Chapter Forty-sixth: Love Me Properly

  Yun Qianyue listened to the sound of papers being slapped and the old emperor's angry voice from behind the screen, wanting to smile, but Ye Tianyi's words lingered in her ears, making her mood heavy, unable to laugh. How deep was she entangled with Ye Tianyi? Deep enough for him to threaten the old emperor with the fate of Jiangshan and the Night Clan's imperial lineage to protect her.

  Yun Qian Yue was thinking, the arm around her waist suddenly tightened, she turned her head, and saw Rong Jing looking at her with pursed lips. She pulled a smile on her face, but it didn't quite reach her lips. All she heard was Rong Jing saying: "Forget everything you just heard, not a single word is allowed to be remembered!"

  "Good!" Yun Qian Yue nodded.

  Rong Jing still had her lips pursed, and her face showed no warmth.

  Yun Shallow Moon looked at Rong Jing, turned around and hugged his waist, pressed her face against his chest, leaned on him, and said with a smile: "It's really overbearing! From now on, you shouldn't be called the black-hearted, black-lunged, poisonous-mouthed, small-minded, and vinegar-loving black mushroom. You should be called the black cage. With this black cage surrounding me, even if there are vast peach blossoms outside the cage, I won't be able to fly out."

  Rong Jing heard this and a smile appeared on his face, "You know that's good! So be obedient, don't let the red apricot go out of the wall."

  "Rong Gongzi, I haven't married you yet, and even if I wanted to run away, there's no wall to climb over." Yun Shangyue reminded Rong Jing in a drawn-out tone.

  "Either marry me or don't leave this wall. Inside and outside the wall, there is only one me." Rong Jing's eyes fixed intently on Yun Shangyue.

  The clouds are shallow and the moon is speechless.

  Rong Jing smiled and leaned forward, covering Yun Shang Yue's lips. Yun Shang Yue was startled and hastily dodged, but Rong Jing chased after her relentlessly. Her breathing became disordered as she scolded, "Stop fooling around!"

  "Be good and I won't make a fuss!" Rong Jing held Yun Shangyue tightly, his lips pressed against hers.

  Yun Shallow Moon stared at her, "How can I still go out and see people? This is the imperial palace! I still have to live here!"

  "Then don't see anyone!" Rong Jing didn't let her say another word, covering her lips with his.

  Yun Pian Yue thought that this person was really... really... She thought for half a day to come up with an adjective, but couldn't think of anything and didn't dare make a sound or movement, afraid of being discovered by the old emperor in front of her.

  In front of the screen, the old emperor was so angry that he paced back and forth in the imperial study, his heavy footsteps causing the golden bricks to crackle loudly. At this moment, he was obviously furious, and even if the breathing behind the screen was occasionally not right, he couldn't detect it.

  "Your Majesty! News has arrived from the palace that Consort Leng has awoken, wailing and demanding to see Your Majesty." Wen Lei's voice came from outside.

  The old emperor's footsteps paused for a moment, and he didn't react for a while. He angrily said: "What is she making a fuss about again?"

  "Your Majesty, you forgot, Consort Leng's face and teeth were..." Wen Lei spoke cautiously.

  The old emperor's angry face sank, and after a moment of silence, he asked: "Where is the empress?"

  "The Queen is in Ronghua Palace!" Wen Lai said immediately.

  "Have the empress go and take a look at her!" The old emperor ordered Wen Lai.

  "Yes!" Brunei echoed.

  "Wait! Hold the sedan chair! I'll go myself!" The old emperor shouted to Wen Tai, glanced at the memorials all over the floor, and stepped out of the imperial study.

  Brunei immediately stopped in his tracks and shouted, "Prepare the Dragon Spring Palace!"

  The shouting stopped, and the old emperor walked towards the Changchun Palace where Empress Leng lived, with the imperial guards immediately following behind.

  The old emperor's footsteps faded away, and the imperial study fell silent once again.

  Yun Shallow Moon pushed open Rong Jing with a huff, her beautiful eyes staring at him, just about to get angry. But Rong Jing placed his hand in front of Yun Shallow Moon's face, and she looked at it, only to see that it was the same hand that had been pricked by needles for Leng Shao Zhuo. At this time, the palmar surface of each finger was covered with dense needle holes, and although the golden needle was fine, his hand was too white, leaving behind extremely small blood marks at each needle hole. Overall, it still looked shocking. She retreated in anger, staring at him, "You brought this upon yourself, what do you want me to look at?"

