The next day, Duan Changchuan woke up punctually at the Yin hour^[1]3 to 5 am. The sun had not yet risen outside, and the sky was dimly lit.

Under the window lattice, a woman lay on the couch, peacefully asleep. A faint scent of peonies wafted in the air even overpowering the ambergris incense that lit daily in the hall.

He touched his neck and two small scabs fell off with a slight touch. The bitten area seemed to have healed.

“Your Majesty, are you awake?” Chang Le saw him coming out of the bedroom and immediately had the servants bring over warm water and a towel.

This time, the young eunuch behaved well, knowing that the empress had not yet woken up and dared not peek inside. He focused on serving Duan Changchuan by washing his hands and cleaning his face.

“Your Majesty, it’s just past the Yin hour. Would you like to read for a while or go out for a stroll?”

“I’ll go to the horse stable. Yesterday I saw Xiuxiu and it was very clingy to Me. Perhaps I’ve been busy with state affairs and haven’t visited it for a long time, so it missed Me. Since these days are not busy, I’ll go and take a look.”

Xiuxiu was the horse Duan Changchuan had raised since childhood. He was six years old when he first experienced horseback archery and personally selected Xiuxiu at the horse stable.

In the year when the late emperor was seriously ill. A month before, he was still hunting deer in the hunting ground, laughing while asked him, “Xi’er, do you want to learn horse-riding? After we return to the palace, I’ll take you to the Imperial Imperial Stables to choose a strong pony.”

A month later, the late emperor suddenly passed away, leaving the young him to ascend the throne hastily.

Since then, no one has called him by his childhood nickname. The two words “Qingxi” became a taboo in the palace.

On the day of selecting the horse, he was immediately drawn to Xiuxiu, a small brown horse with striking white hairs on its forehead and ankles. The little horse had just turned five, similar in age and height to him.

Two big watery eyes stared at him… Duan Changchuan inexplicably thought of himself, who had lost his father.

“I want this one. Hmm, its appearance… ‘The morning clouds rise from the peaks, drifting away with the wind, never to return'^[2]山上朝来云出岫，随风一去未曾回, it’s poem verse from Du Mu’s 秋夕. Let’s call it Xiuxiu.” He said this at that time.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed. He had grown up, and so had Xiuxiu.

Because it was morning, Duan Changchuan didn’t alert anyone. Only Changle accompanied him.

When they arrived at the stable, the horses were already awake. The stableman was adding millet and hay to the feeding trough.

Seeing them approaching, he quickly knelt down nervously. “This servant didn’t know that Your Majesty…”

Duan Changchuan waved his hand. “Get up, today I have nothing to do, so I come and casually take a look. No need for excessive courtesy or waiting on me.”

The stableman straightened his robe and said, “Yes.”

Then he continued to feed the horses.

The horses on the outside were provided for the chief of the imperial guards, princes, and others for training. Duan Changchuan’s horse was kept inside and had its own stable, carefully tended by the steward.

The two walked along the horse stalls.

Halfway through, they heard a girl crying, saying, “Young Miss, this servant knows she was wrong. You can hit and scold this servant, but please don’t ignore the servant…”

It seemed to be a pair of a young miss and her maid.

Duan Changchuan followed the sound and saw two girls standing outside the next row of horse stalls.

She was dressed in luxurious clothes, adorned in delicate yellow silk, was the one stroking the grass-eating horse in the stall, and didn’t say a word. Presumably, she was the “Young Miss” mentioned by the maid.

Her maidservant stood behind her, at a loss, “Young Miss… Can you say something…”

“This… this servant will kneel down for you…” She bent her knees and was about to kneel down.

“Why are you kneeling again?! How many times have I told you, don’t kneel so easily? Sigh… The central plains, the weather, and the land are good, but only this point is not good.”

The “Young Miss” said, then hurriedly turned around and supported the maid before she knelt down.

When she turned around, Duan Changchuan also saw her face: she was the county princess whom he had just met yesterday, Duan Qinxue.

“Young Miss… You’re willing to talk to this servant!”

“Yeah, yeah. You know I’m afraid of that the most, but you deliberately do it. I think ah, I’m not a young miss anymore, you’re the one.”

The maidservant immediately bowed nervously. “This servant doesn’t dare! Young Miss, please don’t make it difficult for this servant… As the county princess, Young Miss is a noble lady. How can You let those people gossip about You? Those kinds of old maids, eunuchs, they can talk about anything for a long time. It should have been dealt with from the start.”

“Alright, what noble lady am I? We all have the same mouth and two eyes. Everyone has their own mouth to speak their minds. You always slap them when you don’t like what you hear, aren’t you too domineering.”

So, it turned out to be a conversation between the young miss and her maid.

Duan Changchuan didn’t intend to eavesdrop and signaled to Chang Le to take another route. Unexpectedly, he heard something related to himself.

“Sigh… That Emperor, too. Young Miss invited him to ride a horse together yesterday, but he didn’t give any response and went with Empress to play archery… Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such rumors.”

“Mu Ge!”

“I’m sorry, Young Miss… This servant knows wrong.”

“You…”

It was already embarrassing to accidentally eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, even more so when it was about others misunderstood about him…

Duan Changchuan didn’t know whether he should step forward or not.

Although he didn’t want to have too much interaction with Duan Qinxue, after all, she was Imperial Uncle’s daughter. But yesterday, he saw Bai Su missing the target while shooting arrows, attracted by her, and forgot about Duan Qinxue…

Listening to the conversation between the two of them, it seemed that his unintentional actions had caused rumors behind his back.

He too, was helpless.

“Cough, cough…” He awkwardly coughed and then stepped forward.

