Transmigrating into a book, seducing him to rise to power

After Su Jingyao left Yichun Palace, Miaoyun stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the person I sent just came back to report that they went to Qianqing Palace but did not see His Majesty."

Su Jingyao frowned slightly.

She had been in Yichun Palace for almost half an hour. It was just past dusk. If Jun Zechen wasn't in Qianqing Palace handling state affairs, where had he gone?

"Then let's go to Qianqing Palace from the west gate. I remember there's a peach grove east of Yichun Palace. We can reach the west gate of Qianqing Palace by going through the peach grove?"

Su Jingyao asked with a hint of uncertainty and doubt on her face.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we can reach Qianqing Palace by passing through the peach grove. His Majesty may have already returned to Qianqing Palace by now," Miaoyun replied respectfully.

"Alright, let's go. We won't take the sedan chair. Let's enjoy the scenery of the peach grove."

Su Jingyao nodded slightly, then stepped into the peach grove.

The peach blossoms were in full bloom at this time, as beautiful as the clouds on the horizon.

As it was already evening, a gentle breeze occasionally blew by, and pink petals drifted down, landing on Su Jingyao's shoulders, creating a truly beautiful scene.

Suddenly, Su Jingyao stopped in her tracks.

His delicate face instantly lost its expression, and his gaze went straight to the left front.

When Miaoyun saw her master stop, she also looked in the direction her master was looking.

It's actually His Majesty?!

And there was even a woman beside him? Judging from her attire, she must be a newly arrived concubine.

Su Jingyao's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness. She was in the harem dealing with the trivial disputes between women for him, while he was having a secret rendezvous with other women here. He really had a good time.

Su Jingyao snorted inwardly, pretending not to see anything, and put on a gentle smile again as she continued walking forward.

After dealing with some thorny issues related to the floods in the south at court this afternoon, Jun Zechen felt unusually depressed, as if shrouded in gloom.

So they went out for a stroll to relax, but not wanting to be too conspicuous, they simply brought only Anshun with them.

When there were fewer concubines, he quite liked to go to the Imperial Garden to relax.

Recently, there have been far too many women in the Imperial Garden, which annoyed him. So he strolled out of the west gate of the Qianqing Palace and came to this peach grove that had never been visited before.

He strolled among them, gently inhaling the fragrance emanating from the peach blossoms, which indeed calmed his mind.

Unexpectedly, as I walked, I still ran into other people by chance.

"Your Majesty, I, Consort Baolin, pay my respects."

The woman in the pink dress bowed gracefully.

Jun Zechen frowned, a hint of impatience on his face, and casually said, "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," the woman replied softly.

"What are you doing here?"

Jun Zechen's voice was deep and authoritative. If she couldn't give a good enough reason, he would dismiss her without hesitation.

"Your Majesty, my Moon Reflection Pavilion is just outside the peach grove. The peach grove is breathtakingly beautiful at dusk, and I have been strolling around it these past few days."

Xu Baolin (Xu Shiying) answered cautiously.

"Um."

Jun Zechen simply responded with a faint sound, his expression still somewhat cold and stern.

"Your Majesty, I adore peach blossoms and know quite a bit about them. If Your Majesty is not bothered, may I speak to you about them?"

Xu Baolin raised his head, his eyes full of anticipation, and asked cautiously.

Jun Zechen didn't care about this at all. What other tricks could this peach blossom have up its sleeve?

It wouldn't hurt to listen.

"Go ahead and say it," he replied succinctly.

After that, Xu Baolin began to talk about the growth habits of peach blossoms, and when he talked about the poems related to peach blossoms, he spoke vividly.

The conversation then turned to crafts such as peach blossom wine and peach blossom fans, and later recounted the story of the peach blossom and the maiden's face...

Jun Zechen listened quietly as the soothing voice told these stories that still piqued his interest, which gradually relaxed his tense nerves.

After that, Xu Baolin followed Jun Zechen obediently, her little mouth never stopping, whispering all sorts of stories about peach blossoms.

Bored, An Shun casually glanced behind him, and what he saw made him jump in surprise.

Consort Chunshu?!

Consort Chunshu was quite far away from them, and it was unclear whether she had seen His Majesty.

An Shun frowned deeply, his mind in turmoil. He was extremely conflicted. Should he tell His Majesty now, or wait for His Majesty to discover it himself?

What is His Majesty's attitude towards Xu Baolin?

If I tell, will it affect His Majesty's romantic encounters?

Anshun's face was scrunched up, as if water could be wrung out of it.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally decided to interrupt Xu Baolin, so he called out softly, "Your Majesty."

Upon hearing the sound, Jun Zechen turned to his left. An Shun glanced at him cautiously and said, "Your Majesty, it seems to be Consort Chun Shu over there..."

Upon hearing this, Jun Zechen immediately turned to look to the right.

Sure enough, Yao Yao was leading a group of palace servants slowly forward.

Jun Zechen's eyes were fixed on that direction; Yao Yao seemed not to have seen him.

Then, Jun Zechen was about to step over when he suddenly remembered there was still one person there, so he turned around and ordered, "You may leave."

Xu Baolin bowed obediently and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

A hint of disappointment flashed across her face. She had thought that her chance encounter with His Majesty today would surely lead to her being favored by him tonight.

With dinner time fast approaching, she was already preparing to invite His Majesty to dine at Yinyue Pavilion.

However, who could have predicted that Consort Chunshu would suddenly appear at this moment?

Xu Baolin's hands were clasped tightly together, his nails almost digging into his flesh.

Don't worry, she still has a chance. If not today, there's always tomorrow and the day after. She will wait patiently.

At least today, His Majesty has already made some impression on her.

