"That's where you are wrong, my love. You should not."

"What do you mean?" Gongsun Li asked confused.

He only chuckled in response before kissing her lips.

"Nothing. Be good. Go and shower. Zhen has to attend his meeting."

"Okay." She nodded and stood up to leave.

"Have a successful counsel." she wished him and then pecked him on lips before leaving the room to proceed for shower.

.........

After half an hour when Gongsun Li finished her shower, she put on her robe and opened the shower room door only to see her husband stood at his chamber. He was not looking at her, rather his attention was drawn into a piece of sachet on the bedside table.

Smiling, she went and hugged him from behind nuzzling his strong back with her cheeks.

"Where did you find this?" Zhu Zhen brought her from his back to in front of him and asked her about the sachet.

Gongsun Li grinned excitedly,

"Guess." she said making him chuckle. He was going to reply when the guard outside the chamber gate entered the chamber and bowed,

"Princess Qiao Tan requests to see you, huangshang."

Zhu Zhen nodded at his guard, "Let her in."

Princess Qiao Tan entered the chamber and kneeled before the emperor,

"Greetings Huangshang. Peace and grace to huangshang."

"Greetings."

Qiao Tan stood up and smiled sweetly at Gongsun Li. So sweet that it sent shivers in her spine.

"Tan Tan hopes huangshang had a successful meeting." she said with a sweet voice.

"En. Sit." Zhu Zhen motioned at a chair.

Princess Qiao Tan shook her head.

"Junzhu doesn't dare to interrupt hunagdi. Junzhu just wanted to present a return gift to huangdi."

Zhu Zhen smiled warmly at his cousin,

"What is it?"

Princess Qiao Tan bowed before the emperor and stretched her hands before him, a shining sachet on those hands.

Zhu Zhen took the sachet and thanked her. His fingers massaging the fabric of the sachet.

"Hmm. Tan'er used one of the best material for your gift. It is beautiful. Tan'er seems to be really good at needle work."

"Junzhu is not worthy of hunagdi's praise. " Qiao Tan covered her face with her hem as if hiding her brush.

On the other hand, Gongsun Li was watching their interaction on the other side of the chamber. Her big eyes glinting with sadness as her poorly made sachet was clenched hard in her hands.

The emperor seems really impressed with princess's needle work whereas her sachet seemed like it was made by a three years old girl. Now how could she present the emperor with this ugly piece? Her handwork was not worth the emperor anyway.

All the confidence Gongsun Li had acquired these days crumbled down into ashes in a few moments. How could she even think she could be a worthy wife of Zhu Zhen?

Apparently, love is not enough to assist him to run the empire. With her clumsy fingers and useless brain she could never take the place of Qiao Tan that she had in the novel. She could never replace the princess.

She was merely a cannon fodder and cannon fodders are not created to conquer. They were meant to be perished in a filthy corner and now it's Gongsun Li's turn to perish.

A single tear dropped from her eyes as Gongsun Li silently went out leaving the platform alone for the male lead and his female lead.

........

"Hey!" Gongsun Li came out of her reverie when someone called her from behind.

The sun was shining brighter that day. She turned only to come face to face with her idol, Huang Xiaomin!!!!!! If it was any other time, her heart would have burst in fan-girling, now it didn't matter anymore. Her heart didn't seem to have place for anything except sadness.

But.. she frowned in confusion as something crossed her head,

"How did you enter the harem? Don't you know any male is not allowed here?"

Huang Xiaomin laughed as if she was saying something crazy.

"As far as I know, the emperor don't have a harem and I am not in the harem right now. I am just outside the emperor's chamber."

"Oh" Gongsun Li's face turned red in embarrassment and she laughed a confused laugh.

"Seems like this concubine has mistreated master Xiaomin. Pardon qie."

"Now don't be formal with me, Li Li. Have you forgotten all our childhood memories? We were childhood sweethearts!"

"Really?" Gongsun Li felt giddy with the thought of her being a childhood sweetheart of her idol. Technically it was not the real her, but who cares?

Huang Xiaomin narrowed his eyes at her before flicking her forehead making her shriek with slight pain.

"Of course we were. Have you lost your memories, silly? Sadly we had to part when master took me away for training and when I returned, you were already taken as a concubine. So we could not meet for years."

Poor real Gongsun Li! She really had to leave her childhood sweetheart to come here. If the real Gongsun Li were here, she would be see her childhood sweetheart again in her life.

Gongsun Li smiled,

"It's been years. This concubine doesn't remember most of her childhood as she lost her memory here."

Huang Xiaomin's eyes flashed with shock,

"You lost your memory?!"

"Yeah." Gongsun Li lied through her teeth.

"Oh, Li Li. I missed you so much, but you didn't have any memory of me all these days." He sadly exclaimed.

Gongsun Li smiled at him,

"I hope I'll remember some day and if what you are saying is true, you will always be in Gongsun Li's heart."

Huang Xiaomin's sad eyes pinned her with an intense look,

"I hope I am in Gongsun Li's heart."

The air around her turned tensed with the hot look she was being bestowed with right then. She nervously chuckled to cut the tense air between them but it didn't seem to help much.

She hurriedly grabbed his hands and shook them hard,

"Don't look so sad, of course you are in my hear-

"A deep voice boomed all on a sudden and Gongsun Li could bet her ass on whose voice it was.

To say the least, she was up for some dangerous punishments.