Keep your voice down. Are you trying to look glamorous dressed as a forced lover?

An indescribable night passed.

The next day.

After waking up, Li Qingyan took a while to realize that she had transmigrated into a book and hadn't gone back yet.

There was no one around; Ji Mingzheng was nowhere to be seen.

But the faint sound of horseback riding could be heard outside.

Li Qingyan sighed, "Ji Mingzheng really has a lot of energy."

She struggled to her feet.

As soon as Li Qingyan came out of the bedroom, she saw Ji Mingzheng.

Changfeng Palace is some distance from Jingchen Palace, where Li Qingyan resides, but Changfeng Palace was chosen by Ji Mingzheng himself because it has a martial arts training ground and even a horse racing track.

Although the area is not large, it is still a rare sight in the palace.

Ji Mingzheng sat astride his horse, his black outfit highlighting his agile figure.

His black hair flew in the wind, his sword-like eyebrows slanted upwards to his temples, and his eyes shone like stars. He was truly handsome and extraordinary, leaving a lasting impression on everyone who saw him.

"Young General, you've been riding for an hour, come down now."

Ji Mingzheng was in a bad mood, as if venting something. Just as he was about to retort, his attendant saw her and immediately said, "Your Highness has arrived."

Upon seeing her, Ji Mingzheng immediately stopped, his body tense slightly, but he quickly nodded: "Help me down."

The two men helped him down from his horse and into a wheelchair.

"Your Highness." He bowed from his wheelchair, his expression calm and exuding a dashing air.

Compared to his role as a sleeping husband last night, Ji Mingzheng showed his true charm today.

Li Qingyan was surprised: What a fine young general!

In the original book, when Ji Mingzheng, as the main villain, came to kill the Prince Xian before the finale, he was dark and insane.

If it weren't for the protagonist's halo, the Wise Prince would have died at the hands of Ji Mingzheng, who was disabled but still had explosive fighting power.

She had always thought he was the gloomy, disabled general. After all, a general who had become famous at a young age was injured in a bloody and brutal battle and could never stand up again. He was still so young, only twenty years old.

Let alone a general who has trained hard in martial arts since childhood, even an ordinary person would find it unbearable, and their personality would naturally change.

As it turns out, the main villain is actually a sunny and cheerful young man.

Ji Mingzheng understood her gaze, and a knowing yet slightly mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"Your Highness seems quite surprised by my condition."

It seems everyone thinks it's normal for him to be dejected, to complain about everything, or even to become paranoid and gloomy.

"Yes, most people would experience a lot of pain," Li Qingyan admitted.

There isn't much of his story in the book, and we don't know what happened in just a few months that made him realize such a big difference.

Upon hearing this, Ji Mingzheng smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes: "Probably because I'm not an ordinary person."

Yes, he was indeed in pain.

He accepted his disability with equanimity because he was used to seeing severed limbs on the battlefield. For him, being able to survive was already a stroke of luck.

Just like after the shock of last night, he remained unchanged.

Although he knew the Emperor's purpose in arranging the marriage, he still held onto a sliver of hope on his way back.

He hoped she could accept his disability, and that even if they weren't deeply in love, they would at least treat each other with respect.

But last night's meeting shattered his last shred of hope.

Her eyes were filled with cold displeasure: "Ji Mingzheng, I don't like you."

"If it weren't for the Empress's decree, I would never have taken a cripple."

"I don't want to touch you either, but the Queen Mother has given me a strict order, and I must complete the mission."

"But don't even think about making me like you; our marriage is just an arranged one."

She reached out to unbutton his clothes, but he stopped her, which only fueled her anger.

"What do you mean? You're a cripple, it's a favor for me to want you, and you dare refuse!"

He was filled with anger and was about to stop him when the man became increasingly confused until he completely lost consciousness.

He clearly didn't want to, and couldn't, continue anything, but in his dazed state, he seemed to hold her down, and even... touch her inappropriately.

He remembered that soft touch clearly, and he had a vague impression of the changes in his body.

Everything was in chaos. When he woke up today, looking at the prince sleeping soundly in his arms, and seeing the marks and bloodstains on his body, he knew that things had completely spiraled out of control.

After riding a horse to clear his mind, he calmed down and accepted reality.

Ji Mingzheng looked at Li Qingyan, who seemed somewhat different from last night, and spoke stiffly:

"Last night... I'm sorry, even though I know Your Highness doesn't like me, I still lost my composure."

When he spoke of his loss of composure, he became somewhat flustered, and even his voice sounded a little hoarse, but he still managed to finish speaking.

"I suppose I hurt Your Highness last night. I apologize to Your Highness. Although I was drunk, now that it has happened, I will not shirk my responsibility."

"If Your Highness is angry, please vent your anger. Whatever compensation you require, I will do my best to provide it."

He finished speaking with a cold face, giving off a kind of cool and cute vibe.

Noticing Li Qingyan looking at him with surprise, he pursed his lips and added:

"Your Highness, please don't misunderstand. I have remembered your warning. Moreover, I am physically disabled and have no desire for love. I will never do what I did last night again."

If it weren't for his outburst last night, given his volatile temper, he would have stayed far away from her and wouldn't have said a word or even given her a glance!

But then, last night...

He was filled with regret and remorse, but he had to face it.

Li Qingyan knew he had misunderstood.

"Ji, we did not consummate our marriage last night."

Although she was restrained and he searched her body last night, perhaps the sleeping pills Qiu Nanzhu had given her were too strong, and he didn't really wake up in the end, falling asleep again while searching her.

Enraged, she retaliated by touching him several times, even pressing Grandpa's wife back down. His body temperature rose, but he never woke up.

So nothing happened.

Ji Mingzheng was quite surprised: "Really? I misunderstood."

He is still innocent; he didn't touch her and owes her nothing!

He has the potential to rise to prominence!

He swore that he would never touch her in his life, let alone like her. If he ever touched her, or if she ever touched him, he would take her surname!

Li Qingyan watched as Ji Mingzheng's face gradually brightened, and she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.

It was obvious that he was happy that he hadn't consummated his marriage with her.

It seems that Ji Mingzheng is not so easy to deal with.

"There's definitely a misunderstanding. You didn't go all the way last night. You just held me down and groped me."

She wouldn't lie to him about consummating the marriage like in the original story, or even lie to him that the child was his after she got pregnant, but she didn't want to see him so happy, so she told him the truth.

The smile doesn't disappear, it just moves on.

Li Qingyan left after saying this, ignoring Ji Mingzheng's expression, and walked away with a smile.

She should go and meet her other husbands first; there's no rush to develop feelings for him.

As she left Changfeng Palace, wondering which husband she should see first, a palace maid reminded her:

"Your Highness, the Prince Xian specifically stopped the imperial physician who treated His Majesty this morning to ask him questions."

Li Qingyan's gaze sharpened as memories of the emperor surged forth. According to the original owner's memories, the emperor and her modern mother looked exactly alike.

All of this was such a coincidence that she couldn't help but wonder if the emperor was her mother.

"I'll go pay my respects to the Empress Dowager first." After seeing the Empress Dowager, she will go to see her other husbands.