Stepping on the quiet moonlight, Ming Lan walked slowly to Gu Yunxi's back. He opened his mouth and puffed warm breath on her neck.

"Be so sure of yourself, aren't you? Do you wish to grow wings and fly out of the Garden?"

His enchanting voice chilled Gu Yunxi's heart. Extremely nervous, she could almost feel her heart popping out of her mouth.

How long had he been standing here? Had he seen through her disguise?

While guessing wildly in her mind, she immediately knelt down humbly.

"Master Ming."

"Um-hum."

He watched her turn around and snorted casually.

In the moonlight, the python robe was particularly white. The gorgeous brocade seemed to be flown with luster, covering his body like snow.

The well-embroidered hem swept across Gu Yunxi's cheek. In a blink of an eye, he was before her.

He lifted her chin with his long and smooth index finger. Ming Lan arched his back slightly and leaned over to her.

When they looked at each other, his beautiful eyes shone brightly in the night.

"You haven't answered my question."

His voice was light as a night breeze blowing from the void.

Turning her eyes away, Gu Yunxi answered calmly.

"Nature's call."

"Good reason..."

Ming Lan's eyebrows were slightly raised, and his eyes were sharp enough to see everything.

It took courage to gaze into that pair of keen eyes!

Gu Yunxi couldn't help the palpitation. She reminded herself to be remain calm.

Withdrawing his hand, Ming Lan straightened up and looked into the sky, asking.

"Do you want to enter the Palace early?"

The sudden change of subject caught Gu Yunxi off guard.

Her long eyelashes fluttered due to the perplexity. She hurriedly lowered her eyes and replied submissively and cautiously.

"I traveled thousands of miles from Dongling to the capital so that I can serve the nobles in the Palace. Now that I'm in the Garden, I'll follow the teachings of Master and Madam Du and endeavor to fulfill my aim."

Ming Lan curled his lips into an unexplained smile. Slowly, his eyelids moved down and his gaze fell on the girl.

"Then have you ever thought that one day you will no longer be a servant, but an equal to the other concubines?"

With another turn of the subject, he stared at her and spoke in measured tones.

Gu Yunxi was stunned.

Was he giving her an obscene hint?

She roughly understood the conversation with Madam Du before noon.

To enter the Palace smoothly, she must first please Ming Lan and gladly accept the skills taught by him "in person".

Ming Lan had always been lecherous. What he was able to teach a damsel personally was not hard to guess for Gu Yunxi!

To hand over the Garden to the Western Depot was tantamount to sending lambs to a wolf. She could not fathom what on earth the Emperor was thinking about.

However, the Emperor was also pitiful. He would never know that the common women he had graced had been sampled by the eunuch before they climbed onto his royal bed.

Gu Yunxi knelt on the ground without saying a word, leaving Ming Lan to pace around her. While he was boasting with his soft voice, she was calling him a bastard silently.

She came to realize that he was taking advantage of her. Knowing that she came from a mediocre family and stood alone in the capital, he tried to scheme her.

She suppressed the disgust in her chest and kowtowed. Composed, she replied curtly.

"I don't get it. Please enlighten me, Master."

With a blink, Ming Lan crouched down and kept his face at the same height as hers.

He stroked her smooth forehead with his cold fingertips and then tucked a strand of hair on her cheek behind her ears.

His hand lingered for quite a while. Two restless fingers pinched her delicate earlobe and rubbed it slowly.

Gu Yunxi knelt steadily, showing no startle but calmness. Even when he caressed every inch of her face, she did not elicit much emotion.

She had experienced his unruliness a long time ago.

It took some time before Ming Lan finally stopped. He tilted his head to look at her and decided that she was interesting.

Ordinary women would be sullen or frightened to be treated so frivolously. And a frivolous croquette would play up to his provocation.

However, this girl's expression was indifferent. She kept her eyes low with dignity.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed her low-hanging eyelashes were as thick as crow feathers. They glowed in the moonlight fascinatingly.

Her eyes were not big but exquisite. Intertwined light and shadows glittered in them, making it difficult to see.

Ming Lan watched her, wondering whether the girl named Tu Muxue was silly or pretending to be so. Was she calm or frigid？

And her voice sounded so similar. Was it possible that there were two people in the world whose voices were almost the same?

Holding her little face in his hands, Ming Lan approached her.

"The harem is deeper than the sea. Homely girls from poor families can only be oppressed handmaids, even if they enter the Palace."

