"You will make me..." Ming Ze paused in his words when he was about to kiss Yue Ran; his voice sounded restrained and deep. "You will make me cannot help but want to do something excessive."

    "You…" Yue Ran spoke before her voice trailed off. Her pupils shrank slightly as she stared at the man in front of her. After a while of silence, she suddenly stared at him angrily and said, "Do you want to hit me?"

    Ming Ze: …

    The two looked at one another for a moment before Ming Ze sighed helplessly.

    "I… have really overestimated you," he said with a low sigh.

    "What do you mean?" she asked angrily, slapping her hand on the man''s shoulder to show her dissatisfaction.

    The slap was neither hard nor strong. For Ming Ze, it was as if a cute little kitten was swinging a paw and slapping that paw clumsily at him.

    It was so cute and not dangerous at all.

    Ming Ze even wanted to grab those beautiful paws to kiss them.

    "Ran Ran is so beautiful when Ran Ran is angry," he said with a look as dreamy as his voice.

    Yue Ran: …

    It was over; she could not even vent her anger anymore.

    …

    A month passed in the blink of an eye, and it was time for the imperial palace to celebrate the new emperor''s ascension to the throne.

    It was said that His Majesty wanted to celebrate with the people, and thus, on this day, all the court officials gathered together in the banquet hall, bringing their sons, wives, and daughters.

    The feast soon began, followed by the sound of music and dancers dancing in the open space.

    Rong Yu naturally sat on the dragon throne while looking down at the people below him. His harem was still empty, and there was no concubine to serve him.

    The court officials have asked him to hold a draft, a procedure whereby noble young ladies were made available for selection to be included in the emperor''s harem.

    But Rong Yu declined. He had no need for any kind of beauty, nor did he want it. There was no need to waste time on something like that when he already had the world in his hands.

    Moreover, Yue Ran will be mad when she hears him taking in concubines, right? After all, Yue Ran had always wanted the best of the best.

    Rong Yu lowered his eyes to cover the gloom and ice in them.

    He was already so high above, and he initially should have been matched with Yue Ran so that he could protect her under his wings. But how she was gone, or rather, that her body was not yet found, and yet everyone around him, both men and women, looked so happy.

    Does no one remember the bright and flamboyant girl in his heart?

    "Heh," Rong Yu laughed at himself deprecatingly and took a sip of bitter tea.

    There were some pastries, fruits, and nuts on the table. The palace maids who served the meals were quickly and quietly entering and leaving the hall with trays of food boxes, constantly adding various delicacies to everyone''s tables.

    Seeing all kinds of delicious sweet pastries that were obviously freshly baked from the imperial kitchen, Rong Yu could not help but think that Yue Ran would love to eat them when she saw them.

    …

    In an empty room close to the banquet hall, Yue Ran was eating those freshly baked pastries that Rong Yu thought she would like. Naturally, these pastries were stolen by the stealthy Ming Ze from the imperial kitchen.

    Yue Ran put a piece of small pastry in her mouth and chewed it a couple of times. But when she raised her eyes, by chance, she met Ming Ze''s eyes, which were looking fixedly at her.

    She saw that the man was smiling foolishly at her, like a big, happy, and foolish dog.

    "What are you looking at?" Yue Ran asked with a glare. "Are you not going to eat yours?" She raised her chin to point at the untouched pastries in front of the man. "If you are not going to eat yours, then I am going to eat them myself."

    "Okay," Ming Ze quickly replied and pushed the sweet-smelling dishes to Yue Ran.

    He only thought that Yue Ran was beautiful, delicate, and cute, no matter how he looked at her. Then he once again showed the girl another foolish smile.

    Yue Ran only stared at the food in front of her for a while before deciding to return Ming Ze''s food.

    It was not that she did not want to eat those delicious pastries that taste as good as they look, but that eating too much would make her gain weight, which was not okay, and would not be helpful to the incoming plan that she had prepared, which was also not okay.

