Chapter 72 Chapter 71 Can I sit here?

In front of the hall lay a large, bluestone-paved open space. In the center, a young man in a dark blue suit was practicing swordplay. His movements were graceful, the heavy sword seeming as light as a cicada's wing in his hands, and his body was as agile as a fish swimming in water.

The refreshing mountain breeze blew the young man's hair on his forehead. His remaining long hair was tied up with a black hairband. He looked full of vigor and had the feeling of a young swordsman.

Hong Ting swung his sword in a flourish, stirring up fallen leaves. He paused, feeling incredibly handsome. He could even be compared to his own son. While he didn't possess his formidable talent, he worked hard, rising early every morning to practice swordplay. Gu Shiyan wouldn't do that, he thought, humming a little tune.

He put the sword back into the scabbard with smooth and seamless movements, then turned and walked towards the hall. At this moment, he found that the palace maid beside him was looking at him with somewhat resentful eyes. At first, he was a little puzzled. Why was there resentment in her eyes instead of admiration?

It wasn't until he looked down and noticed the brooms in their hands and the pile of leaves next to them, with only a few pieces left, that he realized what he had done.

He trotted over to several palace maids, scratched his head sheepishly, and said apologetically, "Sorry, let me help you sweep it again."

He had a simple smile on his face and reached out to snatch the broom from the palace maids, but they turned away and did not let Hongting get it.

"No...it's okay, we can just do it again." A palace maid stammered. Although they didn't know the identity of the person in front of them, anyone who dared to practice sword in front of His Majesty's bedroom early in the morning was obviously of noble status and not someone they could offend. How could they dare to really attack Hong Ting?

Seeing this, Hongting stopped checking and stretched out his hand to pull out the long sword on his waist. He swung the sword casually, and several sword energies cut through the air. Then the fallen leaves that were scattered by him gathered together again and piled up into a small hill in the center of the open space.

With a thud, the longsword returned to its scabbard. Hongting feigned sophistication and walked towards the side hall without looking back. He lowered his head, looking somewhat absent-minded, with a faint smile on his lips, as if he was savoring his actions.

Perhaps he had savored the memory enough, so he raised his head contentedly, a satisfied smile on his face. But the next second, his smile stopped. He noticed a man leaning against the wall in front of the side hall, looking at him with a half-smile. Hong Ting looked at the scene in disbelief, even rubbing his eyes, trying to confirm whether it was an illusion.

This scene was like seeing a ghost to Hongting. Was this the case of "Speak of the devil, and he will appear"? Could it be that he had been whispering to him in his mind and he had discovered it?

Why would his son be here at this time? Doesn't he usually sleep until noon? He said that ever since Gu Shiyan came to the capital, he felt that he was a little strange, and today he was even more abnormal.

Hong Ting immediately pretended nothing had happened, ran to Gu Shiyan attentively, and asked tentatively: "Sir, why did you get up so early today?"

"It's not that I got up early, it's that I didn't sleep last night." Gu Shiyan said playfully.

Hong Ting's eyes widened, thinking he was being teased. But then he thought, Gu Shiyan had never teased him before, so there was no point in doing so. At the same time, he was extremely confused. Given Gu Shiyan's personality, it was impossible for him to stay awake all night. What could have caused him to behave so abnormally? Hong Ting's mind was filled with thoughts.

In a corner that no one noticed, a figure disappeared from the darkness. The place he was heading to seemed to be the main hall where the emperor lived.

The windows of the palace were tightly barred, so even though it was already daylight outside, the palace was still pitch black. Mo Yu kept his footsteps extremely quiet, but the sound of him pushing open the palace door and entering still caught the emperor's attention.

As a hoarse voice came, Mo Yu's footsteps froze in place, "What's the matter?"

Mu Congmo had not slept all night, and his voice was full of haggardness that could not be concealed. The hall was pitch black, and Mo Yu could not see the emperor's expression, but he could hear from his voice that the emperor was probably in a bad mood.

"Your Majesty, Young Master Gu has woken up and is having breakfast now." Mo Yu lowered his head, not daring to look at the emperor's expression, and spoke respectfully.

Mu Congmo didn't realize what Mo Yu had said at first. When he realized what was going on, he hurriedly climbed up from the dragon throne, stumbled over to Mo Yu, and asked in a cold voice, "What did you just say?"

Now it was Mo Yu's turn to be puzzled. He didn't understand why he had only spoken of what Master Gu had done, yet it had caused such a big reaction from the Emperor. But facing the Emperor's question, he could only bite the bullet and repeat what he had just said.

Mu Congmo, however, was thinking that Gu Shiyan had woken up so unreasonably early, perhaps because he wanted to leave early. He felt aggrieved and puzzled as to why A Yan was so eager to leave him. After accepting this, Mu Congmo decided to go see him quickly to try to stop him from leaving.

Just when he didn't know what to do, Mu Congmo's urgent voice rang out: "Let Hu Xian bring someone in to help me change clothes."

