Of course, sometimes, after fierce love-making, women were too exhausted to get off bed, which happened only when they slept with men who were incredibly blessed with duration and stamina. Qi Sheng may be capable and experienced in sex, but he had always been self-restraint with lust. How come he indulged himself like that? Was it the result of the herbal tonic I offered him last night?

As I contemplated on the matter, the ladies seemed angrier, while pouting, crumpling the handkerchiefs in their hands.

This just wouldn’t do. It seemed they were about to lose temper on me. This could not work. I had to try to distract them. Well, I could not offer them with Qi Sheng’s sex, but I could at least send for some handsome men to entertain them.

I then asked the servants to send for Zhao wang, Chu wang and other young, handsome descendants of the imperial family to play ji qiu in the palace. Then I asked Zhang Chacha to settle Wei’er and the nursemaid in the rear court room while I settled the jealous ladies.

Then I offered seats for the ladies and with a slight cough, saying, “You shouldn’t be jealous of others on matters like this. His Majesty never neglects any concubine in his court, and has settled in your rooms for many a times. Be more like Concubine Wang. She’s been among the last ones the emperor visits. But she never argues about that.”

Concubine Huang wrung the handkerchief in her hands while saying, flushed, “B-but His Majesty never—”

“Enough!” I stopped her words. What was wrong with this woman? If she wanted Qi Sheng’s adoration this much, instead of troubling me with her incompetence, she should really try to have sex with Qi Sheng the whole night and suck him dry. Whose fault it was when she wasn’t attractive enough?

However, I couldn’t just say that. Such words were too explicit and inappropriate. I had to swallow them back, and said politely, “I understand . Well, let’s say, sometimes, the rain drops a rain cloud can offer is limited. And it’s impossible for the cloud to rinse all the fields it ploughs. And if some of the fields need more water, just squeeze the thing and wring the drops out of it.”

The hall went quiet as my words dropped. Li shi, sitting at the end of the ladies, coughing and choking at my words, spouted out a mouthful of tea she had just drunk.

Concubine Liu was sitting next to her and unfortunately got sprayed in the face. She was pretty angry, but dared not revenge on Concubine Li in front of me. Blushed, she wiped her face with a handkerchief with head lowered.

Despite of the startled ladies, Concubine Chen , who sat next to me, was as calm as always. She picked up the cup with her usual face and took a sip.

Concubine Huang, who had been pondering over my words the whole time, asked, “Squeeze it? How do I squeeze it?”

Concubine Chen  choked too. In fear of offending me, she quickly turned to the other direction, and coughed the water on Concubine Liu again.

The poor Concubine Liu was now soaking wet. Grieved, she wiped her clothes with the handkerchief, eyes rimmed red with tears. “You people are bullying me!”

Trying to save the situation, I hurriedly called Xie Yi over to take her down to change into my clothes.

To make it even worse, when I came back, Concubine Huang was still waiting for my answer. She looked at me expectantly.

I could only cough slightly to conceal the embarrassment. “You have to figure it out by yourself.”

Soon enough, Xie Yi led Concubine Liu back. I looked up at the outside and realized that Zhao wang and Chu wang were about to arrive. To change the subject completely, I hurriedly stood up, and said, “It’s time. Let’s leave for the ji qiu field. We can’t let the emperor wait.”

Then I hurried off to the ji qiu ground, followed by the ladies.

There was a special ji qiu ground in the palace for Emperor Cheng of this dynasty liked to play ji qiu.

The palace was large, and horse-riding was not allowed. Thus, Zhao wang, Chu wang and others had been there for a while when the women and I finally arrived in a loose team.

Like always, Chu wang came with Yang Yan. They both wore golden hair bands, narrow sleeved embroidered gowns and black leather boots. The attire perfectly brought out the young men’s wide shoulders, narrow waists, long legs and shaped hips. Undoubtedly, the scene was pleasing to eyes.

To my surprise, Zhao wang brought Lv Li with him.

Heart pounding with joy, I moved towards her.

But before I could talk to her, Qi Sheng appeared at another entrance.

This time, he wasn’t followed by Wang shi but a thin boy in white.

Because of Jiang shi, I was now allergic to people in white.

I took a second look at the boy.

This time, I was stunned in shock. The boy following Qi Sheng was exactly Jiang shi, who now dressed herself as a man.

The ladies standing behind me were also shocked. As were Chu wang and Zhao wang.

Actually, Jiang shi was no longer a secret to the imperial family.

Let alone Chu wang and Zhao wang, even the ladies heard of what happened in Youlan Hall.

In before, they knew who she was, but didn’t pay too much attention.

No matter how well Qi Sheng treated her, they believed that their relation could only be privately.