  "On purpose to make you heartache!" Rong Jing smiled at Yun Shallow Moon.

  "You actually dare to say it out loud!" Yun Qiu Yue opened Rong Jing's hand, looking at his smiling face, neither angry nor furious, nor scolding, nor annoyed, "Must you give him acupuncture? And use someone else's blood? Your own blood would do?"

  "The acupuncture needle is needed, but your blood isn't. I said that just because I want to see you every day." Rong Jingdao said.

  "What's going on here?" Yun Shangyue immediately picked up Rong Jing's hand that was full of needle eyes and raised an eyebrow at him.

  "It was this hand that went to receive that letter. It's about to be punished!" Rong Jing said.

  "Why don't you just fill your brain with needles? If your brain doesn't think, your hands will take action?" Yun Shangyue glared at Rong Jing, what kind of person is this! This is self-abuse!

  "At that time, I didn't think with my brain, my hands moved first!" Rong Jing said.

  "What's the point of tying it up? Wouldn't it be easier to just cut it off? Then you wouldn't have to go pick it up again!" Yun Shang Yue looked at Rong Jing's hand, and the perfect person that everyone in the world admired was absolutely not the same as this person in front of her. This person had a poisonous mouth, a poisonous tongue, a black heart, and a bad temper, and he also liked to be self-abusive, childish, stubborn, and had many other bad habits.

  "No way, I still want to hold you!" Rong Jing stretched out his hand and hugged Yun Qian Yue tightly in his arms again.

  "This is not your home, it's the imperial study! Get out." Yun Qianyue was too lazy to get angry with this scoundrel. She could tolerate his petty and overbearing temper, his childishness and stubbornness, yet she still liked him, what could she do?

  "Where are you going?" Yong Jing stood still.

  "I'll naturally go to my aunt's palace. You return to the manor!" Yun Qianyue said after thinking for a moment. Now she and Rong Jing couldn't be together all the time. As soon as she spoke, she found that she still didn't want to part with him. Is this what it feels like to be in love? Can't bear to be apart from each other even for a moment? She smiled wryly and shook her head, pulling Rong Jing along as they walked out.

  "I won't go back to the mansion!" Rong Jing shook his head.

  "Where are you going? Are you heading to the Imperial Court now?" Yun Shangyue thought that he seemed to be attending court tomorrow, raising an eyebrow.

  "Not going, and you go to the imperial concubine's Ronghua Palace." Before Yung Jing's words had fallen, he stretched out his hand and wrapped it around Yun Shangyue's waist, just like when they came in, silently and quietly, like a gentle breeze, flying out of the imperial study. Even the beaded curtain at the door didn't sway once.

  Clouds were shallow and the moon was stunned, she tilted her head and used a secret transmission to ask him in a low voice, "Are you also going to Ronghua Palace?"

  "Hmm!" Rong Jing nodded.

  "What are you doing?" Yun Shangyue raised an eyebrow.

  "It's already noon! Why don't we go to Auntie's place for lunch?" Rong Jing whispered in Yun Shang Yue's ear, "Although we didn't get to spend the night together today, I'm quite exhausted from being with you. We need to replenish our energy. Auntie's imperial cuisine is regulated, and every meal is extremely sumptuous."

  Yun Qian's face turned red, and she suddenly used her arm to bump him on the waist, saying angrily: "Are you embarrassed? That's my aunt!"

  "It will be my aunt from now on!" Rong Jing smiled lightly.

  The clouds are shallow and the moon is speechless. This person's face is thicker than the city wall, what can she do to make it thinner?

  "Besides, I've always wanted to see the palace that my father and grandfathers in Rong Wang Fu have been yearning for over a hundred years!" Rong Jing's tone suddenly turned solemn. "It is said that there is also a purple bamboo planted in Rong Hua Palace. I can also take a look at whether the purple bamboo in Rong Hua Palace is better than the one in Rong Wang Fu's Purple Bamboo Forest."

  Yun Shallow Moon's heart moved, thinking of the empress's words a few days ago in her room, and she couldn't help but sigh. In the past hundred years, how many beauties in the Ronghua Palace have become dry bones under the long lamp, and how many young men in the Rongwang Mansion have been exhausted by the dawn? Is this fate now going to be fulfilled on her and Rong Jing's bodies, whether they can fulfill the prayers of a hundred years... Thinking of Ye Tianyi, her heart that had just relaxed suddenly became heavy again.