Mo Yu didn't dare to delay, and he also wanted to escape from this dangerous place as soon as possible, so he answered yes and quickly retreated.

After learning the emperor's order, Hu Xian did not dare to delay at all. Several palace maids followed him. They moved quickly, and the palace maids were holding clothes for the emperor to choose.

This was a very easy task. Normally, the emperor didn't care what kind of clothes they wore, and he wouldn't reprimand them for it. But today, the emperor looked unhappy, and everyone hesitated and didn't dare to step forward. Only after Eunuch Hu Xian's urging eyes signaled did two palace maids step forward.

They helped Mu Congmo take off his outer robe from yesterday, and then two more palace maids came forward, holding a brocade robe with a royal blue background and dark purple cloud patterns. Mu Congmo glanced at the garment, seemed dissatisfied, and said in a hoarse voice, "Change it."

The maids were somewhat bewildered. This was the first time such a situation had occurred. Finally, Hu Xian stepped forward, picked up a dark brocade robe from a wooden tray, and held it before Mu Congmo in a flattering manner, saying in a choked voice, "Your Majesty, what do you think of this robe?"

Mu Congmo's eyes swept across the black brocade robe in front of him. Although he still felt a little dissatisfied, he finally chose this one.

After the emperor nodded, Hu Xian urged the maids around him, "Why don't you help His Majesty change his clothes quickly?"

Mu Congmo opened his arms and wore only a thin white nightgown, his muscles faintly visible. Mu Congmo had the habit of practicing martial arts, and he had always maintained a good figure, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.

The maids didn't dare to look any further. They quickly put the outer robe on Mu Congmo and retreated to the side with their heads lowered. Hu Xian took a white jade belt and buckled it around the emperor's waist. Then he signaled the maids to present the prepared accessories to the emperor.

A slender finger slid across these fine accessories, finally resting on a white jade bi disk with a double dragon pattern. Hu Xian quickly picked up the jade disk, half-knelt, and pinned it to Mu Congmo's waist. Mu Congmo chose this jade pendant because the two dragons on it were paired, symbolizing beauty.

With the last jade pendant fastened, Mu Congmo's changing was successfully completed. Without looking back, he walked towards the side hall where Gu Shiyan lived. Although Hu Xian was a little puzzled, he still drove the waiting palace maids out and followed behind Mu Congmo.

Mu Congmo's steps were somewhat hurried, but when he actually stood in front of the side hall's door, he was a little afraid to push the door open and go in. He fumbled to straighten his clothes, which were not wrinkled at all, and then, with a determined heart, he pushed open the door and walked in.

Halfway through the walk, he suddenly stopped and said to Hu Xian, who was about to catch up, "You stay outside."

Hu Xian was left with a confused look at the emperor's receding back. Although he guessed yesterday that Master Gu was the rumored Yue Zun, he was not clear about the relationship between Gu Shiyan and Mu Congmo, so he found the scene before him a little unbelievable.

Inside the hall, a table in the center was filled with a variety of exquisite breakfast dishes, making people salivate. This was a special order from Mu Congmo: if Gu Shiyan wanted anything, he would have to eat according to his own quota.

But Gu Shiyan seemed to have no appetite and just picked up a few dishes at random. On the contrary, Hong Ting, who was standing next to him, was seeing such a delicious meal for the first time and could not control himself for a moment. His movements of picking up the dishes were like afterimages, and he gobbled them up, looking a little embarrassed.

This was the scene Mu Congmo saw when he walked in. He froze in his tracks, looking at Hongting with a hint of envy. Perhaps it was because he hadn't expected their relationship to be so close that they could even sit at the same table for dinner, and at the same time, he felt a little envious of Hongting.

The two people who were dining also noticed Mu Congmo's "uninvited guest." Gu Shiyan was fine, but Hong Ting buried his head in his bowl, just wanting to find a hole to crawl into. It would have been fine if Gu Shiyan had seen him, as he didn't need to hide anything in front of him. But now that an outsider had suddenly appeared, he felt extremely embarrassed.

Gu Shiyan seemed to notice Hong Ting's embarrassment and said sympathetically, "You go down first."

Hong Ting quickly stood up, glancing at the food on the table with some reluctance before leaving. He then rubbed his reddened face and hurried out. Even though he was young, he was still very proud.

Gu Shiyan spoke first, his gentle voice sounded: "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, this child is used to being unruly."

There was a hint of protection in his words. Mu Congmo's emotions were even more turbulent when he heard this, but he managed to control himself in front of Gu Shiyan. With a gentle smile on his face, he spoke sympathetically, "He's young, so he has some youthful tendencies. It's quite normal."

In fact, he sneered in his heart. He was seventeen or eighteen years old, which was not young at all. He should have sat on the throne at his age.

He walked over to Gu Shiyan, pointed to the chair in front of him, and asked tentatively, "Can I sit here?"