Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 145: Outsiders

The orchard was still the same as last time, with vines covered with grapes, and bunches of plump amethyst-like fruits were bright and juicy, making Ji Anni drool. But the most important thing now was not the grapes, but the strange figure in the orchard.

The figure had his back to Ji Annie and was concentrating on picking apples. He didn't notice that someone was approaching from behind.

"Don't move!" Ji Anni shouted.

The man shrugged his shoulders in fear, and all the apples in his arms fell to his feet.

"Turn around." Ji Anni stepped forward step by step, tilting her head as she walked, trying to see the other person's appearance. The more she looked, the more suspicious she felt, and the more she looked, the more she thought it looked like Lai De. She tentatively called out, "Lai De?"

The other party was shocked and turned around in disbelief, his eyes wide open almost popping out - it was indeed Lai De.

"My lady?" Lai De couldn't tell whether he was relieved or more nervous after seeing Ji Anni. He didn't care about the apples on the ground, walked up to Ji Anni and said, "You can't just enter this orchard. Why are you here again?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you, why are you here?"

"I, I..." Lai De lowered his head awkwardly, looking at the apples on the ground. He thought that Ji Anni must have seen him picking apples just now, so he couldn't get away with it even if he tried to argue. He had to tell the truth: "I... I saw that all the apples in the garden were red, so I came in to pick some."

Ji Anni stared at him suspiciously and said, "It's strange. Last time you stole grapes, and this time you stole apples. Last time you stole grapes, you told a miserable story. So, do you have any unspeakable reasons for stealing apples this time?"

On the surface, this sounded like a question about the reason for stealing the apples, but combined with Annie's suspicious look last season, it became an outright accusation. Not to mention asking Lai De for the reason, she even began to doubt the truth of the grape story last time.

Lai De must have been greedy and made up such a long lie to deceive others.

Originally, Ji Anni had a pretty good impression of Lai De, but now his score plummeted and was just on the edge of the passing line.

"My queen, I... I am greedy. I won't dare to do it again next time. Can you keep it a secret?" Lai De said with a sad face.

"I knew it." Ji Anni had an expression that said, "If you had said so earlier, it would have been fine." In fact, stealing fruit was not a serious crime at all. Ji Anni was angry that Lai De lied to her. "I can keep it a secret for you, but you have to pay me hush money."

"Hush money?" Lai De was stunned. It seemed that he was unfamiliar with this term.

"To put it simply, you can ask me to keep a secret for you, but you also have to do one thing for me."

"What does your Majesty want me to do..." Lai De asked cautiously.

"I haven't thought about it yet. I'll tell you when I've thought about it." Ji Anni patted Lai De's shoulder and found that this little guard was indeed very interesting. She liked to tease him and regarded seeing him anxious as a great enjoyment in life. Although she knew that such behavior was a bit bad, there was nothing else fun in the palace to distract her attention, so she had to bully Lai De as a pastime to relieve her depression.

It's strange to say that I was very upset when I said goodbye to Yun Zhen just now, but now after talking to Lai De for a few words, all the depression has gradually dissipated. I just hope that Yun Zhen and Baogui Fei can leave the palace smoothly and live a truly happy and peaceful life.

Leaving the palace is obviously a good thing, why should I be sad?

"My queen..." Lai De stared at Ji Anni's face for a long time before asking cautiously, "My queen, have you cried?"

Ji Anni was stunned and quickly denied: "No, no, which eye of yours saw me cry?"

Although he said this, his hand unconsciously raised and wiped the corners of his eyes hurriedly.

Lai De said, "My queen, I can see your eyes are red with both of my eyes, you must have cried. My queen, what is it that makes you unhappy?"

"Nothing happened. I...I...my eyes are red because I didn't sleep well recently. Don't make random guesses." Ji Anni lowered her head guiltily, afraid that Lai De would see the tears on her face.

Lai De said with concern: "My queen, even if you didn't cry, not sleeping well is not a small matter. Are you troubled by something?"

"Worries..." If I talk about worries, there are really a lot of them. First of all, the biggest one is how to get home.

It has been almost a month since I disappeared from my original world, right? My family must have been extremely worried. Maybe... they thought I was dead and even arranged my funeral.

sky……

Ji Anni couldn't help but want to hold her head and scream to the sky.

Recently she seemed to be getting more and more accustomed to life in the palace. If this continued, she was afraid that she would be assimilated and integrated into it.

"Your Highness." Although Lai De didn't know what Ji Anni was worried about, he tried to enlighten her, "You may be too bored recently. Find some fun for yourself. All the flowers in the Imperial Garden are blooming beautifully recently. Your Highness can invite a few companions to enjoy the flowers and have fun. Don't you have a good relationship with Empress Bao, Princess Tianning, and Concubine Su Cong?"

"Don't mention Princess Tianning." Ji Anni waved her hand. Her eardrums would ache whenever she heard these four words. "As for Yizhen, I haven't seen her in the past two days. But Concubine Baogui..."

If how to return to the original world is Ji Anni's biggest worry, then the matter between Guigui Fei and Yun Zhen is undoubtedly her second biggest worry recently.

Although the palace is relatively peaceful now, it is hard to imagine how chaotic it would be if Concubine Baogui and Yun Zhen disappeared. But since it was their decision and their last courage, even if it was risky, I had to support them.

"Laide, I've been worrying about a problem recently..." Ji Anni lowered her voice, thinking about how to express her worries in a subtle way. After thinking for a long time, she suddenly caught a glimpse of the grapes and apples in the garden, and she asked with inspiration: "Laide, I like apples and grapes, but if one day grapes and apples fall in love, what should I do?"

Lai De was confused when he heard this and asked, "My lady, what's wrong with you?"

"Don't worry about what's wrong with me, just answer my question quickly." Ji Anni's tone sounded very domineering.

"This, this..." Lai De scratched his head and said worriedly, "My queen, please forgive me for being blunt... Even if Grape and Apple are really in love, what does it have to do with you, my queen?"

"Of course it's my business. I like apples, too." Ji Annie said anxiously.

Lai De's mind was still in a mess, he couldn't figure out the situation, and he said with a bitter face, "Madam, it's your business if you like apples, and it's apples' business if they like grapes. They have nothing to do with each other. Madam, why do you worry about such a problem?"

"Oh, you're so stupid." Ji Anni stomped her feet, not knowing how to explain.

But suddenly, the knot in her heart seemed to be untied.

She slowly lowered her eyelashes and whispered, "No, Lai De...you are not stupid, maybe you are very smart. Yes, even if the apple and the grape are in love, what does it have to do with me? ... What does it have to do with me?"

From the beginning, I was just an outsider...

An outsider.

After simply defining myself with these five words, I thought I would feel better, but the indescribable bitterness gradually permeated me. An outsider is like an audience watching a play. Although I may feel happy or sad because of the joys and sorrows in the play, everything in the play is ultimately far away from my own world. Even if I cry for them and laugh for them, I can't change their story. Thinking about it this way, I suddenly feel that my position as an outsider is a bit sad, but...

Yun Zhen, Empress Bao... Even if they are just outsiders, they also hope that this drama can have a happy ending.

All Ji Anni can do for them now is to pray silently.