Chapter 1 The Emperor's Favorite

Lu Xiaoyao was scared into a sweat in front of the emperor. She wasn't dismissed but was instead ordered to continue serving at his side. Thus, she witnessed the emperor summon the four players he had previously punished to kneel outside the hall, only to scold them relentlessly again regarding matters of the court.

By the end of it, although Lu Xiaoyao remained hunched over, trying to blend into the background, seeing those four players being scolded like grandchildren, her lips almost stretched to the back of her ears.

Satisfying!

So what if they were princes?

They were still getting scolded by the emperor!

Hahahaha!

[Look at our girl's smile...]

[Any of those princes could see it clearly if they turned their heads!]

[I can understand that feeling.]

[It's like in the company when a colleague brags about their relatives being high-level executives, and then they get a thorough scolding from the chairman.]

[Can I just say I was the colleague mentioned above?]

[......]

[But didn't you guys hear what the emperor was saying? There was a flood down south, and instead of caring about the affected people, the princes were arguing over the list of officials who would be managing the disaster relief and reconstruction.]

[Ah, another good opportunity to plant people, right?]

[Probably, but they didn't expect to touch the Jing'an Emperor's sore spot.]

The comments kept rolling on the screen. The four players, having received their characters' memories and accepted the game's background, naturally understood what mistakes they had made and were as meek as quails.

Although they were initially shocked by Mu Chen's familiar face, they knew that the person sitting above them wasn't a player as soon as he opened his mouth.

So, sometimes it's better not to be so quick to speak.

After being thoroughly scolded by the Jing'an Emperor, Lu Xiaoyao gleefully watched them leave, then turned around—Jing'an Emperor iswatchingyou.jpg

Lu Xiaoyao: ......

"Later, you will personally deliver these lychees to the Cining Palace."

Lu Xiaoyao barely dared to breathe, standing there with her head lowered, before finally hearing the Jing'an Emperor's decree. Relieved, she immediately withdrew.

Her mind was already filled with information about the Cining Palace.

It was where the Empress Dowager lived, and this Empress Dowager wasn't the current emperor's biological mother.

She seemed like a formidable character.

However, when Lu Xiaoyao arrived at the Cining Palace with the fresh lychees and saw that the Empress Dowager was actually Leng Youyou, who had introduced Mingmei's teacher in the CP group a few days ago, Lu Xiaoyao was really jealous!

It was one thing to lose to male players, but the female players' roles were too different, right?

"Bold! Seeing the Empress Dowager and not kneeling? Eunuch Lu, even if you are a favorite of His Majesty, you can't disregard the Empress Dowager like this, can you?"

Lu Xiaoyao and Leng Youyou were speechless, still processing each other's identities, when a young woman standing beside Leng Youyou suddenly spoke up, rebuking her.

Lu Xiaoyao looked at the NPC's clothes. The luxurious attire didn't seem like that of a palace servant, and her character's memories quickly provided information about her.

The Third Prince's Consort, the Empress Dowager's niece.

What kind of seniority was this?

The Empress Dowager's niece married the Empress Dowager's grandson?

Lu Xiaoyao's mind was filled with the scene of the Third Prince and the Third Prince's Consort standing together in front of the Empress Dowager, one calling her "Royal Grandmother" and the other calling her "Aunt," each addressing her in their own way.

Wow!

Amazing!

Stared at by the other party, Lu Xiaoyao had no choice but to first pay her respects to Leng Youyou, and then to the Third Prince's Consort.

Leng Youyou also felt that this was too difficult for Lu Xiaoyao, but there were palace servants all around, so she couldn't do anything too out of character. She calmly told Lu Xiaoyao to rise.

"Today, a batch of lychees was presented from the South Sea by fast horse. His Majesty knows that the Empress Dowager likes them, so he specially sent this servant to deliver a portion to you."

Lu Xiaoyao finished speaking and took half a step to the side, allowing the young eunuch carrying the lychees behind her to step forward.

Leng Youyou immediately praised the emperor for his filial piety, then had someone take the lychees away, and then looked at the Third Prince's Consort beside her and said, "I can't eat so many lychees. The weather is hot, and lychees don't keep well. Take some back; it just so happens that Fengtai likes them too."

Fengtai was the Third Prince's name.

Upon hearing that the Empress Dowager was rewarding the Third Prince with lychees, the Third Prince's Consort's smile widened. After thanking the Empress Dowager, she left with the mama by the Empress Dowager's side. As soon as the Third Prince's Consort left, Leng Youyou quickly dismissed the other palace servants, leaving only the two of them in the hall.

"Sis! Why are you dressed like this?"

As soon as everyone left, Leng Youyou was no longer the dignified Empress Dowager she had been just moments ago. She directly tossed aside the swaying ornaments on her head, rolled up her large, luxurious sleeves, and reached out to pull Lu Xiaoyao onto her chaise lounge.

Looking Lu Xiaoyao up and down, she couldn't help but click her tongue in wonder, "You look even more like a frail and delicate pretty boy like this~"

As she spoke, she even used her fingers, dyed with henna, to lift Lu Xiaoyao's chin.

For a moment, the screen was filled with comments—[Pervert!], [Lu Xiaoyao, run!].

Of course, there were also some other strange comments—[Sis is so cool, OMG, I'm bending like a spring!], [Who needs boys with a sis like this?!].

Mingmei saw these bizarre comments on the screen and was silent, looking at the strange light in Leng Youyou's eyes.

She remembered that this Leng Youyou was a student at their school's medical school.

She had seen her at her and Mu Chen's dance class yesterday. She remembered that Leng Youyou's male dance partner's style was surprisingly similar to Lu Xiaoyao's current look.

Both were the young, cute, pretty-boy type.

As for Leng Youyou, Mingmei had only met her for the first time that day. Her first impression was that she was a bright and generous beauty. As for her personality, Mingmei felt that she was quite open in some ways.

Especially when she looked at her and Mu Chen with those big, Western-style double-eyelid eyes, the look in her eyes was so intense that Mingmei was amazed!

Therefore, Mingmei could understand the live-stream's concern that Lu Xiaoyao would be "eaten" by her.

Thinking this, Mingmei reached out and touched the lychees that had just been delivered on the small table on the chaise lounge, still exuding a faint chill. Mingmei sighed softly.

This life is not bad~

As for Lu Xiaoyao, she was complaining about how she had gotten the eunuch role, Leng Youyou was already laughing so hard that she was bending over, completely lacking any composure.

Lu Xiaoyao's situation was too tragic!

The four male players all had the identities of princes, and then there was Leng Youyou as the Empress Dowager. Was there any player in the entire game with a lower status than her?

Probably not, right?

Leng Youyou didn't know whether to comfort her or continue to add insult to injury.

Thinking about it, Leng Youyou decided that a short pain was better than a long one, so she decided to give Lu Xiaoyao a "quick" end!

So, Leng Youyou told Lu Xiaoyao another tragic fact—Bai Xiao was also in this game, and her status wasn't low either; she was a Noble Consort.

Lu Xiaoyao: ......?

In the current situation, Lu Xiaoyao felt that she could make an equation—

Royal relatives, royal relatives, royal relatives, ..., royal relatives, eunuch = smart people, smart people, smart people, ..., smart people, monkey (?).

"So, doesn't that mean that the four male players are naturally on different sides?"

Listening to Lu Xiaoyao's words, Leng Youyou lightly poked Lu Xiaoyao's face and continued, "My status is naturally close to the player playing the Third Prince, and the Noble Consort played by Bai Xiao comes from the Marshal's mansion. In court, I remember that the Marshal seems to support the First Prince~ So, who are you betting on?"