out, she instinctively covered her mouth. Looking at Ao Piao leaning against the doorframe, it seemed that he was quite pleased with her reaction. However, her heart almost leapt out of her chest—it really was a bothersome guy.

She glared fiercely at Ao Piao and patted her chest to calm down after the tension, then continued studying the pastries.

"I thought you would return to the palace so late. It turns out you're here sneaking snacks"

Qi Lin continued examining the desserts and dishes when suddenly everything darkened before her eyes. Qi Lin helplessly looked up, finding Ao Piao's handsome face with a smile exactly where she expected him to be, as always. Although she had seen it countless times, he still seemed extraordinarily attractive.

"What are you planning now" Qi Lin hated being interrupted while in deep thought the most, so right then and there she wanted nothing more than to slap Ao Piao silly and make his nickname a reality for him.

But instead of moving away, Ao Piao took out an envelope from his robe and raised an eyebrow as he waved it at Qi Lin.

"What's this" Qi Lin followed the movement with her eyes. When she saw that familiar handwriting, she understood what it was and grabbed for it quickly but missed when Ao Piao gracefully dodged. She opened her palms and said, "Give it to me."

"I ran all the way out there as a messenger for you; this is how you repay me" Ao Piao's face showed a slight pout of hurt, "Almost getting caught by the guards and beheading."

Liar! Liars get struck by lightning.

“Crack”

"Ah" Almost without warning, Qi Lin involuntarily let out a shriek and covered her ears while crouching down. Heavens, was it really that accurate

After the thunder had passed, Qi Lin felt ashamed to no end but didn't want to lift her head up at all; she ended up crawling under the table, burying her head between her knees.

Ao Piao had never seen this kind of reaction from Qi Lin before. He looked out the window where lightning and thunder were raging. Although he knew that Qi Lin was scared of storms, it wasn't the first time for her to encounter them.

He suddenly heard a sound and nimbly flew up onto the ceiling beam, originally intending to warn Qi Lin but worried about being discovered if he made any noise.

A short while later, an eunuch rushed in from outside. After taking a quick look around the imperial kitchen, he took out his key and locked the main door securely.

Glancing back at Qi Lin's direction, she didn't seem to notice anything amiss, leaving him to shake his head helplessly—would she have been stuck here all night without him

"It's just thunder. If you're scared, just close your eyes."

Qi Lin was slightly startled by the gentle voice that pulled her back to the night on White Tiger Mountain when he had used such a soothing tone to calm her down.

Lifting her head slowly, she found Ao Piao already under the table looking at her tenderly.

"Hey."

"Hm"

"Give me a hug."

A Piao was slightly taken aback but still reached out to pull Qi Lin into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head. His fingers ran through her hair and he lifted a few strands to smell her fragrance.

As expected, the unique scent belonging to Qi Lin immediately filled his nostrils, causing his temperature to rise rapidly. Suddenly feeling a tightening sensation in his lower abdomen, A Piao's pupils constricted sharply in the darkness as he pushed Qi Lin away.

"I'm sorry, I..." At the same time, Qi Lin also realized her inappropriate behavior and instantly sobered up. However, she forgot that she was under the table when trying to get up.

Boom

"Ouch~" Covering her head in pain, she crawled out with difficulty and grabbed A Piao's sleeve, with an expression of wanting to cry but having no tears left. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... It was just..."

"It doesn't matter." He struggled to suppress his voice; he had almost acted on impulse towards Qi Lin moments ago. Even now, he still used inner strength to suppress the desire in his heart.

Qi Lin wanted to find a hole and crawl into it; her actions just now were completely unconscious. Did she feel lonely And then she happened to meet him, who was so gentle, causing her to lose control

Heaven, this situation is like seeing the pet Husky one has raised after going crazy with work, without any hesitation, throwing oneself at it.

This is deadly. She patted her head awkwardly and pulled on the corners of her mouth, slowly walking towards the door and said with a smile, "Um, it's getting late... no, it's getting early, I should go back now... and report work."

