Chapter 753 The Emperor Confesses His Love, Lan Yan Becomes His Apprentice

Lan Yan couldn't help but stand up, "Damn! This isn't just a resemblance, this is Xiao Xi!"

The cat couldn't help but look over; there were small characters below the portrait, the two characters "Mu Xi" written very neatly.

Mu Xi calmed down and casually instructed the servants to roll up the portrait.

Seeing that she had finished reading, the emperor asked first, "Minister Xi, is there anything you think is suitable?"

Mu Xi looked at the Emperor, whose gaze was intense, as if carrying a hint of expectation.

Mu Xi picked out two paintings from among them, saying, "I think these two women are quite nice."

The emperor waved his hand, and soon the attendants presented the two paintings.

The emperor was very disappointed when he saw that Mu Xi had not chosen her own painting.

He was somewhat disheartened and tossed the painting aside. He looked at Mu Xi and said, seemingly implying something, "Xi Ai Qing, please help me choose carefully. None of these are what I like. You should know my heart."

Mu Xi nodded stiffly.

The banquet then continued.

It ended very late.

The officials dispersed, but the emperor called out to Mu Xi: "Xi, please stay and walk with me for a while."

Mu Xi stayed behind.

The two of them strolled through the palace, followed by palace servants.

Mu Jin and the others walked further away.

Lan Yan was furious; he hadn't been able to calm down since he saw Mu Xi's portrait.

"That damned emperor, does he want to marry Xiao Xi? Dream on! Xiao Xi is definitely..." His!

"He sent Xiao Xi all the way from Yeliang City to here just for this kind of trivial matter?! Does he even deserve to be called a diligent and capable emperor?"

"Damn it, I'm so angry! Mu Jin, let's go to the front and listen to what that dog emperor is saying."

Mu Jin: "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Blue Flame: "Don't you want to know?"

Mu Jin: "There's no need to go to the front specifically, I can hear it from here."

Blue Flame: "...But I can't hear you!"

Lan Yan was very anxious because that person was the emperor of the Five Continents Kingdom. In a place like this, he had the final say in everything! Just by looking at the atmosphere in the main hall today, it was clear that this was at the emperor's behest!

His intuition was right; the emperor's intentions toward Xiao Xi were indeed impure!

...

At this moment, Mu Xi walked with the emperor. She did not speak, and the two walked quietly for a long time.

When they reached a lakeside, the two stopped, and the Emperor suddenly said, "How wonderful, Sister Xi, it has been many years since I have taken such a relaxing walk with you."

Mu Xi immediately said, "Your Majesty, I..."

"Sister Xi, please listen to me."

He even omitted the "I" (朕) designation for himself.

"But, Your Majesty..."

The emperor insisted, "I have a lot to say to you. Just listen. If I let you speak, you'll surely start arguing with me about the proper etiquette between ruler and subject."

Mu Xi fell silent.

"Have you looked at all the portraits today?"

Mu Xi's eyes flickered slightly. "Yes."

The Emperor turned to look at her. Although she was dressed casually, it was also a smart men's outfit. To his recollection, she had never worn women's clothing before, and she didn't even have a single girl's accessory.

But in his eyes, she was the most beautiful, while he didn't find those fair-skinned women attractive at all.

He took a painting from the servant, opened it and saw that it was the same one mixed in with the portraits of the young ladies, and it was a portrait of Mu Xi!

He said, "This portrait was painted by me. I think it turned out pretty well, right?"

Mu Xi glanced at it, pursed her lips slightly, and offered no comment.

The Emperor smiled and said, "When I was painting, I thought of dressing the person in the painting as a woman, but in the end, I used your usual appearance. I wanted you to know that in my heart, no matter when, you are the most beautiful."

Mu Xi's expression changed slightly; she was getting restless. "Your Majesty, it's late. You should return to the palace to rest as soon as possible."

The Emperor rolled up the painting and looked at Mu Xi. "Sister Xi, even though I painted your portrait myself, you didn't praise me."

He turned around, looked at the bright moon on the horizon, and suddenly said with some melancholy, "When I ascended the throne, I was only nine years old. My mother urged me to get up early every day to review memorials, attend classes, and listen to government affairs. My tutor constantly reminded me how to maintain the majesty of an emperor."

"The officials saw me as a child and took many deceptive actions. I lived on thin ice every day. If I made even the slightest mistake, my mother would scold me. Everyone around me was watching me."

"At that time, news of General Mu's death suddenly reached the palace. The Empress Dowager was stunned and said that something terrible had happened! It was as if the sky had fallen. Unexpectedly, after the Mu family army returned, they brought you back, along with General Mu's last letter."

"When I granted you the title of General Mu, many people in the court objected. But that was the first thing I insisted on... Do you know why?"

As he spoke, he looked at Mu Xi.

Mu Xi said, "His Majesty is showing compassion for my adoptive father, who has dedicated his life to the military and devoted himself to the cause."

The Emperor chuckled softly, “Not entirely. It’s because you held my hand and told me that I could definitely be a wise ruler.”

That was the first time I had ever been praised.

At this point, the emperor's face lit up with joy, and he no longer appeared as dignified as he had been in the main hall.

Mu Xi said, "His Majesty has already accomplished it."

“Sister Xi, you always avoid the important points. You should know that I didn’t mean to tell you these things. Back then, you were like a child. You were even more naive than me. You stayed with me behind the throne and told me not to listen to the ministers’ nonsense and to use my own eyes to discern the truth.”

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