  "What are you thinking?" Rong Jing felt Yun Qian Yue's breathing was off and suddenly asked.

  "You must be out of your mind!" Yun Qianyue glanced at Rong Jing.

  Rong Jing suddenly laughed softly, his voice as gentle as a moonlit night, "I'm indeed a madman, and I won't just be crazy alone, I'll take you with me."

  She gazed up at the sky, where a few white clouds had appeared in the blue expanse. Drifting and floating, free and unrestrained. She thought about her past lives, no, counting from before she lost her memory, it should be three lifetimes, but it seemed like she had never been free and unrestrained. When could she be free and unrestrained, unbound by others' control? Shake off the restraints that bound her? With a deep sigh, "I'll accompany you in madness too, just promise me something, let me be able to accompany you in madness together?"

  "Is one heart not enough?" Rong Jing raised an eyebrow.

  "It seems not enough!" Yun Shangyue said.

  "Is it enough for you to use me and everyone around me?" Yung Jing asked again.

  "It seems it's still not enough!" Yun Qianyue said again.

  Rong Jing suddenly fell silent, and Yun Qian Yue no longer heard any sound. She withdrew her gaze from the sky to look at him, and he said in a low voice: "The Snow Lotus Fragrance on the top of Jiuhuan Mountain and the Lingzhi Drunkenness on the top of Tianxue Mountain have been buried for many years!"

  Clouds shallow moon a daze, suddenly mouth corner pulled open, silently laughed, Rong Jing is understanding her!

  The two of them fell silent, a gentle breeze rustling past their ears, the scenery of the imperial palace flashing by beneath them.

  The distance from the imperial study to Ronghua Palace is not far, and by the time they finished speaking, Rong Xiang had already brought Yun Shangyue to Ronghua Palace. Ronghua Palace was different from the usual bustle when Yun Shangyue came earlier, and now it was quiet both inside and outside the palace. Rong Xiang took a glance at the direction, and directly brought Yun Shangyue to fly over the palace wall and enter, the main hall's doors and windows were tightly closed, and outside the hall stood palace maids, wet nurses, eunuchs and others, each with a worried expression.

  Yun Shallow Moon's gaze swept across the faces of Sun and others, thinking that now Cold Imperial Concubine has woken up, the old emperor was still angry with her and Ye Tianyi, but he forced himself to comfort Cold Imperial Concubine! After all, today's loss for the Filial Piety King's Mansion is huge. The old emperor, even if he doesn't want to see Cold Imperial Concubine again, has to pretend, but who knows, maybe after being moved by Cold Imperial Concubine's crying, he'll come back and find trouble with this Empress Dowager! She turned her head to look at Rong Jing.

  Rong Jing floated gently down onto the roof of the palace.

  Ronghua Palace is the third highest palace in the imperial palace, except for Jinzheng Hall where the old emperor holds morning court and discusses affairs with civil and military officials, and Shengyang Hall, the old emperor's bedroom. Standing on Ronghua Palace, you can see all the scenery of the imperial palace at a glance.

  Yun Shallow Moon saw a purple bamboo planted in the southwest corner of Ronghua Palace at a glance. After being eroded by wind and rain for hundreds of years, there were already scars on the purple bamboo, but it still stood tall. She looked at that purple bamboo and couldn't tell what kind of taste was in her heart. I don't understand how the emperors of Tian Sheng Dynasty allowed it to exist? And how did each queen of Tian Sheng look at its growth?

  "This bamboo should be cut down!" Rong Jing said.

  Yun Shallow Moon tilted her head and looked at him, "Why?"

  Because you won't need to look anymore! The purple bamboo forest of the Rong Wang Fu is enough for you to see. Other women don't even need to be looked at!" As soon as Yong Jing's words fell, he suddenly took her and flew down, his sleeve lightly brushing against, the window of the main hall silently opened, and he took her in silently. Along with the two entering silently, the window closed silently behind them.

  The entire movement was smooth and silent, without making a single sound.

  Yun Shallow Moon Zan Fu looked at Rong Jing with a shallow gaze, thinking that if this person were to be a flower thief, he would definitely succeed in every case.

  "Who!" The queen suddenly let out a cold shout from within the bed curtains.

  Clouds were shallow and the moon was unexpected, she didn't think her aunt would wake up like this. The movement was so light and soundless that it could be detected by her. She followed the sound and saw that there was no one in the hall, only the empress lying on the bed with her clothes on. At this time, she suddenly sat up and immediately responded with a voice, "Auntie, it's me!"

