The wicked imperial concubine is courting death again; the comments section teaches her how to win w

Qi Yitang was taken aback, then glanced at the tightly closed palace doors.

At the entrance, Chi Zheng stood guard as ordered, his back ramrod straight, his eyes fixed straight ahead, like an iron stake driven into the ground.

Yo~

She raised an eyebrow and teased, "What, Fourth Brother, are you reluctant to part with her?"

Ning Nishang didn't know what to say.

In December, the academy was closed for the holidays. Normally, my fourth cousin would never stay at home whenever he had free time; he would invite his friends to go out and play.

But this time, besides worrying about his younger sister, he just sat in the yard in a daze.

When she entered the palace, her fourth cousin waited at the door and said, "Just ask him for me, is Chi Zheng coming back or not?" If she wasn't coming back, then so be it, he was happy to have some peace and quiet.

He said that, but his attempt to cover it up was actually a bit... coy.

Ning Nishang leaned closer and whispered, "Actually, I think Fourth Cousin cares about Chizheng quite a bit."

Qi Yitang's eyes lit up, as if she had discovered some incredible gossip.

She immediately waved towards the door, "Chizheng, come here."

Chi Zheng entered in response, her steps quick and agile. "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

"I'm asking you, what do you think of my fourth brother?"

Chi Zheng was taken aback, then frowned, seemingly pondering the question seriously.

After a moment, she answered truthfully, "The Fourth Young Master is... very weak. I could subdue him with one hand."

Qi Yitang: "..." No, who asked you that?

How could Xie Ling trust her to protect her personally? She always felt that Xie Ling's intelligence was more questionable than her own.

Qi Yitang rephrased her question, "I mean, from a woman's perspective, what do you think of my fourth brother, who is an adult and an unmarried virgin?"

Chi Zheng pondered for a long time before speaking solemnly, "Fourth Young Master is a good person, with outstanding talent and good looks, but he is not as strong as his subordinates." As she spoke, she stretched out her arms and showed off the muscles in her shoulders, back and arms in front of the two of them.

Qi Yitang & Ning Nishang: "...?"

The two fell silent.

[OMG, what are you doing?!]

[This is terrible, this is the height of obsessive fitness training. Muscles are controlling the brain, it's practically like fungal invasion.]

Qi Yitang was truly speechless.

Based on her understanding of her fourth brother, if he truly disliked or didn't care at all, he would never have gone out of his way to ask someone to inquire.

Fourth Brother may seem carefree and spends all his time in the red-light district, but in reality... he's actually quite clean.

In the original story, he contracted syphilis, which was also caused by Xie Jingyu's men drugging him and throwing him onto the bed, where they arranged for a girl who was seriously ill to be with him.

That girl was pitiful. Her family was poor, and she was sold into a brothel by her family. She contracted a disease and wanted to end her own life, but she was used by Xie Jingyu, and her fourth brother suffered as a result.

So when Qi Yitang saw the comments, he had someone redeem Yueying from her servitude and let a doctor examine her.

Now that the girl has recovered from her illness and is living a peaceful life, she has successfully deviated from the original plot.

If Fourth Brother has feelings for Chi Zheng, Qi Yitang will accept it completely.

But... looking at the person in front of her who was only focused on showing off his muscles and hadn't figured things out at all, she pinched the bridge of her nose and felt that her fourth brother's road to winning her back was long and arduous.

It's still a long way off.

"Alright, I know you're sturdy, just pretend I didn't say anything."

"Yes, I'll take my leave." Chi Zheng left decisively.

……

A gust of cold wind rushed in for a moment, then was blocked by the palace door.

Chi Zheng returned to the doorway and continued to stand guard there upright, only her lips were slightly pursed.

Fourth Young Master...

Actually, Chi Zheng wasn't as clueless as Qi Yitang thought.

When Chi Zheng was assigned to the Fourth Young Master's side by the Empress, she didn't think much of it; it was just a change of location for carrying out a mission.

It was no different from when I was sent to Jiangnan to keep an eye on the whereabouts of a corrupt official.

The fourth young master was initially very resistant to her. On the first day they met, he frowned and looked her up and down for a long time, saying that he had never seen a girl as tall and robust as her.

Chi Zheng didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Few could survive the rigorous selection process of the Dark Guard Camp, and women were even fewer. If it weren't for her strong physique, she would have died long ago.

Bailu Academy is actually very safe, but Chizheng guesses that the Empress must have had a reason for sending her here.

She stayed by his side day and night. When the fourth young master slept in bed, she would sleep on the floor fully clothed so that she could hear any noise and prevent him from being assassinated.

But he also said that she was wild and rude, and that sleeping in the same room with her would ruin his innocence.

However, later, probably because winter had arrived and the nights were getting cold, he suddenly became obsessed and insisted that she sleep in the bed.

Chi Zheng naturally refused. How could a bodyguard sleep on a bed while the master sleeps on the floor?

But the fourth young master reached out and hugged her without saying a word.

I couldn't lift it.

Caught off guard, the two fell to the ground. Chi Zheng instinctively turned herself to cushion the fall, but...

That was her first kiss.

After that, the fourth young master acted strangely. He no longer looked down on her as a "rude wooden stake," but often looked at her with a glint in his eye.

I glance at it and quickly look away, but after a while I can't help but glance at it again.

Last time, the young master of the Qin family had a sharp tongue and said that she was "like a man, and whoever marries her will be unlucky." Without saying a word, the fourth young master pinned her to the ground and beat her up, leaving her with a bruised and swollen face, while also injuring his own hand.

He would often slip her things, whether intentionally or unintentionally—roasted chestnuts, roasted sweet potatoes, osmanthus cakes wrapped in oil paper…

They always say things like, "If you can't finish it, you can have it," but the food is usually fresh out of the pot and piping hot.

Chi Zheng was not entirely unmoved by these things.

Even if she's a dull, lifeless stone, she'll get warm if she's exposed to the sun for too long.

only……

Chi Zheng lowered her eyes. She was a former secret guard, and secret guards were people who might be alive today but dead tomorrow.

Besides, she was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, and did not have the slightest appearance of a lady from a respectable family. How could she be qualified to be a family member with the Empress?

In the distance, the snow-capped mountains stretched out in layers in the twilight, like a frozen ink painting.

A gust of wind rushed into her collar, and Chi Zheng closed her eyes briefly.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to my usual calm.

The most valuable thing about a person is to have self-awareness; she won't indulge in wishful thinking.