Jiang shi’s identity and status was an obstacle. What was more, she had been a “dead person”.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Qi Sheng appeared in public with Jiang shi in such an imposing manner, making no effort to hide their relation.

Even though Jiang Shi dressed on man’s wear, everyone that was not blind could recognize her.

And the dress color: Could she at least change the color of her attire? Like, anything but white?

Like an old saying went, “If this can be endured, what else cannot be.”

At that moment, the only thought appeared on my mind was, ‘They’ll make a scene out of it.’

Were I not the empress, I’d be happy to sit and watch the fuss. Now that I was the empress and the head of the imperial court, whatever happened here would be my responsibility.

In legal terms, I’m jointly and severally liable to all the ladies’ behaviors, including Qi Sheng’s concubine, and Zhao wang, even Chu wang’s.

After the shock came the dark tide of anger. The ladies were now staring at Jiang shi fiercely.

Zhang Chacha also asked in surprise, “Sister, who’s that boy with His Majesty? He looks like a woman.”

I ignored her question. Hurriedly, I turned back and glared at the ladies, and whispered, “If anyone dares to stir up trouble, I’ll make her suffer a great ‘drought’ for three years!”

The ladies exchanged a glance, bowed their heads and remained quiet.

I did not think much of it, but took it as they had said “yes” to me.

I mounted a horse with an air of unprecedented dexterity and rode close to the Lv Li like flying.

I had to stop her from entering the ji qiu play. Qi Sheng had already hated her for what she did. If she dared to do anything to Jiang shi again, Qi Sheng would never let her go.

On the side of the ground, Lv Li mounted on her steed and held the reins in her hand. She was glaring at Jiang shi with a murderous look.

I could only grab her bridle when she declared, “Rest assured, Your Majesty! I will teach her an unforgettable lesson!”

With that said, without looking at me, she flapped the reins and sped toward the center of the ground.

My hand trembled and hesitated for a moment. Then I turned decisively and ran to Qi Sheng and Jiang shi.

Now that I failed talking down Lv Li, I could only try to persuade them.

Qi sheng had already mounted the horse, but Jiang shi had fallen behind, leading a rouge-colored horse, and was bending her waist and arranging her trousers.

I carefully bypassed Qi Sheng, walked up to Jiang shi, bent down from the horse, and said to her in a friendly voice, “Miss Su, ji qiu play is boring. How about we going over there and having a look at the baby while having a chitchat?”

I pointed at Wei’er, who was carried up the bleachers by the nursemaid.

Jiang shi straightened up to glance at Wei’er. The ice in her eyes thawed for a moment. I was so happy when I thought I had persuaded her off the ji qiu play. But she sneered at me. “Thank you for your kind offer, Your Majesty. But I can not disobey the emperor.”

With that said, she mounted the rouge-colored horse deftly, and followed Qi Sheng into the ji qiu ground.

Qi Sheng, who was riding ahead, also stopped his horse and looked back with a smile. When Jiang shi caught up with him, they went to the field together.

I was stunned by his smile, dumbfounded.

Now that the plot had thickened, the ji qiu play was no longer just a ji qiu play. In everyone’s eyes, it was now a competition between the old love and new love, the true-wedded wife and the home wrecker. I guessed that I wouldn’t get away with it.

Because it was an impromptu ji qiu game, no one was wearing uniform, and the colors everyone was wearing were all jumbled up. To separate teams and show difference, some field attendants had already prepared red and yellow ribbons, which were trotted to the riders for selection.

Yang Yan, who was already wearing a red band on his forehead, was strolling his horse around the field. He shouted when he saw me at a distance, “Your Majesty, why are you standing in a maze? Go pick ribbons before they are all taken.”

As he spoke, he quietly approached me. His face was still full of joy, but he murmured with gravity, “His Highness sent news. Xie Yi’s not reliable.”

I was stunned by his words, but Yang yan was running away again.

Right now, all the people have gathered in the middle of the field, holding the reins, divided into several small groups.

Now that the ji qiu play was not avoidable, I reluctantly approached the attendees.

But I got cold feet on the way. As everyone was expecting a scuffle, my best choice might be stay where I were and watch.

With that thought, I smiled and announced to the crowd, “I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t play ji qiu now. I have to take care of Wei’er.”

With that I started off toward the stands.

But Jiang shi stopped me. She quietly said, “Your Majesty, it will be no fun if you don’t take part in.”

I stopped my horse, turned around and silently looked at Jiang shi for a moment, then trotted the horse toward the field.

An attendant quickly approached me, offering me the ribbons, panting, “Your Majesty, which color do you want?”

When I looked around, I found that Qi Sheng and Jiang shi were already wearing yellow ribbons on their heads. Chu wang chose red. Zhao wang hesitated for a moment and drew a yellow one from the eunuch beside him, whereas Lv Li chose a red one without hesitation.