After Xiao Li left the chamber, Zhao Ming and Ji Cheng went to their chamber as well leaving Shuren to rest in her room.

  …


  " What are you doing?" Ji Cheng asked while removing his upper robe.

  Zhao Ming was sitting on the edge of the bed while holding the ring given by Shuren carefully between her palms and was staring at the ring with her bright eyes.

  She pursed her lips and replied without lifting her head, " I am looking at this ring. How can it be so beautiful?"

  Ji Cheng walked to her after changing his clothes and stared at her amusingly, " Do you like this ring that much? I never knew that you like these kinds of ornaments. "

  " I always like these kinds of ornaments. I don't like heavy dresses but ornaments like these are always welcomed. I just wish I could take these things back. " She murmured the last sentence which wasn't audible to him

  " What did you say?"

  " Nothing."

  She stood up from the bed and passed by him, not even glancing at him in the process and placed the ring in one of the empty boxes carefully and hid it in the wooden closet.

  After she was done, she turned around and saw that he was staring at her while standing on the same spot with dejected expressions.

  " Why are you pouting like this?" She asked as she walked towards him while chuckling.

  He pursed his lips and said, " Why do I feel that you like this ring more than me? Since you got that ring, you haven't even glanced at me properly. "

  She raised her brows in surprise seeing the Emperor of the Ji Dynasty acting like a pouty child.

  " Are you……jealous of that harmless ring? Seriously? "

  His expressions turned grim when he heard her question.

  ' Hah. Jealous? Me? Not at all.'

  He scoffed and said, " Why would I be jealous of that stupid ring? I know that I am more charming and attractive than that ring."

  "-_-"

  'Did he just compare himself to a ring?'

  Her lips curled up in amusement as she said, "Who said that you're more charming than that ring? I think the ring is more beautiful and attractive." She shrugged her shoulders and folded her arms in front of her chest.

  "-_-"

  " What? What did you say? That ring is more attractive?" Ji Cheng's expressions turned dark upon hearing her words as he stared at her.

  'This……this girl……how can she be so heartless?'

  He was still shocked and in a daze that he didn't notice her mischievous expressions.

  Seeing him in trance, she moved forward and placed her hands on his arms and gave him a quick peck on his warm lips.

  " The only difference is……the ring is a non-living thing while you are a living person. I can kiss you, cuddle with you and "Ahem", sleep with you. But I can't do all this with that ring. So I prefer you over that ring."

  She wanted to use a different word in place of sleep but he wouldn't have understood the meaning of that word, so she just replaced it with sleep.

  ( Author: What word could it be?)

  She still needs to maintain her reputation as an Empress after all.

  Ji Cheng stared at her with astonishment as his ears turned red in embarrassment. Her words……sometimes can be so direct.

  " How……can you talk like this?" He said while stuttering as he was a little startled hearing her words.

  " Are you shy? Why are you so embarrassed to talk about such things when you don't even hesitate to do such things?"

  Ji Cheng was once again speechless hearing her words. Why is she so adamant to make him embarrassed?

  She chuckled seeing him so embarrassed and felt pleased by his reaction.

  …..

  In the evening, the special feast was arranged in the palace dining hall where all the consorts were invited to meet Grandmother Shuren.

  By the time Zhao Ming and Ji Cheng reached the palace dining hall, all the other consorts had already arrived, along with Xiao Li.

  When they entered, all the consorts stood up to greet Ji Cheng, however, they didn't forget to greet Zhao Ming beside him.

  They know that Zhao Ming can hold grudges for long and they need to aim for monthly rewards as well.

  Ji Cheng was pleased to see how well behaved all the Consorts were acting and it's all because of Zhao Ming's policies. [ Read this novel on W e b n o v e l . c o m ( remove spaces). If you are reading this elsewhere, then this novel is pirated. Support the original author, not thieves. Regards Kamlyn]

  On one corner of the table, a royal chair was placed in the center and two chairs beside it were also kept empty for them, while other consorts were sitting on the other chairs.

  Ji Cheng kept the center chair for Grandmother Shuren and decided to sit on its adjacent chair.

  Zhao Ming looked at the chair opposite to him which was empty while on the chair beside him, Xiao Li was sitting there.

  She noticed the mocking smile in her eyes thinking that Ji Cheng is going to sit beside her while Zhao Ming has to sit away from him. She scoffed and didn't walk to her side to take her seat.

  Instead, she sat on the chair opposite of Ji Cheng without saying anything.

  " What are you doing? Why are you sitting there?" Ji Cheng asked when he saw that she sat on the chair opposite of him.

  " It's okay. Consort Xiao Li is already sitting there. It would be rude for me to remove her and sit beside you. Moreover, it's just for this meal, so you don't need to worry."

  Xiao Li frowned Zhao Ming's words. She deliberately stressed, ' just for this meal.'

  Ji Cheng pursed his lips and stood up from his seat and walked over to Zhao Ming's side, he looked at Jia shi who was sitting beside Zhao Ming and said, " Consort Jia shi, can you change seats with me?"

  Xiao Li: "-_-"

  Jia Shi: "-_-"

  Jia shi was surprised that he was talking to her directly. How can she reject his request?

  She nodded and without any delay, she stood up from her chair and walked to sit on Ji Cheng's seat, while letting Ji Cheng sit on hers.

  Ji Cheng happily sat beside Zhao Ming and smiled at her brightly, as if asking for a compliment.

  ##