She still needs to report work. This is Feng Changqing's requirement; she has to report daily, otherwise she would face punishment.

Giggles

Hm After trying a few times without success, Qi Lin frowned and tried harder but found that the door still wouldn't budge. Finally, she realized something.

"This door..." She shot a suspicious look at A Piao, then put her hands on her waist in an understanding pose.

A Piao spread his hands and shook his head, then continued to examine the food on the table.

"Who else could it be besides you"

"The patrol eunuchs." Not wanting to argue further, A Piao said straightforwardly while looking over the delicious dishes.

Qi Lin let her head droop in disappointment and walked over to A Piao. She wondered if she would get into trouble because of this and hoped that Lüzhu would help cover for her.

Thinking about all these things made Qi Lin feel scared; first, a concubine staying out all night without the Emperor's summons is bound to face severe punishment.

"Rather than worrying so much, it’s better to have something to eat. This way you’ll have more energy." With that, A Piao picked up some pastries and put them in his mouth but found the overly sweet taste not to his liking.

Seeing a plate of spareribs suddenly caught his interest; he reached out for chopsticks just as someone grabbed him.

"What are you doing This is the empress dowager's..."

"Glurp~"

Zi Lin felt her face heat up and quickly lowered her head, muttering to herself that it was cursed.

"I... I only took a bite... um... ." Before she could finish speaking, another piece of pork rib was shoved into her mouth. The sugary sauce immediately melted in her mouth, the hunger pangs in her stomach seemed like they had been given an amnesty order and rushed up to her throat, transforming into appetite, making Zi Lin swallow the pork rib in one gulp.

Ghost Spirit nodded contentedly. Although these dishes were previously eaten by the empress dowager, it was as if no one else had touched them. Therefore, they could enjoy more than fifty dishes and a dozen pastries all to themselves, which was truly wonderful.

Since eating just a little bit of each dish wouldn't be noticed anyway, Zi Lin raised her eyebrows, stuck out her tongue, then obediently picked up chopsticks and bowls to eat whatever she wanted without hesitation.

"Emperor, the dinner will get cold if you don’t come soon." Jin Yu reminded cautiously. The emperor had suddenly arrived at Qinquan Hall in the afternoon but when it mattered, their master wasn't there. She even sent people out to look for her. "Should I ask the chef to prepare another meal"

This was the only way to stall for time.

Feng Changqing remained silent as he gazed outside quietly. Shouldn’t she have returned by now Had something happened At the thought of how treacherous it was in the palace, his heart sank. What if she encountered someone like Lady Liu

"Tsk."

Zi Lin patted her belly with satisfaction and smiled, feeling very satisfied with today's meal. After all, these dishes were prepared by the empress dowager’s chef. They indeed tasted much better than what Zi Lin usually ate. The mouth still lingered with a lingering sweetness.

She playfully licked her lips and said, "Do you usually solve your eating problem this way"

Didn’t she run to the hotel on the street instead

"No." Ghost Spirit looked quietly at Zi Lin as he wiped a grain of rice from her hair. "This is the first time I see a concubine eat like a beggar."

Huh Zi Lin was stunned and gave Ghost Spirit a cold glance, only to find that there was still a sweet taste in her mouth. She felt slightly uncomfortable now. Rubbing her belly, she said, "It's all because you aroused my..." appetite.

But after eating such a meal, she probably wouldn't want any more pastries for quite some time. It was too sweet...

Wait, sweet

Zi Lin frowned slightly and quickly scanned the remaining dishes. She walked to where the pork ribs were, dipped her finger into the meat sauce, and tasted it. Indeed...

"So that's how it is." Unfurling her eyebrows, she turned around with a smile towards Ghost Spirit, saying, "I know what to do."

Ghost Spirit smiled slightly. Whenever Zi Lin showed such an expression, it meant that she was prepared and the success rate was usually high.

"But I need to return to the palace. The emperor might be waiting for my answer." Zi Lin patted her hands and walked towards Ghost Spirit. She firmly believed that this Ghost Spirit could do anything.

