If Yun Ruoyan didn’t understand what Yun Ruoyao was trying to do, she would have been touched by her words. Truly, her sister was more clever than she gave her credit for!

Although Yun Ruoyao hadn’t opposed the betrothal out of the kindness of her heart, and “her father sought out physicians from all over” and “used all sorts of spiritual herbs and medicines” were clearly warping the truth, Yun Ruoyan had to find an opportunity to thank her dear sister.

“So the second daughter of the Yuns is both ugly and has some incurable disease?!”

“How pitiful!”

“Don’t you see her birthmark going from red to black and red again? That must be why!”

“I’m more surprised that the Yun family hasn’t given up on her despite this pernicious illness. They revealed the truth despite knowing that it might ruin their chances of marrying into the royal family—it’s not for nothing that the Yuns have such a great reputation!”

“Right? Surely all the Yun daughters are refined and morally upright. If no princesses fancy us, perhaps one of the Yun daughters would be a good choice.”

The scions’ discussions quickly went from Yun Ruoyan’s birthmark to the ethical conduct of the Yun family.

This was beyond Yun Ruoyao’s expectations; initially, she had been a little worried that Yun Lan would rebuke her harshly for ruining a potential union between the two families, but that didn’t seem to be a problem any longer.

The empress, who had been appalled by the entire fiasco, turned to Eunuch Chang and berated, “Who sent the second Yun daughter an invitation? Didn’t anyone investigate this beforehand? How ridiculous!”

“This, I didn’t know about this either, Your Majesty!” Eunuch Chang responded fearfully.

The empress glared at him before turning to Li Xiu. “Your Majesty, this would truly be an inappropriate betrothal.”

Li Xiu finally began to waver. He’d hoped to be able to provide for Li Mo and his future descendants to keep the kingdom prosperous, and it surely wouldn’t be good to force a sickly wife upon him.

Li Xiu blinked and was about to speak when an elegant, magnetic voice interrupted him.

“Yan’er, I didn’t know of your woes.” Li Mo slowly stood up from his seat, his dark eyes looking soulfully at Yun Ruoyan. “As I’ve told you, I don’t mind your issues. Please, don’t abase yourself.”

Yun Ruoyan’s scalp went numb.

“......” You might not mind me, but I mind you. She looked at Li Mo, her eyes wide, her mouth agape, wanting but not daring to speak her thoughts aloud.

As Li Mo looked at Yun Ruoyan’s dumbfounded expression, he suddenly sighed. “Yan’er, if you really mind so much, then let’s postpone the betrothal. I’m somewhat familiar with medicine, as you know, and I’m confident I’ll be able to treat your illness. Why don’t we discuss our marriage then?”

Yun Ruoyan’s eyes twitched. I’m only thirteen, and you’re already twenty-something. If you really don’t mind, then let’s leave it at that. After all, I have a large supply of the ointments needed to make my fake birthmark.

Yun Ruoyan played along and gasped as if moved by his words. “Slaughtering King, your generosity knows no bounds. I am forever in your debt…”

“Then pay it off with your body!”

A low, charming voice suddenly sounded in Yun Ruoyan’s mind. She stilled and turned to Li Mo, who was smiling at her, but his mouth hadn’t moved.

Then who was speaking to her? Was it Qiuqiu? No, that surely wasn’t its voice.

Yun Ruoyan thought the voice sounded quite familiar, as if she’d heard it somewhere before. But precisely where, she wasn’t sure.

“Yan’er, if you’re not feeling well, don’t keep standing. Why don’t you return to my lap?” Li Mo reached out for Yun Ruoyan once again.

Li Xiu, the empress, Yun Ruoyao, and everyone present widened their eyes once more.

“Th-third brother, what makes Uncle so interested in such a sick, ugly girl?!” Li Qianxiao leaned over and asked the impassive Li Qianhan skeptically.

Li Qianhan shrugged.

“Well, well, in that case…” Li Xiu immediately commended Li Mo. “Do you all see how devoted the Slaughtering King is to the apple of his eye? All the men of the Li kingdom should be like him!”

Li Xiu stood up from his dragon throne, impassioned. “Lads, if you see a lady you’re interested in, be influenced by nothing other than your own heart.”

With the Slaughtering King as a model, and the emperor’s last words, the nobles began to leave their seats and mingle with each other.

“Miss Yun, I’ve heard wonders about your cultivation. Might I trouble you for a match?” An eloquent young master clad in blue walked to Yun Ruoyao’s side and asked politely.

Only then did Yun Ruoyao recover from Li Mo’s shocking words. She immediately shook her heads and responded modestly, “No, no, both of us have much to learn from each other.”

