The Cold King Demands Love and Pleasure

Wu Che quickly refused, "Forget it, I'm too old for that!"

Cang Jue turned his head to look around, "By the way, where's Dongfang?"

"General Dongfang has family matters to attend to and is not at the military camp!"

Cang Jue couldn't help but feel fortunate for him, "He really knows how to pick his time; thankfully, he escaped a disaster!"

By the time Min Youan led the army back after the run, it was already evening. After washing up, he lay in his tent, but couldn't fall asleep because he kept thinking about Xia Tongsheng's words. This woman really had the ability to disturb his mind!

But thinking about it, it's probably for the best that this is how it is for us. He was destined not to give her the happiness she wanted! I should let go too!

The next day, Min Youan went directly from the military camp to the morning court session. After the session, he did not return to the Prince's residence but went back to the Military and Political Council to work. In the following days, he continued to leave early and return late as before, going to court very early in the morning and not returning until after midnight.

A few days later, even Gu Xue noticed something was wrong. "Hongling, go and find out what's wrong with the prince lately. Why is he coming home so late?"

"Yes!" Hongling accepted the order and went out to gather information.

When Hongling told Gu Xue the information she had gathered, Gu Xue felt that even the heavens were on her side, and the timing was perfect! It seemed that this matter was almost certain to succeed.

"Lvping, get ready, we can start!"

"it is good!"

After dinner, Xia Tongsheng felt particularly tired, so she went to bed early.

But suddenly, flames appeared in the East Garden area in the middle of the night, and the fire slowly grew larger.

"Oh no! Fire!" Bu Yao shouted as she saw the flames spreading across the sky. Her shouts woke up the maids in the courtyard. Bu Yao instructed one of the maids to inform the steward, while the others struggled to fetch water to put out the fire.

Upon receiving the news, the steward immediately dressed and rushed over, leading the men of the manor to help put out the fire.

"What's going on?" Min You'an was a very light sleeper, and the noise coming from the mansion woke him up.

"It looks like there's a fire!" Cang Jue replied from outside the door.

Min Youan stood up and glanced out the window. To his surprise, he discovered that the black smoke was coming from the direction of the East Garden.

His eyes showed a hint of panic. "Where is the fire?"

Cang Jue shook his head, "I don't know!"

His only responsibility was to ensure Min Youan's safety; he naturally didn't pay much attention to other matters.

Min Youan frowned, put on a coat, and started running towards Xia Tongsheng's courtyard. Unexpectedly, the place that caught fire was the East Garden.

At this moment, Yingling was crying and trying to rush inside, but she was stopped by several servants in the mansion.

The steward saw Min You'an and ran to his side in a panic, "Your Highness!"

He stared at the raging fire before him. "Where is the Princess?"

"The princess is still inside!"

Min Youan's eyes showed a hint of panic. He snatched a bucket of water from Xiao Si who ran past him and poured it over his head. The night was cool, and the cold water instantly sobered him up.

Just as he was about to rush inside, Cang Jue grabbed him, "Your Highness, let me go!"

"No need!"

The fire was growing larger and larger, making even entry extremely difficult. He kicked the door open and slowly tried to locate Xia Tongsheng, but the thick smoke prevented him from seeing her.

He entered the bedroom but still couldn't find her. "Xia Tongsheng!" he called softly.

"Your Highness! I'm here!" a faint voice called out.

Xia Tongsheng was trapped to the side, her leg pinned down by a fallen pillar, unable to move, while a large beam blocked her way.

Min Youan dared not kick it away rashly, fearing the whole house would collapse. "Don't move, wait for me!"

The fire grew increasingly fierce, and Min Youan, disregarding everything else, directly used her hands to lift the logs off her legs. However, the logs she was carrying were supporting the burning beam, and as the logs were pushed aside, the beam immediately collapsed.

Seeing that the beam was about to fall, Min Youan immediately turned to the side and shielded Xia Tongsheng in his arms, using his back to bear the weight of the beam.

All that was heard was a muffled groan from Min Youan. After a few seconds of pause, he asked, "How are you?"

Xia Tongsheng was choked by the smoke and couldn't speak. He could only cough and shake his head to indicate that he was fine!

Knowing that she was alright, Min Youan began to think of a way out. He glanced around and saw that the way he came had been swallowed up by the fire and he could no longer get out.

He frowned, grabbed Xia Tongsheng, and crashed through the roof, flying out of the house! Throughout the ordeal, Xia Tongsheng was perfectly protected and suffered no impact whatsoever.

He held her in his arms, and as she looked at his strong jawline, it was impossible not to be moved at that moment.

When Yingling saw her young mistress come out, she immediately broke free from her restraints, ran to her side, and cried, "Miss, are you alright?"

"I'm fine!"

Min Youan put her down and turned to leave, but Xia Tongsheng noticed the wounds on his back. His clothes were burned off, and his back was a bloody mess, dark red and black. "Your Highness! Your wounds!"

“He’s not dead yet!” Min Youan said coldly.

"That's not what I meant!" Xia Tongsheng swore. This time, she really just wanted to thank him; she truly had no other intentions. She hadn't expected Min Youan to still hold a grudge.

"What you mean is not important to me!" Min Youan didn't want to get involved any further. Since he had decided to let go, he might as well do it cleanly.

Cang Jue saw the injury on the prince's back and said, "Your Highness, I will go and fetch a doctor!"

Min Youan stopped him, "Let the doctor examine the princess first!"

Cang Jue didn't know why the young couple, who clearly cared for each other, were arguing, but he didn't want to interfere in their affairs.

After the doctor finished examining Xia Tongsheng's leg injury, Cang Jue led the doctor to Su'an Pavilion.

When the doctor saw Min You'an's injury, his expression became extremely solemn. "Your Highness, please bear with it."

"How badly is the Princess Consort injured?" Min Youan couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing serious, just a sprain. However, Your Highness's injury is quite serious. These days, the wound must not get wet!"

Min Youan nodded and softly hummed in agreement.

The doctor carefully treated Min Youan's wound, left some ointment, gave her a few instructions, and then left.

Min Youan, with his eyes closed, asked, "How could it have caught fire out of nowhere?"

"I investigated, and the steward said that a stray cat knocked over the candlestick! But I found this at the scene!" Cang Jue handed the handkerchief in his arms to Min You'an.

"ink?"

"It's the handkerchief from Mozhu in Consort Fu's courtyard! It must have been her!"

Min Youan recalled the day the Eldest Princess arrived, when Li Fuqi had a falling out with Xia Tongsheng over a hairpin. "I never imagined that she would try to kill the Princess over a hairpin!"

"What does Your Highness intend to do?"

He tucked the handkerchief into his robes. "I will handle this matter personally!"

When news of the burning of the Prince's mansion and the injuries to both the Prince and Princess reached the palace, Min Youan was granted special permission not to attend the morning court session. He took a handkerchief and arrived at Li Fuqi's courtyard early in the morning.

Upon hearing that the prince had arrived, Li Fuqi was overjoyed and dressed up carefully before coming out to meet Min Youan.

"Cousin! Why are you here so early?"