The news Mo Yuzhen mentioned was not surprising, and s.h.i.+ Qingxue had known about Mo Xiangbin's intention earlier, so she said indifferently, “I know, but I won't marry him. Don't worry.”

“You don't know!” Mo Yuzhen replied anxiously.

Under Qingxue's stunned eyes, Mo Yuzhen grabbed her friend's hand and said quickly, “It is not the same as before this time. My father is determined to marry you to Junhao, and Concubine Liu will hold a dinner party in Junhao's mansion and invite all the n.o.ble ladies, in order to confirm it.”

“A dinner party? Why didn't I know?”

Mo Yuzhen was disappointed at her and poked her forehead, cursing, “You have been hiding in your bedroom these days. What the h.e.l.l did you know?”

It could be seen how angry Mo Yuzhen was.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue shrank her neck and listened to her lecture obediently in silence.

After venting all her resentment these days by this chance, Mo Yuzhen said coldly, “The invitation hasn't been sent to your mansion probably because they are afraid of alerting you, but it will be a dinner with disaster. You can't attend it. Do you know?”

Qingxue nodded in a hurry and a.s.sured her, “Set your mind at ease. I won't go anywhere these days. I will just stay at home to finish my embroidery.”

She was so obedient, so she wouldn't make the princess angry anymore, right?

But Mo Yuzhen still looked unhappy. “When I got married, you just gave me some treasures, but you are making the embroidery for s.h.i.+ Baoning's wedding. You are so partial.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was unable to answer.

What the h.e.l.l?

“No. You didn't tell me then. And you got married in a hurry. You know that I make it slowly,” s.h.i.+ Qingxue explained in an instant.

Mo Yuzhen didn't buy it. “I didn't say that I want your embroidery. Even if you wrote a poem or made a painting for me, it would be better than the emotionless stuff. It's clear that you don't keep me in your heart.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue replied, “…Please do me a favor and leave here.”

“…Huh, I am off!” The princess was actually “kicked out”. She was going crazy.

Qingxue showed an expression to say, “Goodbye. I won't see you off.”

Mo Yuzhen took two steps and said loudly, “I am really leaving!”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue nodded without saying anything.

Her friend didn't ask her to stay, so Mo Yuzhen had to continue walking out. When she was at the door, she couldn't help but say sadly, “I won't come here after leaving.”

“…I know. Take care,” s.h.i.+ Qingxue responded expressionlessly.

Mo Yuzhen got unhappy. “Why didn't you ask me to stay? In the past, every time you were unwilling to let me go.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue had nothing to say. At this time, mentioning the past would only make both of them awkward and helpless, but Mo Yuzhen said that, and Qingxue couldn't answer.

She sighed helplessly. “It's great if both of us are fine. Just go.”

There were tears in Mo Yuzhen's eyes, but s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't even look at her, so Yuzhen was furious.

Since when did s.h.i.+ Qingxue become the one who was rational when they needed to make a decision together? Qingxue was the most self-willed one. Why couldn't she be more self-willed to stop her from leaving?

“Okay.” Mo Yuzhen took a deep breath and held back all her emotions, turning to leave.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue stood quietly and didn't come to her senses until Xia Mang called her softly after entering the room to clean up. She asked, “What time is it now?”

“It's five o'clock. Are you going to have dinner?”

“No, I am not hungry,” s.h.i.+ Qingxue responded at will and sat on the bedside again to continue with her embroidery.

But soon after, she stopped once more and asked in a fret, “What do you want to say?”

Xia Mang bit her lower lip and asked in a low voice, “Did Her Highness make you angry?”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was taken aback. “Why do you think so?”

“When she walked out, she looked depressed and told us to take good care of you. Otherwise, she would punish us.” Xia Mang paused for a while and added hesitantly, “It's my first time to see that kind of expression on her face, so…”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue reacted after quite a while and understood Mo Yuzhen's intention. If a lady from a n.o.ble family made a break with a princess, the n.o.ble lady must be the one who would suffer. Mo Yuzhen had put the blame on herself and lowered herself, so that others would have some scruple because she defended Qingxue even if they knew that they had stopped contacting each other.

To be frank, Qingxue had never thought that Mo Yuzhen could help her to this point. She was surprised and felt sad as she had lost a great friend.

“I am fine. I am just tired and want to sleep earlier.”

She didn't have dinner and went to bed. Xia Mang didn't dare to say anything and put out the candle before closing the door and leaving.

It was silent at night. s.h.i.+ Qingxue lay on the bed but couldn't fall asleep. There were a lot of thoughts in her brain till a faint smell came into her nose.

“Who is it?” she whispered and sat up on the bed.

She saw a figure standing in front of the desk, which looked familiar.

“Mo… Junyang?” Qingxue called automatically.

The figure moved and approached her slowly, which made her restless till the man walked to her bedside and the moonlight was on him. It was Mo Junyang indeed.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue heaved a sigh of relief and pouted unhappily. “Why didn't you speak just now? You scared me.”

