From now on, I, Tang Lin, will be your leader among the six of you!

  On the way back to Lanyuan, Tang Lin traveled unimpeded, and indeed no one from the Imperial Guard dared to block her path. The mechanisms set up around her also did not target her with their spears.

  Tang Lin suspected that Lei Jie's words were just bluffing, the Imperial Forest Army was not difficult for contestants to participate in, and there were no traps around.

  As she walked to the entrance of Lan Garden, Tang Lin suddenly stopped in her tracks. The emperor's words floated into her ears: "You really have character, I like it. Think about it, how about becoming my woman? I'll give you the throne!"

  As she recalled this, Tang Lin's eyes widened in astonishment, "Good heavens, he knows I'm a woman?" Which means the Emperor didn't have a fondness for men after all? The one he liked wasn't a man, but a woman?

  Gradually, Tang Lin's heart became more and more panicked. An emperor who could kill with a single tear, an emperor who didn't even mention that she was his daughter, made her feel increasingly eerie and terrified. She felt anxious in her heart. Why did he want to treat her so well? What was his purpose? Could it be that he really hoped she would become his empress?

  The emperor already has an empress, doesn't he? And it's that Empress Chenghuan who was mentioned by Xiaodu.

  Lei Jie walked out of Lan Yuan, her usual rigid demeanor instantly disappearing as she saw Tang Lin, and a flattering smile appeared on her face. "You're back!"

  "Huh?" Tang Lin raised her head, looking at Lei Jie with a puzzled expression. She was baffled by the sudden change in Lei Jie's demeanor, from being strict in the afternoon to speaking to her in such a friendly tone now.

  "I won't disturb you, I'll leave first!" She bowed her head to Tang Lin and then walked past her side. After a few steps, she turned back and stared at Tang Lin's back, wondering in her heart: "How did she manage to win the emperor's favor so easily?"

  "Whatever, I don't want to think about it anymore!" Tang Lin shook her head and stopped worrying about the emperor knowing she was a girl, and walked into the orchard.

  ——

  It was late at night, but Kelan Garden was still brightly lit everywhere, especially in Du Yuan's and others' rooms.

  Yun Xiang and Dong Chenchen were all sitting on the bed, whispering to each other, sometimes bursting into loud laughter, sometimes shouting loudly, and then suddenly lowering their voices. One moment they would be like madmen, yelling at the top of their lungs, and the next they would be mysterious and hushed, as if they had seen a ghost.

  Du Yuanyuan didn't have the same interest in fooling around as everyone else. Her bed was next to Tang Lin's and He Shiyao's, and she was just covering herself with a quilt and sleeping, but the scene was so noisy that it made her ears ache. She suddenly sat up, coldly glared at the four people piled together on the beds next to He Shiyao, and shouted: "Are you done yet? If you want to make noise, go outside and make noise, don't disturb me here, you bunch of lunatics!"

  Dong Chen irritably said: "Hey, someone, who are you calling a madman? Speak clearly to me!"

  Du Yuanyuan didn't have the calmness of He Shiyue, who could close her eyes and sleep quietly. But she couldn't fall asleep because of the noise. She had always disliked Dong Chenchen, and now he had ignited her anger again. "Dong, this isn't your home, please shut up!"

  "It seems that we two cannot avoid fighting!" Dong Chen said with a itchy tooth, standing up and rolling up his sleeves.

  Du Yuanyuan suddenly threw off the quilt and stood up, his eyes fixed on Dong Chenchen's face without blinking, with a cold expression all over his face. "From the moment I saw you for the first time, I had this idea. Want to fight? Fine, I'll accompany you. If I don't teach you a lesson, I'd think that Du Yuanyuan has been raised on vegetarian food!"

  Dong Chen took a few steps to the bedside of He Shiyue, staring coldly at Du Yuanyuan on the other side of He Shiyue's bed, and sneered: "Come on, let's see who teaches whom!"

  Yu Xiang crawled over and pushed He Shi Ya's arm, anxiously saying: "Shi Ya, wake up, don't sleep!"

  Du Yuanyuan and Dong Chenchen are now on either side of He Shiyue. Once the two make a move, they will inevitably harm He Shiyue, so Yu Xiang comes up to remind them.

  He Shiya kept her eyes closed, and even when Ren Yuxin shook her, she didn't make a sound. She wasn't sleeping, but rather too lazy to care about the people in this room. She was thinking of someone, and that person was the Emperor. When she recalled the expression on the Emperor's face that afternoon when Tang Lin appeared before him dressed as a man, she fiercely pulled the quilt over her head, covering herself up.

  "Can't you two stop fighting?" Yu Xing sat on the bed, looking up at Du Yuan and Dong Chen, "Po Ya's body is originally weak, today she stood in the royal forest for half a day, she definitely can't take it, just let her rest well!"

  However, Du Yuanyuan and Dong Chenchen were still at odds with each other, and it seemed that if they didn't have a fierce fight tonight, they wouldn't give up. The two of them glared at Yuxin at the same time and ordered: "Shut up and stand aside!"

  Yu Xiang neither had the courage to offend anyone, nor did she have the courage to be offended by others. So she obediently shut her mouth and retreated to the corner of the bed, sitting together with Yun Shan and Mei Chun'er, then they all looked at Du Yuan Yuan and Dong Chen Chen.

  Just as Du Yuanyuan and Dong Chenchen were about to take action, Tang Lin was already standing at the door, looking at the two people on the bed with a strong smell of gunpowder, frowning and asking: "Are you setting up? Did you get approval from the boss?"

