With the ring on a chain gently oscillating in his hand, Wu Yange was all smiles ready for his baobei. The man put extra care into his looks even dressed up in his best outfit, one of the many reserved only for imperial functions. Dressed in all black with beautifully coiffured hair, Wu Yange was ready for what would be their first date. He stepped outside with the gentle breeze blowing by flattering his garments and a few strands of his hair. His striking appearance was enough to make girls blush and men envious.

Standing in the garden as the sun approaching the horizon Wu Yange nervously went through his checklist constantly staring at the gate in anticipation. 'Dinner, check. Wine, check. Ring, check. My date, not yet here,' he thought biting his lower lip with a sullen look. Rong Zian should have been back by now, it was already sunset but he wasn't there yet. Feeling anxious, he walked towards the gate and opened it enough for only his head to peek out. He scanned the street but he wasn't there.

He was about to go out when he noticed beautiful bright lanterns rising into the sky, there must have been close to a thousand of them floating up illuminating like stars against the inky dark night. Based on the calendar, he knew there weren't any festivals warranting this many sky lanterns. All the servants curiously gathered outside in amazement entranced by the picturesque mysterious scene. The streets were boisterous with people pointing in the sky trying to figure the purpose of such a beautiful sight. Some were curious enough to shoot them down with an arrow and read what was written on the lanterns.

He was about to brush it off and look for Rong Zian when he caught sight of the characters on one of the lanterns. "Yan Yan?" he read with a puzzled look as he threw Li Wei like a javelin skilfully striking the lantern down. Li Wei let out a hissing sound expressing its displeasure to being reduced to a poking stick.

Wu Yange picked up the fallen lantern, as he read the characters he was immediately stuck in a trance. Everything around him paused his ears ringing shielding him from the sounds in his surrounding as he read word for word. "I love you Yan Yan," he mumbled the words at a slow pace as though he was having difficulty in recognising the characters. His body shudders with excitement as a pleasurable tingling sensation surged through his body. Fluttering his smooth black eyelashes to blink away a tear, Wu Yange whispered, "I love you too."

The gate was harshly pushed open grasping Wu Yange's attention but it wasn't the person he was expecting. Ying Tie was bending over trying to catch his breath. He had been out doing 'research' for Wu Yange and couldn't find the right place after trying a few back door shady stores and brothels.

He only found what he was looking for near a store that sold lanterns when he overheard the shop owner talking about a shameless man who ordered a thousand lantern to confess to another man. He didn't think much of it till the man mentioned Yan Yan and complained that he had to light all of them at once and release them at the same time. The old man then mentioned the Red Guard taking the man away and that was when Ying Tie had an 'oh crap' moment. The old witch had Rong Zian and thus he set off running to tell Wu Yange.

The prince's expression turned darkly realising something was wrong. "Ro-Rong Zian is, is at the palace. Red Guard took him!" said Ying Tie struggling to speak and catch his breath at the same time. Wu Yange's chest heaved in anger activating his blue flame before leaping into the sky. His mother had crossed the line this time and had to be disciplined, her and stupid Red Guard.

In the blink of an eye, Wu Yange arrived at the palace with azure flames surrounding his body, his gaze stern with aggressive killing intent leaching off his body. The Red Guard unsheathed their swords ready to face off with the infamous powerful prince. This is what the empress had trained them for and it was time to shine. They blocked his path and brazenly ordered him to disengage his sapphire flame before entering the palace.

"We can't allow you to enter, Your Highness, without disengaging your sapphire flame for the safety of all people in the palace including the empress herself," he commanded in a non-negotiable tone.

Wu Yange found it funny that they actually had the audacity to block his path. He let out an ominous chuckle and sent a blazing fireball at the leader who so dared to open his mouth. The man was completely obliterated leaving no trace as though he had never existed. The rest of the men were horrified at the scene watching their captain vanquished without even a yelp.

In their defence, the empress hadn't lived with her son since he turned eight and only interacted with him sparingly so the woman had no idea how formidable her son's strength was and based her training on an image of an eight-year-old's baby flames during practice. If she had known the level of his full strength she wouldn't have bothered training the Red Guard to defend against the prince.

The men had lost their confidence abandoning their posts in silence hoping they could escape in time. Wu Yange fired a stream of flames blocking the path as a warning. They would be stupid if they don't quit their jobs after this. Satisfied, Wu Yange made his way to the main hall with a forceful suffocating aura that terrified everyone in the main hall.

He had to find the man he loved, the man who had confessed to him in a grant way. How could he let him go after all this? After all they had been through? Rong Zian was the only person he ever loved and his mother just had to take the only beautiful thing in his life and ruin it. That woman had to pay for causing him so much pain.

He endured the childhood abuse, the hurtful words but this was simply unforgivable. She had touched his bottomline and there was no way in hell he was going to let her get away with it.