Upon hearing this, the Emperor's face paled again, and he said, "That is her good fortune. It is a wonderful story for a widow to marry a top scholar. Anyway, my mind is made up. You can decide what to do, Duke Zhenguo."
They tried everything – good cop, bad cop – but the Duke of Zhenguo just wouldn't agree. In the end, the Duke of Zhenguo gave in, and the two agreed to discuss the marriage after the New Year.
...
Meanwhile, Qi Guze arrived at the inner palace. The guards outside the door wanted to report to him, but he stopped them and went up to knock on the door himself.
"Who is it?" Xu Yuehuai's voice came from inside the house.
Qi Guze, standing outside the door, was stunned for a moment. He hadn't heard Xu Yuehuai's voice for a while, and now he felt a sense of unreality. After a moment of hesitation, he hurriedly said, "Ayue, it's me."
The two people inside immediately recognized Qi Guze's voice. Zhou Wan hurriedly said, "Quick, quick, you two are thinking the same thing. Is there anywhere I can hide? I'll leave for a bit."
“Zhou Wan, I still feel…” Xu Yuehuai said, holding Zhou Wan’s hand.
“It’s no use telling me your feelings; you have to tell the person outside the door,” Zhou Wan said, removing her hand and patting the back of it. “Do what you think is right.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai mustered up her courage and went to open the door. Qi Guze, who was outside the door, did not see anyone come to open the door for a long time. He thought that Xu Yuehuai was unwilling to see him, so he lowered his head and turned around to leave.
He turned his head just as he heard the door open behind him. He turned around abruptly and saw Xu Yuehuai leaning against the door frame, smiling at him and saying, "Can't you even wait a little while?"
“I can wait, I can wait. Yuehuai, you know what I mean. I want to be with you. What do you say?” Qi Guze took two steps forward, stood at the bottom of the steps, looked up at Xu Yuehuai, and once again expressed his feelings.
"I..." Xu Yuehuai was still hesitant. Although Zhou Wan kept gesturing to her, she still couldn't make up her mind.
"Yuehuai, just say what you have to say. You don't need to hide anything from me."
"Qi Guze, you..." Xu Yuehuai still stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence. After struggling for a long time, she finally managed to say, "Qi Guze, aren't you giving up your future by doing this?"
"I don't care about my future, I only want you." Qi Guze said, staring intently at Xu Yuehuai.
Qi Guze's words struck the softest spot in Xu Yuehuai's heart, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. She nodded through her tears.
"Don't nod, tell me." Qi Guze was somewhat incredulous.
"I'm willing to work hard with you, to fight for a future together, our future." Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai smiled through her tears and said these words.
"Ah Yue." Upon hearing this, Qi Guze wanted to rush up and hug Xu Yuehuai, but someone interrupted him.
The Duke of Zhenguo's cough came softly from behind.
Qi Guze's face immediately darkened, while Xu Yuehuai hid half her face behind the door.
"Did I come at the wrong time?" The Duke of Zhenguo asked, noticing the somewhat strange atmosphere between the two.
"No, Duke Zhenguo, are you here to see A-Yue?" Qi Guze quickly composed himself and asked.
"I've come to see you two." Upon hearing this, the Duke of Zhenguo nodded and then relayed to the two of them exactly what the Emperor had said earlier.
Xu Yuehuai and Qi Guze both turned cold instantly, with the former almost backing down again.
Fortunately, Qi Guze had planned a way out beforehand.
"It's alright. His Majesty is planning to send me to the Dark Moon Kingdom again. Once you've settled things in your harem, we can set off. At that time, with two merits before His Majesty, we can naturally compete with him for them," Qi Guze said.
"But with the New Year just around the corner, won't we run out of time?" Xu Yuehua expressed her concerns.
"Then it depends on you. You need to finish dealing with the affairs of the harem as soon as possible before we can set off. Even if it's the New Year, we'll be in the Mingyue Kingdom at that time, so even if the Emperor wanted to bestow a marriage, he couldn't." Qi Guze thought for a moment and then replied.
Hearing this, Xu Yuehuai was still somewhat at a loss.
They are now at a loss about which way to go; one wrong step and they will be doomed.
Qi Guze grasped her hand and said, "A-Yue, you should resolve your current matters as soon as possible, so that we can travel to the Underworld Moon Kingdom sooner."
Xu Yuehuai nodded immediately.
...
After the group left the palace, Xu Yuehuai tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
She simply put on her coat and went into the courtyard, staring blankly at the bright moonlight in the sky.
Now, their biggest enemy is Marquis Ningyuan, but Marquis Ningyuan holds the fake crown prince Aqi in his hands. To bring down Marquis Ningyuan, they must find out the connection between them, and the most crucial thing is to find the real crown prince.
But she had no clue about the real prince.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Yuehuai decided to start with A Qi.
She prepared a delicious meal for Ah Qi overnight.
She first scooped a few spoonfuls of flour into a basin, then added half boiling water and half cold water to the basin, kneaded it vigorously into a dough, and then covered it to let it rise.
Next, we need to process the pork. First, cut a large piece of pork into small pieces evenly. Then, turn on the stove, add cold water, pork, scallions, ginger, and garlic to the pot to remove any unpleasant smell.
After the water boils, skim off the foam, take out the meat pieces and wash them. In a separate pot, add oil, add sugar and stir until melted, then add the pork pieces and spices, stir-fry until fragrant, then add hot water and simmer over low heat.
After stewing the meat, take out the proofed dough, press it into a ball, and roll it out into a large sheet.
Then, oil was spread on it, and some powder was sprinkled on it. It was then rolled up into a long strip, and then pinched off a handful by hand to divide it into many fist-sized dough pieces, which were then pressed into flat cakes.
Replace the pot on the stove with an iron plate, then pour in the oil, and then arrange the dough pieces one by one on the iron plate.
Soon the dough will heat up and emit a fragrant aroma. When the aroma is irresistible, flip the dough over so that both sides are crispy and golden brown.
When the sesame seed cakes are golden brown and crispy on both sides and puffed up, the pork belly on the other side is also stewed.
I took two pieces of meat out of the pot. They were marbled with fat and lean meat and soaked in the broth. They were translucent and delicious. The smell alone was enough to make my mouth water.
Next, use a cleaver to chop the meat into small pieces. Then, take a flatbread, slice it in half with the cleaver, and stuff all the meat filling inside. Finally, use a spoon to scoop some broth and pour it over the meat. The roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) is now ready.
However, Xu Yuehuai didn't forget to order a bowl of porridge as well.
By the time everything was finished, dawn was breaking.
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