“Your Highness, you shouldn’t blame my master!" Zhiqi saw her master once again being misunderstood by her beloved man, and this misunderstanding was caused by her improper handling of things. She couldn't help feeling sad, and said in tears, "Your Highness, Her Highness did this all for..."

"Shut up!" Gu Yunxi screamed and interrupted her. Tears slowly flowed from her eyes, "I will tell His Highness myself. You can go out."

Zhiqi bowed and left.

Today it happened so suddenly. Even Gu Yunxi and Gu Di had been planning to meet Huanan He after leaving the Palace, but no one had expected a situation like this moment.

Zhiqi just had an impulse and wanted to tell the whole truth.

However, Gu Yunxi considered that her husband's memory had not yet recovered, and a quick success might be counterproductive, so she asked her maid to leave.

The meditation room was exceptionally quiet.

Huanan He paced back and forth slowly with a serious face. He suddenly turned to the head of the bed with angry eyes, "Why? You were caught right now. Did you ask your maid to leave because you’re going to beg me personally and ask me to pretend nothing has happened?"

He hadn't expected that he would bump into such an absurd thing when he wanted to come over to see her because he missed her.

Gu Yunxi lowered her head in tears and said in sorrow, "Ninth Uncle, why don't you ask me why I’m doing this?"

She called him "Ninth Uncle" softly. Her voice was as soft as the goose feather, which soothed him.

His heart somehow trembled, and his anger was almost gone.

Huanan He sighed, lifted his robe up, and sat down on the chair, "Okay, go ahead. If you can persuade me, I’ll pretend nothing has happened."

Gu Yunxi clutched the quilt tightly and opened her eyes wide, "I don't want to lie with the emperor!"

Her voice was still very soft, but it was enough for him to perceive her determination.

He retreated from the head of the bed in amazement and frowned with deep bewilderment, "His Majesty has regarded you as a treasure. Why are you...?"

Huanan He was puzzled.

He still remembered that this stunningly beautiful concubine was picked up by the emperor from the sedan chair that day. They looked at each other affectionately. They were so effusive that others would feel envious.

Every woman in the imperial harem was eager to sleep with the emperor. To be the most beloved woman of the emperor was certainly a great honor for a concubine.

"Your Highness, did you take forbidden medicine to provoke the pimples all over your body just to avoid sleeping with the emperor?" Huanan He asked in disbelief.

Gu Yunxi stared at him and smiled bitterly, "Your Highness, you must have heard that I was married before entering the Palace..."

Huanan He was startled, "Didn’t your husband die of illness a long time ago?"

Gu Yunxi shook her head violently and said between sobs, "No, he is not dead. I know he is still alive!"

Huanan He suddenly shuddered, and now he thought of that dream.

In his dream, she had a pretty face, and she looked back shyly and called him "Darling".

He couldn't tell how he felt right now.

Although her messy statement made him confused, he was still full of sympathy for the poor woman. Moreover, he felt guilty for the emperor Huanan Xin.

In the past two years after he came back to Jing City, Huanan He had taken so many benefits from the emperor, and he had always been grateful to him.

However, today he learned that the emperor's favorite concubine was deceiving him with smallpox. If he concealed it for her, this behavior would be a disguised betrayal of the emperor, and Huanan He would fall into deep self-blame.

Struggling hard and contradicting himself, Huanan He slowly sat down on the bedside, "Tell me the truth. After you entered the Palace, have you ever slept with the emperor?"

Gu Yunxi shook her head, "No, never."

Huanan He's tense heart finally got a bit of relaxation. He couldn't be sure whether he was possessed or not and why.

"But, you can't avoid the emperor forever..."

After calming down, Huanan He closed his eyes solemnly.

He realized that he couldn't help her after all, and the only thing he could do was to try his best to stop her wishful thinking.

"No matter what happened before, you are now the emperor's woman and you can only accept your fate."

He stood up slowly as if his cold and merciless suggestion had been used not only to warn her but also to warn himself.

The woman in front of him was just as beautiful as the love she had yearned for. It was too beautiful to be true anyway.

"I’ll pretend that I have not seen or heard anything today. Get well and go back to the Palace as soon as possible, and take care of yourself from now on." With that, Huanan He turned cruelly to leave.

