However, Yue Guanyi didn’t say it outright. Although he regressed into an obedient dog in front of Madam Qiu, the more loyal and obedient the dog, the more jealous it was of stray dogs its owner fed and pitied outside. There was no guarantee that one day, Madam Qiu might bring those wild dogs home out of pity, vying for the affection that originally belonged to him.

If he didn’t use some tricks, sooner or later the gaze Madam Qiu lingered on him would lessen.

He lowered his head slightly with a hint of desolation, his voice like a whimper of an unloved puppy: “I want to know, but if Madam Qiu doesn’t say, I won’t ask.”

“You…” Qiu Shuzhi pulled him up from the ground and embraced him with love. What she couldn’t stand the most was Yue Guanyi’s eyes like a big dog that had been wronged, always making her feel guilty and pitying.

“The Empress Dowager and I don’t have anything…” After saying that, she felt it wasn’t quite right: “At least, I have no feelings for the Empress Dowager. Right now, my eyes and heart only have you. Don’t overthink or keep things to yourself when you feel wronged. Do you understand?”

“Mm…” Yue Guanyi hugged her tightly, making a nearly choked up sound, then whimpered like a puppy in her arms: “Madam Qiu, as long as you’re by my side, I won’t overthink.”

Yue Guanyi repeatedly reminded himself in his heart that domineering and overbearing men would only make women feel repulsed and disgusted at the mere sight of them. As long as he acted submissive and understanding, letting Madam Qiu take the initiative to pity him, it would make Madam Qiu cherish him more, and this love would last longer.

However, he deeply inhaled the cold fragrance from her body that made him obsessed and crazed, the corners of his mouth irresistibly curling up.

Since Madam Qiu was willing to marry him, things needed to speed up on the courtesan’s side.

That day, he had Chang’an invite the most famous courtesan from Drunken Immortal Brothel. Using redeeming his status as a condition, he had the courtesan teach him the skills to serve a woman, both in and out of bed, learning a whole set of flattering positions.

The courtesan feared his status and naturally imparted everything, even giving him a secret treasure – the “Frolics Handbook”. The various postures inside were numerous and made him gape in shock. Just looking at these positions made one’s face turn red.

The courtesan also said that as long as he mastered the techniques inside, even the coldest and most ruthless woman would become soft and pliant for him. He didn’t know if it would please Madam Qiu…

But just thinking that on their wedding night, he could completely give his body to Madam Qiu, belonging to her alone, and in the future he could even have his wife’s surname added before his own, his heart kept gushing forth a pleasure he couldn’t bear, like jumping into a huge honey pot with sweetness oozing from every gap and seam.

“Now I’m just looking forward to the Mid-Autumn Banquet arriving sooner so I can openly give you a status. I just don’t know if the Empress Dowager will…” She held Yue Guanyi, her expression slightly hesitant.

“Madam Qiu doesn’t need to worry.” Yue Guanyi slightly lifted his gaze to look into her deep eyes: “I will tell Her Majesty about this. Before, she always thought you and the Empress Dowager were in the same faction, so she was dissatisfied with you. If you and I get married and stand on the Yue clan’s side, she will definitely be overjoyed. By then, even if the Empress Dowager is unwilling, Her Majesty will take the initiative to announce it to the officials and their families at the Mid-Autumn Banquet.”

“Alright.” Qiu Shuzhi smiled faintly, her hand gently caressing the back of his neck.

She could already imagine the young emperor’s delighted expression upon learning the news of their marriage. This way, with the forces of the elder prince she allied with and the military power in her own hands, she could completely rival the Qin clan.

“What? You and Qiu Shuzhi?”

Inside the quiet and secluded Imperial Study, Yue Shen stood up from the dragon throne in her layers of heavy deep robes, her round apricot eyes wide open in disbelief: “When did you two…?”

“Your subject has long admired Madam Qiu. Right after the hunting grounds, we developed feelings for each other.”

There were only the two of them in the Imperial Study, but the main door was open. Yue Guanyi had no intention of deliberately preventing the news from leaking out. He hoped this news could spread through the eyes and ears of various forces throughout the capital, throughout the land of Daming, letting everyone know he was about to become Madam Qiu’s man, her rightful husband.

Yue Shen was so shocked by this sudden news that she couldn’t speak. Her hands, hidden in the heavy splendid robes, clenched tightly together. After a long time, she managed to say with difficulty: “Then congratulations to you, brother.”

Although Yue Shen and Yue Guanyi were biological siblings, they had been separated since childhood. After Yue Guanyi returned to the palace, he was always busy with his duties and power, so the two didn’t have much affection between them.

However, the forces in Yue Guanyi’s hands had always swayed between the Qin clan and the royal family. Thus, Yue Shen’s relationship with him wasn’t as tense as with the Empress Dowager.

“So you came this time to have Us bestow marriage to you and Madam Qiu at the Mid-Autumn Banquet?” She slowly sat back down, her soft white hands gripping the paper on the desk, leaving a deep crease.

“Precisely.”

She looked at Yue Guanyi in front of her, his face gloomy and ashen with a deathly air, yet also notorious. She really couldn’t imagine Qiu Shuzhi genuinely liking him. She had always thought that the Confucian scholar Qiu Shuzhi should prefer a more traditional and gentle man who stayed at home and embodied the virtues of a good wife.

Not a vicious and ruthless man like Yue Guanyi. Yue Shen vaguely felt that Qiu Shuzhi was marrying him to use his power to pave the way for her own future.

In any case, no matter how she thought about it, she absolutely couldn’t believe Qiu Shuzhi truly liked him.

Yue Shen didn’t understand what was wrong with herself. Obviously the person in front of her was her full-blooded elder brother. Obviously his marriage to Qiu Shuzhi could pull Qiu Shuzhi into the Yue clan’s faction, which would be all benefits and no harm to her. But she just couldn’t accept it, even feeling disgusted hearing Yue Guanyi and Qiu Shuzhi’s names connected together.

Yue Shen quickly closed her eyes to cover the myriad of emotions in her apricot eyes. The paper in her hand was almost crumpled from her tight grip. She even felt the Yue Guanyi in front of her was extremely nauseating and loathsome, as if he had snatched away a secretly treasured jewel of hers and purposely flaunted it in front of her. Her heart felt like it was stirred into mush, with a deep emptiness gouged out, leaving her breathless.