  "Yue Er?" The empress lifted the curtain and saw Gong Jing in a daze, "Jing Shizi?"

  "It's Rong Jing!" Rong Jing nodded with a smile.

  "How did you..." The queen looked at the two of them, clearly not expecting Yun Shangyue and Rong Jing to enter together.

  "Your Ladyship, what's wrong?" came the voice of Sun Mama from outside, as if she was about to rush in through the door, "This old servant just heard Your Ladyship's cry..."

  "It's nothing! I just had a nightmare. You don't need to come in!" The queen turned her gaze towards the door and gave an order with a calm tone.

  "It turned out that the mistress had sleepwalking! The old slave thought there was a thief!" Sun Momo let out a sigh of relief.

  Yun Shallow Moon glanced at Rong Jing with a look, she and Rong Jing were now thieves, weren't they! Fortunately, this person still didn't change his face.

  The queen looked at the two of them again, her gaze lingering on Rong Jing's hand holding Yun Shang Yue's waist. Rong Jing slowly let go of his hand and gave a slight bow to the queen, saying in a warm voice: "It's already noon now, I'm too lazy to return to my residence for lunch, so I came to Auntie's place to freeload. Auntie won't refuse me, will she?"

  The queen seemed to have not expected Rong Jing to call her aunt and was startled.

  "Don't scare my aunt!" Yun Shangyue walked towards the empress and explained, "The Rong Wangfu has been struggling lately, he's just here to scrounge for food. If Auntie isn't disgusted, giving him a bowl of soup would be enough!"

  Rong Jing heard this and smiled lightly.

  The queen suppressed her surprise, glanced at Yun Shangyue and then at Rong Jing, her eyes searching their faces for a moment. Both of them had smiles on their faces, looking relaxed and at ease. She asked the outside, "Sun Shunü, what time is it?"

  "Go back, young lady, it's already late, you haven't had lunch yet!" Madam Sun immediately replied.

  "Serve the meal!" The empress said.

  "Yes!" Old Lady Sun responded and hastily led the people away.

  The queen got out of bed, tidied up her clothes and looked at Yun Shang with a low voice, "Aren't you supposed to follow the emperor from today to teach him? How come you're with Jing Shizi now? Has the emperor allowed this?"

  "How can that be allowed!" Yun Qianyue snorted, hesitated for a moment, looked at Rong Jing and also lowered her voice: "Ye Tianyi has asked for an imperial decree, from now on I will follow his teachings. The Emperor has agreed! Today doesn't count, starting from tomorrow."

  "The Seventh Prince requests an imperial edict to instruct you? Why?" The Empress was taken aback, clearly unaware of the entanglement between Yun Qianyue and Ye Tianyi.

  The cloud was shallow and the moon hung its head, she didn't know what to say, she had no memory of her and Ye Tianyi's affairs now. The empress looked at her, waited for half a moment but didn't see her speak, then looked at Rong Jing, Rong Jing also didn't speak. She frowned, "Moon, the Seventh Prince wouldn't instruct you without reason, did you offend the Seventh Prince?"

  "It's not that I've offended him, we've been in contact all these years, and I was probably just showing concern, but he misunderstood. Now towards me..." Yun Qianyue saw Rong Jingyi had made up his mind not to speak for her, so she could only force herself to say: "I don't know either, anyway it's just that he seems to be like that towards me, so he went to ask the Emperor for instructions, wanting to teach me a lesson."

  The queen is after all the queen, how could she be so astute? From Yun Shangyue's few words, she guessed a general idea and immediately sank her face, asking: "How did you communicate with the Seventh Prince for several years?"

  Yun Shallow Moon pulled the corner of her mouth, but didn't pull out a hint of a smile, shook her head, "I don't know either!"

  "What do you know? How did you communicate with him?" The queen's face sank.

  Yun Qian Yue shook her head, "I don't know!"

  "How did you communicate with him? You actually said you didn't know?" The queen was suddenly furious, "The Seventh Prince is deep in thought and has heavy means of plotting. Among the princes, only the Seventh Prince cannot be provoked. Ten Night Sky would not even be a match for the Seventh Prince. He went to Beijiang five years ago, Beijiang is over a thousand miles away from the capital. Since you've been communicating all along, did the letter fly into your hands automatically? I'm not old enough to be confused, don't deceive me!"

