Mo Qian, you really don't like men?

Her sleeping face is certainly inviting.

He leans down and kisses her cherry lips, causing her to wake up. She pushes him away and screams, "What are you doing?"

"You are awake." Wu Yixing leans down again to steal another kiss. She slows down the time to avoid being caught and climbs off the bed to escape his clutches. She runs to the other side of the room. When the 10 seconds are over, Wu Yixing finds that his wife is not on the bed.

"You are fast." He is surprised by her speed. It will be trouble in the future. "I am impressed."

She grits her teeth. She wants to chop off his lips. "Wu Yixing, I told you that -"

"Ah... you will be invited by the empress today." He bits his finger and smears the blood on the bed. "Mo Qian, be good and alert."

She blushes when she sees the blood on the bed. The meaning is clear. She says stubbornly, "We are never sleeping on the same bed again."

His eyes wander to her chest. Whether they will sleep on the same bed or not, he will decide it. "Mo Qian, I am curious what kind of material did you use. It's not a real thing. Can I touch it?"

What's not real? They are as real as this world. She can't say that. "If you touch it, you will ruin my disguise."

He looks at her with understanding. "Is that so? We have to be careful. Mo Qian, you really don't like men? Am I not good looking enough?"

Narcissist bastard! She shakes her head furiously. "I like women and you are the ugliest man I have seen."

Hearing that makes him smile more. He accepts this challenge. "Get ready. We are going to visit the empress."

***

In the palace, empress stares at the princess consort kneeling to her respectfully. Feng Lingxin's background is ordinary. She doesn't seem smart or useful. The emperor wasn't happy with this marriage between a girl from a humble background and his son, but the unfortunate fates of Wu Yixing's previous wives and Wu Yixing's reputation forced him to agree.

"Lovely." The empress smiles at Feng Lingxin kindly. There is no hint of the cruelty that she carries in her heart. Her tone is informal and motherly when she says, "Daughter in law, come and sit beside me."

Yoori flinches when she hears that sugary tone. This pretentious woman! She isn't a fool to trust anyone from the royal family. She's a freaking time-traveler. Has she not seen enough? She walks to her shyly and hesitates before sitting beside her.

The empress looks at her face. Ordinary. Compared to Wu Yixing's previous engagements, this girl is nothing when it comes to appearance. She recalls the previous empress, mother of Wu Yixing. Empress Yun was infamous for her beauty. That woman flaunted her beauty proudly and kept the emperor to herself. It's been nearly two decades since she died. The emperor longs for the dead empress even now.

Yoori acts nervous and timid. She's afraid that the empress will see the look in her eyes.

"You can visit me anytime." The empress likes the timid girl. This girl is simpleminded. She can be used against Wu Yixing. "I hope that you treat me like your mother."

'Treat you like my mother? You are not 1% of my real mother.' Yoori misses her mother. She couldn't even say goodbye before she left. There's no way to communicate with her mother. Her niece told her that the timekeepers are lying in wait for her to trap her in her correct time. Then, can she never see her mother ever again?

The empress indirectly asks her about the wedding night. Yoori blushes like a new bride and says nothing. That's enough to remove any suspicion. The empress looks at the cup of tea in Yoori's hands. The girl is careless.

When Yoori comes back, Wu Yixing comes to see her at her room. "How did it go?"

"She asked me to visit her anytime." Yoori feels tired after meeting the empress. It's harder to pretend to be a fool than pretending to be a man. "Did she poison me already?"

Wu Yixing checks her pulse. "Usual poison to take away the ability to have a child."

"What the -" Wu Yixing has already given her the antidote in the morning. The poison won't have any effect. But, still... It's only been a day since she married him and she is already poisoned by her stepmother in law. "Say, I won't lose my ability to have a child, right?"

"That medicine shouldn't affect men." Wu Yixing squints at her. "Why are you afraid?"

She's a woman. Someday, she wants to get married and have children. "You told me that the antidote will take care of any poison from the palace."

He touches her belly. "Men don't have wombs. That's why I chose you for this role."

She gawks at him. "If I was a woman, would I lose the ability to have children it even after drinking the antidote?"

Wu Yixing feels happy to see her worried. How long will she keep pretending?

"Have faith in me. My antidote can take care of the minor poisons like that." He assures her. "Even if you were a woman, it wouldn't affect you. Don't doubt my knowledge when it comes to poisons."

She stares at him. "When did you start learning about poisons?"

He pinches her cheeks. "Don't ask too many questions, Mo Qian. I won't let you go if you know too much."

She slaps his hands. "Who wants to know more about you? Your skills in poisons should be good as you say."

"Tsk!" He leans closer. "It's a pity that you are a man. If you were a woman, I would have filled that womb with a child to prove that my antidotes are better than my poisons."

How dangerous! She is glad that she is pretending to be a man.

She gets up abruptly. "I believe you. Don't say more."