Pei Ji stared at Chu Yunge’s completely defenseless appearance and involuntarily turned his face away.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, his chest heaved, and he took several deep breaths before calming down.
In the end, he maintained the posture of having just stepped forward and didn’t glance sideways again.
After a moment of wild thoughts, and since he hadn’t rested properly for several days in a row, Pei Ji finally fell asleep.
But with thoughts by day turning to dreams by night, he dreamed that Chu Yunge kept hugging him, and no matter how he struggled, it was useless.
Coincidentally, in reality, there really was a soft, fragrant person right in his arms.
Whether it was the dream or Chu Yunge pressing too close, the end result was that he joyfully obtained the embarrassing morning reaction that every man gets upon waking.
Unfortunately, just as Pei Ji woke up, Chu Yunge did too.
In the worst possible timing, she lay on her side facing him, leaving everything exposed with nowhere to hide.
Chu Yunge first noticed in surprise how close they were—she was entirely buried in Pei Ji’s embrace.
But her attention was quickly drawn elsewhere.
She slowly looked downward and raised an eyebrow.
The moment Pei Ji saw where Chu Yunge’s gaze fell, he wished he could just die.
His face flushed bright red as he abruptly sat up, but at the moment he swung his legs off the bed, he hesitated and ended up bending at the waist as he retreated backward.
Compared to Pei Ji, who looked like he was about to combust, Chu Yunge was far more composed. “If you keep scooting back, you’re going to fall off the bed.”
Pei Ji froze and stared at Chu Yunge in disbelief. How could her reaction be so nonchalant?
Yet Chu Yunge wasn’t just nonchalant; she even said, “Morning. No need to be so tense.”
Upon hearing that, Pei Ji’s ears and neck turned completely red—Chu Yunge even suspected his whole body had flushed.
She yawned and moved to get out of bed.
Pei Ji grabbed Chu Yunge’s hand. “What kind of attitude is that? You’re a girl…”
Chu Yunge looked puzzled. “Then what attitude should I have?”
Pei Ji didn’t know what attitude she should have, but he simply couldn’t tolerate her being like this.
She shouldn’t be so indifferent, shouldn’t pretend not to see, shouldn’t lack even a hint of shyness…
Pei Ji couldn’t stand seeing her this way, so he stepped forward, used some force, and pushed Chu Yunge down onto the bed, pinning her hands.
He loomed over her, watching as Chu Yunge’s expression finally changed. Evil intent surged to the forefront of his mind; he smiled, leaned down…
He waited for her to change expression, waited for her to dodge.
But when they were mere inches apart, when his lips were about to touch hers, she still didn’t resist or yield—she just looked at him with an expression that said kiss if you want, do whatever.
Pei Ji panicked. His Adam’s apple bobbed again, leaving him caught between advancing and retreating.
One voice seemed to urge him: Just kiss her, just scare her. She doesn’t care, so what are you afraid of?
Another voice held him back, warning that kissing her would lead to no return…
He stayed frozen like that.
Chu Yunge spoke up. “Had enough fun? Get off.”
She didn’t know how far things had progressed between Pei Ji and the Chu Emperor, but he didn’t seem like the type to mistake her for a stand-in.
So she couldn’t understand why Pei Ji was going crazy, but she knew the end result would be that Pei Ji would save his first kiss.
Sure enough, after she waited several seconds, he didn’t move.
She could move, though—a casual tilt of her head and a pout of her lips would steal Pei Ji’s first kiss, but it wouldn’t succeed anyway.
Still, why did she feel a bit tempted?
She knew Pei Ji was a pure-love type, but the Chu Emperor had so many CP partners. If everyone fell for him, even giving him all their firsts, she felt a twinge of jealousy.
With evil intent surging to the forefront, and seeing Pei Ji still not leaving despite being shooed, Chu Yunge suddenly threw her head back.
Then she saw Pei Ji react like a startled cat, zipping away in an instant.
With speed that defied physics, he leaped onto the beam overhead.
He crouched on the beam, staring at Chu Yunge in disbelief and pointing at her. “Chu Yunge, you… what are you doing!”
The clear youthful voice cracked from the shock, trembling as well.
His wide eyes and bristling posture made him look exactly like a cat with its fur standing on end.
“Hahaha.” Chu Yunge burst into laughter.
She had just been teasing him on a whim, testing the waters, but Pei Ji’s reaction was even bigger and more amusing than she expected.
“You started it, acting all sneaky with such a timid heart.”
He had tried to play dirty and gotten his comeuppance, hadn’t he?
Chu Yunge smacked her lips. Had they kissed just now, or not?
She felt like they had touched, but also like they hadn’t.
Pei Ji was worthy of his skills—he dodged incredibly fast.
On second thought, they probably hadn’t touched. After all, by convention, the first kiss had to be saved; otherwise, it wouldn’t be pure.
Chu Yunge felt no regret. She had just wanted to scare Pei Ji a little, and missing was fine anyway since he was a pure-love guy.
She glanced at Pei Ji, still perched on the beam like a vigilant kitten, shook her head, and got out of bed to freshen up.
Pei Ji watched her go with wide eyes, completely unconcerned.
Just as if she didn’t care that he had pinned her down or whether he would kiss her.
He hadn’t even missed the mischievous glint in her eyes when she deliberately lifted her head to kiss him earlier.
What was wrong with her? Why the mischief? Why had she become like this?
She used to be a wicked woman, but now she wasn’t just wicked—she was naughty too.
She…
Pei Ji seethed with anger.
When Chu Yunge returned from freshening up, Pei Ji had moved away, though there were a few claw marks on the beam.
“He really does look like a cat.”
Oblivious to how she had driven Pei Ji to the brink of madness, Chu Yunge eyed the lavish breakfast and began looking for her Li Guangi.
Li Guangi soon arrived, bringing the ledgers with him.
What would take ordinary people ten days or half a month to calculate, he had finished overnight through overtime.
He had even categorized the ledgers in detail, written up the situations, and sorted the problematic ones from the fine ones.
In short, no matter how well the ledgers were kept, they couldn’t escape his eyes.
Chu Yunge flipped through them. Overall, the princess mansion’s accounts had no major issues. The emperor doted on her, and after the princess had made an example of some to warn the rest, many had behaved themselves.
The problems weren’t big and could be handled directly.
And Li Guangi had done all this in just one day and one night.
“You’re really fast, but there’s no rush. Don’t stay up late anymore.”
Li Guangi smiled and shook his head, indicating it was fine.
After returning last night, everyone else was delighted about his new courtyard, but he alone felt restless.
Seeing that he wouldn’t sleep anyway, and overthinking was pointless, he simply dove into the accounts.
As long as he focused on calculating and working, he wouldn’t feel troubled, and his mind would calm.
Before coming today, he had figured it out.
He didn’t need to overthink. He was just a male consort who had been schemed into this and now had to rely on the princess’s favor. So he would accept his position and do his duties well.
He wouldn’t covet anything else.
As long as he didn’t covet, as long as he stuck to his role and guarded his heart, he would eventually find his place, direction, and future.