Embracing the Moon.
This name sounds familiar.
Song Ting frowned and gave the order for the third time: "Raise your head."
He wasn't a patient person, and he would never repeat himself. If it were anyone else, they would probably be dead by now.
But she gave the man plenty of patience.
And the man finally raised his head, just as he had wished.
One was standing, the other kneeling. The moment their eyes met, Song Ting froze—he saw the face that always appeared in his dreams.
Her jet-black hair cascaded down her sides, and her beautiful phoenix eyes sparkled like falling stars, with a touch of red rouge smeared at the corners of her eyes.
Her long, bright red robe embroidered with gold thread hung loosely on her body, with most of the collar peeled off, completely exposing her delicate collarbone.
The beautiful woman raised her eyes slightly under the flickering lamplight, and her gaze was so captivating that it made one lose their soul and unable to look away.
"This servant greets Your Excellency." While Song Ting was still in a daze, Huaiyue knelt down again.
“You…” Song Ting seemed to only come to her senses at this moment.
Just as the man's forehead was about to touch the ground, he reached out and protected him, and the man's forehead landed in his palm.
Song Ting found it difficult to describe her feelings at that moment.
He searched for this person for so many years, but there was still no news. Later, he even suspected that the person might be dead.
But he never expected that the person he had been searching for in vain would end up in this desolate place.
Song's throat tightened, and the intense emotions in her eyes almost overflowed, but she quickly calmed down and said softly:
"Tell me, what's your name?"
His tone was somewhat cautious, with a noticeable tremor in his voice.
Regardless of how the madam and her ilk reacted, a barely perceptible look of surprise flashed across the eyes of several Imperial Guards.
Especially Xiao Wu, who served Song Ting the longest and knew her best.
Their lord was always cold-hearted and held the power of life and death. Even when he saw those two in the palace, he never showed such an expression.
Why would she lose her composure like this because of a male prostitute?
Xiao Wu subconsciously glanced at Qi Zhou beside him, only to find that the latter, just like his master, was staring intently at the red-clad male prostitute in front of him.
Xiao Wu frowned involuntarily.
What is so special about this male prostitute?
"Return to my lord, this humble slave is pregnant with the moon."
Embracing the Moon.
Song Ting finally remembered when she had heard this name before. It was four years ago, at the autumn banquet bestowed by His Majesty.
The Autumn Banquet was a tradition of the Dayan Dynasty. Every September, the emperor would bestow a banquet to celebrate with his officials, who could bring their families along.
That day, everyone was drinking and having a great time, but Song Ting was the only one sitting at the table drinking, and no one wanted to get close to him.
Everyone knows he is the Empress Dowager's henchman, ruthless and vindictive, with countless lives on his hands.
On the surface, the court officials respected and feared him, but in reality, they all looked down on him.
At that time, the new emperor had been on the throne for less than a year, and Song Ting was not yet the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who was second only to the emperor.
Despite his outstanding contributions to the new emperor and empress dowager, he held no official position and was in an awkward position.
As the saying goes, "the rabbit dies and the hound is cooked," everyone thought that Song Ting would not have a good ending in the end, after all, he knew too much.
This is something that noble people absolutely avoid.
But since he was still alive, everyone avoided him as much as possible, keeping their distance. They neither provoked him nor got close to him.
But then a drunken young master dared to come and play a prank on him. The man, holding a wine cup, swayed and slumped down in front of Song Ting, laughing as he asked:
"Lord Song, I've heard that there's a beauty in Jiangnan, the top courtesan at Zuichunlou, named Huaiyue."
"It is said that Your Excellency is not interested in women. Then, if I may be so bold as to ask, does Your Excellency have a penchant for men? Should I bring someone over for Your Excellency to take a look?"
Although the Great Yan Dynasty did not discriminate against male homosexuality, and several of the officials present had handsome male concubines in their homes, the humiliation in these words was still too obvious in this setting.
Dong Chengze only dared to joke with Song Ting like that because he was her father, and he was certain that she wouldn't do anything to him.
The people around were all listening intently, waiting to see how this drama would end.
Song Ting didn't even change her expression. She calmly finished the wine in her glass before slowly lifting her eyelids.
His long, narrow eyes were dark and deep, causing Dong Chengze's heart to tremble involuntarily.
But he had already boasted about it to the other young masters, so he had no choice but to ask again, "What does Your Excellency think?"
“Not good,” Song Tingdao said. His voice was low, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
He seemed to be injured; after saying those three words, he started coughing and it took him a while to stop.
His face was flushed an unnatural red from coughing, but his lips were pale.
His entire being exuded an air of nonchalance, which gradually emboldened Dong Chengze, who looked at him provocatively.
He felt that Song Ting was just lucky to have gotten that opportunity to overthrow Prince Duan. He didn't have any superhuman abilities, so there was nothing to be afraid of.
In the end, he was just a lowly bodyguard, what was he anyway?
If the emperor and empress dowager truly valued him, he should have been promoted and given higher titles long ago, instead of ending up in this state.
"Young Master Dong." But just then, a hand gently stroked Dong Chengze's neck.
His palms were covered with rough calluses, the result of years of handling knives and swords.
The man's voice was cold and indifferent, with a hint of hoarseness, "You talk too much."
As soon as he finished speaking, Dong Chengze's face suddenly turned to the left, and Song Ting released his grip, causing the person in front of him to fall limply to the ground.
The two officials closest to Song Ting's desk turned deathly pale instantly: "Murder, murder!"
Only then did everyone notice that Dong Chengze's neck was in an unnatural position, and his pupils were wide open, he was... dying with his eyes open!
Dong Ji, the Vice Minister of Rites, fainted on the spot. The others also got up and gathered together in fear, watching Song Ting warily.
The latter, however, seemed oblivious to the commotion around him, and took out a plain white handkerchief from his sleeve, slowly wiping his fingers.
Once he felt he had wiped the grime off his hands, he picked up the wine jug and tilted his head back to drink.
A perfectly good autumn banquet ended abruptly because of this unexpected event.
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