The young man was staring blankly, and it wasn’t hard to notice.

Following his gaze, Bai Su lowered her head, immediately pulling her sleeve back up, jokingly saying, “Did it scare you? It’s okay, cover it up and you won’t see it. I found it looked pretty ugly too when I first saw it.”

Her tone was casual, and she seemed completely indifferent.

Thinking about it, this was probably the nth time Duan Changchuan felt puzzled after learning some truths. The matter of being “forced into the palace as an empress” hadn’t been long ago. Was Bai Su truly didn’t care about it, or was she hiding all her emotions?

He wanted to say some comforting words. But it felt inappropriate. As the “cause” of all this, it didn’t feel right. Comforting on the surface, but maintaining coldness and distance inside wasn’t suitable either.

So, after contemplating for a while, he could only say, “…I don’t find it ugly.”

She retorted, “Sure, it’s just this concubine who finds it ugly.”

Like comforting a child.

Duan Changchuan hadn’t felt this way for a long time, a stuffy feeling in his chest, very uncomfortable.

“Is it because I acted too much like a child in front of her, so she treats me like a kid?”

“She never took me seriously. Is it…”

“What kind of person is Lin Qing? Is she more mature than me, or perhaps he’s a bit older than me… more suitable for her?”

With a strange move, he took out the letter Yun Xie had given him from the small mechanism drawer under the table.

If it were in the past, even if he tried various methods, he wouldn’t reveal even half of his true strength in front of an “unknown friend.”

Only this person… Only because of this letter, he wanted to see it, disregarding everything.

Because he couldn’t figure her out. The more mysterious she was, the more he wanted to know…

Since he had taken out the letter, ready to unfold it, Chang Le’s voice came from outside the door, asking, “Your Majesty, this servant is back from outside.”

Duan Changchuan calmly tucked the letter back into the book and said, “Come in.”

A eunuch in a colorful python robe immediately bowed and entered, closing the door with a “creak.” He approached Duan Changchuan and began wiping his tears, “Your Majesty…”

Duan Changchuan lifted his eyelids, “What’s wrong? Did Zhang Dehai bully you again?”

“No, Your Majesty. Manager Zhang was left to you by the late emperor. I’m just a little kid, how could I have any issues with him…”

“This servant wasn’t bullied…”

While denying being bullied, every sentence was a complaint. As he spoke, he also glanced at The Emperor.

Duan Changchuan, “…”

“I understand. Punish him to clean the Empress’s Qing Lu Hall. After a month when the Empress moves in, tell him to be careful. If he doesn’t do well, don’t come back to Ming Sheng Hall.”

According to the rules, the emperor and the new empress had to share a bed for an entire month. To solidify the empress’s position and cultivate their relationship, it was also aiming to bear a crown prince soon and secure the stability of the dynasty.

After a month, Bai Su would return to her Qing Lu Hall.

He thought Bai Su would have some reaction to this, but the little eunuch had already left with the order, and the person sitting beside him was still seriously playing with the nine-link puzzle.

The sound of metal, clanking leisurely. It was just like her, calm and gentle.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, the woman suddenly turned her head and asked, “What’s wrong? Still scared?”

Then, she lightly pinched his face, “It’ll fade in a while, don’t worry.”

Her fingers weren’t delicate, perhaps due to growing up without anyone serving her, a bit rough. But after just a touch, it felt like it lingered on his skin and couldn’t be dispelled for a long time.

The young man was stunned and quickly lowered his head.

Softly retorting, “Who’s worried about you…”

He only opened the letter about the Bai family’s investigation in the evening. Seeing that Bai Su had gone to soak in the hot springs and wouldn’t be back for a while, he took it out again from the drawer.

Unfolding it, it was densely packed with words:

“Bai Su, eldest daughter of the Bai family. Her mother, Madam Xue, was the head of the four merchants in Jiangnan. She passed away three years after marriage, leaving behind a two-year-old girl and an old servant. The next year, the old servant passed away, and the legitimate daughter of the mansion, named Jin Zhi, was born.”

Duan Changchuan’s gaze fell on the line “two-year-old girl,” and his eyes blinked slowly.

He was six when lost his emperor father, and even though he held the highest position in this imperial city, he felt like every step was difficult… Bai Su, on the other hand, lost her mother at the age of two, and the following year, lost the only servant she could rely on…

That year, Bai Su was only three years old.

