After a while, a little eunuch of Emperor Chunjia walked in quickly, and also smiled, “When His Majesty passed by Tai Ye Pool after school just now, he saw a few beautiful apricot blossoms on the other side and wanted to go around to appreciate them. I remembered that there is a hundred-year-old apricot tree in your yard, so I told this to His Majesty. Hearing this, His Majesty said that he didn’t finish the game of chess with Cheng Gui last night!”

Yun Fenghuang went forward with a smile and saluted him, saying sweetly, “Thank you very much. I will keep your kindness in my heart.”

“I really don’t deserve this.” The little eunuch avoided her salutation immediately and murmured, “It’s just a matter of coincidence.. “Then, Cheng Gui, you make the preparation first, and I’m going back to reply to His Majesty.”

Yun Fenghuang asked Nian Xuan instantly to take two silver ingots to award him, which was very generous with respect to her present grade. The little eunuch pretended to refuse a few times and finally accepted with a smile, and then he went away.

After the little eunuch left, Xi Xing Building was busy again with the service preparation.

Nian Xuan served Yun Fenghuang to dress up deftly, and she was so happy, “I didn’t expect His Majesty adores Cheng Gui so much!”

She glanced outside and said softly, “It would be good if His Majesty spends all his nights here in the following days. In this way, we..”

“In this way, we will die very soon.” Looking at the newly combed Duoma haircut in the mirror, Yun Fenghuang sneered and whispered, “I underestimated this Majesty.. He has been learning from the imperial tutors and grand preceptors to this day and his word of mouth in the Imperial Harem has always been amiable, so I thought he was somewhat weak and easy to be used. But now, it seems difficult. He is after all the Supreme Emperor.”

Nian Xuan froze for a while and asked confusedly, “Cheng Gui, what do you mean?”

“His Majesty is trying to kill me by favoring me.” Yun Fenghuang said lightly, “Empress Ji insisted on arranging me in Hu Zhu Palace to make trouble for Consort Yue. He, considering both big picture and private feelings, didn’t want Consort Yue to be in trouble, so he had to find a way to get me out of here.. But his power is limited, so what should he do? I suggested him before that he could pretend to favor me, letting me sleep with him to advance my grade, and then faking up an excuse that he liked me and wanted me to live closer to him, or other similar excuses. In this way, Consort Yue could get rid of the trouble. However, this majesty obviously does not want to be led away by me, so he intends to deal with me once and for all.. You see, I was just the first to sleep with His Majesty yesterday, and Zhao Yuan Ji was already unhappy with that. If he really sleeps with me for the next few days, some people in this Imperial Harem will tear us apart.”

Although the concubines in Emperor Chunjia’s Imperial Harem was not many now, they all had extraordinary origins. Yun Fenghuang’s family background was definitely the bottom of this group of noble girls. It was difficult to convince the public to take the lead in sleeping with the Emperor. Her life would be very hard if she took away all the Emperor’s love and made him only sleep with her.

What’s more, the reason for the audition this time was that the Empress Dowager worried about Emperor Chunjia’s offspring. She definitely didn’t think that Emperor Chunjia was lonely and needed the consolation of a group of young and beautiful concubines.. Now no matter who made Emperor Chunjia only sleep with her and devote all his love to her, she would be regarded as violating the Empress Dowager’s decree and ignoring the imperial offspring. This level of charge would be enough to abolish the Empress. Therefore, with Yun Fenghuang’s current grade, it would be taken for granted to get Duke Yi’s Mansion involved.

Nian Xuan’s face paled suddenly, “Well..then Cheng Gui, you can pretend to be sick. In this way, you can say that you are afraid of infecting His Majesty with your illness, and ask His Majesty not to come here.”

How rare it was!

Yun Fenghuang felt very touched. The maid who had always been dull came up with a relatively feasible method!

If it hadn’t been for the current difficult situation, she would have followed her advice to encourage her!

“It’s no use only pretending to be sick.” Yun Fenghuang instructed her kindly, “Even if His Majesty doesn’t come, he could express his care to me. For example, he could give me rewards, send a message to console me, and even go to see Her Highness in person to ask me for benefits.. Anyway, for him, just a few words of command can take advantage of those jealous women to kill us. He will be happy to do this.”

Moreover, Emperor Chunjia might have a certain guess that she pretended to be ill. By then, if he “cared about his loved concubine so much that he insisted on visiting her in person regardless of his royal body”, Yun Fenghuang would have no chance to live definitely.