  "I didn't deceive you, I really didn't know!" Yun Shangyue knew that if she told her aunt about this matter, she would be angry.

  "You didn't deceive me, so what's going on between you and the Seventh Prince? How come I haven't heard any rumors about your communication with him all these years?" The Empress glared at Yun Shangyue, "I also haven't heard the Emperor mention it!"

  "I may have been hiding it from you before, but now I'm not hiding it from you, I've lost my memory! I don't know what's going on with Ye Tianyi!" Yun Shangyue thought that since her grandfather knew about her amnesia, Rong Jing knew about her amnesia, Ye Tianyi knew about her amnesia, and maybe others also knew but didn't say anything. One more person knowing wouldn't make a difference. Moreover, this person was her aunt.

  "You said you lost your memory?" The queen was taken aback.

  "Hmm!" Yun Qianyue nodded.

  "How is this possible?" The queen looked at Yun Shangyue in disbelief.

  "Say something! Are you dumb?" Yun Shang Yue tilted her head to look at Rong Jing, and seeing him being scolded made her feel very comfortable.

  "Auntie, she really has amnesia!" Rong Jing finally spoke up, glanced at Yun Shangyue and said to the Empress in a warm tone: "This matter is long-winded, let her tell you slowly later. You will understand then."

  The queen frowned, she could not believe Yun Qianyue's words, but Rong Jing's words she would not disbelieve. She looked at Yun Qianyue, "When was this? How come I never noticed? And didn't hear Father and brother mention this matter."

  "This matter is only known to Grandfather, him, and Ye Tianyi. Grandfather probably didn't tell you, and Father King doesn't know either." Yun Shangyue looked at the Empress, she originally didn't plan on letting the Empress know about this matter. She also disliked explaining the most, but now she had no choice but to explain. She couldn't understand why Rong Jing came to the Empress's palace for dinner today, but this person never did anything without a reason. In the future, she would be living in the imperial palace for some time, and the Empress was after all the mistress of the harem. As long as her position was secure for one more day, it would be beneficial to her. Perhaps Rong Jing's intention today was to let the Empress know about this matter, so that she could help her. Even if she couldn't help, she couldn't just pretend not to know and cause trouble instead. She could only explain: "Do you still remember that day when Ye Tianyi wanted to take me down to the Ministry of Punishment's prison? It was on that same day, I woke up by the lotus pond and lost my memory. I just didn't make a big deal out of it."

  "What day is it? How did this happen? What's going on?" The queen was stunned again, looking at Yun Shangyue with a solemn expression.

  "Aunt, do you know the Phoenix Scripture left to me by my mother?" Yun Shangyue asked the Empress. Seeing her nod, she said: "When my mother passed away, she gave me a Phoenix Tribulation, locking up the last layer of power in the Phoenix Scripture. I think I forced my way through the Phoenix Tribulation, and because of that, my memories were sealed."

  "Ah, I see!" The empress nodded and was about to ask another question when the voice of Sun Mamao came from outside, "Your Majesty, the meal is ready. Shall I bring someone in to serve it to you?"

  "Bring it in yourself! Everyone else, withdraw! There's no need to stand guard!" The queen raised her voice and gave the order calmly.

  The eunuch seemed to hesitate for a moment, which was unprecedented. The empress's breakfast, lunch and dinner all had rules, unless there were special instructions, otherwise the number of attendants would not be reduced. Now that she was allowed to enter alone, having served the empress for many years, she immediately felt something unusual. Suppressing her doubts, she waved her hand at the people outside, "The empress is in a bad mood today, you don't need to come in! I'll serve her!"

  "Yes, madam!" The person outside replied respectfully.

  The old lady pushed the door open with a tray and walked in, but when she saw Rong Jing and Yun Shangyue, she suddenly froze, especially when she saw Rong Jing's disbelieving expression, the tray almost slipped from her hands. In this Ronghua Palace, except for the emperor and the princes who came to pay their respects every day, no one else was allowed in. Even the princes' visits were only in the outer hall, and only the emperor could enter the inner hall. Although she was an old lady who had seen it all, she was still scared stiff! She stood at the door, her feet unable to move, her whole body rigid.

  "Come in!" The empress glanced at Sun Mama.

  The empress dowager hastily lowered her head, suppressing the shock in her heart, and stepped forward to arrange the dishes on the tray onto the table. Just as she was about to retreat, the empress asked, "Why is it steamed fish with lotus?"

