Her Majesty The Empress Has Made Her Debut In The Center Position [Ancient to Modern] - Chapter 27.2

The flower shop hadn’t closed yet. Strings of star lights hung at the entrance, glowing in the rain and making the flowers in the display window look even more vibrant. When the shop assistant saw two drenched, affectionate figures enter, she couldn’t help but grow wary. “Hello, what can I help you with?”

The person being held in the embrace lifted their head and smiled at her, brightening the assistant’s day: What a beautiful woman!

Ji Zhao pushed Yu Cheng away. “Do you have peach blossoms?”

“Fully bloomed ones,” Yu Cheng added, brushing back her rain-soaked hair to reveal her expressionless yet strikingly beautiful face. “Unopened ones are fine too, we can let them bloom.”

“How many would you like?” the assistant asked.

“All of them,” Yu Cheng replied.

She rummaged in her pocket for a moment before pulling out a card. “Can I pay with this?”

The card was Yu Wangmeng’s supplementary card, which Yu Cheng could use without any spending limit. However, Yu Cheng had very little desire for material things and hadn’t spent a single cent since joining the talent show. But that night, for the first time, she received a text notification about a deduction.

[Debit of 148.00 yuan from your account ending in 2734 to Encounter Flower Shop on April 28 at 23:58. Current balance: 98,765,372.65 yuan. [Construction Bank]

One hundred and forty-eight yuan?

For flowers?

Yu Cheng has a crush?

At Su Jing’s house…

Ji Zhao watched Yu Cheng rummage through cabinets for a vase, fill it with water, and arrange the peach blossoms before pushing it toward her with a self-satisfied look. “Your Majesty, your subject presents these Northern Frontier Peach Blossoms to you.”

Ji Zhao’s face darkened. “Don’t think this will make me forgive you for making me get rained on.”

She dried her hair with a towel Su Jing had left for them, glaring at Yu Cheng. After a moment, her anger flared again. “All this for a few measly peach blossoms?”

Yu Cheng’s pride deflated, replaced by a hint of hurt. “But Your Majesty said you liked watching them.”

Ji Zhao blurted out, “When did I ever…” Seeing Yu Cheng’s expression fall, she softened her tone. “Fine, I do like watching them, but is this really the time?”

Yu Cheng stubbornly replied, “If you like watching them, then it’s always the right time.”

She asked tentatively, “Do you like them?”

Ji Zhao sighed. “Yes, they’re beautiful.”

She touched the petals gently and murmured, “Esteemed Minister Yu has a good eye for peach blossoms.”

Yu Cheng grinned widely. “I’m glad Your Majesty likes them.”

Ji Zhao soothed her, “I do, I really do.”

Yu Cheng’s expression turned serious. “Your Majesty!”

Ji Zhao looked up. “Hmm?”

Yu Cheng said slowly, “I’m sleepy!”

Ji Zhao said, “Oh? Then let’s go to sleep.”

Yu Cheng raised her voice. “As Your Majesty commands!”

Then her head tilted to the side, and she collapsed onto the sofa, her breathing deep and even, already asleep.

Ji Zhao: “……?”

She nudged Yu Cheng. “Yu Cheng? Esteemed Minister Yu? Grand General Yu?”

After nudging her for a while with no response, she looked up blankly, glanced around, and with a helpless shrug, fetched a blanket from the bedroom to cover Yu Cheng before heading into the bathroom.

She slept soundly that night, and when she woke, the sky was already bright.

Ji Zhao was sleeping in Yu Cheng’s old room. The small room faced the outside of the residential area, and the thin curtains were bathed in the morning light, scattering specks of light around the room. The faint sounds of breakfast vendors drifted in, snippets of calls advertising soy milk and fried dough sticks.

Ji Zhao rolled out of bed, wondering if Yu Cheng had sobered up yet. When she opened the door, she saw Yu Cheng standing by the sofa, a breakfast spread on the coffee table. It seemed Yu Cheng had heard her stirring and had prepared everything in advance.

Her expression remained calm, but her heart raced with anxiety.

Ji Zhao glanced at her, her tone icy. “Sober now, are we?”

Yu Cheng mumbled, “Yes.”

Ji Zhao walked into the bathroom and saw a fresh toothbrush with toothpaste squeezed onto it. So Yu Cheng has been sober for a while, she thought. She picked up the toothbrush and asked, “How much do you remember?”

Yu Cheng bit her lower lip.

How much do I remember?

It was hard to say. She remembered taking a sip of the red wine Su Jing poured for her, and immediately feeling dizzy. Panicked, she assumed it was drugged and tried to warn His Majesty, but before she could, she lost consciousness.

Her memories after that were fragmented: seeing His Majesty pelt Denglai with pebbles, seeing His Majesty tilt his head back and order her to get off, seeing her wrap her arms around His Majesty’s waist as they galloped through the rain, and seeing her pull out her card and buy armfuls of peach blossoms.

She’d thought it was all a dream, but the peach blossoms blooming brilliantly on the coffee table cruelly shattered that illusion.

This wasn’t a dream.

It was all real.

Ji Zhao finished rinsing her mouth and exclaimed, “Don’t you remember it all perfectly?”

