The eldest sister was reborn and the younger sister traveled through time. I just want to survive.

As dusk fell, Yu Jinzhou stepped into the gate of the splendid palace in the last rays of sunlight.

Yan Muxi heard the announcement and went to greet the emperor outside the palace gate. As soon as he bent down, he was helped up by Yu Jinzhou who strode forward.

"There are no outsiders here, my dear, there is no need to be polite."

"Your Majesty is the ruler of a country. I dare not be arrogant and lose the etiquette of being a concubine."

Yu Jinzhou held her hand and they walked into the hall together.

Dinner had been prepared in the hall. Yu Jinzhou pushed Yan Muxi to sit on the armchair, and he sat in the seat closest to her.

Not talking while eating is the basic etiquette at the royal dinner table. Yu Jinzhou didn't seem to be a person who followed rules and etiquette. He talked non-stop during the meal and occasionally picked up two pieces of food for Yan Muxi with his chopsticks, and they were all her favorite dishes.

After dinner, Yu Jinzhou did not leave with any excuse as he did in the previous few days. Instead, he took her for a walk in the garden. After returning, he ordered the palace servants to prepare water for bathing, as if he was going to stay overnight in Jinxiu Palace.

"Do you need me to help His Majesty wash up?" Yan Muxi asked obediently.

Yu Jinzhou stared into her eyes and joked with a smile, "If Aunt Wang is willing to serve me, I have no reason to object."

"If Your Majesty wants to object, why does he need a reason? If you don't want to, just forget it. I'm too lazy to serve you!" Yan Muxi stood up from the chaise longue.

Yu Jinzhou reached out and pulled her back, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Aunt Wang, if you don't want to serve me, just say it. There's no need to beat around the bush."

"Okay, I'll remember this and make it clear next time." Yan Muxi stood where she was, letting him hug her.

Facing the surprise that flashed across Yan Muxi's eyes, Yu Jinzhou chuckled, "My little Aunt Wang is really well-behaved. It's strange to say, I never like well-behaved people, but I like little Aunt Wang very much. When I first saw little Aunt Wang, I thought, how could there be such an interesting woman in the world? Later, as I got to know her more, I didn't know when I fell in love with her. I can say that I think about her every day and every night, regretting why I didn't take action earlier, and watched little Aunt Wang marry someone else..."

Yan Muxi's mind flashed back to her first meeting with Yu Jinzhou. At that time, Yu Jinzhou was still a thin and immature boy. Compared with Yu Wantai, he had almost no sense of existence.

She never dreamed that the ordinary boy would one day covet her and imprison her in this deep palace cage.

"It's never too late. Your Majesty has obtained it now!"

Yu Jinzhou raised his eyes, and a bit of grievance appeared in his narrow and long phoenix eyes, "Did I really get Aunt Wang?"

Only when you possess at least one of the body and mind can you be said to have obtained it!

Yan Muxi looked away, "Your Majesty is an emperor. It is easy for him to get anyone or anything he wants."

Yu Jinzhou stood up, raised his hand and held her chin, forcing her to look straight at him, "Auntie Wang is right, I am the emperor, as long as it is something I want, I will definitely get it, no matter what."

"Your Majesty, I wish that your wish will come true soon." Yan Muxi's tone was indifferent, and her eyes were calm.

Yu Jinzhou curled his lips and smiled, then lowered his head and kissed her red lips, "Wait, I will do as Aunt Wang wishes." After saying that, he turned around and strode towards the bathroom.

Yan Muxi stood there for a while, then walked to the window. She opened the window frame a little, and the cold wind blew on her face, instantly clearing her dizzy mind.

Rainwater came in, "Miss, why did you open the window? It's cold outside, you will catch a cold."

Yan Muxi smiled soothingly, "It's okay to blow it for a while, just turn it off!"

Seeing that there was no one around, Yu Shui asked quietly, "Do you need a maid tonight?"

Yan Muxi interrupted her, "No, it's not time to take risks yet." After a pause, he warned, "Keep an eye on Dongyu, don't let her act impulsively and do something irreversible."

