After she finished speaking, the large room fell silent.

You could hear a pin drop.

Xiao Heye froze, staring blankly at Su Tiyue, his eyes filled with complex emotions—shock and panic, but mostly joy.

God knows how long he had been waiting to hear those words.

Xiao Heye's lips curved into a smile, a gentle smirk playing at the corners of his eyes: "I've imagined countless possibilities, under what circumstances you would say these words to me. I've also thought... perhaps you'll never say these words to me. Yue'er, please say them again, okay? Otherwise, I'll think this isn't true..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually became hoarse, and his eyes churned with unfathomable emotions.

Su Tiyue blinked, her bright, star-like eyes fixed on him. She repeated, "I love Xiao Zhangyin. No matter what others think of you, in my heart, Xiao Zhangyin is the very, very best person in the world."

"What's so good about it?" Xiao Heye asked her with a slight smile.

She lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then raised her innocent and childlike face to look at him, counting on her fingers one by one: "When it comes to relationships, Master Xiao is faithful to one person and never promiscuous. Towards my family, Master Xiao is trustworthy; he has never hurt them and has protected them wholeheartedly. As for me..."

Su Tiyue paused, her delicate eyebrows slightly raised, her voice soft: "Sometimes the palm print is very gentle to me, and sometimes it's very fierce and scary. I remember when we first met, I was often bullied by you. At that time, I felt wronged and scared, but I didn't dare to run away... I could only grit my teeth and get close to you."

Xiao Heye still had a smile on his face, and his gaze towards her wasn't exactly innocent: "Really? Am I that fierce?"

“Hmm, very fierce, and always cold. They all say that Master Xiao is a man of few desires…” Su Tiyue pouted and said, “But I don’t think you are that kind of man of few desires at all.”

At first, Su Tiyue genuinely believed he was a heartless eunuch and eagerly offered him food.

Later, when she learned Xiao Heye's secret, it was too late to run away.

Thinking about it carefully, it seems that from the very beginning, Xiao Heye was planning how to possess her.

Unfortunately, Su Tiyue was naive and unaware that she was already caught in Xiao Heye's trap. In the end, he used various means, coercion and enticement, to make her completely fall for him.

Once you enter the palace, it's like entering a deep sea. Su Tiyue only wants to survive and find a way out for herself.

As for Xiao Heye, what he wanted from beginning to end was Su Tiyue.

"After you leave your mark, can you please stop being so mean to me?" she asked softly, tilting her head back.

Those eyes sparkled like stars in the sky.

Xiao Heye asked her, "You can't be fierce just because you did something wrong?"

"Can't we just talk things out? I admit I'm wrong, unlike some people who are so stubborn..."

There are many stubborn people in this world.

Xiao Heye must be one of them.

He looked at her and smiled indulgently: "I'm afraid you won't learn your lesson. You trust people so easily, what if you accidentally get scammed?"

Su Tiyue shook her head smugly: "I'm so smart and quick-witted, I definitely wouldn't do that."

Before we knew it, the night had deepened.

A night breeze blew in through the crack in the window, making the two of them feel chilly.

Xiao Heye reached out and removed the hairpin from her hair, his voice gentle and warm: "Yue'er, it's getting late. Why don't you go to sleep first, I'll go wash up..."

Su Tiyue yawned, stood up, and said softly, "I'll help wash the seal."

"What?" Xiao Heye was somewhat surprised.

She said, "You always helped me wash before, so let me serve you with your handprint tonight too?"

"Oh? Which one will serve you?"

The meaning behind Xiao Heye's words is somewhat intriguing.

Su Tiyue was stunned for a while before she reacted, blushing as she slapped him twice: "You pervert."

...

The rain at the end of spring is always drizzling and unpredictable.

The sky was clear and blue in the morning, but suddenly it started to rain.

After last night, Su Tiyue was finally able to freely enter and leave Yelan Pavilion and Tingyu Tower.

At this moment, she was in the main hall on the first floor of Tingyu Tower, eating snacks that Xiao Anzi had sent with Liu Wan.

As Qingwu patted the rain off her clothes, she walked in from outside, grumbling, "These clothes were just hung out to dry this morning, and they're already soaked again."

She had just noticed the sky was overcast and was thinking of bringing in the clothes that were hanging outside, but unexpectedly, it started raining when she had only brought in half of the clothes.

It rained quite heavily; if Qingwu hadn't acted quickly, she probably would have been soaked.

Qingwu glanced at the two people in front of her, then her eyes widened immediately. She strode over and asked, "You didn't even call me when there was good food? Your Highness, you're so biased..."

Su Tiyue rolled her eyes at her, somewhat helplessly: "You're always running around in the palace, jumping up and down... I can't even catch a glimpse of you, let alone get you any good food."

Liu Wan chimed in, "Your Majesty, you don't know, as long as you're not at Tingyu Tower, Qingwu always runs off to play."

Seeing that the two women had a lot of opinions about her, Qingwu deliberately changed the subject: "What is this? It looks delicious."

As she spoke, Qingwu stretched out her fingers to grab something on the table.

Seeing this, Liu Wan quickly slapped her hand, then picked up a piece with her chopsticks and handed it to her: "How can Your Highness eat if you grab it with your hands?"

"This was sent by Xiao Anzi. He said that a few new chefs who make pastries have arrived at the Imperial Kitchen. He knows I love sweets, so he had them make some red date cake and peach cake and sent them over for me to try." Su Tiyue took a bite, a satisfied expression on her face.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!