When Gu Qingcheng arrived at the entrance of the Qianlong Hall, Eunuch Fu bowed and said, “Please wait here for a moment, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, while this old servant goes inside to report to His Majesty.”
Gu Qingcheng nodded and said, “Then I will trouble Eunuch Fu.”
Eunuch Fu replied, “I wouldn’t dare.” With that, he went inside.
Just a moment after Eunuch Fu entered, Gu Qingcheng saw someone walking from afar. That person was dressed entirely in red, which was extremely conspicuous on this heavily snowing day. However, because the person was too far away, he could not clearly see their appearance, so he asked a nearby eunuch, “Who is that person?”
Following the direction Gu Yi was looking, that eunuch replied, “Reporting to Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, that person is the Regent.”
“Oh?” A glimmer of light flashed in Gu Qingcheng’s eyes as he said, “At such a great distance, how did you recognize that person as the Regent?”
“Reporting to Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Regent is fond of red clothing, and this is something everyone in the palace knows.”
Gu Qingcheng asked, “Does no one else wear it?” It was unlikely that only he alone wore red in this entire palace.
“Reporting to Your Royal Highness, this servant has only ever seen the Regent wear red in the palace.”
“It’s not that others don’t wear it, it’s that they wouldn’t dare.” Gu Qingcheng was so focused on talking with the eunuch that he completely failed to notice the Regent had already approached him. “Cough, cough, so anyway, I heard that the Regent is breathtakingly beautiful. Is that true?”
This time, the eunuch did not answer Gu Yi’s words, only lowering his head.
Gu Qingcheng asked, “Why aren’t you talking?”
No sooner had he asked this than he felt someone lean close to his ear: “Then… does Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince think this prince is beautiful?”
A pleasant voice burst right beside his ear, and warm breath brushed against his earlobe, causing Gu Qingcheng to blush slightly and instinctively take a step back.
Because of this instinctive reaction, Gu Qingcheng bumped straight back into Xu Yanjin’s arms.
From afar, Xu Yanjin had already spotted this legendary Crown Prince. As he drew closer, he happened to overhear the remark, “I heard that the Regent is breathtakingly beautiful. Is that true?” Finding this little crown prince rather amusing, and considering that he and this little crown prince were betrothed anyway, he was struck with the urge to tease him.
Who would have thought that this Crown Prince would actually blush and back straight into his arms? This reaction was truly… Haha, utterly fascinating.
Gu Qingcheng was also stunned: Damn it, how did I back right into someone’s arms?
Xu Yanjin chuckled and said, “Is Your Royal Highness throwing himself into my arms? In that case, this prince won’t stand on ceremony.” Although he said this, he made no other movements.
Gu Qingcheng finally came to his senses and hurriedly stepped out of Xu Yanjin’s arms. “Cough, cough…” He raised his gaze to look at Xu Yanjin. As he looked, a flash of astonishment crossed his eyes. This person… truly lived up to the four words “breathtakingly beautiful”!
Dressed in red and holding a bamboo umbrella, paired with the swirling snowflakes all over the sky, he didn’t look like someone from the mortal world at all, but rather like an untainted immortal descending from the nine heavens…
“Your Highness?…”
It was only after the eunuch called out twice that Gu Qingcheng snapped back to reality. “Ah?”
Xu Yanjin burst into laughter. “Haha… His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was actually dumbfounded by the sight. In that case, I must genuinely be quite good-looking.”
Gu Qingcheng suddenly and pointlessly blurted out a question: “Will you be my Crown Prince Consort?” Since he looks this good, he ought to belong to me!
Hearing these words, Xu Yanjin froze in place, and even the eunuch at the side was dumbfounded. However, the eunuch quickly recovered his wits and backed away a distance, while even the Emperor, who had reached the doorway, quietly retreated back inside.
After saying those words, even Gu Qingcheng himself was stunned.
Damn it… What did I just say? Since when am I the kind of person to lose my judgment over a pretty face?
After recovering from his shock, Xu Yanjin looked at Gu Qingcheng for a moment. He desperately wanted to say something, but before the words could leave his mouth, he swallowed them back down. For a moment, the surrounding silence was terrifyingly heavy…