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Early the next day, I brought Aleya with me to the ceremony to see off the King.

When people are met with a happy occasion, their spirits are lifted. Contrary to that belief, my dad and my older brother’s faces were black, which I pretended to not see. In any case, I would soon be going to my own fiefdom where I could act as happy city lord. When it comes time that we meet after several years of not seeing each other, I will treat you guys as a strand of turbid air in my stomach to softly release.

What I absolutely didn’t expect was that during the farewell ceremony, His Majesty pulled me over and said with a fake smile plastered across his face:

“Ah, Li De, this King’s daughter really likes you but with this King’s standing, it’s impossible for this King to betroth his daughter to you. Otherwise, wouldn’t I be letting down your older brother Li Yi? Wouldn’t I be letting down your father? But…this King has no choice but to consider Nana’s feelings. As a result, this King has decided that Nana will come back in five years……to get married to the next successor to the position of Overlord of Yunyang. Good luck, Li De, this King is very optimistic about you.”

I was instantly stunned upon hearing these words.

According to reason, I should be shedding tears of gratitude right now while kneeling in front of His Majesty and giving him an 800-word speech on the spot. This speech, of course, expressing my gratitude to him for giving me this opportunity and hope for marrying Her Highness.

But how come his eyes were filled with coldness and satire?!

Originally I would leave Lingyun City and move to a land far away, and just like that, the grievances between my older brother and I would be settled. But now with His Majesty’s change of mind, according to my understanding of my older brother, it’s very likely that my older brother will truly start fighting me without rest until I die. From now on, my older brother will regard me as his biggest competitor, as well as someone who might as well have stolen his wife from right under him. I can already imagine him in his bed at night cursing my future-born son to lack his ‘thing’…….

Maybe I should have a daughter in the future.

I felt nauseated in my mind, as if I had really eaten a fly. It felt like I had just finished fighting a satisfying battle, only to come back to the scene of my house having been pilfered! Thousands of words came together to form four words——

Son of a *****!

Just as I was scolding the dog King in my mind, something even more discomforting occurred.

After His Majesty finished speaking, he magnanimously informed me that princess Lan Na wanted to see me. As I walked towards the dragon carriage, princess Lan Na ran down the steps to meet me. Upon seeing her cute, pure and ignorant face, I couldn’t bear it any longer and decided to tell her the truth.

Thus, I opened my mouth and said:

“Princess Lan Na, I have something I must confess……”

Lan Na quietly shook her head and quietly cut me off:

“I know everything.”

You know?

What do you know??

You know that I was lying to you, that I purposefully made those paintings old, that I was copying Mister Li Bai’s poetry??

Forget it, her knowing is also fine, today I’ll——

Lan Na pulled my hand and dropped an emerald-green jade from her two small hands into my palm, quietly whispering:

“What you want to confess is your love, right? Don’t think that Lan Na doesn’t know. The intention to like someone and the feeling of liking someone, Lan Na already read about in a book. But Royal Father won’t accept right now, so Lan Na will first give you her favorite jade. After she grows up, she’ll come find you. You said you liked Lan Na for many years? Then Lan Na will have liked you for many years too, this way it’s fair!”

Listening made my head turn in circles, but I felt that things were already going in an unfavorable situation. Just as I was preparing to explain things, Lan Na tiptoed and lightly kissed me on my cheek.

???

What the hell??

You’re suddenly molesting me before I even say a word??

To care or not to care, is there anyone who doesn’t care in a situation like this! Although the kiss wasn’t on the lips, it’s clear that this person just took advantage of me!

Although this, how do I say this, is like a just-born, week-old kitten licking my cheeks and makes me feel like I’ve ascended to heaven, let me just say this: you’re this young yet you’ve already started taking advantage of me, whatever is next? I, Li De, in any case, am still a virgin young master with a pure and clean body, you can’t be so frivolous to me even if you do have royal blood!

No good, I need to admonish her.

“Princess Lan Na, please conduct yourself with…..damn! Where did she go!”

I lifted my gaze and discovered that she had already run far into the distance and that her ears were bright red.

I looked down at the jade in my hand, then turned around to see the gloomy expressions my dad and older brother wore as they stood by my side. I let out a soft sigh.

Haah, in the end, it’s still our first time seeing each other. I reckon that Lan Na’s ‘like’ is the one a child has for someone older. Once she grows up, she will have probably forgotten about it completely or perhaps remember it as black history. After all, the blood of the royal family flows through her veins. Even though she might be weak-minded right now, she’ll probably grow up into a clever little fox. As long as she doesn’t seek me out to silence me……

I was unceasingly comforting myself in my heart, but I had an unclear premonition.