Before Jue Chen could arrive, his voice announced, "Jingjing, Changyi, what are you doing? It smells delicious! I just came to scrounge a meal! But, why are you cooking outside? Wouldn’t it be better to cook at home?"
An Jing did not reply, but quickly said, "The Emperor, Crown Prince, and Crown Princess Consort are all here, you mustn’t stay up there!"
Upon hearing An Jing’s words, Jue Chen acted as if he had just noticed the Emperor of Xiyun and hurriedly dismounted, then with a thud, he knelt before the Emperor of Xiyun: "This humble commoner greets the Emperor, long live, long live, long live the Emperor."
The Emperor of Xiyun did not like Jue Chen, but due to consideration for An Jing and Xiao Changyi, he could not be too hard on Jue Chen.
All the Emperor of Xiyun did was snort and say, "Why don’t you call me ’old man’ as you did last time?"
Jue Chen sneered inwardly, but his face showed fear as he pleaded, "Your Majesty, spare my life. This humble commoner did not recognize it was the Emperor that day and offended Your Majesty. Spare my life... Spare my life, Your Majesty..."
While speaking, he kept kowtowing to the Emperor of Xiyun. With every kowtow, Jue Chen cursed the Emperor of Xiyun in his heart, hoping he would die soon.
Although it was difficult to be too harsh on Jue Chen, the Emperor of Xiyun still meant to trouble him a bit. He only heard the Emperor of Xiyun snort again, "Aren’t you the Stubborn Doctor? They say you fear not death, so why then do you beg for my mercy?"
Jue Chen replied, "This humble commoner’s sister is pregnant. I wish to live to see her give birth to the child."
Emperor of Xiyun: "..."
Crown Princess Consort: "..."
While An Jing remained speechless, she felt happy for Jue Chen’s sister, Gong Juese. Gong Juese had always wanted to have a child, and now that she was pregnant, it was quite good.
The news of Gong Juese’s pregnancy had already been shared with her and her husband by Meng Zhuqing the day before.
After a moment of silence, Su Chengyu spoke, "Father, considering his service in saving Yun Er and the Fifth Imperial Brother, please forgive his disrespect."
Jue Chen thought to himself that since he had saved the Fifth Imperial Brother, this imperial father must already despise him to death.
Jue Chen laughed wildly in his heart, yet showed no sign of it outwardly.
The Emperor of Xiyun never intended to be too harsh on Jue Chen in the first place. Upon hearing Su Chengyu’s words, he took the opportunity offered and responded, "Ignorance is no crime, rise."
"Thank Your Majesty!" Jue Chen kowtowed again to the Emperor of Xiyun, cursing him in his mind one more time wishing for his early demise, before he stood up.
Although Jue Chen was annoying, An Jing had never wished for his death. Given Jue Chen’s tendency to offend people with his words, once he stood up, An Jing directed him to help Xiao Changyi with roasting the bamboo rice.
In contrast to his respectful behavior toward the Emperor of Xiyun and others, Jue Chen reverted to his shameless demeanor with An Jing and Xiao Changyi.
The Emperor of Xiyun frowned again. He really grew to dislike Jue Chen more and more.
Jue Chen didn’t care whether the Emperor of Xiyun liked him or not, he just cheekily moved closer to Xiao Changyi and before he could speak, he heard Xiao Changyi whisper in a volume only he could hear, "I see you smiling."
Upon hearing Xiao Changyi’s words, Jue Chen’s hand, which was stirring the fire with fire tongs to make it burn brighter, trembled slightly, but he quickly regained his composure, acting as if he hadn’t heard the words at all.
But Jue Chen himself knew that his heart had been churned by Xiao Changyi’s words.
He didn’t know how much Xiao Changyi knew about him, but he knew, at that moment, among all these people, the one he truly feared was Xiao Changyi.