In the luxuriously decorated hall, the lights and shadows flickered, and the embroidered curtains fluttered. The aroma of wine and meat was clouded with the fragrance of rouge and powder, which was a look of intoxication.

In front of the table, two Persien dancers stretched their arms, twisted their slender waists, and danced beautifully.

They were dressed in purple thin silk and dancing in graceful postures. Their slightly curly brown hair was tied high behind their heads, and their delicate feet fell onto the scarlet soft blanket, which was a more seductive temptation than exposure.

In front of the table, the Emperor and Huanan He were sitting opposite each other and drinking to the sound of drums.

The Emperor swallowed a glass of wine and turned to look at Huanan He while Liang Zhen was refilling his glass.

His beautiful eyes were shining brightly on the dancing girls' trembling bodies. He seemed intoxicated with a blushed face and a half-open mouth.

The Emperor smiled slightly with satisfaction and patted Huanan He on the shoulder, "Ninth Uncle, let’s drink."

Huanan He collected himself, smiled awkwardly, and raised his glass to the Emperor, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After a glass of wine, Huanan He's cheeks turned red.

He put down his wine glass, raised his eyebrow, and threw a wink at one of the dancers.

The Emperor lowered his eyes in disdain. He had long been accustomed to Huanan He's lasciviousness, but he didn't know that Huanan He was deliberately putting on a show in front of him.

"Ninth Uncle, I’m sorry you were wronged in the Yonglu Temple incident. I hope the dinner party I’m throwing can make you feel better. Come on, drink a few more glasses."

Huanan He swallowed a mouthful of food, and his face turned cold, "The matter is over. Your Majesty, you can feel at ease. I have never complained about you. I only hate the person behind the incident. It's hateful!"

The Emperor narrowed his eyes and pounded the table angrily, "Well, Yue Xilou is also an idiot. I trusted him so much and handed over the Eastern Depot and the Imperial Ceremony Office to him. That's how he served me with all his heart!"

Huanan He smiled softly, "Your Majesty, no matter how bold Yue Xilou had been, he wouldn’t have dared to allow his subordinate to falsely pass on your oral decree. But as your close minister, it was his neglect to be easily tricked by others. He should indeed not be forgiven lightly."

Playing with his wine glass, the Emperor raised his eyes, "Ninth Uncle, you’re quite right. No matter who falsely passed on my order, he is probably going to have my head taken off in the future. It's time for Yue Xilou to seriously examine himself."

Huanan He smiled lightly.

After swallowing another glass of wine, he stopped talking and turned his head cheerfully to enjoy the dance. He clasped his slender fingers on the table and tapped a series of beats after the rhythm of the drums.

Huanan Xin watched his engrossed state for a moment and curled his lips coldly. His eyes seemed cold as ice, "Uncle, there is one more thing I want to know."

Huanan He didn't turn his head as he stared at the dancers and replied, "Your Majesty, please ask. I'll tell you everything I know."

"On the night when you were assassinated and fell off the cliff... What did you and Concubine Yun do then?"

With that, the Emperor narrowed his eyes and fixed his sharp eyes on the silver-haired handsome man, holding his breath to observe his expression changes.

Huanan Xin thought, "If I find anything wrong with my Ninth Uncle’s expression, even if it is just a slight frown, I will immediately kill him in person."

Huanan He's attention was shifted from the beautiful dancers, and he looked at the Emperor in surprise, "What could we do? When I arrived at the scene, I realized that someone was tricking me. When someone pushed Her Grace off the cliff, I jumped down to save her. If she died and someone investigated it in the future, I would probably be blamed. Who else could testify it for me then? Afterward, she rambled all night in tears, saying that someone was trying to harm her and she was going to find a way to go back to the Palace to complain to you. It was so annoying. But if it hadn't been for this experience, I wouldn’t have been forced to guard someone who was infected with smallpox after I survived the fall and would never have felt that I was so lucky to have no injury or disease in this life!"