  Yun Qian's eyes sparkled as she had just walked in and saw the steamed fish with pickled mustard greens. The aroma was just like every time she ate it, and she turned her head to look at Rong Jing, who was smiling at her. She thought to herself that he wasn't bad, a man of his word!

  "Go back, young lady. I'm not clear either. The eunuch from the imperial kitchen only said that I would know once I brought it over!" Sun Mama said.

  The queen looked at Rong Jing and Yun Qianyue, seeing that Yun Qianyue's eyes were bright and Rong Jing's face was smiling. She nodded in understanding. Given Rong Jing's abilities, it wouldn't be surprising if he reached into the imperial kitchen.

  The old lady immediately went down.

  The queen sat down first, gesturing to the two of them with her hand. Rong Jing smoothed out his clothes and sat down elegantly, while Yun Shang Yue sat beside him. Without caring about royal etiquette or not, she picked up her chopsticks and began eating the fish immediately. How long had it been since she last had Fu Rong roasted fish? As soon as the fish was in her mouth, she was stopped by Rong Jing's chopstick. She turned her head to look at him, saying discontentedly: "Are you going to lecture me on being an unrefined lady again? Unladylike? This is my aunt's place, not some outsider's! Are you still trying to control me?"

  Rong Jing couldn't help but let out a sigh of exasperation and reminded him, "Fish bones!"

  Yun shallow moon lowered her head to take a look, and indeed, a very large fish bone was exposed. She shook her head, "It's nothing, after I eat the fish meat in my mouth, I'll spit it out, it won't get stuck in mine. Don't worry!"

  The old lady had just brought in the second tray, and upon hearing this, she stumbled and almost fell over. She walked over, lowering her voice to say: "Miss Shallow Moon, fish bones are supposed to be picked out first. Where is it that you eat something and then spit it back out? This doesn't conform to the norms of a young lady from a good family..." She said this much before remembering that Cloud Shallow Moon had never been like other young ladies from good families, and immediately stopped talking, looking towards the Empress.

  "She's always been like that since she was a child! I've never seen her be a lady!" The queen glared at Yun Shangyue, "Don't mind her."

  The old lady nodded and put down the tray, then walked away.

  "It's still Aunt who understands me!" Yun Qianyue smiled at the Empress and immediately opened her mouth to eat, but found that the fish meat on her chopsticks was gone. She turned her head and saw Rong Jing carefully picking out bones from a piece of fish meat. She was taken aback, and before she knew it, he had finished and placed the deboned fish meat into the plate in front of her. He looked at her and said, "Eat!"

  Yun Qian Yue picked up her chopsticks and put the fish meat into her mouth. Her eyes, however, were fixed on Rong Jing, who had already picked up another piece of fish meat to debone for her. After finishing, he placed it back onto the plate in front of her. She extended her chopsticks to pick it up and eat it. As soon as she finished, he had already prepared another piece of fish meat, deboned and placed into the dish in front of her. Without looking at her, he continued repeating the action.

  She looked at Rong Jing, and a wave of emotion suddenly rose up in her heart. A warm current surged out from the bottom of her heart, making her eyes suddenly moist. From childhood to adulthood, she had been taught military-style mechanized education, eating was just to avoid hunger, to have energy, so that she could complete tasks with physical strength. Etiquette wasn't something she didn't understand or couldn't do; she had studied national etiquette and could hold her own in grand settings. At numerous large conferences and diplomatic meetings with various countries, she could maintain perfect decorum without anyone finding fault, but that was work, not life. As soon as she shed that uniform, she could devour meat with gusto, without any regard for appearances, feeling carefree. Unless it was a special occasion, she had always been unbridled. It had always been this way, and no one had ever picked fish bones for her, including Xiao Qi...

  If Xiao Qi saw her like this, she would only say, "It's really worth letting our leader come and take a look, I'm sure he'll regret choosing you!"

  She would jokingly say, "Then go and report it!"

  Xiao Qi usually says, "No way, the leader wants to see you and fire you like that. In the future, I won't have a partner, can't even find someone to take the bullet for me! You're with me, at critical moments you can help me out!"

  She hummed and said, "As expected, brothers are used as shields!"

  Xiao Qi fell silent at this time.