.. After death, she might contribute a new material to the storyteller on the street stalls that the holy Emperor’s favor for a beautiful concubine caused her tragic ending.

Huh!

So, Yun Fenghuang asked Nian Xuan to act as usual, and she had already got a plan.

The issue was..

How could Nian Xuan act as usual?!

Although Nian Xuan pretended to be not flustered, she looked the opposite. Looking at this, Yun Fenghuang had to take out a green jade hairpin from the rewards given by the Empress before, and throwed it down, “Well, clean it up and leave.”

After a long while, Emperor Chunjia came over. Seeing that Nian Xuan looked flustered, he impliedly asked what happened. Yun Fenghuang sighed and explained unhappily, “This clumsy maid. I asked her to help me dress up just now, but I didn’t expect that she broke up the hairpin rewarded by Her Highness before.. I can’t explain it to Her Highness!”

“I thought it was serious.” Emperor Chunjia said mildly, “It’s just a hairpin. Her Highness will not blame you.”

Yun Fenghuang said, “I know Her Highness is kind, but I haven’t used that hairpin.. I wanted to wear it to show you, but I didn’t expect that she broke it up. So clumsy!”

The newly-promoted concubine who was just coming of age was now unhappy and pursed her lips. There was still a bit of childishness between the young woman’s eyebrows. This act was innocent, not only not pretentious, but revealing charming and ignorance.

Emperor Chunjia laughed, “Stingy girl.”

He turned his head and instructed the little eunuch on his side, “Go back later and take some hairpins and bracelets from my private stockroom to Cheng Gui Yun. In this way, Cheng Gui won’t remember Her Highness’s hairpin, and won’t be listless and pitiful in front of me.”

Yun Fenghuang became happy immediately, coming to him and saying with coquetry, “My Majesty makes fun of me! I dare not be listless. I am very happy to see My Majesty!”

She expressed her thanks for the reward happily, and then swore vows, “I would dress up delicately in the future and wear them for My Majesty to see every day!”

She said confidently as if she could see Emperor Chunjia every day.

Emperor Chunjia drank the tea slowly, but did not expose it, only smiling, “You would dress up delicately in the future? So, you didn’t actually dress up well today, but just dress up casually?”

Yun Fenghuang was about to explain, but the Emperor said again before she had a chance to speak, “But Cheng Gui is born with beauty, and you are still extremely beautiful even though you dress up casually.”

“I am relieved that My Majesty likes my dressing.” Hearing this, Nian Xuan and Xin Qing both blushed slightly. The young and handsome Emperor talked honeyed words in public. Even if those words were not for them, they were somewhat shy standing by their sides.

However, Yun Fenghuang, the person who was praised, did not feel ashamed at all. Instead, she laughed even more brilliantly. She touched her face and happily said, “There are a lot of talented and beautiful concubines in My Majesty’s Imperial Harem. I am afraid that I am not talented and beautiful enough so that My Majesty will despise me!”

She even gave Emperor Chunjia a wink!

Emperor Chunjia was speechless.

It shouldn’t be like this. Although he was like a puppet, he was still the Emperor. He had never suppressed himself in his sexual life, and he considered himself a veteran of this, but he had never seen any woman like Yun Fenghuang!

Although he now knew that this Cheng Gui was not from Yun’s Family, it was said that she was also a noble lady.

Why was she different from other concubines in the Imperial Harem?

If she were a daughter of a poor family who had been selected to enter the Imperial Harem, he could understand it. After all, if a poor girl could only rely on the final practicing of the rules before she became a concubine of the Emperor, it was unlikely that she could quickly change into another person and become a delicate and elegant concubine..

Could it be that the perception of a noble lady in the north went far away from Dijing City?

But Cheng Gui Yun’s aunt, Ms. Xie, who was also the wife of Duke Yi’s cousin, was said to be a virtuous and noble lady born in a large family.

For a time, Emperor Chunjia was a little bit distracted. He thought to himself, “The world is so big that strange and magnificent people and things are emerging endlessly. Since the aunt and nephew of a family still have totally different temperaments, let alone other things? I am the noble Emperor, but I am trapped in a spot of the palace. I am even surprised at such a newly promoted Cheng Gui who does not act as the convention.. It’s..”

The Emperor simply returned to his heart and laughed softly, “Cheng Gui is very cute, and I naturally like you.”

