- 𝑴𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑨𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓 -

𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕾𝖎𝖝

The moonlight was like water, and the night wind was blowing. The branches in the courtyard rustled, and a dark fragrance drifted in through the carved window.

The two people sat side by side on the bed, poised for a long conversation.

Wang Yibo sat motionless, silently staring at a speck of dust on the ground as if he were viewing a flower.

Xiao Zhan scratched his head, and then rubbed his hands, unable to calm down at all. Glancing at the other party furtively from the corner of his eye, he couldn't sit still, so he got up and walked around the room in order to defeat the fire in his heart.

The hug just now was originally just an act of feeling sorry for the other party's self-sacrificing move, but at some point it had gradually changed.

He began to covet the strange fragrance that he disliked the most, and was careful not to overdo it and hurt the other. Immersed in such a quiet night, he wanted to hug this thin figure all the time, and his breathing became slow and light.

When the other person pushed him away, there was a sense of emptiness and loneliness.

"Stop pacing, it hurts my eyes," Wang Yibo said.

Xiao Zhan smiled awkwardly and walked to his side. He cautiously made as if to sit down, and when the other party didn't kick him, he sat with peace of mind.

"How was your chat with Li Jinyu?" Wang Yibo asked with his face averted.

"Very good, he confessed to me the cause of Li Yanran's death."

"She didn't die of illness?"

"No." Xiao Zhan sighed deeply. "She committed suicide."

"Why?" Wang Yibo was a little surprised. Li Yanran was born to an influential family, and would be part of the Xiao family by the orders of her parents and the words of the matchmaker. Clearly she was in a good situation, so why would she kill herself?

"Because of the late Emperor."

Li Yanran had reached marriageable age and was also close to the Xiao family, so the Empress Dowager personally wrote an invitation to her during the birthday banquet, inviting her to enjoy a hundred flowers feast[1]* together. But when she entered the palace for the first time, she caught the attention of the late Emperor.

*[1] The hundred flowers feast is a famous delicacy in which edible flowers are cooked and arranged beautifully.*

The late Emperor only knew that the Li family had a daughter, but had never seen her before. At the birthday banquet, he found her dignified, gentle and pleasant. Not showing the slightest regard for the relationship between an Emperor and his subjects, he summoned her to the Imperial study and took her by force.

Afterwards, Li Yanran feared that the Xiao family would make a lot of trouble if they found out about it, and she was also afraid that the Li family would be implicated if she did not enter the harem. In desperation, she committed suicide by drinking poison.

The room was quiet for a while before Wang Yibo said: "She was a rather strong woman."

"Yes, ah." Xiao Zhan promptly punched the wall.

Wang Yibo immediately looked at him, and then stared at his hand perplexingly.

"This dog Emperor is really......" Although Xiao Zhan knew the etiquette of respect and inferiority, he never had much contact with the late Emperor and only knew that he was fatuous and cruel, and didn't have any good impressions of him.

"Hush." Wang Yibo quickly raised a hand to cover his mouth. "You know that you are talking about the late Emperor, but those who don't know will think that you are cursing His Majesty. Be careful, the walls have ears."