  His eyes were a bit evasive, but from the evasiveness of his gaze, I saw that pair of hands as white as beautiful jade doing things that didn't match those hands. Those hands should be writing poetry and painting, holding scrolls to read books, splashing ink, playing the qin, yet they were picking fish bones for her. Moreover, one of his fingers was full of dense needle eyes, with faint blood marks, but he still held the chopsticks steadily, his expression casual and relaxed, his movements elegant, as if he hadn't noticed that doing such things was inappropriate at all.

  The queen was also looking at Rong Jing, her phoenix eyes barely concealing her astonishment and surprise.

  Third Aunt Sun came in with a tray for the third time, and when she saw Rong Jing picking on Yun Shang Yue again, she was startled. Her old eyes also didn't dare to believe it. She thought that Miss Shang Yue was truly a blessed person, even if she couldn't marry Rong Jing, being treated like this by him was already not a waste of her life!

  The dish fell onto the table with a soft clinking sound, bringing back Yun Qianyue's consciousness. She lowered her head and silently ate the fish.

  The queen also covered up the surprise and shock in her eyes, glanced at Yun Shangyue, and elegantly picked up her chopsticks.

  The old lady retreated, and for a while no one spoke.

  After a moment, Yun Shang Yue suddenly put down her chopsticks, threw her arms around Rong Jing, and looked up at him with an upturned face. "Rong Jing, what if I fall in love with you?"

  Rong Jing's chopsticks slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground with a "clap". He seemed not to have noticed, lowering his head to gaze at Yun Qian Yue.

  The queen almost dropped the chopsticks she had just picked up and also looked at Yun Shangyue.

  "What if I fall in love with you?" Yun Shu Yue asked again, tilting her head. She didn't dare to confirm that something deeper than liking, even deeper, or even more profound... or even more so, would be the kind of thing that could be called love. Was it like what she was feeling now, wanting to spend a lifetime with him, and also having wild thoughts about how she would live this life without him?

  Rong Jing remained silent, his eyes quietly gazing at Yun Qian Yue, his body motionless.

  "Hmm? What to do?" Yun Qian Yue asked again, seemingly wanting a definite answer from him. What is it like to love someone? Can she bear the weight of loving? She's such a cold-hearted and ruthless person. She had once pointed a knife at her own family who had abandoned her for many years, she had pushed Xiao Qi away with her own hands until he was nothing but dust, she had hugged an explosive device and jumped off a skyscraper... Can someone who is heartless to everyone, including herself, still bear the weight of love?

  "Then love me well." Rong Jing fell silent for a long time before speaking, his voice somewhat hoarse.

  "What is it to love well?" Yun Shu looked at Rong Jing's eyebrows and eyes, this person was elegant as a painting no matter how many times she looked at him. He was like a book, every page turned made her want to read the next one, even after finishing the whole thing, she still wanted to go back and savor it again. Endless, never getting tired of it.

  "True love is...” Rong Jing also looked at Yun Qian Yue's eyebrows and eyes, his gaze gradually filled with a deep and unchanging tenderness. After a moment, he looked towards the purple bamboo in the south corner of the palace, and said softly: "Let the Purple Bamboo Forest forever reside in your heart, whether it is peach blossoms, apricot blossoms, sea holly flowers, or plum blossoms, orchids, osmanthus... all flowers will never surpass the Purple Bamboo Forest!"

  Digression

  The beautiful woman should have picked out the fish bones for Moon a long time ago! Beautiful women, you all say it's true, right? o(n_n)o~ Ha!

  Thank you for the diamond rewards and flowers from everyone below!

  ycf526 (30 diamonds 10 flowers), jing8828 (100 flowers), 15923079137 (1888 rewards), Lin Han - Zeng Xue Rui (1314 rewards), Bu Tao Xi's Maru (10 diamonds), Dan Meng Ru Yan (52 flowers), xinyong121 (2 diamonds), arielh256 (188 rewards), Meng Xuan Er (188 rewards), arielh256 (1 diamond), Qing Ye Hua Zhen Zhen (188 rewards), Cai Dyna (1 diamond 100 rewards 1 flower), Support Fei's Dream Traveler (1 diamond 10 flowers), Dian Ru Ai Xiang (1 diamond), joannahu99 (1 diamond), Sai Yan Er (1 diamond), lordlv (1 diamond), 15827736980 (1 diamond), mmt12 (1 diamond), 13736382175 (1 diamond), 18310730281 (1 diamond), Dao Ying Ming Yue (5 flowers), Ji An Xiao (5 flowers), Momo o (n_n) o~