Chapter 138: The Emperor Wants to See Xiang Xinyao

Although the meal was sumptuous and the taste was not bad, Xiang Xinyao had been eating vegetables she grew herself for the past period, so the taste didn’t compare to the vegetables watered with spirit spring water.

After dinner, Mo Jinnan took his leave.

Xiang Xinyao stayed with her family, chatting until it got dark before returning to her room to rest.

Once she closed the door, Xiang Xinyao eagerly entered the space.

Previously, when she entered the space, her bracelet would not automatically hide. However, this time, it remained hidden, meaning that from now on, no matter where she entered the space, no one would notice her bracelet.

After experiencing this change, she had been eager to see whether the space had indeed upgraded.

What changes had come with the upgrade was what she was most concerned about.

As soon as she entered the space, Xiang Xinyao smiled, her eyes crescent-shaped with delight.

The area around the spirit spring had expanded quite a bit, and even the areas around the supermarket and the hospital were much more spacious.

The place where she had fenced off to raise wild boars and other animals had grown plenty of grass, and it was all suitable for feeding the small animals.

Other areas hadn’t changed much; the main change from the upgrade was the expanded space.

But Xiang Xinyao was already very satisfied. She had been hoping for the space to expand, and now there was a lot more room to plant vegetables and medicinal herbs.

She quickly closed her eyes and began cultivating the land with her mind.

In less than half an hour, she was exhausted and pale from the effort.

She had managed to cultivate a significant amount of land.

After drinking a cup of spirit spring water, she was so tired that she didn’t even tend to the animals in the space. Instead, she sat cross-legged by the spirit spring to meditate and restore her energy.

After an hour of rest, her energy had recovered quite a bit, and she finally prepared food for the animals before leaving the space.

Her bracelet automatically returned to her wrist and hid itself again.

She took off her shoes, climbed into bed, and spent another hour practicing her internal strength before finally lying down to sleep.

The next morning, she woke up to daylight.

As soon as she opened her room door, two young maidservants entered, holding a basin of water and a kettle to assist her with her washing.

Afterward, they accompanied her to the dining hall for breakfast.

Xiang Xinyao felt a little indulgent, enjoying the sensation of being waited on as soon as she got up. It felt incredible.

Although in her previous life she had been the young lady of a secluded family, there had been no servants at home, and many things she had to do herself.

A “secluded family” was one that hid in some corner of the world and didn’t want to be exposed to the public. The younger generations in such families would go out to train or develop, and when they reached a certain age, they would return to the family to live in seclusion.

Such families typically didn’t keep servants, as they didn’t want outsiders to interfere.

So, Xiang Xinyao had never been pampered this way before. She had never enjoyed a life where everything was done for her.

But this life wasn’t bad at all.

Mostly, it was because she didn’t have to manage the complicated hairstyles, and the clothes worn by big families weren’t like those of the countryside—they were a bit more cumbersome.

For her, just putting on clothes felt like a test of patience.

As they arrived at the entrance of the dining hall, Xiang Taifu had just returned from court.

Seeing her father’s slightly displeased expression, Xiang Xinyao quickly walked over to him.

“Father, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Xiang Taifu sighed. “Sigh! The Emperor said he wants to see you. After breakfast, I’ll take you to the palace.”

“What?” Xiang Xinyao jumped up in surprise. “What’s wrong with him? Why does he want to see me?”

“Because you are the fiancée of Xianwang, and he said he’s the Emperor’s elder brother. Since you’ve returned, you should go meet him.”

Xiang Xinyao was speechless.

The Emperor really had some kind of illness, and it wasn’t a mild one!

Just returned yesterday, and today, the Emperor already demands to see her? What kind of person was this?

“Father, can I not go?” Xiang Xinyao asked reluctantly.

“No, you can’t,” Xiang Taifu replied with a sigh. “I don’t want you to go either, but he is the Emperor, and I can’t refuse him.”

Xiang Xinyao twitched her lips in frustration, her face full of helplessness.

“Ugh, this is so annoying!”

Kneeling to heaven, kneeling to the earth, kneeling to parents—those were all understandable. But just thinking about having to kneel here and there once she entered the palace made her feel frustrated.

Ah! She was so angry.

Seeing the unwilling expression on Xiang Xinyao’s face, Xiang Taifu gently patted her shoulder.

“Child, I’m sorry for this, but he is the Emperor. Even if you don’t want to see him, you have to. Come on, let’s have breakfast first.”

Xiang Xinyao nodded slightly and followed her father into the dining hall.

During breakfast, she was dragging her feet.

She spent a full quarter of an hour eating a little bun and hadn’t finished yet.

Third Brother, Xiang Yanchen, furrowed his brows and asked, “Little sister, what’s wrong today? Don’t you like the breakfast?”

Xiang Xinyao shook her head. “No, Third Brother, do you think the Emperor is crazy? I just got back and he’s already in a hurry to see me?”

Xiang Yanchen chuckled teasingly. “What’s so strange about that? You’re the Emperor’s future sister-in-law. After all this time, he finally got you back, so of course, he wants to see you.”

“Little sister, you aren’t afraid of assassins, so why be afraid of meeting the Emperor? As long as you don’t anger him, you won’t be in danger.”

Xiang Xinyao pursed her lips. “I’m not afraid of the Emperor. I just don’t want to kneel. Every time you enter the palace, you have to kneel here and kneel there. It’s so annoying.”

Xiang Taifu’s face turned serious. “Yao’er, you cannot speak like that outside. Be careful, we’re under the Emperor’s rule, so we must be cautious.”

“Yes, Father, I understand,” Xiang Xinyao replied, her tone slightly apologetic.

“Alright, eat quickly! The breakfast will get cold.”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

The gatekeeper opened the door and respectfully greeted them.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Please rise.” Mo Jinnan asked, “Has the Second Miss gotten up?”

“Your Highness, Second Miss is already up and having breakfast in the dining hall.”

Mo Jinnan nodded and immediately made his way to the dining hall.

As he entered, the Xiang family stood up to greet him.

Mo Jinnan waved his hand. “No need for formalities, please sit down.”

Then, he turned to Xiang Xinyao. “Xinyao, today you’ll go to the palace first to meet the Emperor. After that, we’ll go to the Wang Mansion.”

Xiang Xinyao nodded, her displeasure clear on her face.

Mo Jinnan raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on here?”

Xiang Yanchen stood up. “It’s nothing. My little sister doesn’t want to go to the palace. She’s a bit unhappy about it.”

Mo Jinnan walked over to Xiang Xinyao and gently asked, “What’s wrong? Why don’t you want to go to the palace?”

Xiang Xinyao pouted. “I don’t want to hurt my knees.”

Mo Jinnan understood immediately and smiled gently. “If you don’t want to kneel, then don’t. With me here, the Emperor won’t make things difficult for you.”

Xiang Xinyao’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. “Really? I don’t have to kneel to anyone?”

“Of course. If even the Emperor doesn’t have to kneel, then why should others?”

“Well, then after breakfast, let’s go to the palace.”

With that, Xiang Xinyao dug into the little bun in her hand with newfound enthusiasm.

Xiang Taifu, on the other hand, wore a worried expression. He didn’t want his daughter to suffer, but he also feared that offending the Emperor might bring trouble to the Xiang family.

His daughter had grown up in the countryside and hadn’t been taught proper etiquette and decorum.

If she offended the Emperor, the Xiang family’s days wouldn’t be easy.

Mo Jinnan looked at Xiang Taifu and gave him a reassuring glance.

“Don’t worry, Lord Xiang. With me here, I’ll make sure the Xiang family is well-protected.”