The Emperor didn’t answer. Huanan He lowered his head at an angle, met the Emperor's eyes, and immediately spread his hands, aggrieved, "Your Majesty, since you ask this question, do you still suspect that Her Grace and I have an affair? Oh, I’m wronged. No matter how desperate I was, I would never hit on such an ugly woman."

Seeing that the Emperor's face instantly turned blue with anger, Huanan He immediately chuckled, scratched his head, and said in a low voice, "It’s true. Her face was disgusting..."

"Ninth Uncle!" The Emperor said in a hoarse voice and shook his head helplessly.

Huanan He simply laughed more happily, "I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Please forgive me. Let’s drink."

After another round of wine, the Emperor's eyes were blurry, and there was a hint of a secret smile on his face, "This time you’ve risked your life, and I should reward you with something. Well, you’re not young now, and you can't go on living your life like this. You and Ying'er are in love with each other. How about I issue an order and marry her to you? After the visit of the envoy of Ying State is over, I will let the two of you get married."

Huanan He was startled and sneered, "Your Majesty, are you serious? Do you want me to marry a child?"

Huanan Xin's eyes turned cold, "Why? I intend to arrange a marriage for you. Are you going to disobey my order? Or do you have someone else in mind?"

Huanan He touched his forehead and explained impatiently, "Your Majesty, thank you for your kindness, but I am used to being idle. Now you’re going to send someone to take charge of me. I would rather become a monk. I hope you will think more about Ying'er, and take it back."

"How dare you!" The Emperor's face flushed with resentment, and he angrily threw his chopsticks away, "Huanan He, you're so presumptuous. My word carries weight, and I’m not joking with you. How dare you ask me to take my order back? Ying'er is just in her prime, and you have to accept this marriage even if you don’t want to!"

Huanan He concealed his cynical attitude and slowly got up. His stern eyes confronted the Emperor's narrow eyes for a long time, "Your Majesty, I know I’m humble and aren’t good enough for Commandery Princess Jingle. I have something else to do at home, and I’m afraid I can’t stay for a long time. I’ve got to leave!"

"Huanan He…" The Emperor pointed at him and shouted loudly, "Do you think I don’t dare to kill you?"

Watching that arrogant and unruly man stride out of Qinming Hall, the Emperor waved his sleeves and knocked over a table of wine and vegetables.

The dancers were so shocked that their faces turned pale. They hugged each other, screamed, and exited the hall one after another at Liang Zhen's gesture.

The old eunuch stepped forward and tried to comfort the Emperor, "Your Majesty, don't take that crazy man seriously. He has always had such a bad temper."

The Emperor raised his cold and beautiful eyes. Looking in the direction in which Huanan He disappeared, he said coldly to himself, "He’s so certain... I don’t dare to kill him!"

That was right. Huanan Xin didn't dare to kill his Ninth Uncle.

For Gu Yunxi's sake, and with the d*mned heart-by-heart blood bond, he didn't dare to hurt his Ninth Uncle.

But now his Ninth Uncle was so fearless. Could it be that he really had already known anything?

Outside the hall, the exquisite figure of Commandery Princess Jingle stuck out from behind a majestic column.

Watching him leave in his red dragon robe, her knees softened and she leaned in front of the column and panted. Her tears were flowing freely...

Knowing that her Ninth Prince had entered the Palace, Jingle couldn't contain the love in her heart, so she had inquired all the way to Qinming Hall.

Outside the hall, she clearly heard that he had rejected the Emperor's marriage proposal.

She had never imagined that the man she had loved deeply and always defended would finally abandon her ruthlessly.

Jingle was heartbroken. Ignoring the indifferent gazes of the maids in the Palace, she just covered her mouth and cried sadly.

"Why are you here, Your Highness?" There suddenly came a gentle voice from behind and it interrupted Jingle's wailing.

Her makeup was ruined. She wiped away her tears and turned to look sideways. Yue Xilou bowed to her with a smile and said respectfully, "Your Highness."

"Oh, are you here to see His Majesty? He's in the hall." Jingle sniffed awkwardly and slowly got up against the column.

Seeing this, Yue Xilou hurriedly held her, "I’m not here to see His Majesty. I’ve been looking for you, Your Highness!"