"Without a senior internal official to rely on, it will be difficult to meet His Majesty. Some can't even make it past 25, the age for retirement, and lose their lives. Muxue, are you afraid?"

The long speech came out at once along with the scorching breath that was hugging her face.

There was a saying that wolves would only eat meat but dogs would always feed on defecate.

Ming Lan was destined to be a mangy dog who feasted on defecation in his life!

Gu Yunxi gritted her teeth. Somehow, she felt that the punishment to cut off two of his fingers was far from enough—

Despite the rich mental activities, she appeared calm and fluttered her long eyelashes from time to time at Ming Lan, showing her ignorance and naivety.

Before she figured out whether he was probing, it was the safest to pretend to be foolish.

The mutilated left hand dropped and grabbed her small hand. He rubbed the silky back of her hand with his thumb and continued to coax.

"Don't be afraid. You can tell me about your ideas. If you want to stand out in the imperial harem in a year or two, I can lend you a hand. The most important thing is that you must be sensible and smart."

Then, he lifted his right index finger and pressed on her petite lips repeatedly.

He began to expect that the girl would suddenly glare at him and bite his finger.

Then he could confirm that she was back...

But the girl's behavior once again plunged him into the abyss of darkness and despair.

Confused, she stared at him with a frown and mumbled questions.

"Master Ming, what do you mean? You keep asking my thoughts. What can I think? I listened to my father at home and acted as he wished.

"My dad said that entering the Palace was the best. An ordinary maid has two taels of silver for a monthly salary, and hence twenty-four in a year. He also said that the court would take care of my clothing and food, which would save a lot of money. He also said..."

"Enough--"

Ming Lan's face changed. He interrupted Gu Yunxi with his sharp voice and awakened the sleeping people in the courtyard.

Immediately, candles were lit in the terrace.

The door opened one after another. Young damsels rubbed their sleepy eyes and swarmed to the corridor to look on. The night guards also heard the stir and rushed over in groups.

"Master, what's the matter?"

The head of the guards stepped forward and asked Ming Lan.

Ming Lan stood up sullenly. He still glared at Gu Yunxi with bloodshot eyes. Full of regrets and resentments, he made a gaffe that was incompatible with his status under the surrounding eyes.

He could only blame himself to imagine this stupid girl as her.

The absurd idea almost drove Ming Lan crazy. So, he had to test her again and again. He even touched every inch of her face just now to search the sticky edge of a mask.

It turned out to be a fantasy. The person in front of him was Tu Muxue, a plain-looking girl with a humble status—

Disappointment, then despair, and finally shameful rage—

He had been looking for her for a whole year. Even though the Western Depot had stopped the search, he never stopped missing her in his heart.

Ming Lan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt the strange pain in his chest relieved.

"Get out…"

After the murmur, a roar followed.

"Get out. All of you!"

The crowd fell in silence. Everyone exchanged glances, aware of their Master's unpredictable temperament.

The head of guards raised his hand and beckoned them to leave as soon as possible.

The damsels scrambled back into their rooms one by one, and the doors banged as they shut. In an instant, Ming Lan and Gu Yunxi were left alone in the courtyard.

Gu Yunxi peeked at Ming Lan's desperate look and was amused. When it quieted down, she plunged respectfully at his feet.

"Forgive me, Master. I was telling the truth. If I've offended you, please pardon me for my disrespect."

He waved his sleeves angrily.

"You too! Get away!"

Ming Lan was radical. When he flared up, his delicate facial features were so twisted that they would startle the world along with his wicked voice.

Snickering, Gu Yunxi got up quickly, only to be stopped by Ming Lan.

"Wait!"

She halted in horror, and her panicked eyes flickered, not knowing what he was up to again.

"Aren't you going to the toilet?"

Ming Lan's voice was deep.

"It was west of here. Won't you go?"

"Yes... I forgot in a hurry..."

Gu Yunxi didn't dare to look back at him. She buried her neck in her shoulders and headed straight to the corner room of the west wing.

Holding his hands behind, Ming Lan loomed alone under the deep night sky.

The lantern in the corridor was swayed by the wind. Every time it moved, the iron hook on its top would squeak on the carved wood frame, pulling Ming Lan back to reality.

There was nothing left in his sight. But the figure buried in his heart became clearer.

How could that girl be her?

That spoiled wild kitten would panic every time he teased her. She would fight back, scratching with sharp claws. How could this dull woman be her?

Ming Lan laughed at himself under the moon and then walked away, shaking his head.