C31 (2/2)

”Coincidentally.” Before Xu Shilian spoke, his gaze swept across Luo Yi's body. Then, he patted Lin Ting's shoulders and laughed: ”I have not congratulated you yet.”

He had a smile on his face, and his expression was very gentle. However, his body was exuding a sense of distance due to his long years in power, which made everyone present feel a little uncomfortable.

Xu Shilian was an intelligent person, how could he not see the formality of these people? Thus, he patted Lin Ting's shoulders in understanding as he smiled, and indicated for him to go talk with him on the other side.

Lin Ting nodded, but before leaving, he greeted Luo Yi: ”You guys eat first, I'll be back soon.”

”Got it.” Luo Yi made an impatient expression and waved his hand to urge him to leave.

Although this place was somewhat remote, there were quite a few rare flowers nearby. Luo Yi listened to Yi Qiannan's nonsense for a long time, until his ears were about to callus, but he didn't know how to stop it. In the end, she couldn't help but sneak a glance at Tang Yuan.

However, those who were being observed seemed to have already gotten used to it. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw someone staring at him, so he casually scooped a bowl of soup and placed it in front of Luo Yi.

Yi Qiannan wanted nothing more than to bury his entire person into a bowl. ”Thirsty.”

In broad daylight! Disgraceful!

Luo Yi used one hand to cover her eyes as she used her elbow to support herself as she half turned around, the four big words ”I can't bear to look” written all over her face.

Luo Yi did not mind as well. Her toes tapped on the ground and continued with her previous movements, but in the process, she accidentally brushed past the door and suddenly froze in place along with the smile on her face.

The person outside the door walked very quickly, and in the blink of an eye, he had completely disappeared. As a result, the only thing that remained in Luo Yi's eyes was the corner of his clothes that was lifted by the wind, and his face that was so familiar to the point of palpitation.

Luo Yi could even feel the cold blood in her body.

He …

”Luo Yi?”

”Hmm?”

Noticing that Luo Yi had suddenly froze, Tang Yuan waved her hand in front of her eyes in confusion: ”What's wrong with you?”

”I'm fine …” Only then did Luo Yi regain his senses, he laughed and stuck out his tongue, then explained: ”It's just now that I saw a very familiar figure, and my mind wandered a bit.”

She rubbed the tip of her nose, just as she was about to say that she didn't need to worry, she saw Yi Qiannan raise his head from the bowl and ask with a wink: ”You have some acquaintances in Li City?”

He was genuinely curious about Luo Yi's circle of relationships, and felt that even though Luo Yi had never been to Li City before, she seemed to be familiar with them. Without waiting for her reply, he asked again, ”Why didn't you chase after him to take a look?”

”No more.”

”What?” Yi Qiannan immediately understood what the word meant when he heard her, but before he could ask further, Luo Yi had already picked up his chopsticks: ”I said I don't have any acquaintances in Li City anymore.”

So I don't need to chase him to know that I must be seeing things.

On the other hand, the man who intentionally passed by Luo Yi, stopped at the corner and waited for a while, but didn't see anyone chasing after him from inside the house.

She had long guessed that this girl was fickle, but she didn't expect that she would really refuse to even go out to take a look.

He sighed, but there was only a faint smile on his face.

Perhaps because he was too tired of laughing, another person on the scene could not stand it any longer. He rolled his eyes and scolded, ”You can still laugh?”

”Why can't you laugh?” The man answered righteously, ”At least I didn't see the wrong person, right?”

The latter part of the sentence was obviously a rhetorical question, but the man didn't seem like he wanted to hear it. After saying that, he bent over and made a ”please” gesture, ”Please.”

”...” ”No need for formalities.” The person who spoke swung his sleeve, revealing the unique design of the palace uniform at the corner.

Speaking of which, after Xu Shilian called Lin Ting away, he didn't say anything big and only praised his results, and then asked him how he was preparing for the Hall Competition in a month.

Lin Ting weirdly repeated this question in his heart, but when he replied, his voice was still the same, ”Not bad.”

”That's good,” Xu Shilian obviously did not hear what he was saying, and continued, ”In the Hall Competition a month from now, according to the rules, the Emperor will personally set a question for the assessment. But right now, my Li Kingdom is being led by a duke who represents the government of the imperial court, do you know what this means?”

”Got it.” Now that he had finally reached the main topic of his discussion, Lin Ting's expression became serious: ”The time has come.”

Previously, Luo Yi and Yi Qiannan had heard from Yi Qiannan that the reason the Thirteenth Prince was still only ”acting as the imperial government” was because he lacked a legitimate excuse. But now, the time had finally come.

The question of the Hall Competition was personally set by His Majesty himself as a system of regulations passed down from his ancestors. But His Majesty was currently imprisoned in an enemy kingdom, so in order to not break the rules of his ancestors, it was best and most appropriate —

”The New Emperor.”

Lin Ting turned around in astonishment, and looked at Luo Yi who had stood behind him for an unknown period of time. ”Go back quickly!”

But Luo Yi bit her lips, neither raising her head to look at him nor listening to him.

A bad premonition suddenly rose in Lin Ting's heart.

Xu Shilian ignored the dispute in front of him, and after looking at them for a while, continued expressionlessly: ”Recently, the court has already decided to send a report to the officials, and the Ministry of Rites has also chosen a auspicious day, waiting for an imperial edict to announce it to the masses, then the world will truly change hands.”

He couldn't help but wish that he could pull Luo Yi and leave on the spot. But before he could even put his idea into action, Luo Yi had already continued as she continued, ”There's still one month until the Hall Competition, and the auspicious time of the Department of Rites is five days away, so the decree will be issued tomorrow …”

”What does this have to do with you!” Lin Ting finally suppressed his fury and interrupted Luo Yi's words. He grabbed her wrist with one hand and walked out, his five fingers using force to grab onto her wrist and leaving a deep and shallow mark.

”When a new emperor ascends the throne, the imperial harem must first be filled up.”

Luo Yi's voice sounded from behind Lin Ting, and it was cold to the point that it wasn't like any other voice she had heard before, and similarly not a single emotion could be heard, ”I want to enter the palace.”