  "Boss?!" Du Yuanyuan and others chorused in unison, all of them failing to understand the meaning behind Tang Lin's words.

  When she heard Tang Lin's voice, He Shiyao suddenly opened her eyes.

  Tang Lin walked in, standing by the bed and looking at several people, with a big sister's tone: "No mistake, it's the old one. From now on, I, Tang Lin, am the boss of you six: Du Yuanyuan, Dong Chenchen, Yun Xiang, Mei Chun'er, Yu Xin, and He Shiyao!"

  Du Yuanyuan angrily said: "What makes you our boss?"

  Tang Lin slowly pulled over a stool beside her and sat down, curling up the corners of her lips, adding with a few degrees of complacency: "What's the reason? Just because I successfully brought you all out of the palace today! How could you have forgotten about the bet?"

  Now that she mentioned it, everyone remembered and they all lowered their heads in silence, but with a look of unwillingness on each of their faces.

  Everyone was silent, so Yun Xiang said: "As a person, one must be honest and trustworthy. Since Little Tang has won, we should listen to her forever and not break our promise." She immediately got out of bed, put on her shoes, came to Tang Lin's side and knelt down, "Boss is above, accept little sister's bow!"

  Yun Xiang, still optimistic, was more obedient. Tang Lin smiled with relief, leaned to the side without standing up, and stretched out her hand to help Yun Xiang up, "Good sister, Boss has a loyal subordinate like you, I'm deeply relieved. Get up."

  "Thank you, boss!" As soon as she finished speaking, Yun Xiang stood up and then waited behind Tang Lin.

  Yu Xian saw Yun Xiang had compromised, she glanced at Du Yuan and Dong Chen, thinking that Tang Lin was more likely to have a say in the matter. So she also got out of bed, ran over barefoot, knelt down in front of Tang Lin, and repeated Yun Xiang's words: "Elder sister is above, please accept younger sister's bow!"

  "Good sister, please get up quickly, I, Tang Lin, am not worthy of this, please hurry up and rise!" Tang Lin said with a mix of surprise and humility as she helped Yu Xiang to her feet.

  Yu Xing said with a smile: "Boss, from now on I'll follow you, even if it means being a cow or a horse!"

  Tang Lin couldn't help but glance at her with a half-reproachful tone, saying: "You silly girl, what are you talking about? Following me, Tang Lin, how could I possibly let you be treated like an ox or a horse? From now on, don't say things that sound so unpleasant to my ears!"

  Yu Xiang smiled lightly and said "Yes!" Then she stood beside Yun Xiang.

  "Boss!" Before Tang Lin could even turn around, Mei Chun'er's plump figure was already kneeling in front of her. "Boss is above, please accept Chun'er's bow. From now on, Chun'er will be Boss's person. Chun'er is willing to go through thick and thin with Boss, to the death, without any hesitation!"

  "Oh my, Chun'er, what are you talking about?" Tang Lin stood up and bent down to help Mei Chun'er up. "Chun'er, you're the same, don't casually mention these words again in the future, all this talk of life and death, how unlucky, remember?"

  Mei Chun'er rubbed the back of her head, smiled foolishly and nodded: "Chun'er understands!"

  He Shiya had already thrown off the covers, got out of bed quietly, put on her shoes elegantly, and walked over to Tang Lin with light steps. She bowed slightly before kneeling down gracefully, even her kneeling posture was elegant and refined, not losing the demeanor of a noble lady. With her head slightly lowered, she said softly to Tang Lin, "Elder sister is above, please accept Shiya's... one bow." After finishing speaking, she really did lower her head and kowtow once, without lifting her head beforehand, her expression in her eyes was unclear.

  Tang Lin immediately helped He Shiya up, and said in surprise: "Ah, Shiya, what are you doing? You have this heart, that's enough, no need to be so polite!"

  "Thank you, boss, for treating me so well," said He Shiya, nodding politely at Tang Lin again.

  "Don't be polite!"

  Only Duan Yuanyuan and Dong Chenchen were left, the two of them still standing on the bed, staring intently at Tang Lin. Yun Xiang waved her hand at them and said urgently: "Yuanyuan Chenchen, what are you still dazing about? Don't you hurry down to pay respects to Lao Da? Since you lost the bet, you have to admit defeat, you can't deny it, do you want to be dishonest people?"

  "Exactly!" said Mei Chun'er, interrupting.

  Dong Chen values loyalty and righteousness, but also cares too much about her reputation. She's not willing to become someone else's subordinate, but keeping her promise is the one thing she can proudly show off to others. After hesitating for a while, she reluctantly got out of bed and came before Tang Lin. Just as she was about to kneel down, Tang Lin promptly held her hands and stopped her.

  Tang Lin smiled and said, "I'm glad to see you coming over. What bet or no bet, just treat it as nonsense and ignore it." Shouldn't this kind of talk have a good effect?

  As expected, her few words had brought tears to Dong Chenchen's eyes. Dong Chenchen grasped her hands tightly and said emotionally: "Xiao Tang, no, Lao Da, I, Dong Chenchen, swear that from now on, in life or death, I will be loyal to you. If I betray you, may I suffer the wrath of heaven and not die a good death. You're right, Yun Xiang, being a person means keeping one's word and honoring promises. How could I, Dong Chenchen, treat our wager as child's play?"

  The door is also locked.