The young miss and her maid turned their heads and quickly bowed on their knees.

They were obviously in panic.

Duan Changchuan touched his nose: Well, that’s good, it’s not just Me who felt embarrassed.

“Uh, yesterday, I… didn’t intentionally ignore you. I had drunk too much with Prime Minister Bai, so My actions became a bit biased.” He said, then turned to instruct, “Chang Le, let the subordinates investigate who was spreading rumors, all of them…”

He wanted to say “punish them all,” Duan Changchuan hesitated and changed his mind after hearing Duan Qinxue and Mu Ge’s conversation earlier.

“Reward punishment. Anyone spreading rumors will be barred from receiving rewards from any palace lords for six months. Then prepare a list for the heads of each department and other lords they serve. When distributing rewards, remember not to give any to these people.”

“Yes, this servant will have Yi Man handle it.”

“Well, Yi Man is not young anymore. It’s time for him to gain some experience. If he handles this well, there will be rewards.”

“Ei, this servant, on behalf of my disciple, thank Your Majesty’s favor!”

After finished discussing with Chang Le, Duan Changchuan looked back at Duan Qinxue. “Everything has been handled. As this matter started because of Me, I will personally settle it.”

The girl immediately raised her eyebrows, nodding repeatedly. “Your Majesty’s move is clever! It doesn’t hurt their dignity and teaches them a lesson! Mu Ge, did you see that? When managing people, you need to treat them like humans but also pressure them. That’s how it works.”

Mu Ge hastily bowed, “This servant understands. This servant is just an illiterate servant girl, how can I compare to Your Majesty? Young Miss, you’re trying to kill me.”

The girl who was “complained” by her maid, had no self-awareness of being disliked. Instead, she pulled Duan Changchuan’s sleeve with a smile, “Your Majesty, what are you doing at the Imperial Stable?”

The young man lowered his gaze, looking at the delicate hand on his sleeve, feeling a bit at a loss, and said, “I come to feed Xiuxiu and take it for a run. Do… you want to join?”

“Sure! The horses in the palace are well taken care of. I also want to have a run!”

Duan Changchuan led Xiuxiu out and walked all the way to the field.

A girl in horse-riding attire happened to finish a lap and approached him.

“Your Majesty, you’re here! I see the cavalry armies can shoot arrows while riding. My uncle said first need to learn to control the horse with your legs before practicing that skill. Too bad, I’m too weak to learn it. My uncle said Your Majesty could do it at the age of 14. Can you let Qinxue see it?”

The young man mounted the horse, reaching out to the guard. The guard quickly handed over the bow and arrows.

With a squeeze of the legs and a loud shout, the horse galloped, heading towards the center of the field.

It was the beginning of the Mao hour^[3]5 to 7 am, and the eastern sky already showing a faint light. The young man, dressed in embroidered golden satin, seemed to be glowing all over.

Passing by the target, he drew an arrow from behind, bent the bow, and shot in one go. The next second, a steady arrow was stuck in the center of the target.

Cheers erupted from the surroundings.

Bai Su came over yawning, just in time to see the young man sitting on the horse with a drawn bow, his face filled with pride.

The girl riding a white horse was approaching him with a whip in her hand. “Your Majesty, that was impressive!”

“It was slightly inferior to the men in the army.”

“Where did that come from? Has Your Majesty ever competed with the guards? Qinxue sees that Your Majesty surpasses the men in the army. Who’s superior and who’s inferior, pull them out to compete and we’ll know!”

The young man chuckled, making a sound, “I was unbeatable in Shengjing when I was fourteen. If I had challenged them at the age of four, I could have won ten years earlier.”

The girl was taken aback, and then a crisp laughter spread across the entire training ground.

They were a match made in heaven. A dazzling match.

Tsk, there was someone who had married the empress but was still flirting outside.

While others had crossed over and were silently waiting for the breakout of pheromone deficiency syndrome, waiting for her death.

Bai Su felt a stab of pain for the first time after she crossed into this world.

She had always thought she had a wife. Her wife was not the young Emperor Duan Changchuan of this era but an Omega from another world, bound to her through a marriage alliance, but heavily dependent on her.

Yet, seeing the young man so close and happy with another girl, she realized… she wasn’t as carefree as she imagined.

She felt very jealous and so uncomfortable. The feeling of someone who belonged to her being snatched away.

This damn Alpha’s possessiveness.

Bai Su touched the glands on her neck that had started secreting pheromones, turned around, and prepared to leave. Out of sight, out of mind.

Then she heard a disdainful remark from the side: “No matter how fancy the clothes a chicken wears, in the end, it’s still just a chicken. She can never turn into a phoenix, and no one will ever treat it as one.”

Turning her head, she saw a maidservant dressed in the attire of a palace maid, looking at her with a contemptuous smile.

Bai Su:…

Was this the legendary palace intrigue?

Bai Su’s first reaction was, even if it’s palace intrigue, it should at least be a concubine or a young lady involved. Why would a maidservant want to engage in intrigue with the empress?

The second reaction was, that Duan Changchuan had already been controlled by the regent to such an extent, and she didn’t know how long he could stay on the throne. Yet, someone dared to climb up desperately?

“You’re so jealous, could you be the Emperor’s bedmaids?” she blurted out.

After speaking, even she was stunned. She had arrived sitting in a bridal sedan, and since Duan Changchuan was marrying for the first time, she had always felt that in the eighteen years before, he probably had no women.

Today, she remembered that emperors and princes in this era had basically started sharing beds with palace maids since they were teenagers.

And Duan Changchuan, was eighteen this year…

Originally, Bai Su had planned to prick someone, but…

Perhaps this was hurting oneself to hurt others.