However, upon hearing Feng Changqing’s name from Zi Lin's mouth, Ghost Spirit frowned slightly but in the next second, he wrapped his arm around Zi Lin's waist, lifted a foot lightly, and they flew to the highest main beam. Only then did Zi Lin realize there was a skylight above. For someone skilled in lightness kung fu, it was no problem at all.

After a nerve-wracking ride without any sense of security, she finally stopped in the place closest to沁泉宮.

The moment Qi Lin landed, she felt dizzy. She swore that Ah Piao must have deliberately chosen a path with more trees and even made her bump into branches intentionally. After patting her clothes clean, she didn't know how messy her hair was. When she raised her head to scold him, she found that Ah Piao had disappeared without a trace.

He truly comes and goes like a ghost.

This is the latest time I've returned to the palace today; I wonder if anything unusual has happened.

"Eh..." How could this happen Qi Lin was just thinking whether something was amiss when she stepped into her bedroom quarters, and bumped into Feng Changqing who was coming out. For a moment, she forgot to kneel down.

"Lady," Lüzhu and Jinyu hurried over, but they noticed that Qi Lin's hair was disheveled with several leaves in it, and even her clothes were wet from rainwater.

"Lady, quickly pay your respects to His Majesty," Lüzhu reminded Qi Lin softly.

Qi Lin felt blank in the head; she wasn't sure if Feng Changqing had noticed Ah Piao. Feeling guilty, she looked back at where Ah Piao had been and slowly knelt down, "I pay my respects to His Majesty. I didn't know Your Majesty was here, so I failed to greet You properly. Please forgive me."

Feng Changqing snorted in response and turned to walk towards the palace gate.

Accompanied by Lüzhu and Jinyu, Qi Lin walked into her bedroom quarters and, for propriety's sake, she quickly tidied herself up and changed into a set of light yellow robes. She then cautiously approached Feng Changqing, with all the servants having been dismissed, leaving only them there. But Qi Lin hesitated to act.

"I was wondering if you didn't want to come back."

"Your Majesty brought me in and bestowed沁泉軒upon me; this is my home. How could I possibly stay away from it" Now, all Qi Lin wanted to know was whether Feng Changqing had noticed Ah Piao's presence, so she spoke with extra caution.

Feng Changqing raised an eyebrow at Qi Lin and caught the hint of guilt in her eyes, which suddenly ignited his anger. He slammed his palm on the table but hit a tea cup instead; unable to withstand such force, it shattered, spilling hot tea down the table.

Mixed with the flowing tea was Feng Changqing's blood from his fingertips.

Qi Lin was shocked but didn't kneel or approach him. Instead, she lifted her chin defiantly.

"I have been trying to help Your Majesty relieve worries, and I forgot about the time and returned late; yet Your Majesty is so angry. Have you considered my feelings" She felt tears welling up in her eyes but bit down on her lip to hold them back, continuing, "If Your Majesty really wants to blame me, then just have me executed."

Feng Changqing was slightly taken aback; a soft expression flashed across his eyes before it vanished. He said coldly, "Relieving my worries I am very worried indeed. How do you plan to relieve my concerns"

"I heard that Your Majesty has been waiting for me and hasn't had a meal yet," Qi Lin then stepped forward, took out a handkerchief to bandage his wound gently, and said softly, "I'll go prepare it now."

She thought hard and finally came up with the most likely reason. She originally planned to practice when she returned but didn't expect to bump into Feng Changqing; after all, it's free trial.

Without waiting for a reply from Feng Changqing, Qi Lin turned and left the room, leaving him alone in thought.

After Qi Lin left, Feng Changqing slowly raised his hand, inhaling the scent of her handkerchief. The faint sweet fragrance relaxed his tense nerves.emperor's moods were unpredictable Why did he seem a little more... gentle when talking about Qi Lin But there was no affection in his eyes at all."Hmph." Feng Changqing snorted coldly and heard foots...