Chu Jiu had not expected Li Tong’er to try bribing her so openly.

The wish Li Tong’er mentioned was probably her goal of becoming His Majesty’s woman.

Just the thought of this filled Chu Jiu with disdain.

She could not understand how a woman so full of herself could exist.

With Chu Jiu’s temperament, she would usually have turned to leave immediately, but when she recalled the tactics Her Highness often employed, Chu Jiu stopped herself and said instead, “How do you plan to remember me?”

Li Tong’er gave this some thought and said, “Please give me a moment, Respected Miss.” She turned to look around her, and when she was certain no one was paying any attention, she quickly nipped into the room.

Within moments, she returned with a palm-sized box. She approached Chu Jiu and passed the box to her. “This is a humble gift that I hope you will accept, Respected Miss.”

Chu Jiu accepted the box from her. She opened it and took a glance at the contents before shutting it again.

The box was filled to the brim with golden leaves. This piqued her interest slightly.

She recalled that golden leaves were a favorite of Her Highness’s.

When Li Tong’er observed the stoic expression on Chu Jiu’s face, she could not help but feel worried as she had no idea what Chu Jiu was thinking.

Did Chu Jiu find the amount too meager?

Just as she was contemplating this, Chu Jiu suddenly clutched the box in her arms and turned to leave without saying a word.

She was actually marveling at how Vice Minister Lee must be earning much more than she expected. A casual action from First Miss Li somehow produced a box of golden leaves. This was honestly quite remarkable.

Li Tong’er watched in a daze as Chu Jiu departed from the courtyard.

She finally breathed a sigh of relief when she was sure Chu Jiu was gone.

Since Chu Jiu had accepted the bribe, she would most likely keep her mouth shut.

However, despite that, Li Tong’er still felt worried. She sat in her room for a while, contemplating whether or not she should make her escape now.

If she ran away now, though, she would never get another opportunity in the future, and the time she spent hiding here would have gone to waste.

She had been pretending to be a servant here so she could one day meet His Majesty.

The day her parents left the imperial capital, she had chosen to stay behind.

Things had already escalated to such a level that she believed it could not get worse than this.

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Her mother supported her decision too.

Then she learned that His Majesty and Her Highness frequented this particular imperial holiday home.

In a small stroke of good fortune, she managed to land a job in the place.

She had been staying here for close to a month, but had not seen so much as a shadow of the Emperor. She was about to give up when the Emperor and Empress suddenly arrived today.

This was a great opportunity.

Unfortunately, the Emperor and Empress were practically glued to each other the entire day and she never got a chance to get near His Majesty.

Instead, her existence was discovered by the female guard.

She wondered if she should continue her endeavor or leave while she still could.

After a brief consideration, she decided that leaving was not an option.

She had planned this for so long and could not throw away her previous hard work.

There was no reason to give up her plans over that female guard.

She clenched her teeth, got up, and walked out the door.

She had to give it another go. If she failed this time, she would just give up.

While Li Tong’er was making up her mind about betting it all in a single throw, Chu Jiu had brought the box of golden leaves back to the lakeside.

Lu Liangwei had realized quite late that Chu Jiu had left them. When she saw Chu Jiu return, she asked curiously, “Jiu, where did you go?”

Chu Jiu said nothing but retrieved the box from her arms and passed it to Lu Liangwei.

Lu Liangwei took it and observed the exquisite box in her hand. She was puzzled. “Is this for me? What is it?”

“Open it and you’ll see, Your Highness,” Chu Jiu said without revealing anything.

Lu Liangwei opened the box.

It was filled with golden leaves which instantly caught Lu Liangwei’s attention.

Lu Liangwei blanked out for a while before turning to Chu Jiu. “Where did you get these golden leaves from?”

Zhao Qian had inched closer to have a look for himself and he gaped at Chu Jiu with some astonishment.

Chu Jiu explained, “These are illegal goods that should be taken care of by you, Your Highness.”