Ping Zhao Lu

Chu Yunxiao looked at the person in front of him and couldn't help but chuckle, "Alright, I won't address you like that anymore. Queen, please get up quickly and follow me to the Baohe Hall for the banquet."

After hearing this, Xu Zhouye slowly put down his arms that were covering his face, then straightened up slowly, glared at Chu Yunxiao with dissatisfaction, and then quickly lifted the quilt and got out of bed.

He was seen walking towards the mirror table without any image at all.

Chu Yunxiao was not angry about his action, but laughed even more happily. He stared at Xu Zhouye who was sitting steadily in front of the mirror and starting to comb his hair, and the smile in his eyes became more and more intense.

Before long, the emperor's gaze seemed to lose focus and wandered wantonly over Xu Zhouye.

When his sight inadvertently swept across Xu Zhouye's perfect waist, his eyes suddenly became deep, and his hands, which were originally casually placed on his knees, unconsciously paused for a moment.

Chu Yunxiao took a deep breath, tried his best to suppress the restlessness in his heart, stood up, and walked quietly behind Xu Zhouye.

He took the wooden comb from Xu Zhouye's hand and carefully combed his queen's long hair, which was as soft and shiny as a waterfall.

Xu Zhouye looked at the emperor standing behind him in the bronze mirror, bending over to comb his hair. He felt a warm feeling in his heart, and a gentle smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of his lips.

At this moment, the two of them were filled with the intimacy and warmth of an ordinary couple. Time seemed to have quietly frozen in this moment, and the whole world was filled with only them.

After a while, Chu Yunxiao skillfully tied up half of Xu Zhouye's black hair, then gently picked up an exquisite golden hairpin from the table and carefully inserted it into the bun.

The hairpin was particularly dazzling against the backdrop of her jet-black hair. Two strands of long, dark hair naturally fell on either side of her forehead, gently fluttering in the wind, adding a touch of elegant beauty.

Chu Yunxiao slowly lowered his hands and gently placed them on Xu Zhouye's shoulders. Then, he leaned over, moved closer to Xu Zhouye's face, and raised his eyes slightly to look at the two people leaning against each other in the bronze mirror.

In a moment, Chu Yunxiao's lips curled up slightly, revealing a doting smile. He gazed at his lover's face in the bronze mirror with deep affection, and praised in an extremely gentle tone: "Lang Yan is unique, there is no other like him in the world."

As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on Xu Zhouye's fair and handsome cheek.

This sudden action made Xu Zhouye stunned, and he was suddenly at a loss.

Before he could react, Chu Yunxiao reached out and took his hand, leading him to stand up slowly.

Afterwards, Chu Yunxiao's gaze slowly swept across the table beside him, where were placed various clothes that the palace servants had carefully prepared early in the morning.

His gaze finally settled on the relatively vibrant red robe woven with gold. A faint, yet unmissable, glint flickered in his eyes, like ripples on a calm lake. In that instant, his thoughts drifted back to their wedding day.

The scene in his memory gradually became clearer. Xu Zhouye was wearing a red dress that perfectly outlined his slender figure and handsome face. Every detail was deeply imprinted in his heart.

Recalling this, Chu Yunxiao couldn't help but reach out and gently picked up the red robe. Then, he gently and attentively put this gorgeous robe on his queen.

When everything was dressed, Chu Yunxiao's breath suddenly stopped, and a trace of amazement flashed in the depths of his eyes. In an instant, a strong sense of accomplishment surged into his heart like a tide, instantly filling his entire chest.

His queen is truly a natural clothes lover. No matter what style of clothes she wears, she looks great.

Chu Yunxiao just stared at it blankly, feeling as if countless little bugs were gnawing at his heart, making it itch terribly.

Xu Zhouye lowered his head and looked at his current outfit, and a look of unfamiliarity appeared on his face.

"Your Majesty, this..." Xu Zhouye spoke hesitantly, wanting to express his idea of ​​changing clothes.

However, before he could finish his words, Chu Yunxiao had already seen through his inner thoughts and interrupted him directly: "It looks good, leave it like this, don't change it." His tone was firm and unquestionable.

Xu Zhouye was helpless.

Whatever, it’s just a piece of clothing, it doesn’t matter what you wear.

When Chu Yunxiao saw that he accepted the arrangement so calmly, the smile in his eyes unconsciously deepened.

