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Chapitre 43

"But wife..." It's already dawn!

"I'm so sleepy, Yao-gege! I'll definitely go with you when it's light..."

"No, honey..."

"Let me sleep a little longer, we'll talk about everything when it's light..."

"Wife, it's already dawn!"

Is it dawn? Oh, it's just barely dawn!

"Wait until it's completely light."

"Wife, it's already 1:45 PM!"

Oh, it's only a quarter past noon... Ah, a quarter past noon!

Huo De sprang out of bed and quickly looked up at the hourglass on the wall—two-quarters of a second noon! It really was two-quarters of a second noon!

In the Imperial Garden, Dongfang Lie frowned and asked in a low voice to the eunuch standing beside him, "Why hasn't Prince Yao arrived yet?"

The young eunuch, flustered, hurriedly and humbly replied, "Your Majesty, this servant did not know..."

"Has Prince Yao said he's coming?"

"Upon receiving the news, the Prince was overjoyed and couldn't wait to come... Forgive this servant for daring to guess, but the reason the Prince hasn't arrived yet might be... because of the Princess..."

His expression faltered: "What's wrong, Your Highness?"

The young eunuch blushed slightly on his fair face: "The princess has not yet risen..."

He hasn't gotten up yet?! Lewd! Dongfang Lie's face turned ashen, his hands gripping the purple wooden armrests tightly.

Upon hearing this, a fleeting tenderness crossed Chu Xuyao's cold face. Without a trace of emotion, he crossed his legs, leaned back in the carved wooden chair, and casually glanced at the exotic beasts presented as tribute from the Western Tower Kingdom…

Volume One, Pear Blossom Courtyard, