Chapter 12

**located in a quadrangle courtyard in the northeast of the imperial city**

The palace eunuch paid an overnight visit and delivered invitations to Kang’s father and the Zhou family for the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet tomorrow.

This courtyard originally belonged to a middle-level bureaucrat’s family. During the Yongfeng period, it was confiscated due to its involvement in an imperial examination fraud case.

In the first year of Yuanxi, the new emperor ascended the throne, honored his concubine Kang as a noble consort and freed the Kang family from slavery.

Emperor Yuanxi granted the noble consort’s father, Kang Dahai, the nominal title of Wailang, a member of the fifth-grade Ministry of Industry and bestowed this house upon him.

With an annual salary of five hundred taels for a fifth-grade official, Kang’s father and Zhou’s husband and wife can live comfortably in the capital.

Previously, in Qin’s Mansion, the monthly allowance for a family of three was only ten taels of silver, making it difficult to save much over the year.

Kang Dahai, true to his name has a broad heart and a plump body. In recent years, after his daughter gained freedom and took on a leisurely post, he has become even more portly.

In his youth, he resembled a jade-faced scholar with fair features, but his skin never tanned. Even now, he is much fairer than his wife Zhou.

In this regard, Kang Yuyi took after her father, having skin as white and tender as snow.

Kang Yuyi’s radiant and captivating beauty is a result of inheriting the best traits from both her parents.

Since Kang Yuyi entered the palace and was elevated to the rank of consort, her parents have not seen her for many years.

Previously, the couple was never eligible to attend any palace banquets.

In recent years, Zhou had repeatedly sent messages to the palace requesting a meeting with the noble consort, but Kang Yuyi had refused each time.

Now, having the opportunity to attend the Queen Mother’s birthday banquet, the couple is extremely excited.

On the other side, inside Luhua Palace’s bedroom

At the end of May, the capital was as sweltering as a big steamer. Fortunately, Luhua Palace was well-stocked with ice basins and ice bricks, making the air feel cool.

Because Consort Kang was plump and sensitive to heat, she struggled particularly during summer and became quite irritable. Therefore, the Luhua Palace received the most ice.

Kang Yuyi was so excited about seeing her parents the next day that she had forgotten her nervousness about sleeping with the emperor.

She turned her watery apricot eyes and asked tentatively, “May I ask Your Majesty, is it true that my slave mother and father will also come to the palace for the Holy Birthday Banquet tomorrow?”

The emperor frowned slightly and said, “Stop calling yourself a slave. You are a noble consort now. What will others think if they hear you say that?”

Kang Yuyi’s mouth was slightly open, and she looked puzzled.

“In front of me, you should refer to yourself as ‘this humble servant,’” the emperor gently instructed in a low voice. “Also, as the head of the first palace, you should refer to yourself as ‘this palace’ in front of outsiders.”

The emperor looked at her radiant and beautiful face with an innocent and confused expression, and a fleeting smile quickly appeared in his eyes.

He was rarely so patient, even taking the time to teach her such minor details.

“Alright, Your Majesty, will my… humble parents come to the palace tomorrow?” Kang Yuyi would not rest until she received a definite answer.

“Yes, the palace has already sent someone with the invitation,” the emperor finally answered her question.

The emperor remembered that she usually did not want to meet her parents, though he had never asked why. Now that she was so eager to see them, he was somewhat surprised.

The luminous pearls inlaid on the bedside and the candlelight complemented each other, making Kang Yuyi’s joy-filled almond eyes seem to sparkle with stars.

A pair of shallow pear-shaped dimples at the corners of her mouth, like hidden honey, were sweet and delicate, almost tempting one to take a sip.

The emperor had no intention of doing anything tonight, especially since she had forgotten the past and was mentally unsettled.

But this was clearly his concubine, his only woman; so, what was wrong with giving her a kiss?

The emperor’s gaze shifted slightly as he bent down and kissed the dimples at the corners of her mouth.

The emperor took advantage of her opening her mouth to gently take her pink and plump lips into his. His large hands carefully cradled the back of her head to prevent it from bumping as it had before.

His lips and tongue moved in a tender rhythm as he pried open her teeth and explored her lilac tongue, constantly sucking and savoring the sweet nectar from her mouth.

I don’t know how long it had been, but Kang Yuyi gradually felt out of breath. Her lips and tongue were sore from his relentless kissing, and she instinctively pushed against his firm chest a few times.

The emperor then let her go. When he looked down, he saw her face flushed, her lips red and swollen from the kisses. Through her thin nightgown, her full breasts were clearly visible, rising and falling with each breath.

Her skin was as white as snow, and her oval face was perfectly rounded. At that moment, her cheeks were flushed with a rosy hue. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide and round, like they were filled with water, making her look irresistibly alluring.

The moment the emperor kissed her, his body was already extremely aroused. However, thinking of the grand birthday banquet scheduled for early the next morning, he had to calm his inner breath and forcibly suppress his restless desires.

After Kang Yuyi regained her composure, she suddenly felt as if the bedside was glowing like a bright pearl in daylight.

Suddenly, a slight stabbing pain shot through her head, and fragments of images kept flashing before her eyes like a revolving lantern.

Unknowingly, her sparkling apricot eyes suddenly filled with tears, and her delicate brows slightly furrowed.

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