Jun Zechen walked quickly, almost reaching Su Jingyao, but Su Jingyao still stared straight ahead, not shifting her gaze to the left even slightly, and continued walking straight forward.

"Cough cough."

Jun Zechen coughed a few times, pretending to be serious.

Hearing the cough, Su Jingyao could no longer pretend not to hear it, so she had no choice but to say helplessly, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects. I take my leave."

Upon hearing this, Jun Zechen frowned instantly. What was wrong with her?

Seeing that she was about to leave, Jun Zechen quickly stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.

He said with a hint of displeasure, "You've seen me, and you're still trying to leave?"

Jun Zechen then gave An Shun a wink, and An Shun immediately understood.

He waved to signal the palace servants following Consort Chunshu to wait in Qianqing Palace, and he and Miaoyun quickly retreated to a place more than ten meters away.

Jun Zechen looked at her face and saw that there was no smile on her face, which made him even more suspicious.

"Why is Yao Yao here?"

Su Jingyao said calmly, "Consort Shangguan of Yichun Palace was bullied and sent someone to invite me. I went to Yichun Palace to handle the matter. I am feeling a little tired now and would like to return to Zhaochun Palace to rest."

"If Yao Yao wants to return to Zhaochun Palace, why take this route?"

Jun Zechen pressed further, then added thoughtfully, "I remember Consort Chu was also in Yichun Palace. Did she upset you?"

"I am not angry. I have already punished Consort Chu and Consort Lin. I hope Your Majesty will not be angry about this," Su Jingyao said calmly.

Jun Zechen was left feeling uneasy by her indifferent attitude; he felt that she was angry, but at the same time, she didn't seem angry.

And why should he be angry? If punishing them would make her less indifferent, then he would rather she punish them.

"Yao Yao is in charge of the Palace Administration Department. If the concubines make mistakes, they can be punished accordingly."

Jun Zechen paused for a moment and then said, "Alright, since Yao Yao isn't angry, come back to Qianqing Palace with me."

Back to Qianqing Palace.

Jun Zechen held her in his arms, half-lying on the couch, while Su Jingyao's slender fingers played with the ring on his hand.

Her face was indifferent and expressionless, and Jun Zechen couldn't see it at all because of the angle.

Jun Zechen held her quietly like this. Now, when facing the women in the harem, he could always remain calm and composed, without any emotional fluctuations.

No one can make his mood fluctuate.

However, if the woman in his arms merely gave him a slight change in expression, a wave of unease would surge within him.

This strange emotion, as if beyond his control, spread wildly in his heart.

In the past, when the two of them embraced, they always had endless sweet nothings to say. She was especially good at saying those sweet words that touched his heart.

But the unusual quiet today made him feel that something was wrong.

She's definitely angry.

Was it not because of the infighting among the concubines in the harem, but because she saw him with another concubine in the peach grove?

A hint of helplessness flickered in Jun Zechen's deep, unfathomable eyes.

He wanted to explain, but he was worried that mentioning other women would only make her angrier.

He treated the women in his harem merely as playthings to amuse himself, and he never invested even the slightest bit of emotion in them.

If someone looks even slightly pleasing to the eye, they're given a promotion or a bit more status, nothing more.

"Yaoyao, I recently acquired a treasure. Jinzhou presented me with a luminous pearl, which is the one I know of that emits visible light the farthest. At night, it emits a green, cold light that can illuminate hair within a hundred paces," Jun Zechen said softly.

"If Yao Yao likes it, how about I send it to Zhaochun Palace?"

Su Jingyao remained silent, partly because she knew that to make a man care, she needed to make him constantly guess her thoughts, making him feel that she was elusive and difficult to control.

Blindly yielding will only embolden a man to take advantage of you.

On the other hand, she was thinking about the Xu Baolin she had just met in the peach grove. Although she didn't know who she was, Miaoyun was very familiar with the newly entered concubines.

Xu Baolin had a connection with the Imperial Concubine during her time as a candidate for the imperial concubine examination. After entering the palace, the Imperial Concubine arranged for Xu Baolin to stay at the Yinyue Pavilion outside the Peach Grove.

Others may not know that Jun Zechen likes to stroll in the peach grove, but the Imperial Concubine certainly does.

Could it be that the Imperial Concubine wants to use Consort Xu to consolidate her favor?

No, perhaps...

A strange light flashed in Su Jingyao's eyes. Perhaps the Imperial Concubine wanted Consort Xu's child...

Su Jingyao snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing Jun Zechen's question.

Before I could answer, Anshun walked in.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine has sent someone to invite you to Yikun Palace, saying that she has something to discuss with you at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet in five days."

Anshun glanced cautiously at Consort Chunshu, who was half-lying in His Majesty's arms with an indifferent expression, and couldn't help but feel a sense of astonishment.

Consort Chunshu is completely different from how she is when she is with His Majesty!

An Shun really wanted His Majesty to lower his head and see the expression on Consort Chun Shu's face in his arms.

After glancing at Consort Chunshu, Anshun quickly lowered his head.

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet is important. I am already exhausted today, so I will return to Zhaochun Palace."

Su Jingyao tried to break free from his embrace, but Jun Zechen's hand on her waist was tight, and she couldn't get away at all.

Su Jingyao turned to look at him in confusion and softly called out, "Your Majesty?"

Jun Zechen's face showed a hint of impatience as he said to An Shun, "Send the Consort's people back. I will go to Yikun Palace tomorrow."

His eyes revealed his displeasure with Anshun.

She's really getting worse and worse at reading people's expressions. Consort Chunshu was in Qianqing Palace, and she even came to report to her right in front of her.

An Shun felt the cold glare from His Majesty, his body stiffened, and after responding, he immediately retreated.