Mo Xuetong slightly knitted her brows. “Who is he?” In her memory, the Empress Dowager didn’t seem to have such a man worthy of that much of effort. She even killed her royal descendants for him. One and another names popped into her mind, he was…

A familiar voice rang below, slightly quivering with excitement. “Brother Zhen, you’re finally back.”

Mo Xuetong’s body wavered, which instantly made her come to her senses. She gently pushed Feng Yuran, but only saw his bright eyes shining, like the stars in the sky. He drew his slender fingers to his lips to shush her. She immediately understood him, leaned on the rooftop, and looked through the place where he lifted a tile.

As expected, they were Wang Xiuxiu and a man Mo Xuetong had never seen before. Though clad in normal brocade clothes, the man looked tall and handsome.

Wang Xiuxiu wanted to secretly meet someone so she used Mo Xuetong to attract people’s attention? However, who was this man? Mo Xuetong had never seen him in the capital!

Shouldn’t she stay quiet before a rendezvous? How did she dare to make such a fuss? Of course, the fuss might have been out of her control. Nevertheless, Mo Xuetong could see that Wang Xiuxiu’s meeting this time was different than those usual ones. Wang Xiuxiu didn’t fear that her secret meeting would be exposed. Instead, she first found someone who could prove that she was in the tea concession stand at that time.

Mo Xuetong was the accidental woman in Wang Xiuxiu’s plan. She raised her lips in a cold smile.

The man’s eyes were full of tenderness, as if they were slim willow branches swaying in the spring breeze, carrying enormous feelings and affection.

Wang Xiuxiu’s face blushed and affection filled her eyes. He fixed her eyes on the man and seemed unable to take them off him.

The man gently held her in his arms. “When can I have you forever and not have to leave you?” Her voice carried a kind of melancholy and sadness hard to describe. Lifting his hand, he lightly stroked Wang Xiuxiu’s hair and patted her shoulder with a slightly sorrowful face. “It must be hard for you.”

Wang Xiuxiu looked up and tenderness filled her eyes. In tears, she repeated it again and again. “Brother Zhen, it’s not, it’s not hard for me at all. As long as you can come back and be with me forever, it’s not hard at all.” All those previous hardships and faltering all melted before the man’s affection.

At that time, she felt she was even willing to pay him back with her life.

The man’s handsome face looked in a dilemma and his voice sounded slightly sad. His caring eyes fell on her face warmly as if she were the thing he treasured the most. “Xiuxiu, when I come back, I’ll marry you and share my glory with you. You’re a girl and should attend to my affairs. I’m so weak and useless that I couldn’t give you the best.”

Wang Xiuxiu was moved to tears, held the man’s waist, and placed her head against his chest. “No, Brother Zhen, you’re the best. I believe you’ll come back soon and be with me. I’m willing to even if I have to die for it.”

Only the two on the rooftop noticed the man’s eyes flashed with a trace of smugness.

The man should not be serious with Wang Xiuxiu! Mo Xuetong looked up at Feng Yuran in surprise, only to find him smiling lazily and attractively. He raised his brows at her and blinked toward the two below, seeming to tell her to keep watching and he’d tell her the inside story later.

Mo Xuetong rolled her eyes at him and turned back to keep watching the two below.

With her shrewdness, Wang Xiuxiu should have been tricked. The man’s acting skill was perfect.

Because she had been moved to tears, after a long while, Wang Xiuxiu finally snuffled and said, her voice husky but somewhat vicious. “Brother Zhen, I used your shadow guard just now. Has anyone found out?”

A trace of anger flashed across the man’s eyes, but he still managed to lower his voice and gently said, “Who’s that woman? Didn’t you say you only needed a witness? How come you caused such a fuss and even lit up the concession stand? What if you’re hurt?”

Wang Xiuxiu felt even more touched, thinking that she would do anything for this man, and she only wanted to be with him in her lifetime. However, she knew now it was no time for confessing her love. Thus, holding his waist, she looked serious and said, “That woman is the newly-elected lord mayor’s daughter. I wanted her to be my witness. If someone asks, I’ll say that I was with her and separated because of a disagreement.”

Wang Xiuxiu calmly analyzed. “But I didn’t know she was so smart. She should doubt my intention. If she tells her father about this later, you might be exposed. You secretly entered the capital and you can’t get into any danger. So I made your shadow guard assassinate her. Anyway, it was in a mess and a fire. No one would notice even if she died there, and they wouldn’t relate it to you at all.”

On top of the rooftop, Mo Xuetong had nervous sweat hearing this. “Wang Xiuxiu should think about assassinating me in such a short time. She’s even crueler than a man.”

Maybe feeling Mo Xuetong’s scare, Feng Yuran slightly tightened his grip on her hands. Then, Mo Xuetong realized Feng Yuran was still holding her hands without manners. However, under such circumstances, she couldn’t make a sound to argue. She had more important matters to attend to. She started to realize the identity of the man below.

