The Flourishing Era of Female Merchants

But is that veil truly concealing a tranquil face?

An Xinlian bit her lip tightly. After hearing the imperial edict, she became even more frightened. If Miss Ruoyan really was An Mi, what did that mean?

No, no, she had to find out as soon as possible whether An Mi was actually Miss Yan!

Taking a deep breath, An Xinlian continued to secretly observe the rooms on the second floor from among the crowd.

In the room on the second floor, only An Mi and Bai Yi were there. Once An Mi entered the room, she no longer suppressed the frustration in her heart. She turned around and looked at the handsome man walking towards her, her brows furrowing unconsciously. "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

As she spoke, An Mi angrily shoved the imperial edict into Bai Yi's hands, folding her hands in front of her chest like a patriarch giving a lecture.

Bai Yi's gaze narrowed slightly, but his expression remained unchanged, still bearing that elegant smile as he met An Mi's eyes. "Why are you asking me that? It's as if I issued this imperial edict. I don't have that kind of ability to issue an imperial edict."

An Mi's lips twitched. "Didn't you issue this imperial edict? Even if you didn't, you can't escape responsibility. May I ask, Your Highness, before you've even returned to the capital, why is the Emperor praising the clothes that An Mi made so highly?"

Bai Yi rubbed his forehead. "You mean this? I had someone send the clothes back first, thinking I'd see if Father Emperor liked them. If not, I could prepare other gifts. But it seems Father Emperor likes them quite a bit. Of course, something embroidered by Miss Yan herself is a masterpiece among masterpieces. Who wouldn't like it?"

Bai Yi spoke as he examined the contents of the imperial edict.

"Hmph, Your Highness, why don't you put on that act in front of An Mi? In my opinion, you're clearly doing it on purpose." An Mi gritted her teeth and strode forward.

Bai Yi raised a handsome eyebrow. "Intentional? Intentional what?"

"You deliberately set me up to go to the capital!" An Mi immediately interjected, unaware that the color in Bai Yi's eyes seemed to have darkened slightly.

Bai Yi looked at An Mi with particularly focused eyes. An Mi noticed his unusual expression and her heart skipped a beat. She had a bad feeling and quickly looked away. However, as soon as she looked away, Bai Yi stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.

"Bai Yi...you...let go!" An Mi struggled, but she underestimated Bai Yi's strength and persistence. In the past, Bai Yi would let go of her if he teased her, but this time, Bai Yi showed no sign of letting go.

An Mi struggled for a long time, but with her strength, how could she possibly shake Bai Yi's iron wall?

In the end, she could only be pragmatic and stay in Bai Yi's arms, letting his arms hold her captive, trying her best to ignore Bai Yi's presence. However, she overestimated herself and underestimated Bai Yi's influence on her.

Even though there were several layers of fabric between them, she could hear his heartbeat clearly, and her own heartbeat unconsciously followed his rhythm.

"Bai Yi..." An Mi called out, intending to tell him to let her go quickly, but when she called out, she found that her voice was so soft and sweet that it startled even herself.

A hint of embarrassment appeared on her face, followed by Bai Yi's deep, resonant laughter coming from above her head, "If I didn't know your personality, I might mistake your voice for an invitation to me."

An Mi's lips twitched, and her face instantly turned red. An invitation? She wanted to refute it, but even she felt that her voice just now was ambiguous enough to make people's imaginations run wild.

But should we let this awkward and ambiguous situation continue?

No, Anmi instinctively rejected the idea. Her eyes flashed, she gritted her teeth, and stomped hard on Bai Yi's foot.

"Ah..." Bai Yi cried out in pain. Caught off guard, he could only clutch his leg and limp against the chair, looking at An Mi's feigned calm face. "How could this woman be so heartless?!"

Although it was a reprimand, the tone still conveyed an ambiguous and indulgent affection.

At this moment, the people downstairs, upon hearing Bai Yi's exclamation, became even more excited, all speculating about the situation upstairs, and their guesses all surprised them greatly.

Upstairs were only King Bohai and Miss Yan. King Bohai cried out in pain, "Who could have caused this?" Even a fool could figure it out.

Everyone watched the commotion upstairs with varying expressions, wondering how the King of Bohai would treat Miss Yan...

Upstairs, An Mi glanced at Bai Yi's pained expression, and also heard the discussions of the crowd downstairs. She took a deep breath and said somewhat awkwardly, "The King of Bohai, he can't be that fragile, can he?"

Bai Yi glanced at An Mi, his pained expression still lingering, and said, "Come here!"

An Mi frowned, but remained motionless, as if she hadn't heard Bai Yi's words. Seeing that she didn't move, Bai Yi shook his head bitterly. In this world, perhaps only this woman dared to disobey him like this!

If she doesn't come, who says he can't go?

Bai Yi tried to walk over, but the pain in his feet made him curse inwardly. An Mi hadn't held back at all just now!

Bai Yi limped closer to An Mi, grabbed her wrist, and gave her no chance to dodge. An Mi was slightly startled, and the next moment, she fell into that broad and stiff chest again. This time, she wanted to struggle, but when she thought of Bai Yi's painful expression just now, she didn't move.

Bai Yi seemed quite satisfied with her momentary submissiveness, thinking to himself that she wasn't entirely heartless, otherwise she would have already taken advantage of him. A smile appeared on his lips as he softly asked, "If I hadn't deliberately arranged for you to come to the capital with me, would you have agreed?"

will not!

Both of them had the same answer in mind.

An Mi was slightly taken aback. "Knowing I wouldn't agree, you still deliberately set me up!"

"This isn't a scheme against you. I just want you to have no choice but to come to the capital with me," Bai Yi said with a smug look on his face.

An Mi frowned. She knew that now, she had no choice but to go to the capital with him. However, she did not want to see Bai Yi so smug. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and a smile appeared on her lips. She said lightly, "Then I will have to trouble Your Highness to take care of me. I will thank Your Highness properly when I leave the capital."

Leaving the capital? An Mi's words were telling Bai Yi that even if she was framed and had to go to the capital, so what? After meeting the Emperor, she could still come back, couldn't she?

Bai Yi's lips twitched, and he chuckled. Leaving the capital?

He will show her what it means to go and never return!

When Bai Yi and An Mi came out of the room, they saw that everyone downstairs had not left, and there were even more people, all looking at the door of the room on the second floor.