"Your Highness, you’re asking me to accept my fate. But do you accept your fate?" Gu Yunxi wept bitterly and yelled in despair behind him, causing a violent cough.

Zhiqi pushed the door open, broke in, and saw the silver-haired man guarding the head of the bed and smoothing Gu Yunxi's back.

Huanan He finally couldn't bear to leave, and then he poured tea for her and took good care of her.

With her master being taken good care of by him, Zhiqi immediately relaxed and suggested with a smile, "It's time for dinner. I will bring you vegetarian food. Your Highness, since you’re here, why don’t you have dinner together?"

Huanan He showed some hesitation and smiled in embarrassment, "I’m afraid it's inappropriate. I will go back for dinner."

Zhiqi's eyes darkened, and she curled her lips, "Why is it inappropriate? You’re a family since Her Highness called you ‘Ninth Uncle’ just now. What else do you have to worry about?"

Gu Yunxi turned away sadly, "Forget it. It’s probably because of my ugly face."

"If you say that, how could I be any better than you with my silver hair?" With that, he just sat down at the table. He rolled up his sleeves and instructed Zhiqi, "Go bring more food. I’m really hungry."

Zhiqi happily nodded, and after she looked at Gu Yunxi, she ran out.

Soon, she and Xiuyu brought a table of sumptuous vegetarian food. The dishes looked delicious.

The dishes included stir-fried pickled cowpea, stir-fried eggplants with prune, stir-fried vegetables with fungus, stir-fried mushrooms with bamboo shoots, stir-fried celery with lilies, small buns, soft smashed bean bun, steamed corn bread with sweet dates, seaweed soup, and rice porridge.

Zhiqi set up a bed table for Gu Yunxi, placed a bowl of rice porridge and a dish of cucumber with sauce on it, and left without a word.

Huanan He had a good appetite for dinner.

It was strange. In the past, apart from drinking at the mansion, he would feel bloated after eating a little more.

But today he could eat a smashed bean bun and half of the steamed corn bread with sweet dates.

The woman on that bed quietly drank the porridge in the bowl, and each time she lifted the spoon stiffly and slowly.

Her hand was shaking, which made her unable to eat a full spoonful of the porridge. Seeing this, Huanan He approached her and took the bowl compassionately, "Let me help you. You are weak and you are reluctant to let your maid serve you. Be careful not to break the blisters on your body."

Gu Yunxi's heart trembled. She was secretly happy about Zhiqi’s work, but she refused on the surface, "How could I bother you?"

He smiled, "An elder should take care of the younger ones."

Gu Yunxi simply no longer refused him. She slightly smiled and stared into his eyes. He gently handed a spoonful of the rice porridge to her mouth, and she couldn't help but think of the scene when he stayed in the Garden to feed her medicine when she was sick many years ago.

At that time, he was young, handsome, cold, and silent with black hair, but he was considerate to her. Her memory was vivid as if it had happened yesterday.

Huanan He saw a drop of clear tears falling into the bowl. His heart instantly sank, and he felt a slight pain.

"Are you missing your husband again?" He put down the spoon and asked in a hoarse and tender voice, "Doesn’t the emperor treat you well? As a concubine, are not you afraid of death if you miss another man?"

Gu Yunxi wiped her tears and said sadly, "I was forced to be separated from my husband and put on a smile in the Palace all day long. What is the difference between that and being dead?"

She tentatively raised her eyes to look at him and continued, "Your Highness, you look a lot like my husband..."

Huanan He was dazed. His face flushed, and he stood up suddenly, "I think you are deliberately making fun of me. I remind you again your future husband is the emperor!"

He threw the bowl and spoon on the table and escaped at a stride.

"Your Highness!" She was so aggrieved that she sighed sadly and looked devastated.

―

At night, the candlelight was dim in the Miaoyin Hall of the Palace.

"Your Grace, now it is the best time. She’s not in the Palace and can't be sheltered by the emperor. Even if she fell off a cliff and died, His Majesty will be sad for several days and forget her." Hongjing suggested in a low voice while massaging Noble Concubine Hui's legs gently. There was homicidal intent in her words.

Noble Concubine Hui pondered for a moment and then squinted, "That's right. I made a mistake. Now thank God, she has smallpox. I really should seize the opportunity and get rid of her."