She had to hear more so she glared at Feng Yuran and directly averted her eyes from his smile which looked like he had run into a gold ingot. She really didn’t know why he felt happy and his lips had been raised all the time since him sitting on the rooftop.

Feng Yuran felt wronged because of the stare. He was just trying to comfort her, but why did she glare at him? Luckily, her warm and soft hands were still there, which made the corner of his lips raise in a smile again. However, when he turned around to look down, the smile carried more grimness and chilliness.

The man didn’t seem to have guessed Mo Xuetong’s identity and asked in surprise, “The daughter of Mo Huawen and the first miss of Fu General?”

Wang Xiuxiu smugly said, “Yes, she’s Mo Huawen’s legal daughter, had lived in Cloud City before, and only moved to the capital recently. I didn’t expect her to be so smart and have immediately guessed my intention. But I guess she didn’t expect to lose her life because of that. I wanted to befriend her to reach Mo Huawen. She could only blame herself for thinking herself clever and saying those unnecessary words.”

The man felt a little upset and said, “You’re too reckless. Mo Huawen doesn’t take sides now, and if we can draw him to our team, it’ll greatly help us.”

The lord mayor was an important official in the capital, and more importantly, he had military power. Though there were guards inside the royal palace and the five administrations and imperial guards in five cities… they weren’t as important as Mo Huawen. As long as Mo Huawen opened the city gate and the outside armies rushed in, the capital would collapse by itself.

The five administrations and imperial guards… those people weren’t many. If the outside armies rushed in, the royal palace would be like thrown there, naked. How could it stand the soldiers’ attack?

Mo Xuetong realized that. “This was why Wang Xiuxiu acted nice to me! But what about the Four Great Manors? What does Wang Xiuxiu want from the Four Great Manors?”

Wang Xiuxiu felt wronged and glared at him. “Brother Zhen, the woman found my intention. If she tells it to Mo Huawen, I’ll be suspected. Or, she might even sabotage Brother Zhen’s plan. Don’t you worry about my safety?”

The man gently said, “How come I don’t worry about you? You’re the most important person in my heart. If I don’t want to be with you, why did I listen to my grandmother to… But now things get tricky. If I can’t make it, I can only die to atone my sins. Xiuxiu, at that time, don’t tell others about us. Then, you can survive.”

Looking at his affectionate eyes, Wang Xiuxiu was choked with gratitude. How could she notice the hole in his words? She only thought her lover put herself in his heart and she was more important than the country in his eyes. She was very excited and only murmured, “Brother Zhen…”

Then, she couldn’t say anything else.

“If I make it, you’ll be my wife, my empress. I’ll only let the person I love the most by my side, in time, we’ll share the great country between us. When I grow old, I’ll make our son the next emperor. Then, our descendants will run the country all the time. Xiuxiu, are you really willing to be my wife?”

The man stroked Wang Xiuxiu’s cheeks and held her to sit in a nearby bed. In the dim yellow light, the two held tightly together. Wang Xiuxiu seemed to see the happy scene. Such a beautiful and pleasant scene would belong to herself and him. What she suffered now was nothing compared to it.

So what even if she bet her parents and family on it?

He would win!

Though spellbound by the man, Wang Xiuxiu remembered the thing that always haunted her and her sparks of joy dimmed. “I heard you have a few serving concubines there and they’re said to be very pretty.”

The man said melancholy, “They’re just playthings. How can they compare with you? When I come back, they’ll disappear, but not now. They can help me set up a rakish image. Xiuxiu, you know how painful I am. Every day I see those women, I’ll think of you. How can I want to play with them? But I have to pretend that I like them before people.”

Reaching out, he drew Wang Xiuxiu’s hand to his lips and gently kissed it. Looking at her still somewhat suspicious eyes, he affectionately said, “In my entire life, the only person I love the most, is you!”

His hand was hot and was holding Wang Xiuxiu’s with affection.

Wang Xiuxiu had long believed his words and didn’t doubt it at all. She was so happy in the heart that her body involuntarily softened, and then the two couldn’t help but fall on the bed together.

A gentle kiss hit her lips and she felt a pleasant tingling as if her body had melted into water. Though she still had remaining senses, she subconsciously responded. “Bro-brother Zhen.”

The man’s breath brushed against her face and soft kisses landed on her face and body. “Xiuxiu, I miss you so much. Don’t refuse me.” Wang Xiuxiu could only see his handsome face and tender eyes and subconsciously tightened her grab on his head.

The two instantly rolled together.

Feng Yuran had covered Mo Xuetong’s eyes earlier when Wang Xiuxiu was pressed against the bed. He quickly and carefully put the tile back. At this time, he believed that even if he made some noise, the two inside who were drunk on love wouldn’t notice.

Feng Yuran held Mo Xuetong’s body, jumped over the rooftops, and stopped at some building. He held Mo Xuetong and climbed into the building through the windows.

After landing on the ground, Mo Xuetong pushed Feng Yuran away and seriously said, “That’s King Ning!”

It was not a question but a statement!