Li Hua turned his body to face Gan Qiongying, not daring to look at her expression.

He was afraid to see the indifference in Gan Qiongying's eyes, or any emotion he didn't want to see.

So Li Hua stood there, not looking at Gan Qiongying, but said coldly, "You don't need to believe the maids' words. They are just trying to speak for me in front of you."

"I'm not as miserable as you imagine..."

Li Hua feigned strength, and when he looked at Gan Qiongying, he even revealed a somewhat contemptuous smile, exactly the same as when he dealt with those court officials earlier.

"Look at me, I'm doing just fine now."

Gan Qiongying's eyes showed no emotion that Li Hua didn't want to see, nor any deliberate pity.

Li Hua relaxed a little, walked closer to her and said, "I can give you one chance, but only one."

"If your explanation fails to convince me, I will still lock you in the cage, and you can forget about ever letting me release you again in this lifetime."

After Li Hua finished speaking, she turned and went out, but returned a short while later carrying a food box.

Gan Qiongying watched as he placed several side dishes on the table and even took a pot of warmed wine.

The wine was poured from the pot into the cup, and wisps of steam rose up.

Li Hua took a deep breath, walked to Gan Qiongying's side, grasped the small pure gold lock with her slender fingers, turned the key, and released Gan Qiongying.

After removing the lock, Li Hua took two steps back, giving Gan Qiongying room to push the door open and come out.

Gan Qiongying reached out and pushed open the door. Li Hua slowly raised her head, and the two looked at each other through the open door.

Gan Qiongying really wanted to go up and hug Li Hua tightly, but she restrained herself. She needed to explain things properly now.

Even though she knew that Li Hua couldn't really keep her locked up forever, Gan Qiongying still hoped to quickly resolve Li Hua's inner conflict.

Then ask him again, really ask him: "Are you willing to give up everything and come with me?"

Gan Qiongying stepped out of the golden cage, walked to the table and sat down. Li Hua followed behind her, and then walked to the opposite side of the table and sat down.

The two of them hadn't sat like this in a long time... like before, calmly sitting on opposite sides of the table.

For a moment, no one spoke; they simply raised their eyes and looked at each other across the table full of delicious food.

The aroma of wine wafted through the air, mingling with the fragrance from the incense burner in the room.

Li Hua stared calmly at Gan Qiongying for a moment, then picked up the wine glass on the table and raised it towards her.

Gan Qiongying thought Li Hua wanted to clink glasses with her, so she quickly picked up her wine glass and tapped it against Li Hua's glass. Some of the wine spilled out of the glass and onto the dishes below.

Li Hua tapped the cup but didn't move, still looking at Gan Qiongying, who had already downed the wine in one gulp.

Seeing that Li Hua was still holding up his hand, he asked in confusion, "Hmm?"

When Li Hua came over tonight, he hadn't had time to change out of the court robes he only wore when meeting foreign officials. A golden python coiled on his crimson robes, and the collar stood up high, making Li Hua's face look like it was made of dragon blood and phoenix marrow, golden branches and jade leaves.

He looked at Gan Qiongying so seriously, without saying what he wanted to do, which made Gan Qiongying sweat a little.

This was to make her guess that the two of them had been separated for so long that their marital harmony had practically regressed to its original state.

Gan Qiongying seems to have graduated for many years, how could she possibly go back to solve senior high school problems?

She quickly reached for the wine flask and poured herself a cup of wine, thinking that if all else failed, she would punish herself with three cups...

Then Gan Qiongying touched the wine pot and saw that the lid of the wine pot was carved with a dragon and a phoenix.

In a flash, a brilliant idea struck Gan Qiongying.

After pouring herself a drink, she got up and walked to Li Hua's side. This time, instead of clinking glasses with him, she took his arm and made a gesture as if they were drinking from the same cup.

Li Hua's brows visibly relaxed, and she lowered her eyes. Gan Qiongying seemed to feel a sense of elation, as if she had stepped on an answer sheet and gotten it all right.

“We’ve never drunk nuptial wine before,” Gan Qiongying said. “Last night, at least, counted as us getting married again.”

"After drinking this cup of nuptial wine, I wish to stay with my husband until we grow old together."

As Gan Qiongying raised her cup, about to drink, Li Hua said softly, "The ceremony is the same as the judgment, uniting two families in a happy marriage, the poem praises the family, and we will cherish a peaceful and harmonious relationship for a hundred years."

Li Hua slowly raised his head, and his handsome face revealed a hint of alcohol, even though he hadn't drunk any alcohol yet.

Vague and beautiful, his handsome lips parted slightly as he solemnly said, "This is the proof."

Gan Qiongying's heart was struck hard, and she smiled, her smile blooming like spring flowers in full bloom.

"This certificate!"

The two stared at each other, locking their gazes into each other's eyes, imprisoning each other in the small space of their own eyes, and also tossing each other high into the sky of their own eyes, letting each other soar freely in their vision.

They drank the nuptial wine together.

Then Gan Qiongying put down her wine glass, unable to hold back any longer, and took two steps to Li Hua, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry." Gan Qiongying avoided the cold golden crown on Li Hua's head and kissed his eyebrows.

"I was indeed afraid because of your insincerity that day."

"At that time, I received a message from the palace saying that the Empress Dowager's people had discovered something unusual in the Regent's Palace."

"The time we agreed on must be brought forward, so I had someone inform Gan Lin to leave the palace as soon as possible, and I also had people search for you everywhere."

"But I can't find you. The men I sent out searched the whole city, but they couldn't find any trace of you."

"Then I thought of the hostage prince of Jinchuan. I thought you were being held hostage by him, so I took a group of shadow guards and bodyguards to rescue you."

"At that time, we knocked on the door of the hostage residence, but no one answered, so we had to climb over walls and roofs to get into the hostage residence first."

"Then I saw you...I saw you raise a knife and kill someone."

This time, Gan Qiongying hugged Li Hua, and Li Hua did not dodge, but just sat there without responding.

Upon hearing Gan Qiongying's words, Li Hua's body trembled slightly.

He had imagined countless times that Gan Qiongying must have seen something to make her leave so resolutely.

That night, Li Hua killed many people in order to purge Zhongli Zhengzhen's faction.

But hearing Gan Qiongying say that she saw him kill someone still made him stiff.