He leaned closer and rubbed his nose against her fair neck, making her feel a tingling, ticklish sensation. His large, strong hands gripped her waist, as if he wanted to meld her petite body into his own.

Su Tiyue placed her hands on his strong chest, her face flushed and her heart pounding as he rubbed her, almost losing control.

Seeing Xiao Heye's face getting closer and closer, knowing that his kiss was about to land, Su Tiyue quickly reached out to cover his cold lips, "Zhangyin... don't rush, I have something to tell you."

Xiao Heye kissed her soft fingertips and asked, "What is it?"

Su Tiyue sat up straight on his lap, looking at him with her clear and bright eyes, and said in a serious tone, "Before coming here, I went to Chunfeng Tower to find my second brother, and then I met a very strange person there."

"A strange person? Did he bully you...?"

Chunfeng Tower is a place where all sorts of people mingle. When Xiao Heye learned that she had gone to Chunfeng Tower, his first reaction was whether Su Tiyue had been bullied.

“No.” Su Tiyue shook her head and continued, “But his accent is very strange, and his appearance is also very strange… Master Xiao, I always feel that he doesn’t look like a person from our Central Plains.”

"What Yue'er means is..." Upon hearing this, Xiao Heye roughly guessed what Su Tiyue wanted to say.

If they weren't from the Central Plains, they were most likely Rouran.

Xiao Heye thought for a moment and asked her, "How old does that person look? Are there any other distinguishing features?"

"He's probably in his early twenties? And he brought two arrogant and unreasonable subordinates with him. Those two subordinates were very respectful to him, so his identity must be quite extraordinary."

“I was also there the day the King of Huainan brought the Rouran envoy into the palace. The envoy looked to be at least forty or fifty years old.”

"Could it be that, besides the Rouran envoy, other Rouran people have also come to Yong'an?" Xiao Heye murmured his thoughts.

This is not a good sign.

If that's really the case...

Xiao Heye's dark eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at Su Tiyue for a long while, a sense of crisis inexplicably rising in his heart.

An unprecedented sense of crisis.

Seeing his solemn expression, Su Tiyue asked softly, "Master Seal, what's wrong?"

"It's alright. Don't worry, Yue'er, I'll take care of everything."

"Mm." She nodded.

In this world, perhaps no one is more reliable than Xiao Heye.

Therefore, she believed him.

"It's getting late. The seal... Second Brother and Liu Wan are probably still waiting for me," Su Tiyue whispered in his ear.

Xiao Heye hummed in agreement. "I'll take you back."

"Just go to the front yard gate..."

How could Su Tiyue dare to let Xiao Heye send her back? If the Su family saw this, wouldn't it cause an uproar?

After leaving the room, the two walked along the long corridor.

Xiao Heye was in a good mood today. Occasionally, he would turn to look at the person next to him and say a few silly jokes to make her happy.

But they had only gone halfway when they bumped into the Prince of Huainan and his entourage walking towards the inner courtyard.

Clearly, these people were also Jiang Zhun's honored guests. To entertain them, Jiang Zhun specially prepared fine wine and delicacies in the side rooms of the inner courtyard.

The Prince of Huainan looked up and saw Xiao Heye and Su Tiyue. His eyes flickered, and he seemed a little surprised... In this kind of situation, he really didn't expect the two of them to be walking together so openly.

However, upon closer reflection...

Indeed, Su Tiyue is no longer an empress in the harem.

She can choose who she wants to be close to, and no one else has the right to tell her what to do.

...

Upon seeing the group of people opposite them, Su Tiyue and Xiao Heye both stopped in their tracks.

She looked up and first saw Zhou Lin, the Prince of Huainan, and then... Su Tiyue's pupils dilated, and she looked at the person standing next to Zhou Lin with a shocked expression.

Isn't this... the person she met at Chunfeng Tower?

Afraid of being recognized, Su Tiyue quickly lowered her head and tugged at Xiao Heye's sleeve, whispering, "The one on the right is the one I was talking about earlier..."

Upon hearing her words, Xiao Heye glanced indifferently at the person standing to Zhou Lin's right.

Xiao Heye recognized the man on the left; he was an envoy from Rouran, and everyone in the palace respectfully called him Master Jing.

I've never seen Xiao Heye on the right before...

The Prince of Huainan led the group closer slowly: "Chief Intendant Xiao, are you returning so early? Why don't you join me for a few more drinks?"

Xiao Heye said in a nonchalant tone, "My alcohol tolerance is not good. If I drink any more, I'm afraid the prince will laugh at me."

“Mr. Jing is a distinguished guest from Rouran, Your Highness must treat him well.” Xiao Heye said, then added, “But I wonder, who is this gentleman…?” He looked at the person to Zhou Lin’s right and asked gently.

Zhou Lin hesitated, glancing at the person beside him as if seeking his permission: "This is...?"

Zhou Lin paused, still hesitating, when the person next to him took a step forward.

He didn't look at Xiao Heye; his chestnut eyes were fixed on Su Tiyue. Speaking in broken Yong'an dialect, he said, "My name is Yelü Shulie, young lady. We meet again. In your Central Plains terms, this must be fate, right?"

Seeing that he only mentioned a name, Zhou Lin, standing behind him, added, "Master Xiao, this is the prince of Rouran, and also the future king of Rouran."

The future...King of Rouran?!

Upon hearing these three words, Su Tiyue's heart trembled slightly, and she dared not look up even more.

She shifted her feet slightly and carefully hid behind Xiao Heye.

Xiao Heye knew that the person opposite him had frightened his heart. His eyes turned cold, and he blatantly took two steps in front of Su Tiyue, blocking the unbridled eyes of the Rouran prince.

Xiao Heye curved his lips into a smile, his voice clear and low: "So it's the Rouran prince... If I remember correctly, the person Beiliang agreed to marry into your family was the eldest princess. How come she's connected to someone from our family?"

This "our family member" clearly refers to Su Tiyue.

Zhou Lin and Yelü Shulie heard it clearly.

Yelü Shulie understood the implication in his words and refused to back down: "Your so-called princesses of Northern Liang are one ugly and the other too young. Rather than letting this prince choose between them... it would be better to..."

Yelü Shulie leaned close to Xiao Heye's ear, staring intently at Su Tiyue, and said, "Why don't you let this prince choose one he likes?"

Xiao Heye's brows twitched slightly, a hint of killing intent flashing in his eyes, but he still replied softly, "The girls of our Northern Liang are not for you to choose. Besides, marriage alliances are never a matter of mutual consent. Whoever is stronger decides. I believe that the Rouran Kingdom is probably not stronger than Northern Liang right now, is it? If you really don't want a marriage alliance, then tear up this ceasefire agreement and see each other on the battlefield..."