How could a three-year-old concubine daughter survive in a cutthroat mansion…

The remaining content on the paper provided him with an answer:

“The eldest daughter lived in the southeast courtyard of the mansion, was mistreated by the servants, and often fell ill. At the age of ten, seriously ill, almost dying, luckily saved by an elderly servant.”

“At the age of fourteen, suffering from a severe cold, she ran away from the mansion to find medicine, encountered Lin Qing of the Lin family, and was saved. For the next seven years, they often met in secret, with a promise: when he graduated from Jinke academy, he would marry her by imperial decree.”

“A month ago, she entered the palace for her sister and attempted suicide by cutting her wrists, saved by a doctor. Afterward, attempted suicide several times without success.”

“Three days ago, she was drugged in the mansion and entered the palace.”

More than a hundred words, in a page of paper, twenty years of life and death.

This was Bai Su’s half-life before meeting him.

Sitting in front of the desk, the young man sat dazed for a while before slowly burning the letter over the candle. The lines of words seemed to be engraved in his mind, emerging one by one.

“Greetings to the Empress.” Chang Le’s announcement sounded outside the door.

Duan Changchuan quickly put away his things, composed himself, and returned to his seat.

The air still carried a faint smell of charcoal.

Noticing that the other person hadn’t entered the study but had gone back to his bedroom to sleep.

He didn’t know if it was an illusion caused by smelling too much fragrance on Bai Su, but since the other person entered, there had been a faint and refreshing scent in the air.

Duan Changchuan quickly shook his head and took out his ‘Strategies for Ruling the Country’ to read, trying to shift his attention. However, some things are harder to ignore the more you try to overlook them.

The pleasant scent of flowers, sometimes present and sometimes not, each time just as he immersed himself in his book, it would hook him out. When he tried to sniff it carefully again, he couldn’t smell anything.

It was like a spirit. The young man slapped the book onto the table with a “pa” and let out a long sigh.

“Your Majesty?” Hearing the sound, Chang Le lifted the hem of his clothes and approached.

The young man pursed his lips, mysteriously beckoning with his hand. The little eunuch immediately leaned his ear.

Duan Changchuan asked, “Do you know what fragrance the Empress uses every day?”

Changle stayed in place, “Fragrance?”

Duan Changchuan said, “It’s the usual incense she uses. It seems to have a peony scent. Since she came, the palace has been filled with this fragrance.”

Changle was even more puzzled, “Your Majesty, the servant has only smelled soapberry fragrance on the Empress… There has never been a peony scent in this palace. It’s not even February yet, peonies won’t bloom for a few more months.”

He: ???

Duan Changchuan waved his sleeve directly, “Go and call Yiman.”

#I don’t believe it. There must be something wrong with you!#

In no time, Yi Man also came over.

He was still a child and worked carefully. Hearing the question, he first froze, then sniffed carefully for a while, and shivered, kneeling down, “Replying to Your Majesty, the servant might have a problem with his nose and didn’t smell any…”

The usually unchanging expression of the young emperor, who collapsed as if struck by lightning.

Until he chased away Chang Le and Yi Man, he could still hear the conversation outside. “Shifu, I really didn’t smell anything… Did this disciple’s nose go wrong?”

“Hiss… I’ve told you so many times, be careful with your words, be careful!”

“Oh, okay.”

Duan Changchuan, “…”

The entire night, Duan Changchuan couldn’t sleep soundly.

Perhaps because of his obsession with peonies, he dreamed that he had entered a vast field of peonies, with peony flowers blooming all over the mountains.

He was lying on the grass, resting when suddenly a breeze blew, and the peonies on both sides turned into people, saying, “Our goddess wants to meet you.”

Even in his dream, he boldly showed the emperor’s demeanor, saying, “Oh, let her come then.”

After that, a super large peony suddenly grew from the ground, lifting him up higher and higher.

“Is your goddess in the sky?” he asked.

Suddenly, a low laugh sounded beneath him.

In the next moment, the peony carrying him suddenly transformed into a person. He recognized the person, wasn’t it Bai Su?

His arms wrapped around the woman’s neck, he was being princess-carried by her.

At first, he was bewildered: …???

Then the whole person was terrified: !!!

Duan Changchuan was scared awake…

Why was he being carried? Why was it a princess carry?? And why were his arms still naturally hanging around her??? It was absurd!