Taking her into his tent, he incurred the wrath of a powerful and mad minister, from which he could

"I am deeply pleased with you, my lord."

The girl obediently spoke, appearing very sincere.

He is used to being in control and dislikes any feeling of being out of control.

That day, the old lady asked if he had truly fallen for Ji Mingyi. But what is true love?

He never bothered to investigate further before, and he assumed he would never possess it.

For him, what he wanted, he had to possess; and once he had it, he had to completely own it. Her body, her heart, he could not allow to stray even slightly.

Supreme power and stunning beauties are both, in his eyes, things should be in his hands.

But now, he gradually realized that he had fallen for the little woman in his arms, and that his feelings had long since gone beyond mere possessiveness.

I can't pinpoint when it started, but my heart always finds itself drawn to her.

This feeling of being out of control made him slightly uncomfortable and somewhat confused.

Zong Xian lowered his eyes, his gaze calm and serene, yet a turbulent undercurrent simmered within.

He gently brushed his fingertips across her slightly swollen lips, the force carrying his usual assertiveness, yet concealing a gentleness that even he himself was unaware of.

"Ji Mingyi, you can only love me."

"I can't give you the lifelong monogamy you desire, but when the princess enters the family, I will try to elevate you to the status of a secondary wife. Until then, you'll have to make do for a while."

A marriage alliance between the court and the emperor was inevitable. Princess Jianing was an indispensable bargaining chip for consolidating his power, and he would never sacrifice the greater good for anyone else.

He had already weighed his options carefully and determined the best he could offer, even though this decision would bring great resistance and would not benefit his career in the slightest.

But he was still willing to give her this courtesy and wait for her reaction.

Mingyi remained unmoved, her reaction calm, and she obediently replied, "Please make the arrangements, my lord. I will follow your orders."

Seeing her reaction, Zong Xian frowned imperceptibly, as if he was feeling a little annoyed.

But he didn't say anything in the end, and instead ordered the driver to drive back home.

On the way, Zong Xian asked about Bai Xiang Lou.

Mingyi had anticipated his questions and never thought she could hide them from him, so she told him everything truthfully.

"At first, I just wanted to earn more money to supplement my family's income. I happened to have some connections, so I approached Baixianglou to discuss cooperation. Initially, we agreed to split the profits 50/50."

"Later, as Baixianglou's business flourished, Sister Fan took on most of the hard work. I didn't put in much effort and didn't want to take 50% of the profits. I only wanted 10%. But Sister Fan was kind-hearted and insisted on giving me 20%."

Zong Xian, however, understood the underlying meaning and said with a hint of sarcasm, "To supplement your household income? I think you were planning to earn money so that you could help Xie Huaiyu after he entered officialdom."

Xie Huaiyu has always been an untouchable taboo between them.

Mingyi looked at him with clear, bright eyes and smiled frankly: "Of course, after all, I was Huaiyu's fiancée back then, and everything I planned was for his benefit."

As soon as he finished speaking, the temperature in the carriage suddenly dropped.

Zong Xian's aura instantly turned cold, and a dark undercurrent surged in his eyes.

"Why does your face look so grim, sir?" Knowing he was unhappy, Ji Mingyi deliberately provoked him.

Zong Xian said coldly, "He hasn't even offered you a betrothal gift, so what kind of fiancée are you?"

"We don't care about these formalities."

How dare you talk back!

These words acted as a fuse, completely igniting the pent-up tension in the car. Zong Xian's face darkened completely. "Ji Mingyi, how dare you!"

Even though Chang Yu was separated from the car by a layer of walls, he was still shaken by the cold and sharp voice and dared not breathe.

Mingyi instantly switched back to her harmless demeanor, asking timidly, "Didn't the adults bring it up first?"

Zong Xian: "..."

Mingyi turned her face away, her voice softening slightly as she uttered a sentence that sounded both light and heavy: "If you mind so much, why did you bring me back to your side in the first place?"

The carriage fell into dead silence.

No more sound came out.

