When Helian Qi entered Concubine Shun's palace, he saw her lying on the couch. His heart tightened involuntarily. He would never forget this familiar sight.
The first time he was smitten with Dongfang Yi, he saw that woman lying on the couch carelessly, munching on a box of snacks. Her slovenly appearance would never let anyone know that she was the queen.
Helian Qi stood there rooted to the spot, lost in memories. Concubine Shun on the couch noticed another person in the room shortly after. When she turned around and saw it was Helian Qi, she quickly got up from the couch, bowed slightly towards him and said nervously, "Your humble servant pays respects to Your Majesty."
Helian Qi was instantly pulled back to reality by her voice. Looking at the face in front of him that bore no resemblance to that person, he fully realized that Dongfang Yi was long gone. Thinking of this, his face turned icy cold.
Concubine Shun beside him saw that the man who had just looked so elegant suddenly changed his expression, and that expression was so chilling that she didn't dare to utter a single word.
But Helian Qi quickly snapped out of his displeasure. Putting on his usual aloof expression, he said, "I'll take my leave." Then he turned around and left her palace.
Concubine Shun behind him wanted to say something else, but when she saw that the tall and straight man had already stepped out of the palace gate, she held her tongue.
She always felt that the emperor had something on his mind. When did something start to trouble him so much? Concubine Shun wondered.
Helian Qi was walking on the main road in the palace when suddenly there was a commotion from the roof beside him. Soon, a woman in black night clothes stood in front of him. That woman was Donghua.
"Pays respects to Your Majesty," Donghua said respectfully, clasping her fists.
Helian Qi raised his head and nodded, signaling her to speak.
"Your humble servant has found the trace of Her Majesty the Queen. She is now in Nanwu. I heard from a poor boatman there that she was walking with a handsome young man. And I also heard... I also heard..." She hesitated here and didn't dare to go on.
"Heard what?" Helian Qi squinted his eyes and asked menacingly.
"I heard that Her Majesty the Queen went to Nanwu to marry that man!" Donghua closed her eyes and roared out as if she didn't care about anything.
Marry? Helian Qi was instantly stunned by this. His mind went blank for a moment, but more than that, there was anger welling up in his chest and a strong desire to kill. How dare that woman run out of the palace to marry another man... That man must be tired of living!
"Go to Nanwu!" Helian Qi said in a deep voice. Although he seemed calm on the surface, Donghua could feel from his trembling shoulders and the cold aura around him how angry the man in front of her was.
...
On the other side, in Jiangbei, Nanwu
At the Duoyu Inn, ever since Dongfang Yi had made various changes to the inn and added hot pot, a great delicacy, the inn had been bustling with guests.
You could hear the voices of different people from each private room from afar: "Red Dragon! Eight Characters! I win! I win!"
Dongfang Yi was very satisfied when she heard these voices. She thought this was how to make big money!
But the only strange thing was Xiao Yang, who she had taken into the inn at the beginning. He had been acting furtively and strangely recently. Whenever he saw Dongfang Yi, he would dodge her eyes.
At first, she thought something had happened. She thought that with his weak appearance, maybe he had been bullied by others in the kitchen. But after she called Chef Li to inquire, she knew nothing unusual had happened.
Then, for the next few days, Xiao Yang secretly sent her new dishes he had developed, but she never caught him. Dongfang Yi ate those meals uneasily.
Finally, one afternoon.
She couldn't bear it any longer and asked someone to bring him to her. The reason why others brought him here was that Dongfang Yi simply couldn't find him.
As soon as Xiao Yang entered the room, he lowered his head and cowered, not daring to speak.
"Xiao Yang, is something wrong with you recently?" Dongfang Yi asked tentatively.
"No... nothing," he still replied with his head down.
Dongfang Yi frowned slightly and continued to ask, "Then what's wrong with you recently?"
The man standing in front of the room suddenly blushed and stammered, "I... I... I want to marry you!"
Dongfang Yi was shocked by this. Her eyes widened involuntarily.
What??? Marry?!
"Xiao Yang, you can't just talk about marriage casually," Dongfang Yi replied with an awkward dry laugh.
"But my mother said that the person who likes my cooking likes me and should marry me!" Xiao Yang finally raised his head and looked at Dongfang Yi firmly.
"Er..." Dongfang Yi was completely speechless. What kind of nonsense was this? There were so many people in the inn who liked hot pot. Why didn't he go and marry them?
"Xiao Yang, listen to me. Liking your dishes doesn't mean liking you," Dongfang Yi said rather patiently.
"But you ate all the dishes I sent you clean. You still say you don't like me?!" Xiao Yang roared with red eyes as if he had suffered a great grievance.
"Me???" Dongfang Yi was completely speechless. She thought those were all delicious food. She didn't know that he was showing his love. At that time, she couldn't waste the delicious food. She never thought the result would be like this. Her mentality had completely collapsed.
Xiao Yang saw that the woman in front of him stopped talking. A smile appeared on his face. Just as he was about to ask her when to marry him, he suddenly heard a voice from outside the door.
"She's my fiancée," the voice said.
Xiao Yang turned around and saw Situ Qing leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on his face. He was a bit flustered for a moment. After all, he was still a bit nervous in front of the big boss. But then he thought about what the man said, and his flustered movements stopped.
"What? She's your fiancée?" Xiao Yang asked tremblingly, hardly believing it.
Situ Qing walked slowly into the room and stood beside Dongfang Yi. He put his arm around her and continued, "We've been through life and death and made a solemn pledge of love."
At first, Dongfang Yi was a bit surprised when she heard his words. But seeing Xiao Yang's equally shocked expression, she played along and fell into Situ Qing's arms, saying, "We originally wanted to keep it a secret, but now we have to say it under this circumstance." After saying that, she pretended to be shy and covered her face.
Xiao Yang standing opposite them seemed unable to bear the blow any longer. With tears in his eyes and infinite grievance, he ran out of the room.
Dongfang Yi still shouted out after him, "Xiao Yang, work hard!"