Yue Guanyi looked at the mess on the ground. Qiu Shuzhi and Qin Qing had fallen together, their clothes disheveled. Especially Qin Qing, his collar was wide open, the chastity mark on his chest a glaring red. His thin lips were also swollen red, clearly sucked on fiercely. There was even an ambiguous silver thread at the corner of his mouth.

Yue Guanyi was livid. This shameless old widower.

“Your Highness.” Qiu Shuzhi hurriedly stood up from the ground. She never expected Yue Guanyi to come back, barging in directly without allowing an announcement. Could it be that the Imperial Guards got the news in advance?

“Oh, why has His Highness the eldest prince graced us with his presence?” Qin Qing leaned his body softly, wiping away the silver thread at the corner of his mouth right in front of him, his eyes provocative.

Yue Guanyi couldn’t be bothered with him. His gaze was entirely focused on Qiu Shuzhi. The first thing he noticed was that the jade pendant at her waist was gone. Glancing at the chaotic ground, their token of love was lying there all alone.

He silently picked up the jade pendant but didn’t dare return it to Qiu Shuzhi in front of Qin Qing. Seeing the mess in the room, he knew what had just happened. He wasn’t even sure if Qiu Shuzhi had feelings for Qin Qing too.

“Empress Dowager, please get up.” Just seeing Qin Qing’s disheveled and casual appearance made her uneasy. He looked exactly like he had been caught in the act.

Right now, she just wanted to help him up, dress him properly, break this ambiguous atmosphere, and then go back and explain properly to Yue Guanyi.

“Help me up.” Qin Qing extended his hand for her to support him and smugly raised his eyebrows at Yue Guanyi to show off.

Qin Qing finally sat down and stretched out his hand that had been pierced by the porcelain shards. His tone was coquettish. “Look how rude you were just now, rushing in such a hurry that you didn’t even care my hand got cut.”

Qiu Shuzhi was stunned for a moment and instinctively looked at Yue Guanyi.

Sure enough, hearing Qin Qing’s ambiguous words, Yue Guanyi’s entire body was shaking, nearly unable to stand steady. He even lowered his head, not daring to look at her.

In this situation, she should be the one feeling guilty, but Yue Guanyi was as humble as an intruder who had interrupted someone else’s intimate moment, as if she and Qin Qing were a couple and he had become the third party, weak and subservient.

“Your Highness.” Qiu Shuzhi grabbed Yue Guanyi’s hand and held it tightly.

She pulled Yue Guanyi to kneel directly in front of Qin Qing. She even respectfully performed a full formal bow. “Empress Dowager, this humble official has admired His Highness for a long time. I am fortunate to have His Highness’s favor. The two of us have been in love for a while. Please give us your blessing!”

“…Qiu Niang…” Yue Guanyi looked at her in disbelief, his voice choked to the point of hoarseness.

Qiu Niang said she admired him. Yue Guanyi could hardly believe his ears. He knew this was just her way of protecting him.

But in this situation, Qiu Niang was still willing to protect him, even willing to marry him. He was so choked up with emotion that he couldn’t speak. Even the corners of his eyes turned a moist pinkish-red, glistening with tears that rippled out in layers.

If Qin Qing wasn’t here, he really wanted to pounce on her, bury himself in her bosom, prostrate at her feet like a dog, break down and sob, crying as he poured out his near-obsessive adoration and love that had started since his youth.

“Qiu Shuzhi!” Qin Qing suddenly roared.

What did she take him for? They had just done the most intimate thing in the world. He had given her his first kiss, all his tenderness and affection. He didn’t expect to gain her wholehearted affection, but he hoped to at least gain a shred of pitying love.

But not only was she not moved in the slightest, she even asked to marry his son right in front of him.

Qin Qing gripped the edge of the table tightly, the wounds on his hand tearing open more and more, the flesh a hideous sight. But this was nothing compared to the morbid hatred in his eyes. Extreme hate and extreme love twisted together, converging into the thickest, darkest resentment.

He looked at Yue Guanyi’s blissful face with loathing.

It was all him.

All him.

This kind of smile should have belonged to him, but it was snatched away by that lowly Yue Guanyi. His eyes were full of sinister deadliness. The crazily surging hatred tore violently at his heart. He wished he could dismember him right now, throw him into an insect pit, let bugs and snakes crawl into his body, let him also taste the heart-gnawing, bone-scraping feeling he had now.

“Imperial Father, this son also sincerely likes Official Qiu.”

Yue Guanyi tightly held Qiu Shuzhi’s hand. The tears brimming in his eyes were dyed a scarlet peach blossom color by the redness at the corners. His heart was wildly overjoyed as if all the fireworks in the world were blooming at this moment. The sky full of light illuminated his lightless sky. The beautiful dream he humbly begged for day and night, not daring to hope for, had actually come true at this moment. He just wanted to kneel and thank the heavens for their mercy, for bestowing this blessing.

No, he should thank Qiu Niang. Qiu Niang was his deity. It was all because of Qiu Niang’s pity that he had this delirious joy he didn’t dare hope for, his heart so full it felt heavy, to the point he forgot what had happened in this ambiguous room just now.

He even forgot he should be jealous of her having an affair with the Empress Dowager.

Yes, jealous of the Empress Dowager who could be intimate and affectionate with Qiu Niang, gently licking her soft, smooth skin. Jealous that person wasn’t himself, hostile to Qin Qing who shared her favor.

Not feeling resentful and angry at Qiu Niang.

But now, Qiu Niang was openly asking to marry him, making an indescribable pleasure and secret darkness rise in him. He wanted to compete for favor. He wanted to show off.

The one Qiu Niang liked was him. The one she openly asked to marry was him. Didn’t that mean she liked him more than others, at least more than the Empress Dowager?

Yue Guanyi’s burning, scarlet phoenix eyes gradually turned peculiar. He raised his head, his posture humble, but his expression that of a victor. “Imperial Father, I have long admired Official Qiu. Didn’t you always say before that you wanted this son to find a good person to marry soon? Official Qiu is this son’s destined partner. Please arrange our marriage. This son will marry no one but her!”

“How dare you!” Qin Qing was indeed provoked by Yue Guanyi’s defiant, flamboyant smile. His hands started shaking uncontrollably. His voice was hoarse, like someone trampled underfoot still struggling desperately, heartbreaking and pitiful.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to angrily rebuke, “Marriage is a major event that should follow the orders of one’s parents. You and Qiu Shuzhi having a private understanding is simply a disgrace, ruining the imperial family’s dignity!”

“Imperial Father, you always said before that this son was too preoccupied with court affairs, spending all day in the judicial hall without caring about his own lifelong event. How come now that this son has found his destined partner, Imperial Father is unhappy?” He smiled, his beautifully red lips an eye-catching, glaring sight, as if mocking his incompetence.

Even if the Empress Dowager disagreed, so what? As the head of the Imperial Guards, could he not control his own marriage?

He was merely deliberately provoking Qin Qing, wanting to see his ugly expression when he was forced to arrange the marriage between him and Qiu Shuzhi.

Even if you temporarily gained Qiu Niang’s favor, so what? Even if you had just been intimate with Qiu Niang, so what? The one Qiu Niang was marrying was him. The one Qiu Niang liked more was him.