“I like My Majesty, too!” Yun Fenghuang said with her head tilted and smiled at him. Her clear eyes were as naive and innocent as possible, “I have nothing else to pay back My Majesty’s great kindness. Then.. Let me dance for My Majesty? I can dance very well, and everyone who have seen my dance praised me!”

After she finished her words, she stood up immediately before Emperor Chunjia answered. She took a light leap, jumped on the woolen blanket not far away, flew her sleeves, and performed a lingbo dance affectedly – the reason why described her “affectedly” was that Yun Fenghuang’s dancing skill was not so good.

Actually, it was quite normal. After all, she was a legitimate daughter of a large family. She had been engaged to the right family since she was a child. According to her family planning, she would have changed from a noble girl to the wife in charge of her family. Therefore, unlike those concubines or performers, she didn’t need to learn poems, songs and musical instruments to please and serve her husband with beautiful appearance.

Lingbo dance was the one and the only dance she could perform. She learnt a little about it when she learned the rules of deportment and etiquette when she was a junior. As for “everyone who had seen her dance all praised her”, it’s true.. After all, given her identity, only her father, mother, sisters of her tribe and noble friends had seen her dance. Those people of course praised her in different ways and were impossible to criticize her!

Therefore, Yun Fenghuang confidently performed this Lingbo dance to Emperor Chunjia. After she stopped out of breath, she stared at the Emperor expectedly, without concealing her intention to be praised.

Emperor Chunjia pulled the corner of his mouth. Even if he did not give a thought of the imperial songs and dances that he could enjoy anytime and anywhere after he ascended the throne, any dancers in his mansion when he was still Princedom Fuyang danced better than this Cheng Gui. Besides, the performers also had their special dance dresses, special makeups, special stages, special background songs.. This little Cheng Gui had nothing of the above. Where did her confidence come from?

She didn’t even feel embarrassed!

“Cheng Gui danced..” Emperor Chunjia thought for a while, and then gave the wording, “Danced very attentively.”

The Emperor couldn’t cheat himself to say she was good at dancing, hoping she wouldn’t ask more.

But Yun Fenghuang didn’t give up. She took the hanky handed up by Nian Xuan and wiped the fine sweat on her forehead. Then she went to Emperor Chunjia and pulled his sleeve to act coquettishly, “So, did My Majesty enjoy that?”

.. Couldn’t she be reserved?

When Emperor Chunjia was underage, he was the only successor of Princedom Fuyang’s mansion, and he was the noble Emperor after he became an adult. There were only two kinds of young women in his life: one was the respectful maids, and the other was the daughters of noble families who were educated to be dignified and reserved.

Yun Fenghuang was a straightforward woman who didn’t know shame and didn’t have much awe to him. He really had never seen anyone like her before.

He was speechless. However, after he was entangled by Cheng Gui, who was almost ten years younger, he finally nodded against his heart because of the temperament that was developed from an early age, “Yes, I enjoyed it very much.”

No, it was impossible.

Emperor Chunjia had no expression on his face for a moment, but he thought, “Well, it’s unnecessary to bother for a dying concubine.”

Especially this concubine was trying to please him.

He didn’t know what happened after a while. Yun Fenghuang excused that she needed to change her clothes and entered the inside room with Nian Xuan. Nian Xuan whispered anxiously, “Cheng Gui.. are you too passionate to His Majesty? And why did you suddenly dance?”

In fact, Nian Xuan believed that there was nothing wrong to be too enthusiastic to the Emperor. As long as the Emperor did not show resentment and liked it, it would be fine. The key was that she shouldn’t dance. She should know how bad her dance was.

Even among the noble ladies who didn’t make their living with dancing in the north, Yun Fenghuang’s dance counted the bottom!

“Do you remember the rules set for us when we first entered Hu Zhu Palace?” Yun Fenghuang smiled subtly and whispered, “Concubines are not allowed to play the Qin or dance.. However, I not only danced, but specially danced for His Majesty. I really want to see the look of our hostess after she learnt this!”

If there were any musical instruments like Qin or Se in Xi Xing Building, she would like to play a song for Emperor Chunjia when she went out later. No, a few songs!

Nian Xuan was speechless.

She asked incredulously, “Just for this?”

Yun Fenghuang nodded happily, “Just for this.”

Ignoring Nian Xuan’s reluctant expression, she went to the bronze mirror to check her dressing, and then walked out briskly.. She was not comfortable if she didn’t make troubles. That’s exactly who she was!