Mo Junyang sat on the bedside and then Qingxue found a box in his hand. The pleasant smell was from it. It was like… She asked, “The osmanthus cake?”

Mo Junyang nodded and opened the box, giving it to her. “Would you like to have a try?”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was taken aback.

There was probably n.o.body but Mo Junyang who would break into a girl's bedroom at night and give her a box of osmanthus cakes.

However, after he scared her, she was a little hungry. She looked at the food box for several times but remained unmoved.

“Be careful, and then you wouldn't drop anything on the bed, and others wouldn't find it.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue's only worry was gone after Mo Junyang's advice. She felt free to grab a little piece of cake and put it in her mouth.

It melted in her mouth immediately and the pleasant smell spread.

“It tastes so good, and it's special!” s.h.i.+ Qingxue couldn't help but praise and grabbed another piece.

When she was about to put it into her mouth, she saw Mo Junyang gazing at her red lips.

She stopped and showed the cake to him, asking awkwardly, “Do you want to eat, too?”

“Yes.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue wanted to tell him that there were cakes in the box, but Mo Junyang lowered his head and bit the cake in her hand. His warm lips got close to her fingers, which gave her goose pimples.

She hurriedly withdrew her hand. “What are you doing?”

“Eating the cake given by you.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was speechless. “…Then what are you doing in my room?”

Mo Junyang still held up the box in his hand and didn't answer her but said, “It's brought by my father from his fiefdom, Rui City. It's a specialty of that city, and you can't find it in the capital city.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue heard that and then took another piece to eat slowly. When she almost finished them, she received the handkerchief from Mo Junyang and wiped her hands. Then she asked, “Can you tell me now?”

Mo Junyang nodded and replied directly, “The dinner in the Fourth Prince's mansion in a few days will be a disaster. Don't attend it.”

“Gee, why did you bring it up, too? Yuzhen told me today.”

Mo Junyang said, “If you will go, remember to send me a note in advance.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue responded, “No, I won't join in that fun.”

Moreover, she still remembered that Mo Junhao had knocked her out and tried to take her away. She didn't want to talk with that guy so far.

“You came here in order to tell me this?” s.h.i.+ Qingxue looked at Mo Junyang in doubt. It was unnecessary to come here in person for such a trifle. He could have sent a letter.

Mo Junyang looked at her deeply and seemed to find something from her expression, but n.o.body knew if he succeeded. He just asked casually, “Didn't you promise to find me a wife? Several months have pa.s.sed, but where is my wife?”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue patted her head and regretted.

So many things had happened these days, and she almost forgot about it. When Mo Junyang asked her seriously, she felt guilty. “Ah, yes. So are you in love with someone?”

Mo Junyang went right to the heart of the matter. “You are offhand with me.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue couldn't speak a word.

Could they have fun together?

“Fine, but I am busy recently.” s.h.i.+ Qingxue blinked and started to pretend pitiful.

Mo Junyang didn't mind at all. “It doesn't matter. I am not in a hurry, anyway.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was confused. “You are not in a hurry? Why did you ask me to help you?”

“You promised me. Don't forget it.” Mo Junyang smiled gently, courageous with sufficient reasons, as if he was not the one who wanted to get married.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue felt sad for she was so foolish as to take such a job.

She said helplessly. “I did promise you, but it must be someone you like. What if I look for a long time but you don't like her?”

Mo Junyang shrugged. “I believe in your insight. It's okay with me as long as you recommend and she is willing to marry me.”

“Really?” s.h.i.+ Qingxue doubted that, but soon her eyes lit up. “Then I recommend my cousin Baojing. Her moral quality and scholarly attainment are excellent, and she deserves you, but…”

She hesitated for a while and then asked in a low voice, “Do you dislike her background?”

s.h.i.+ Baojing was a daughter of the Second Master's concubine. Her background was not presentable even though she was raised by her father's wife.

Mo Junyang couldn't help but rub her hair and said indifferently, “Others don't know my background. Don't you know? If the family background can decide everything, I won't become like this now.”

In the previous life, his ident.i.ty as a hostage was at the bottom, but he could turn the table and become the emperor at last. It proved that the background couldn't decide everything.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was happy to hear his words and didn't care that he took her as a child. She looked up with a smile. “You said that. I will tell Baojing. She likes you so much and surely wants to marry you.”

Mo Junyang didn't change his expression and nodded. “I will wait for your news.”

It seemed that as long as s.h.i.+ Baojing said yes, he would really marry her as his wife.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't realize Mo Junyang's intention and thought he agreed. So she wanted to talk with s.h.i.+ Baojing and set it in stone next day.

But s.h.i.+ Baojing was not in the mansion. It was said that she went to the manor in the environs of the capital city to have a rest. s.h.i.+ Qingxue wanted to go there when Liu Yiyi's invitation was sent to her.