Before Yun Wanwan could even open her mouth, Rong Chengxuan carried her away.

Rong Chengxuan had no intention of putting Yun Wanwan down after leaving the Imperial Garden. Yun Wanwan watched as more and more palace maids and eunuchs came out of the Imperial Garden. She quietly tugged at Rong Chengxuan's sleeve, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Rong Chengxuan... put me down quickly, there are so many people here..."

Rong Chengxuan ignored her and continued to walk towards a palace, holding Yun Wanwan steadily. A smile still lingered on his lips. "Don't move. If I don't hold you firmly, you'll fall out of my arms and you'll be the one who'll be embarrassed."

Rong Chengxuan knew exactly what Yun Wanwan was thinking, and Yun Wanwan immediately stayed obediently in Rong Chengxuan's arms, not moving or saying anything more.

Rong Chengxuan carried Yun Wanwan across most of the palace, stopping in front of a palace. Unable to open the door, Rong Chengxuan finally let Yun Wanwan down from his arms. Yun Wanwan stared at the unfamiliar palace, completely bewildered.

Rong Chengxuan held Yun Wanwan's hand with one hand and opened the door with the other. He walked in first and then led Yun Wanwan in. He also carefully reminded her, "Be careful, the threshold here is a little high."

Yun Wanwan looked down at the threshold beneath her feet. Just as Rong Chengxuan had said, it was indeed very high.

Yun Wanwan knew that thresholds were a symbol of status in ancient times. There is also a saying in modern times, "The wider the gate, the higher the threshold," which is exactly the same as using thresholds to show one's status in ancient times.

The threshold of this palace was much higher than those palaces Yun Wanwan had visited in the imperial palace. If Rong Chengxuan had not reminded her, she would have tripped and fallen to the ground.

Yun Wanwan had never been to Ji Moyi's palace, but the palace that Rong Chengxuan brought her to had the highest threshold she had ever seen. It seemed that the people living here must be of noble status.

Yun Wanwan followed Rong Chengxuan in. The first thing they saw was the pool in front of the palace. There was smoke rising from it and it was bottomless. Because it was still summer, the pool was full of pure white lotus flowers, which had an otherworldly feel.

Of all the flowers, Yun Wanwan's favorite was the lotus, and she knew the most about its varieties. In her eyes, the lotus in this pond was no longer just a lotus, but real gold and silver!

The pond is planted with thousand-petal lotus, which was only cultivated in Yuquan Temple in Dangyang County, Hubei Province in later generations. It is a symbol of Buddhism.

As the name suggests, the thousand-petal lotus is the lotus variety with the most petals, with more than a thousand petals, and some even have more than three thousand petals. It can be called the "king of petals" among lotus flowers.

This was also the first time that Yun Wanwan had seen a thousand-petal lotus. In the past, she had either seen it by looking at pictures or reading descriptions in books.

Rong Chengxuan watched Yun Wanwan falter at the sight of the lotus flowers in the pond, so he also moved over and squatted behind her. "Do you like these lotus flowers?"

Yun Wanwan's eyes sparkled as she nodded twice at Rong Chengxuan, her voice tinged with joy. "Yeah, I like it!"

Rong Chengxuan responded, "Then I'll have people plant more lotus flowers in the pond some other day."

Yun Wanwan took one last reluctant look at the lotus, then stood up, clapped her hands, and rejected Rong Chengxuan's proposal. "Forget it, even if I plant it, I won't be able to see it all the time. It's better not to work so hard."

"Do you like this palace?" Rong Chengxuan did not continue talking to Yun Wanwan about the lotus, but asked a different question.

Yun Wanwan looked around. The ground, paved with fine white jade, shone with a warm glow. The eaves carved from sandalwood depicted a phoenix spreading its wings as if ready to take flight. The floating windows carved from green tiles and the wall panels made of jade made it clear that the place was very wealthy.

Yun Wanwan nodded again, offering her fairest assessment of the palace. "It's quite beautiful. It looks very luxurious at first glance. You can tell it belongs to a wealthy family right away."

Rong Chengxuan had a hard time following Yun Wanwan's thoughts, but that didn't stop him from saying, "If you like it, this palace is yours."

Rong Chengxuan had expected Yun Wanwan to be overjoyed upon hearing the news, but Yun Wanwan's first reaction was to reveal an embarrassment. She stared at Rong Chengxuan for a long moment before speaking, "This...this isn't right. This is, after all, a palace within the Imperial Palace, and therefore, it's His Majesty's palace. You're offering to give it to me as a gift. It's inappropriate in any way."

When Rong Chengxuan heard the first sentence Yun Wanwan said, he thought that Yun Wanwan didn't like this palace. He didn't expect that she was worried about this problem, which made Rong Chengxuan laugh.

"Don't worry, I know the rules no matter what. This was given to me by His Majesty along with the palace I took you to earlier." Rong Chengxuan explained to Yun Wanwan, "I thought it would be a waste to leave this palace empty, so I thought of bringing you here to see it. If you like it, I'll give it to you to live in."

"Give it to me?" Yun Wanwan was stunned when she looked at Rong Chengxuan. "Why do you suddenly want to give me this?"

"If I want to give it to you, I'll give it to you." Rong Chengxuan also stood up from the ground and put his arms around Yun Wanwan from behind. "I've wanted to give it to you for a long time, but I just never found the right opportunity. Today, I just happened to take advantage of the matter between Liu Xueyan and His Majesty to give it to you."

"Ah?" Yun Wanwan still didn't react. "What does this have to do with His Majesty and the others?"

Rong Chengxuan just felt that Yun Wanwan was a blockhead. Even though he hinted so clearly, she still ignored what he wanted to express.

Rong Chengxuan changed the position of Yun Wanwan in his arms. Originally, her back was facing him, but now they were facing each other. He took a deep breath and felt a little angry for a moment, but no matter what, he couldn't be angry with Yun Wanwan. In the end, he could only shout helplessly, "Yun Wanwan..."

This time, Yun Wanwan responded quickly, almost without even thinking, "I'm here."

Rong Chengxuan sighed softly. Yun Wanwan's idea, with her emotional intelligence, was definitely beyond her ability. So, he cupped Yun Wanwan's face in his hands and said solemnly, "I have a lot, all earned bit by bit. So, there's no need to envy others. You'll have everything they have, too. With my abilities, I can even give you something better..."