"A message has come from the palace, summoning the prince to the palace."

"I understand. You may leave."

"yes!"

Bai Chen left quickly; he had gotten used to Shangguan Li like this.

Everyone thought that Prince An, Shangguan Li, had matured after experiencing the war.

Little did they know that Shangguan Li had always been like this, only he pretended to be a useless prince who frequented brothels in order to deceive the person in the palace.

But recently, Bai Chen, who is familiar with Shangguan Li, has noticed that Shangguan Li has indeed changed.

After the princess left.

He often stood in the courtyard in a daze, sometimes for hours on end, and in his hand were things left behind by the princess.

Everyone in the manor thought that Shangguan Li was heartbroken because of the passing of my princess and that he was missing her.

Bai Chen felt the same way.

If I had known I would think this way about him, why did I let him go...?

Yangju Hall.

After tidying himself up, Shangguan Li immediately went to the palace. He knelt down and bowed, saying, "Your subject greets Your Majesty."

When the emperor saw Shangguan Li enter, he glanced at Shangguan Li out of the corner of his eye and said in a deep voice, "Get up."

"Thank you, Father Emperor."

After Shangguan Li stood up, the emperor put down the memorial in his hand and looked at Shangguan Li, "Li'er, what have you thought about the matter I asked you before?"

Shangguan Li immediately knelt down and replied, "Please forgive me, Father Emperor, I do not wish to marry Princess Anle."

Not long after Chu Qingxuan's "death," the emperor asked Shangguan Li to consider Chu Qingli, but Shangguan Li refused without even thinking about it.

Although the emperor was angry, he held back, after all, it was he who had arranged for Shangguan Li to marry Chu Qingxuan.

The emperor was filled with regret. How could his perfectly good son have fallen in love with a man?

Really...

This is awful.

This time, Shangguan Li gave the same answer. The emperor said earnestly, "Li'er, you are still young. You don't need to be tied down to Chu Qingxuan. You should look forward."

"Besides, Chu Qingxuan is just a man, you..."

Shangguan Li raised his head, slowly curled his lips, and smiled, "Back then, it was Father Emperor who made me marry him. At that time, the people had already drowned me in spittle. Now... it's just that I love his son. I'm attracted to him as a person, regardless of whether he is a man or not."

After saying those words, I felt much lighter, and it wasn't so difficult to say them.

So he decided: he wanted the country, and he wanted Chu Qingxuan too.

Even so, Chu Qingxuan has already passed away.

Shangguan Li lowered his head and remained silent.

"I ask you, if Chu Qingxuan were still alive, would you choose the empire or Chu Qingxuan?"

Shangguan Li's mind raced. The first person that came to mind was Chu Qingxuan. He was still in surprise and didn't answer when he heard a knock on the door.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Advisor has arrived."

That's Eunuch Li's voice.

The emperor responded, "I understand. Please invite the Imperial Advisor in."

After saying that, he looked at Shangguan Li, who was kneeling down, and said, "Li'er, go down and think it over carefully. I await your answer."

"If you want the throne, you must give up Chu Qingxuan."

Shangguan Li's eyes were deep and discerning as he replied in a low voice, "Yes, Your Majesty, I shall take my leave."

Shangguan Li got up to leave. As he looked up, a purple figure appeared in front of him. She walked past him, and when her eyes met Shangguan Li's, a smile appeared on her lips.

Shangguan Li, we meet again.

"It seems that Prince An is quite interested in my sister."

This is the voice of the Imperial Advisor making a joke.