Lin Wanwan's crisp and melodious "Let's break up" struck Xiao Che like a thunderbolt, precisely shattering the imperial dignity he had carefully maintained.
The air froze.
Inside the side hall, the warm sun still shone, and the aroma of tea wafted through the air, but the atmosphere suddenly became subtle and tense.
Xiao Che's hand, suspended in mid-air holding the silver spoon, remained motionless as if frozen in place. His expression darkened visibly, inch by inch. The once deliberate aloofness and disdain on his handsome face were now shrouded in a genuine, icy gloom.
The air pressure around him suddenly dropped, and an invisible, supreme aura spread out, causing the palace servants standing around to subconsciously hold their breath, not daring to utter a sound.
However, even though his heart was in turmoil, His Majesty the Emperor stubbornly maintained his dignity, which was thicker than a city wall. He could not speak, much less say, "Stop, I will continue to criticize this unpalatable pastry."
In that case, wouldn't all the "disdain" and "pickiness" he had just laid out for so long become a joke?
Lin Wanwan took in all the changes in his expression, her heart already bursting with joy, but she maintained her innocent, considerate demeanor. She seemed completely oblivious to the emperor's displeasure, simply waiting quietly for Ruolan to step forward.
Ruolan was also quick-witted. Although she sensed the strange atmosphere, she couldn't disobey her master's orders. She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and stepped forward with small, hesitant steps, preparing to reach out and take the plate of pastries that was enough to stir up a "bloody storm."
Just as Ruolan's fingers were about to touch the edge of the plate—
"Clang!"
A crisp clinking sound of porcelain shattered the deathly silence.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that His Majesty the Emperor had withdrawn his hand from the air at some point, but it seemed that he had "accidentally" knocked over the teacup that had just been filled with hot tea because he was moving too fast.
The exquisite white jade teacup rolled on the carpet, spilling boiling tea that instantly soaked a large area of the magnificent Persian carpet, sending up wisps of white steam.
"His Majesty!"
Chief Steward Li Dequan, who was closest to the emperor, was so frightened that he let out a cry of alarm. Forgetting all etiquette, he rushed forward and anxiously checked whether Xiao Che's dragon robe was wet.
"Quick! Quickly clean up!" he shouted in a shrill voice to the palace servants around him who were already terrified.
In an instant, the entire side hall was thrown into chaos. Some palace servants rushed to fetch cloths, while others busied themselves checking the floor. Ruolan, too, couldn't even bother to pick up the plate of pastries anymore, and instinctively took two steps back, afraid of disturbing the emperor.
Everyone's attention was drawn to this unexpected event.
Except for Lin Wanwan.
Her gaze remained fixed on Xiao Che from beginning to end, so she saw everything that happened next clearly and without missing a single detail.
Just as Li Dequan and the others were in a chaotic mess, creating an excellent blind spot, the one who "accidentally" knocked over the teacup—Emperor Xiao Che—displayed a quickness and decisiveness that was completely different from his usual calm and composed image.
Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was looking down to look, he swiftly extended the hand that had been used to "cover" the tea. His movements were fluid and precise, accurately grasping the edge of the silver plate containing the milky white pastries, and then gently pulling it.
With a soft scraping sound, the silver plate slid silently across the table and came to a steady stop in front of him, right next to the imperial edict with vermilion annotations that he hadn't had time to put away yet.
Having done all this, he immediately withdrew his hand, sat up straight again, and regained his composed imperial demeanor. He even looked at the flustered palace servants with a slightly displeased gaze, as if he were not the one who had just broken the deadlock, created chaos, and taken the opportunity to "steal" the pastries.
The entire process, from knocking over the teacup to pulling the plate back, was incredibly fast and smooth, as if it had been rehearsed hundreds of times.
When the palace servants finally cleaned up the mess and the side hall returned to peace, everything seemed to have returned to square one.
No, there are still differences.
The plate of pastries that Ruolan should have taken away and distributed was now sitting peacefully beside His Majesty the Emperor, as if it had always been there.
Xiao Che picked up a clean silver spoon and, with a composed expression, scooped up another piece of the "unpalatable" pastry and put it in his mouth. As he savored it, he chewed slowly with an air of nonchalance, as if to say, "I just want to take a closer look at the pattern on this plate and study how poor the craftsmanship of the imperial kitchen is."
Lin Wanwan was amazed by what she saw.
Your Majesty, it's a waste of your talent that you're not a leading actor in a theatrical troupe. To put on such an "Oscar-worthy" performance just for the sake of a stutter.
Although Li Dequan, Ruolan, and the others sensed something was amiss, none of them dared to ask a question given the emperor's nonchalant demeanor. They assumed they had simply misjudged the situation, or perhaps the plate of pastries was indeed very close to His Majesty.
Only Lin Wanwan, the sole "audience member," was secretly overjoyed.
She watched Xiao Che eat with great satisfaction. Although his icy face remained expressionless, the slight relaxation in his brows and eyes betrayed his true feelings at that moment.
He seemed to notice Lin Wanwan's gaze, raised his eyelids, and glanced at her.
That glance was full of meaning.
Gone was the previous gloom; instead, there was a hint of barely perceptible smugness, and a warning that said, "You're smart enough not to mention taking the cakes again." It was as if to say: See, I have my own way; I don't need your fake kindness.
This is the emperor's double standard. He considers spilling his teacup and creating chaos as an impromptu response, but the empress almost giving away his pastries as "lacking common sense."
Lin Wanwan understood all the subtext in his eyes. Far from being angry, she felt that he was exceptionally vivid and lively.
She responded with a gentle and serene smile, a smile full of submissive obedience that said, "Your Majesty is wise and mighty, I admire you."
However, the little one in her heart was already clutching his belly, laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight.
In her eyes, the scenery above the emperor, who had just put on a spectacular show, had also been completely transformed.
A pixelated figure wearing black sunglasses, a wildly upturned grin on its face, and countless victory glow effects behind it, is smugly pushing up its sunglasses. Next to it is a cool line of text—
[Plan Successful.gif]
Lin Wanwan's smile deepened.
She thought that perhaps occasionally "teasing" this hypocritical emperor and watching him frantically try to maintain his ridiculous dignity would be a unique kind of "boudoir pleasure."
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