Seeing that the emperor seemed to be in a good mood, Xu Zhouye gently shook his sleeves, then took a step forward without hesitation, took the initiative to reach out and hold Chu Yunxiao's hand, and smiled slightly, saying softly: "Your Majesty, please take me with you to show off your talents."

Chu Yunxiao was stunned for a moment, frozen in thought. Not only because of Xu Zhouye's words, but more importantly...

If he remembered correctly, this was the second time his queen had taken the initiative to hold his hand.

The first time was when they left the palace.

Xu Zhouye couldn't help but frown when he saw that the person in front of him didn't move for a long time. Just when he was about to let go of the emperor's hand, he suddenly felt his hand being tightly held by the other party.

Chu Yunxiao said in a playful and overbearing tone, "You took my hand and you want to let it go so easily? There is no such thing as a cheap thing in the world!"

Xu Zhouye couldn't help but smile bitterly.

I thought, isn't it just holding hands? Why is it so serious? Besides, we've done more intimate things before...

At this moment, Chu Yunxiao didn't care about what Xu Zhouye was thinking. He just felt that at this moment, he seemed to be closer to Xu Zhouye's heart.

This wonderful feeling made him raise the corners of his mouth uncontrollably, and his mood became even happier.

*

Zhuang Yan looked tired and slowly stood up from his chair.

After a whole night of interrogation, his once bright eyes were now bloodshot, and he looked extremely tired.

"Finally, I found out some useful information..." Zhuang Yan muttered to himself, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Thinking back to what happened last night, if we hadn't sent this hateful thief so many delicious foods, it would have been difficult to pry open his mouth.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Yan couldn't help but secretly regret: "If I had known that sending some food would have such an effect, I should have let him have a bite of warm food first!"

At this moment, Xiang Heng was no longer tightly tied to the cold cross as before. Instead, his hands and feet were shackled with heavy shackles, but at least he could move a little freely in this narrow torture room.

Before leaving, Zhuang Yan glanced at Xiang Heng helplessly, muttering to himself, "This guy really knows how to enjoy life. He can actually eat and sleep well in this kind of awful place."

Sure enough, truly strong people never complain about the environment.

After Zhuang Yan sighed silently in his heart, he raised his foot and prepared to leave this disgusting place.

Unexpectedly, just as he stepped out of the prison gate, a familiar figure came into his sight - his immediate superior was walking towards him.

The moment he saw Shang Jiu, Zhuang Yan's face, which had already become listless due to staying up all night for interrogation, now seemed covered by a layer of frost, and looked even gloomier.

Even though he was in a terrible mood, he still had to put on a good front. So, Zhuang Yan forced himself to smile and walked forward...

"Sir." Zhuang Yan bowed.

"Yeah." Shang Jiu responded indifferently.

Zhuang Yan stood up straight.

Shang Jiu glanced at him expressionlessly, "What did you find out during the interrogation?"

Zhuang Yan nodded dully, then babbled a bunch of nonsense, finally mumbling, "It cost me a lot of money."

Shang Jiu frowned.

Zhuang Yan paused for a moment and said, "Your Excellency, you don't know this, but he is a real foodie. As long as you give him some delicious food, he will immediately tell you everything he knows. Of course, how could I embezzle public funds to entertain him? So... I have to pay for it out of my own pocket." After saying this, Zhuang Yan deliberately pretended to be helpless and shook his head.

Shang Jiu nodded in understanding and then asked, "How much did you spend? Tell me the truth."

When Zhuang Yan heard this, he instantly became excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He quickly stretched out his hand and gestured a number towards Shang Jiu, shouting, "Twenty taels of silver!"

Shang Jiu couldn't help but frown when he saw this.

Even if it was an extremely sumptuous meal, it would only cost about three taels of silver at most.

That thief's appetite was so amazing that he could actually eat as much as twenty taels?

Although he was filled with doubts and confusion, Shang Jiu remained calm on the surface. He quietly took out a token from his pocket and tossed it to Zhuang Yan, saying calmly, "Take it to my house and ask the butler to withdraw the money."

Zhuang Yan saw the token flying towards him and subconsciously reached out to catch it. When he saw the token in his hand clearly, his eyes suddenly widened with disbelief.

He originally just wanted to take the opportunity to play a trick on his immediate superior, but he never expected that the other party would actually agree to give him the twenty taels!

Thinking of this, Zhuang Yan quickly put away his inexperienced look, and the resentful expression from before reappeared on his face.

At the same time, I was muttering to myself: How could this night's torture not be worth these twenty taels?