Her Entire Court Reborn with Her in the Modern World

Chapter 197: Chapter 196: Meeting an Old Friend Again, As If a Lifetime Has Passed

Three of them had created a "Happy Family" group chat behind his back? What did that mean? They could only be a happy family without him? All three of them combined couldn’t even withstand one of his hands in a fight.

When the group chat notification popped up on his screen, Cui Jinghan’s heart leaped into his throat, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back. He thought, "Oh no, I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep the fact that Her Majesty is in Jianghuai from Pei Xuan."

But to his relief, the phone was locked, so neither the specific chat history nor the group members were visible on the screen. Fearing that Ning Liuyu might pop up and send another message, Cui Jinghan put his phone away with a cold expression. He said calmly, "You’ve always looked down on us scholars. Is there a problem if we don’t include you in our happy family?"

"Hmm, you make a fair point," Pei Xuan said with an inscrutable smile. "But now that I’ve seen it, it put me in a bad mood. What should we do about that?"

Cui Jinghan met his gaze fearlessly. "I’m standing right here. You can kill me."

Yan Sinian paled in shock. How did a simple conversation escalate to murder?

Pei Xuan said, "If she hadn’t been protecting you in the past, did you really think I wouldn’t have dared to kill you?"

Cui Jinghan’s voice was faint. "I’m afraid it’s more like you wanted to kill me but couldn’t. There’s no need to make excuses."

Pei Xuan didn’t get angry. "Weren’t you running late? Why haven’t you left yet?"

Pei Xuan was naturally rebellious; the more people tried to stop him from doing something, the more he wanted to do it. Cui Jinghan furiously brainstormed how to stop Pei Xuan from tagging along without raising any suspicion. If it were just going to be a few of them ministers, it wouldn’t have mattered if Pei Xuan went, but... Cui Jinghan’s expression remained calm, yet his heart was pounding wildly.

Right at the critical moment, Housekeeper Pei carefully poked his head in from outside the door. "Young Master, we should get going. Mr. Pei has an urgent matter to discuss with you. Perhaps you and your friend could catch up another day?"

"Grandpa has an urgent matter?" Pei Xuan frowned. "Let’s go. To the hospital, immediately." To him, his family in this lifetime was just as important as his own life.

Mr. Pei had always been in robust health, but his condition had suddenly taken a sharp turn for the worse over the past two years, causing Pei Xuan endless anxiety. Housekeeper Pei shot Cui Jinghan an apologetic look before leaving with Pei Xuan.

After getting into the car, Housekeeper Pei muttered in his mind, "Why is our Young Master always making enemies with such good-looking men and women? Is this an issue with our Young Master, or with everyone else?"

Housekeeper Pei had always been Pei Xuan’s biggest hypeman, but at the same time, he was extremely biased toward attractive people. He firmly believed that good-looking people were always right! But the three people who held a grudge against their Young Master were all exceptionally good-looking! Housekeeper Pei was caught in a dilemma, and his loyalty even began to waver a little. After all, their Young Master was just one person, while the other side had three. Two fists were no match for four hands.

Housekeeper Pei had to pinch himself hard to maintain his loyalty to Pei Xuan. If a fourth one appeared, he really couldn’t guarantee that he would still side with his Young Master.

Back in the hotel room, Cui Jinghan breathed a sigh of relief and sent a message in the other group chat.

[Cui Jinghan]: Pei Xuan just came looking for me.

[Ning Liuyu]: !!!

[Cui Jinghan]: Don’t worry, it was a false alarm. I’ll be there soon.

Cui Jinghan took two steps before stopping again to warn Yan Sinian. "Do not tell Miss Shi about what happened today. Otherwise, don’t even think about getting a single cent of your year-end bonus."

Yan Sinian stood up straight. "Senior Brother, don’t worry. I absolutely won’t tell Miss Shi that you lost so much face today. In Miss Shi’s eyes, you, Senior Brother, should be wise, mighty, and incredibly extraordinary!"

Cui Jinghan was speechless. When it came to kissing up, his junior brother really resembled Military Master Ling Chang’an. Cui Jinghan gave Yan Sinian a deeply meaningful look. "If you ever meet someone who is as good at kissing up as you are in the future, you must tell me."

"Senior Brother, I never kiss up. I only speak the truth," Yan Sinian said righteously. "In fact, my meager words can’t even portray a fraction of your absolute brilliance, Senior Brother."

Cui Jinghan didn’t want to listen to his flattery anymore. "I’m leaving now."

Yan Sinian happily saw him out. "Take care, Senior Brother."

He closed the door and wiped a layer of sweat from his forehead. That had scared him to death. He needed to find a good TV show to calm his nerves.

***

When Cui Jinghan arrived at the designated meeting place, he found that all three of his preferred seats had already been taken. The latecomer had no right to choose, so he had to sit diagonally across from Shi Changying. This was also the first time he had seen Qingyuan and Ning Liuyu again in four hundred years. Reuniting with old friends felt like a lifetime ago.

Qingyuan pointed at herself and asked with a beaming smile, "Mr. Cui, does my face look familiar to you?"

Cui Jinghan looked at her for three seconds and shook his head. "No."

Qingyuan’s smile instantly vanished.

"A Yuan is a huge star now. She’s very popular," Shi Changying said, raising an eyebrow. "Jing Han, you didn’t know?"

Cui Jinghan’s nerves tensed. "Reporting to Your Majesty, I don’t usually follow entertainment news, so..."

Ning Liuyu cleared his throat softly. "Sister Yingying, actually, I didn’t know either."

"Your Majesty, our circles don’t overlap, so it’s normal not to know," Xie Qingshi said with a faint smile. "Even though I’m considered half an insider in the entertainment industry, I still don’t know ninety-nine percent of the actors."

Qingyuan felt put out. Hua Shao was an academic genius and an honorary professor at Mingjing University. Logically speaking, someone buried in research shouldn’t have paid attention to her either, right? Could it be that Hua Shao had the same ability as Pei Xuan, only able to recognize political rivals?

Shi Changying nodded and said, "I watched A Yuan’s shows; you acted very well. Qingshi’s music is also wonderful to listen to. A Yu developed medicine to treat incurable diseases, and Jing Han has a boundless future ahead of him." Pausing for a moment, she smiled. "I am truly happy for all of you."

There were still no elaborate words, but it was precisely this unadorned simplicity that easily plucked at their heartstrings. All four of them felt a tremor in their hearts.

Cui Jinghan weighed his words for a long time before asking, "How did Your Majesty end up as a high school senior?" With her abilities, even if she had to start over, she would have still reached the absolute pinnacle by the age of eighteen.

Qingyuan leaned against Shi Changying’s shoulder as if she had no bones, drawling lazily, "Because Sister Ying only woke up a little over two months ago. It wasn’t like us, who were babies when we first opened our eyes."

Cui Jinghan was enlightened. "So that’s how it is." If he had kept his eyes fixated on the world’s top young women, he would have actually missed his Empress.

"But Your Majesty is still extremely formidable," Xie Qingshi smiled. "In just over two months, you have already mastered junior high school math."

Cui Jinghan was slightly surprised. "Your Majesty has actually started learning math?"

Shi Changying gave a hum of agreement. "I’m going to rank first in the grade."

Cui Jinghan couldn’t help but laugh. Wanting to be at the top in all matters—this was indeed Empress Taichu’s consistent style.

After a moment of silence, Shi Changying lifted her head. "Jing Han, I want to know about... Teacher’s situation."

Grand Secretary Ye Yu, who was also the Imperial Tutor.