Yu Shui nodded, "Don't worry, young lady."

After the cold wind blew, Yan Muxi's mind became clear again and his mood calmed down.

She could see that Yu Jinzhou was somewhat sincere towards her, and now that the prey was fresh, he would not disregard her life.

And even if the other party doesn't care about her life, he won't be crazy enough to disregard his own life for a one-night stand.

Just like last time, Yu Jinzhou hugged her and took advantage of her until the bowstring was pulled high, but was called away by the palace maids of Changchun Palace on the pretext of something.

The next day, the news that Concubine Yan was ill again reached the harem. Concubine De and the others could not guess what the emperor was thinking. After confirming that all the doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau had been summoned to the Jinxiu Palace by the emperor, and that the empress dowager and Concubine Shu had also sent people to the Jinxiu Palace to express their greetings, they went to visit her one after another.

Yan Muxi was sicker than last time and was so weak that he could not get up. He only hurriedly met a few concubines who came to visit him on the first day. Afterwards, he closed the palace door and refused all visitors on the pretext of recuperating.

The emperor left the Jinxiu Palace late at night twice, and Concubine Yan fell ill both times. People began to suspect that Concubine Yan had only a beautiful appearance but might not be able to serve the emperor in bed. Otherwise, there would be no reason for the emperor to leave such a beautiful woman and go to favor other concubines in the middle of the night.

If concubines cannot sleep with the emperor, it means they will not give birth to princes, so there is nothing to be afraid of no matter how favored Concubine Yan is.

When the beauty pageant comes next year, a large number of newcomers will flood into the harem. Instead of fighting over each other's favor, the existing concubines have the same goal, which is to get pregnant with the prince as soon as possible before the newcomers enter the palace.

The concubines were eager to have a prince, but the emperor was busy with the affairs of the former court and rarely set foot in the harem. Occasionally, he would flip the concubines' jade card to go to the Qianqing Palace to sleep with him, and most of the time he would flip the jade card of Concubine Jia.

In the blink of an eye, it was the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. Officials from the two southeastern prefectures jointly sent a memorial stating that banditry had been rampant in recent years and had formed a large-scale group. They were afraid of rebellion, so they requested the court to send troops to suppress the bandits.

After a brief discussion with his ministers at the grand court meeting, the emperor approved the request of the two southeastern prefectures on the spot and sent Qin Xuan, commander of the imperial guard, to lead 50,000 troops to the southwest to suppress the bandits.

No matter how rampant the bandit problem is, it is unlikely that the number will exceed 20,000. It will be enough for the court to send 30,000 troops.

The assistant minister of the Ministry of War raised doubts, worrying that there would be trouble due to insufficient troops in Luodu, but his question was strongly rejected by the emperor. The new emperor was more stubborn than the previous one, and the ministers were afraid of displeasing the emperor and also afraid of taking responsibility, so no one raised any objections.

On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the army set out from the Lincheng camp and headed southeast.

What everyone didn't know was that three days after the army marched south, it split into two groups in a secret place in the canyon. The group of about 10,000 people continued to march southwest, while the other group of 60,000 people changed course and headed northwest.

That’s right, the number of soldiers that set out from Lincheng Camp was not 50,000, but 70,000.

The Northwest Army had 100,000 soldiers stationed in Dingzhou, and there were more than 70,000 soldiers of the imperial court stationed in Yuzhou, which bordered Dingzhou. In addition, there were more than 60,000 soldiers secretly supported by the imperial court. Nearly 140,000 soldiers against 100,000 old and weak soldiers were enough to snatch back several cities of Dingzhou from the Northwest Army.

On the fifth day after the army left, large-scale snowfall began in Luodu and its surrounding cities.

The snow continued to fall for three days with no sign of stopping. Most of the houses of the poor people could not withstand the erosion of the heavy snow, and people in several states suffered from the disaster.

The palace maids in Jinxiu Palace took turns sweeping the snow, but the roads were still slippery. Dongyu trotted into the palace, patting the snow off her body while complaining, "I don't know when this horrible weather will end. It's okay for the rich, but I'm afraid the poor people will have a hard time this year!"