Chapter 25
When Emperor Yuan entered the room in high spirits, Yan Ge was lifting the lampshade to trim the wick .
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The flickering candlelight softened her flattering features, causing her to appear so beautiful and unique .
He approached silently and hugged her from behind: "Tomorrow's departure is early in the morning . Return to the palace with Zhen[me] . Where is your family? Is it possible to have a word with them?"
Yan Ge's body stiffened . She snuggled in his arms and only spoke after a long time: "I can't return to the palace with Your Majesty . "
Her voice was light and soft, but there was a kind of resoluteness in it .
It was a voice unique to her .
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Emperor Yuan’s brows furrowed . He assumed she was worried about her status and immediately persuaded her: "Don't fear, Zhen[I] helped arrange a status for you . You only need to be at ease . . . "
Yan Ge tilted her head to the side and blocked the rest of his words with her fingers .
"Your Majesty . " She looked at him, her thick eyelashes moved slightly, and the candlelight might have been the cause for the floating layer of light in her eyes . “I have already been promised to another . Your Majesty, please cease to call me your woman after tonight . ”
Her fingertips brushed over his lips . She faced him, and her eyes was full of his inverted image: “Your Majesty, I have been the one to steal these few days . From now on, can we return to our respective paths?”
The veins on the back of Emperor Yuan’s hands were bulging . He never expected her to say such words . Grabbing her shoulders, her gritted out: “Zhen[I] does not believe it . ”
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He knew she was not willing to enter the palace and thought she said this as an excuse .
At that moment, he even felt humiliated . He had planned and schemed for her sake, he thought of everything for her, yet she used such a poor excuse to reject him .
"Your Majesty!" She bowed her head and her forehead rested on his chin: “I’m the third daughter of Jingcheng’s Luo family . ”
"Jingcheng’s Luo family?" Emperor Yuan's voice choked . He thought she was a Jianghu person and never imagined she was from the capital . For a time, he could not understand her words .
"My mother and old General Ming's wife were close friends since they were young . When they fell pregnant at the same time, the two agreed to be in-laws if they gave birth to a male and female . ”
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She rubbed against his neck then raised her head to look up at him: "Your Majesty, I've been betrothed since I was a child . The parents’ order and the matchmaker canvasses1; I cannot refuse, nor will I refuse . "
Emperor Yuan felt he was incapable of thought as he looked at her unbelievably . After a long time, he found his voice, and it was very calm, without any emotional fluctuations: "Old General Ming? You, have had a marriage contract with the Ming family since childhood?”
"My fiancé is Ming Lan, Supreme Commander and Marquis of Zhenbei," Yan Ge spoke softly: "If he had not observed filial piety for three your, I would have been the Ming family’s Madam by now . "
"Don’t say anymore . "
But she continued: "Your Majesty, I’m the one that has been reckless in these days . Can you forget all this once we part tomorrow?”
Grabbing his sleeves, she slowly slid to the ground and begged him: "Your Majesty, I was wrong . I should not have hidden this from you from the start . I should not have provoked you . ”
His dark eyes bore into her as he looked down at her from a height .
Ming Lan, Ming Lan… As long as he heard this name, his teeth would gnash with hate .
From the day he sat on the throne, the Ming family has been a stumbling block in his endeavor to consolidate his regime . The military power was not recovered, and he was an emperor without true power all long .