Yu Cheng’s heart sank. She immediately dropped to one knee, clasped her hands in a bow, and said solemnly, “This subject’s behavior was disgraceful. I deserve death ten thousand times. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!”

“I don’t have time to punish you,” Ji Zhao said, settling onto the sofa. “Come have breakfast.”

Yu Cheng remained frozen.

Ji Zhao stuck a straw into her soy milk. “Don’t make me say it again.”

She took a sip, savored it, and found it quite good. After a second sip, she turned her bright eyes to Yu Cheng’s face. “I never imagined Grand General Yu could be such a lightweight.”

“And I heard General Yu was the one who drank the most in the army!” She leaned closer, poking Yu Cheng’s cheek. “Were those stories just exaggerations?”

Yu Cheng’s gaze was resolute. “Your Majesty misunderstands. I’m not allowed to drink while on duty in the military, and as a general, I must set an example! My alcohol tolerance means nothing and isn’t worth boasting about.”

Ji Zhao clapped her hands. “Well said.”

Her playful expression faded, and she spoke softly, “With General Yu here, I feel greatly reassured.”

Yu Cheng’s gaze flickered, an unreadable emotion flashing across her face. Just as she was about to speak, Ji Zhao abruptly changed the subject: “Don’t think this excuses you from blame for leaving me out in the rain last night.”

Yu Cheng’s voice lowered. “This subject acknowledges her mistake and is willing to accept any punishment.”

Ji Zhao leaned back, studying Yu Cheng. “We’re no longer in the Great Qi Dynasty now. It’s not like I can easily punish you. What should I make you do?” Her eyes lit up. “How about this: you’re not allowed to speak to me until the end of the day. How’s that sound?”

Yu Cheng’s expression shifted slightly. “Your Majesty—”

“Consider it settled,” Ji Zhao said, avoiding her gaze. “My word is law. Don’t challenge my authority.”

Yu Cheng opened her mouth, then closed it.

Su Jing had arranged everything before leaving. The same driver and assistant, the same SUV, took Ji Zhao and Yu Cheng back to the estate, where they ran into He Yumeng and the others returning from the Presidential Suite.

It had only been a night, but their demeanor had changed dramatically.

From head to toe, they exuded an air of intoxication from their luxurious experience, their souls seeming to float above their bodies. When greeting Ji Zhao, they swayed unsteadily, as if drunk. Song Jiangjiang, holding a bottle of lime water she’d filched from the hotel, calmly took Ji Zhao’s hand. “I can’t even imagine how emotionally stable I’d be if I were rich.”

Ji Zhao: “……”

The warmth in Yu Cheng’s eyes plummeted as she fixed her gaze on Song Jiangjiang’s hand on Ji Zhao’s. After a moment’s hesitation, she subtly removed Song Jiangjiang’s hand. “Did you just get back?”

“Yeah.” Qiao Yue had just finished applying a face mask, her skin looking as delicate as a peeled egg. Her voice was soft. “We slept so well.”

Shen Xin gazed into the distance. “When will we get our phones? I need to vote for myself—I want to debut.”

Zheng Dongqing, coming from a well-off family, had gone straight home after the hot pot. Seeing her friends enjoying themselves so much now, she couldn’t help but wonder if the Presidential Suite Ji Zhaozhao had arranged was different from the one she’d stayed in before.

Ji Zhao smiled. “As long as you’re having fun, that’s all that matters.”

Only then did Song Jiangjiang remember to ask the benefactor, “Oh, how did your parent meetings go?”

Ji Zhao glanced at Yu Cheng. Yu Cheng opened her mouth to speak, then swallowed her words. Ji Zhao said, “It went well. Yu Cheng’s mother and I hit it off immediately. We almost formed a sworn sisterhood.”

“What?” Yu Cheng blurted out.

Song Jiangjiang echoed, “Huh?”

Shen Xin exclaimed, “Whoa, suddenly this feels taboo!”

He Yumeng pondered, “Actually, it makes it even more ship-worthy.”

Her teammates protested, “Hey—!”

What kind of twisted taste is that?!

Ji Zhao ignored Yu Cheng and simply said, “Almost.”

After Ji Zhao and her group returned to the dormitory, the other winning teams gradually trickled back to the estate. Everyone had rested up, and the place buzzed with activity. Some were visiting each other’s dorms to play cards, others were washing clothes and playing in the creek, some were lounging on the balcony railing, taking in the scenery and chatting about life, and a few were playing hide-and-seek.

It was a warm, idyllic scene, like a paradise beyond the world, where neither the past nor the future mattered, only the carefree present.

No one wanted to think about the impending first ranking announcement.

That is, until the production team sent staff to Class A to select participants for individual interviews, while the other classes remained on standby. The purpose was to promote ship wars and CP pairings.

The question posed was: “Who would you most like to collaborate with on this show?” The trainee with the highest number of votes would win a meal voucher, and everyone was instructed to answer based on the promotional pairings arranged by the production team or their company.

Yu Cheng was the second to be interviewed. Standing before a wall plastered with trainee headshots, she precisely pinpointed Ji Zhaozhao and said to the camera, “I choose Zhaozhao.”

Follow PD asked, “Aren’t you curious who Zhaozhao chose?”

Yu Cheng’s voice was firm. “No matter who she chooses, I’ll choose her.”

“That’s my answer.”

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