He was hers.

As if by simply saying it aloud, she could truly possess him exclusively, not sharing him with the countless people in the world. Close enough to breathe the same air, he would be hers alone.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent.

His expression changed slightly. One hand cradled the back of her head, lifting her face, while the other reached down to grasp her hand. He turned to lead her down the street, his thin lips parting to say, “I am yours.”

But she began to twist and struggle, clinging to him, squinting her eyes, and shyly exclaiming, “I… I still want…” As she began to speak, her bright black eyes became confused. After pondering for a long time, she finally remembered and continued shouting, “Want… want to buy colorful paintings to take home!”

He stopped, turned to look at the surging crowd on the wide street, his gaze exploring the two rows of densely packed shops, then led her back the way they had come, saying, “All right, let’s go buy you some colorful paintings.”

She giggled, immediately hooking her arm around his large hand and walking forward, completely forgetting that the servant from the Meng residence was still waiting behind her.

The servant was both shocked and frightened. The man in brocade robes with jade buttons, exuding nobility, was the current Emperor whom he had seen outside the Meng residence that night. Yet he could hardly believe that his master would dare commit such a treasonous act toward the Emperor in the middle of the street… and the Emperor allowed his master to behave in such an unrestrained manner, without even a word of rebuke!

And… and he was even going to accompany his master to buy colorful paintings!

The servant wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. When he looked up again, he saw the Emperor’s close attendant, Huang Bo, standing under the eaves not far away, beckoning to him.

He hurriedly walked over and stammered, “Guard… Guard Huang, just now that…” These few oldest servants in the Meng household had all been personally arranged by Huang Bo back then, so seeing Huang Bo there actually made him feel relieved.

Huang Bo raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you see several imperial guards standing on the far street? Don’t you understand?” Seeing that the servant was still at a loss, he added, “Are you standing here stupidly waiting for a reward? Hurry up and drive the carriage to the end of the street to wait for His Majesty and your master!”

The servant hastily turned and ran back to the head of the street.

Huang Bo turned to look into the crowd. Seeing that flash of crimson already drifting more than ten steps away, he sighed softly and quickly followed.

In the distance, the bell at the Xuande Tower of the imperial city began to toll, powerful and resonant, making the cacophony of voices in the sky diminish.

A young couple approached, walking side by side, their expressions showing both shyness and embarrassment. Their hands beneath their sleeves were neither fully holding nor letting go. Whenever they encountered inquiring glances from passersby, they immediately turned sideways and separated.

She, however, disregarded propriety and stared at them unblinkingly. After a long while, she finally withdrew her gaze with a grin and instead held his hand even tighter under his wide brocade sleeve.

This beautiful night, this enchanting scenery, how wonderful!

And the person beside her, how wonderful!

No one on the entire street knew she was Meng Tinghui, nor did they know he was the current Emperor—how wonderful!

She could do whatever she wanted, and even if she kept clinging to him like this, she wouldn’t fear others seeing or commenting. After all, he said he was hers, and no one could take him away!

In the bustling crowd, under the brilliant colored lanterns, the alcohol in her body seemed to make her more enchanting and amorous.

He was so good to her, taking her to buy colorful paintings, then leading her to visit several famous shops. Whatever she wanted, he bought for her. Not only did he buy things for her, but he also held her hand the entire time.

After leaving the shops, she pouted and said she wanted sweet wine. So he took her to buy sweet wine and leaned against the street railing, feeding it to her sip by sip, causing curious passersby to stare at her.

She knew those people were envious of her. He was so handsome and upright, so gentle and indulgent—who wouldn’t covet him? But he was hers, and she wouldn’t let anyone have him!

She had struggled so hard, so very hard to obtain this man. Even if it cost her life, she would not willingly give him up.

As the night deepened, it grew quieter and cooler. The rising wind lifted her skirt, fanning the flames burning fiercely in her heart.

In her incoherent state, she wanted so many things—so many that when they left the shops, she couldn’t hold them all in both hands. She had to untie her arm sash and bundle everything into it, then cradle it in her arms, looking at him with delight.

A pair of small jade rabbits, translucent and beautiful; two jade peonies, which she had pinned to her earlobes before even paying; three fragrant handkerchiefs, one of which she kindly tucked into his arms in deep purple; a set of silver needles, four spools of colorful thread, five bamboo sticks, plus a large stack of colorful paintings—all treasured and clutched in her arms.

She stared at him for a long time, as if suddenly discovering something new and surprising, exclaiming in astonishment, “You… when you left the palace tonight, why didn’t you cover your eyes with cloth?”

This was bad! The capital was directly under the Son of Heaven’s feet, and which citizen didn’t know that the Emperor had heterochromatic eyes? He had just taken her to so many places and seen so many people. What if someone had noticed? What would they do?

Like someone afraid of being caught doing something wrong, she shrank her neck and glanced around. Seeing that no one was looking their way, she let out a small sigh of relief. Fortunately, no one had noticed anything suspicious.