And then she followed that young master to the side for a private discussion. Before she left, however, she turned back to Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan once more, the suspicions in her heart growing deeper and deeper.

“What exactly are you trying to do?” Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help but ask Li Mo.

“Pour me some wine.” Li Mo continued sitting indolently on his seat, as if his body was entirely relaxed. However, as soon as Yun Ruoyan tried to break free, there would immediately be a force restricting her once more.

Li Mo looked at the girl in his lap. She was like a little tabby cat who’d been enraged and wanted to claw her attacker. Seeing that her attacker was a domineering mountain lion, however, she couldn’t help but retract her claws unwillingly.

She was cuter and cuter the more he looked at her!

“Pour me some wine, and then I’ll tell you.” Li Mo nudged Yun Ruoyan with his cup.

Yun Ruoyan sighed hatefully before pouring out a full cup of wine and slamming it down on the table. “Are you satisfied?” She turned back to Li Mo. “What do you want?!”

Li Mo looked at the cup, his expression turning serious. “Come closer, I’ll tell you.”

“...”

Although Yun Ruoyan’s lower half was in Li Mo’s lap, her upper half was as far away from him as possible.

“We’re in a public location, and it’s not as if I can eat you with everyone else here,” Li Mo whispered. “I don’t want anyone else to know about this.”

Against her better judgment, Yun Ruoyan leaned in toward him, tilting her head to the side so as to hear his explanation better.

Li Mo’s gaze swam over Yun Ruoyan’s round earlobe, her jade-white lower jaw and slender neck, her long eyelashes, her pert nose, and her rosy cheek.

He couldn’t help but nuzzle her.

“What are you doing?!” Yun Ruoyan shouted and scrambled back before quickly looking around her. Luckily, her shout had been drowned out by the commotion of tens of groups of people talking.

“I’ve found that I truly desire you.” Before Yun Ruoyan could explode, Li Mo sighed and murmured, “What shall I do?”

“You…” Yun Ruoyan’s eyes were about to pop out of her sockets. “Sick! Bastard!”

In the bustle of the party, with groups of teenagers duelling, having fun, and chatting with each other, no one but Yun Ruoyan, Yun Ruoyao, and Li Qianxiao noticed that two people were missing.

When Pei Ziao woke up, he found that it was already completely dark, and Yi Qianying wasn’t by his side. He wanted to stand up, but as soon as he moved his neck, a sudden, sharp pang of pain spread down his spine.

Clearly, someone had knocked him unconscious, but why had they left it at that? If either palace maids or eunuchs had found him, wouldn’t they have reported him and gotten him tossed out? And if it weren’t the palace maids or eunuchs, who else could it be?

When Pei Ziao left the party following Yi Qianying, he was very careful to make sure that no one was following them. No matter how hard Pei Ziao thought, he never once suspected that the culprit was his good friend, the crown prince Li Qianxiao.

“Qianying, Qianying, where are you?” Pei Ziao called out softly. The night was quiet save for the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, unknown insects chirping, and the hubbub of the party in the distance. No one seemed to be near.

Yi Qianying had ingested an aphrodisiac and urgently needed to have sexual intercourse to relieve herself. Someone had discovered them, but instead of reporting them, had only knocked him out. Yi Qianying had gone missing.

Pei Ziao had an uneasy premonition. Ignoring the pain from the back of his neck, Pei Ziao ran toward the inner garden. As he suspected, he found no trace of Yi Qianying. It wasn’t just his attraction toward Yi Qianying that he was concerned about: when Yi Qianying had dragged him out, people had seen her do so.

If something were to have happened to her, he would be considered complicit.

Anxious and worried, he couldn’t help but sweat.

He knew he couldn’t delay the matter further. The longer her disappearance, the less he would be able to defend himself. In urgency, he decided on the simplest, most direct solution: walking up to the emperor’s throne and kneeling down.

“Your Majesty, I’d like to report a case!”

Li Xiu was currently discussing his children’s marriage prospects with the empress. When a youth suddenly walked up to him and knelt down, he was a little surprised. “What’s the matter?”

Because of Li Xiu’s presence, Li Qianxiao had been particularly well-behaved, never straying from his seat under the watchful eye of his father.

Trapped as he was, he couldn’t help but daydream, reliving his encounter with Yi Qianying in the greenhouse again and again.

But, just as he was enjoying himself, Pei Ziao suddenly walked out of the crowd and knelt down by his father’s side. In anxiety, Li Qianxiao’s hand trembled. His cup of wine dropped to the ground and broke.