Empress, please have some self-respect. I am not your husband.

Her peach blossom eyes held so many emotions, so intense that it was hard for Lu Feng not to notice them.

When he saw that alluring face, even he was somewhat surprised; he never imagined he would run into this woman again.

Seeing the glistening tears in her eyes, Lu Feng gently winked at her.

Chu Hongyan immediately understood what that meant.

She had followed him across six hundred miles, and their time together had never been just a day.

After tilting his head slightly and looking back, there was no sign of anything unusual.

"You still understand me so well."

Lu Feng smiled inwardly, and couldn't help but recall the time two years ago when he rode his horse with a beauty through the battlefield.

But he quickly came to his senses, because Qin Xinyi's gaze was practically spitting fire.

The rest of the people were also full of hostility.

He coughed and said, "I'm sorry, I've been really busy with official duties."

Qin Xinyi said coldly, "You are merely a fourth-rank junior tutor. His Majesty has no children to teach. What official duties require your attention?"

If it were anyone else who sabotaged him like that, Lu Feng would have slapped them across the face long ago.

Ironically, she's the one who saved my life. And to reiterate, this girl isn't as cute as she was when she was little.

He said helplessly, "It's all because of what happened last night. His Majesty pulled me aside to talk in the Imperial Study, and that's how I got delayed."

Upon hearing that he was able to discuss matters with His Majesty in the Imperial Study, the other three, apart from Xu Zilong, exchanged glances, and the hostility in their eyes vanished.

"That's your own fault."

Qin Xinyi rebuked, "For a bunch of brothel prostitutes, you're going to go head-to-head with two high-ranking officials? What do you think your future is?"

"Prostitutes in brothels are human beings too," Lu Feng said casually.

This nonchalant attitude only fueled Qin Xinyi's anger. Just as she was about to say something more, Chu Hongyan's voice rang out: "Alright, Xinyi, it's a good thing that he's here. Lu Feng, right? He's quite handsome."

Lu Feng was both amused and exasperated. Back then, this guy had boldly removed his mask and said the same thing. He had responded with the same words from back then: "Miss is as beautiful as a fairy descended to earth."

"Lu Feng, stop talking nonsense," Qin Xinyi scolded.

Little did she know that her dear sister was feeling as sweet as if she had eaten honey.

He still remembers!

Hearing Qin Xinyi's reprimand, Chu Hongyan frowned slightly: "Alright, Xinyi, stop talking. Lu Feng, come and sit down."

She deliberately got up and sat down next to Qin Xinyi, leaving the seat next to her for Lu Feng, a gesture that made Xu Zilong across from her feel quite pleased.

Sister Hongyan is a kind and honest person.

Seeing that her good sister seemed to be supporting Lu Feng, Qin Xinyi was a little puzzled, but in the end she still went along with it.

Lu Feng's arrival indicated that the banquet could begin.

Qin Xinyi instructed the staff at Ningxianglou to begin serving the dishes.

Despite being very unhappy with Lu Feng's lateness.

She patiently introduced, "Lu Feng, this is my good friend whom I regard as an elder sister, Chu Hongyan. She is the daughter of King Chu Fangming of Zhen, and was personally bestowed the title of Princess Hongyan by the late emperor."

Lu Feng was stunned. Looking at Chu Hongyan's alluring face, he felt a mix of emotions.

Two stunning beauties in the capital.

Qin Xinyi is the ice queen that countless people dream of.

Chu Hongyan was renowned for her beauty, and was the subject of countless jokes and ridicule.

He's been in the capital for a while now, how could he not have heard of him?

He never expected that the "loose woman" those people were talking about would be the woman he had saved years ago.

Thinking of this, Lu Feng couldn't help but feel annoyed. He was the one who rescued Chu Hongyan with his own hands back then. How could he not know whether she had been abused as rumored?

The reason he personally went to the rescue was because the Chiyan Army's scouts had noticed Chu Hongyan's grain transport convoy long ago.

They knew that the other party was taking a huge risk to deliver military supplies to the soldiers at the front.

Therefore, upon learning of the accident involving Chu Hongyan's convoy, he immediately changed his route to go and rescue her.

How could you possibly ridicule and slander a woman who risked her life to deliver supplies to soldiers on the front lines?

His brows were so furrowed that he didn't pay attention to what Qin Xinyi said next.

It wasn't until his hand was grasped that he realized what was happening. He looked at Chu Hongyan, who still had that captivating and alluring smile, but it conveyed to him that she was alright.

Qin Xinyi's voice continued the introductions: "Xu Zilong, son of the Imperial Guard Commander, already holds official rank and is this year's newly appointed Jinshi. Zhang Hanliang, son of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Lu Wenqian..."

After introducing the last person, Qin Xinyi paused and said, "Everyone, this is Lu Feng, the man who relieved the Western Chu from the crisis for our Qian Kingdom. He is now the Junior Chamberlain of the Qian Kingdom's Chamberlain."

If a goddess introduces someone to you, then even if you don't like them, you still have to put on a show.

Xu Zilong smiled gently: "Lu Feng, I've heard so much about you."

Lu Feng nodded; he wasn't in a good mood at the moment.

This displeased Xu Zilong. Qin Xinyi spoke again: "Lu Feng, these people and Hongyan are my friends in the capital. Getting to know each other today might be helpful to you in the future."

"I understand." Lu Feng forced a smile.

During this introduction, the waiter from Ningxianglou had already finished serving the dishes, closed the door to the private room, and left.

It's clear that Qin Xinyi wanted to introduce herself to her network, so she tried to find topics to talk about, but she's really not good at warming up the atmosphere.

Xu Zilong responded to every word and tried his best to cooperate.

As for Lu Feng, let's just forget about him.

Right now, he was thinking about how to stop the vixen beside him from bothering him.

The little hand that had been holding hers was now either drawing circles in his palm or occasionally pinching the back of his hand, as if to confirm whether he was really still alive.

Suddenly, Lu Feng opened his eyes slightly and turned his head to look helplessly at Chu Hongyan.

The woman blinked, a look of anticipation in her eyes.

Under the table.

Chu Hongyan's long, shapely legs were currently draped over Lu Feng's right leg, and she gestured for Lu Feng to touch them and see how they looked compared to two years ago.

Listening to the voices of others, especially her best friend Qin Xinyi.

Chu Hongyan raised her eyelids, and after a somewhat quiet evening, she spoke: "Xinyi."

"What's wrong, Sister Hongyan?" Qin Xinyi looked over.

Chu Hongyan smiled and said, "How about I ask you for a favor?"

Qin Xinyi chuckled softly, "Sister Hongyan, what's the point of saying that? Why did we need to ask for anything before?"

"There's no other way, we have to ask for help," Chu Hongyan said seriously.

Seeing how serious she was, Qin Xinyi could only agree, "Go ahead."

But to everyone's surprise, Chu Hongyan's first words stunned them.

"Since you didn't like Lu Feng before, why don't you give him to me if you don't want him?"