He didn’t answer her question, but reached out to smooth the disheveled hair at her temples, then touched the jade peonies on her earlobes. The back of his hand repeatedly caressed her flushed cheeks as he said softly, “You look so beautiful like this. It makes me want to kiss you.”

She smiled so widely that her eyes curved. He looked so handsome too, making her want to kiss him as well!

With that thought, she nuzzled against him, forgetting they were still on the street, single-mindedly trying to kiss his lips.

He allowed her to press close, but suddenly lifted her, hearing her cry out in surprise before slightly curving his lips to say, “Come back to the residence with me, shall we?”

She felt the world spinning, almost dropping the things in her arms. The colorful lanterns on both sides cast light downward, illuminating the stone bricks beneath her feet, hazily reflecting the image of him carrying her.

She looked at the sky and the ground, finding that the light and shadows viewed upside-down were uniquely beautiful. Her bright eyes rolled about, and she didn’t struggle, but obediently said, “All right.”

He carried her like this to the end of the street, carried her onto the Meng residence carriage, carried her back to the Meng residence, and carried her to her bedchamber.

Let’s not discuss how shocked the entire Meng household was, but even Huang Bo and the others who had been guarding the Emperor’s safety from afar all night were drenched in cold sweat when they witnessed that scene.

Even Huang Bo, who understood the Emperor’s intentions and was unwaveringly loyal, felt that the Emperor was being excessively indulgent toward Lady Meng.

Yet Meng Tinghui was so drunk that she didn’t find anything inappropriate in the slightest!

As soon as they entered the room, she let go of all her things and pounced on him like a small wolf, kissing and biting him, not even giving him a chance to light the lamps with a flint.

He could easily have restrained her, but he allowed her to make a fuss, letting her drag him forcefully onto the bed, watching as she dizzily tried to undo his robes.

Her fingers wouldn’t obey her, and after struggling fruitlessly, she finally held her face in defeat, let out a whimper, and lay on top of him without moving. Then she ordered, “You… you take it off!”

He slowly wrapped one arm around her, making her comfortable, then raised his other hand and began to unhurriedly loosen his clothing. When his outer robe was removed and his middle garment was open, he took her small hand and placed it on his bare left chest, saying softly, “Are you satisfied now?”

She felt his solid chest and became restless again, squirming in his embrace, making unintelligible sounds, her hairdo coming completely undone in the commotion, not even caring that the newly bought jade peony had rolled away from her earlobe.

He suddenly flipped over, pinning her beneath him, lowering his head to deeply inhale the alcohol scent from her neck. His handsome eyebrows raised sharply as he said, “After drinking so much, I wonder how you’ll attend court tomorrow morning.”

She giggled, raising her hand to hook around his neck, imitating his words, “I… I wonder how you’ll attend court tomorrow morning…”

He couldn’t help but smile, lowering his head to peck her wine-sweetened, rosy lips. “If you missed me so much, why did you refuse to come to the Ruisi Hall yesterday when summoned by imperial edict?”

Back to that topic again.

She knitted her brows, trying hard to remember, but couldn’t recall at all. She seemed to… she seemed to not even know why he had appeared tonight! In the darkness, she laboriously sought his eyes. When she could finally see them clearly, she exclaimed, “Why did you come looking for me?”

He said, “Yesterday, Xu Ting’s matter was not settled, and when I issued an edict summoning you, you refused to come for an audience. Today, now that the matter is settled and I issued another edict summoning you, still no one could find you. I thought you might be overthinking things again, so I ‘condescended’ to come see you personally.”

She tried hard to listen to him speak, but her mind was muddled, and couldn’t understand. She only caught phrases like “Xu Ting” and “overthinking,” so she pouted and said, “Xu Ting’s… this matter… how could I not… not think it through carefully…”

It was “thinking it through carefully,” not “overthinking”! She hadn’t heard clearly what he said, but in her mind, she was stubbornly correcting his words, resenting that he couldn’t understand her intentions.

He silently stared at her.

Of course, he understood her intentions.

In the matter of Xu Ting, she had been so clever that it surprised even him.

She knew that if he dismissed Xu Ting from his position as Prime Minister based solely on her impeachment, he would be labeled as “partial.” So she had mobilized Liao Congkuan and a group of censors from the Censorate to jointly submit memorials impeaching Xu Ting, making the matter a heated topic throughout the court. In the end, if he hadn’t dismissed Xu Ting from his position, he would have been accused of disregarding the words of the court censors.

Before the imperial edict was issued, she was quite aware of the need to avoid suspicion, fearing that her private audience would make people think his edict might be influenced by her words. That’s why she was so cautious, not daring to leave any handle for criticism.

He didn’t care about any of this, but she cared deeply about his reputation. She carefully laid down each step for him, fearing that a single oversight on her part might tarnish his name as a wise ruler.

Without her “careful thinking,” he probably wouldn’t have been able to draft an edict that silenced the entire court without objection.

But he would rather she couldn’t think, like now when she was drunk.

When drunk, she was so adorable and so pure, her eyes bright and shining, as clear as her heart.