Jingle withdrew her hand vigilantly and looked disturbed, "Why do you want to see me, Lord Yue?"

Yue Xilou looked around and silently pulled her down the long marble steps, away from the palace maids who were left behind in the corridor, "Today, the Eastern Depot investigated a case and caught three men. They claimed it had something to do with you, Your Highness..."

"Me?" Jingle's heart sank, and her face went pale. She gasped, "What's the matter? Tell me now!"

Yue Xilou pursed his lips and smiled lightly, "Your Highness, do you remember, on the night of Girl's Day on July 7th..."

"..." Jingle's eyes widened in surprise, and her mind went blank for a moment, and she was caught off guard.

Yue Xilou promptly stopped smiling, kept his voice extremely low, and continued with a hint of mystery, "According to the confession of the three of them, they were forced to go after you. That person is a master in the imperial harem, and no one dares to offend her..."

―

"Why are you disguised as a eunuch again?"

In Jingyang Palace, Gu Yunxi, who had removed her makeup, looked at Huanan He in surprise in front of the bronze mirror.

After taking off his black hat, Huanan He sat down on the chair.

Seeing Gu Yunxi holding the waist card of Shi’s Mansion, he asked her in surprise, "Did you go to see Shi Yuanqing?"

Gu Yunxi shook her head, "I'll go tomorrow morning, and I'm thinking about how to confront her properly. Darling, what are you wearing?"

"I asked Xiaobei to find me an official uniform of the eunuch so that I could see you in the imperial harem in the future..."

Huanan He took Gu Yunxi's hand, kissed it lightly, and looked at her affectionately, "Yunxi, I’ve missed you."

Gu Yunxi blushed and pressed her soft body close to him. She hugged his head with both hands and asked in a gentle voice, "Darling, did something happen to you?"

Huanan He looked tired, "According to our plan, I identified the man Xiaobei had arranged to Yue Xilou and created momentum for him to fight Shi Ling successfully. Afterward, Huanan Xin held a banquet at Qinming Hall, and I was summoned. He insisted on marrying Ying'er to me, but I pretended dumb and refused him."

Gu Yunxi raised her long eyelashes. She was stunned when she heard it. She looked serious as she paced, "He was probably testing your reaction. No matter how you said no, it was exactly what he wanted. He still has doubts about what I said when I was alone with you on the night of the assassination."

Huanan He calmed down and said unhurriedly, "In front of him, I pretended that I had lost my memory as in the past, but the matter of marriage was always a dilemma for me. If I don't want to marry Jingle, I could only say no. If I am afraid of being suspected by Huanan Xin, I have no choice but to agree to marry her. If he issues an imperial decree, what should we do?"

Gu Yunxi suddenly felt jealous. She curled her lips and complained, "You sneaked into the imperial harem in a eunuch suit tonight to tell me that you are going to marry again? Very good! But Jingle is pretty and young anyway. Your Highness, congratulations."

Huanan He rolled his eyes resentfully and patted her hand, "Are you still making fun of me at this time? If you talk such nonsense again, I will deal with you immediately!"

Gu Yunxi smiled and stroked her hair, "Otherwise, find an opportunity to arrange someone for her, such as a handsome young man from a noble family, and let him marry Jingle."

.

"No, no..." Huanan He frowned in opposition and waved his hands slyly, "Jingle is bad-tempered, and an average young man from a noble family can't stand her. Besides, if we arrange her marriage casually, I'm afraid it will hurt her for the rest of her life."

Gu Yunxi raised her eyebrows, folded her arms, tilted her head, and glanced coldly at Huanan He's serious face, "Your Highness, it seems you do care more about Her Highness than others. Well, for the sake of her lifelong happiness, you should agree to marry her. I have become Huanan Xin's favorite concubine anyway, and we are even now."

"Do you like being his favorite concubine? I need to teach you a lesson!"

Huanan He gritted his teeth and threw the jealous woman down.

A palm wind swept out of the bed curtain and extinguished the candles in the bedroom...