    "On second thought, I do not want them anymore; you can eat them yourself," Yue Ran pursed her lips and said. "A Ze, do not starve yourself or you will get sick."

    Ming Ze was incomparably moved, which made Yue Ran roll her eyes.

    "Ran Ran is the best," he said, swallowing a piece of pastry with an expression full of cherishment on his face.

    This was what Ran Ran gave him. He should treasure their flavor and not eat them too fast, or else it would be a waste.

    By the time Yue Ran finished her food, Ming Ze had only finished one quarter of it.

    Yue Ran raised a brow when she saw it.

    "I did not know that you ate this slowly before," she said.

    "This is what Ran Ran gave me; of course I have to eat them slowly," he replied in a righteous tone.

    "But this is just too slow of a speed," Yue Ran sighed.

    Whatever, it was all up to him.

    Why does she always find herself losing in front of this foolish man? What a crisis!

    Ming Ze: Ran Ran is the best!

    Yue Ran: What a fool.

    …

    The dancers followed the soft music with graceful movements.

    The male and female guests of the banquet were all relaxing while talking and drinking with one another.

    The dance in the hall soon came to an end, and the music officer stopped playing music. A group of dancers saluted the emperor sitting high up on the dragon throne and filed out silently to the exit of the hall.

    At this time, Xia Zhan stood up with his cup of wine and raised his cup in the direction of the dragon chair with the utmost politeness and respect.

    "This humble minister wishes that Your Majesty, the Emperor, lives for ten thousand years," Xia Zhan said.

    Rong Yu narrowed his eyes and accepted it. He raised his cup from a distance and drank the tea in the wine cup.

    Yes, Rong Yu has faked his jar of wine, replacing the wine inside with tea.

    Xia Zhan does not look very good in appearance now unlike that of the past, but as compared to the last time Rong Yu saw him, Rong Yu could say that Xia Zhan obviously looked much more neat and less depressed. But there was still gloom resting in between his brows.

    "This humble minister wanted to present a gift for Your Majesty," Xia Zhan continued.

    "Oh, a gift?" Rong Yu raised a brow. He had never put his full trust in anyone and always kept his vigilance, even in front of Xia Zhan, whom he had already considered a beaten dog and a loser.

    "I have found a beauty to perform a special dance for Your Majesty, the Emperor," Xia Zhan said.

    Rong Yu sneered in his heart when he heard this.

    He did not know what Xia Zhan had planned to do, but he would allow this man to jump in front of him for a while. He wanted to see what kind of game Xia Zhan was playing right now.

    "Okay," Rong Yu said. "Then bring the beauty out."

    The emperor''s golden words have been spoken, so under everyone''s eyes, the dancer slowly entered the hall.

    The night was deep, and because of the many lanterns inside, the hall still shone with the brightness of day.

    It was a plain-clothed beauty with a face covered with a white gauze veil, the same color as her clothes, that revealed a pair of charming phoenix eyes that seemed to hook anyone who saw it. The blooming red peony flower that was drawn between her eyebrows made her plain beauty look more vivid. Sёar?h the N?vel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail with a white ribbon, making her look more heroic.

    The moment the dancer entered the hall, almost everyone''s eyes were fixed on her more or less for a moment, and there was even a faint sound of breathing.

    Rong Yu paused for a moment when he looked at the dancer. The hand holding the wine cup trembled, and his heart was pounding.

    There was something familiar about the dancer in front of him, but he did not know what it was.

    Just as everyone was thinking that the dancer would go straight to the open space where she was supposed to dance, the dancer actually went to Xia Zhan''s position.

    Under everyone''s surprised eyes, the dancer got close to Xia Zhan and pulled out a silver blade from its sheath.

    Swish—

    A cold light glistened splendidly on the blade.

    It was Xia Zhan''s sword—General Xia''s sword.

    The dancer chose a sword dance.