Until the carriage came to a stop in front of the mansion gate.

Chang Yu almost thought that their master was so enraged that he had strangled the person to death, and the two little maids, Ning Shuang and Ning Xue, were also very uneasy.

When your master quarrels, you are most afraid of getting into trouble yourself.

Chang Yu bowed slightly and spoke cautiously, "Master, we're returning to the manor."

The carriage curtain was lifted by a large hand, and Zong Xian strode out of the carriage with a gloomy face.

He declared, "From this day forward, without my permission, no one is to step out of the mansion!"

After saying that, he strode away.

Mingyi hurriedly lifted the curtain behind her, but only managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of a dark-colored hem.

She stomped her foot in anger and couldn't help but curse, "Dictatorial, arbitrary, and unreasonable!"

It was clearly him who brought up the old issue again.

It was his unfounded suspicion and deliberate provocation that ultimately led to her being punished!

Chang Yu heard the curse and broke out in a cold sweat.

Ning Shuang and Ning Xue quickly stepped forward to support her, fearing that she would hurt herself in anger, and carefully advised, "Miss, be careful what you say. Second Master is in a bad mood, so you must not provoke him further."

Mingyi also left with a cold face.

...

The news of the two parting on bad terms in front of the gate yesterday quickly reached the ears of Madam Zong.

Her private criticisms of Zong Xian's autocratic rule also reached the old lady's ears.

Madam Zong was somewhat displeased and immediately summoned Mingyi to her side.

The hall was quiet and solemn, with the fragrance of sandalwood wafting through the air. The old lady sat upright in her chair, her gaze resting lightly on her.

"I thought you were gentle and obedient, and I was quite at ease knowing that you were there to take care of me. So I never thought of hiring a nanny to teach you manners."

"It turns out I misjudged him." Madam Zong gently stroked the Buddhist beads on her wrist, her voice not loud, but carrying the dignity of an ancestor of a noble family.

"You may seem gentle, but you're incredibly stubborn at heart. You even dared to talk back to the Second Master and speak ill of our lord in private. Do you know your mistakes?"

"I understand my mistake, please calm down, Madam." She lowered her eyes, straightened her back, and did not utter a single word of rebuttal.

No matter what she says, it's always her fault.

Seeing her cold, hard face, which clearly didn't look like she was admitting her mistake, Madam Zong's voice turned colder: "Second Master dotes on you a bit and is reluctant to punish you severely, but I cannot condone and let it go unpunished."

"Without rules, there can be no order. Go outside and kneel down; you are not allowed to get up until the full day is up!"

"Yes."

Even the matriarch of the household cannot disobey the old lady, let alone Ji Mingyi.

She slowly turned around, walked out of the hall step by step, and knelt down in the designated place in the courtyard.

It is the end of November, the north wind is biting and the cold is piercing, and there is no shelter in the courtyard.

As fate would have it, Kyoto's first snow of winter fell gently today.

A shower of white flakes drifted down, gently draping the entire bustling capital city in a thin layer of silver frost.

Mingyi lowered her eyes slightly, gazing at the pale white snow gradually accumulating on the ground, her expression so indifferent that it was impossible to discern her joy or anger.

Without struggling or begging for mercy, it simply knelt quietly in the wind and snow, like a lone blade of grass relentlessly battered by the cold wind, yet refusing to bow its head.

Madam Cui glanced at the person in the snow and then gently advised the old lady, "Madam, the snow is falling heavier and heavier outside. It's freezing cold, and young ladies are naturally delicate. They can't withstand kneeling for so long. You've already given her a good talking-to, and your anger has subsided considerably. Why don't you let the young lady get up?"

Madam Zong also felt sorry for Mingyi, but she had just heard about what happened at Songhe Garden. This wasn't the first time Ji Mingyi had upset Zong Xian.

So she made up her mind to tame this girl and smooth out her rough edges for her son, so as to prevent her from causing trouble again when the princess enters the family.

"You've only been kneeling for an hour, there's no rush."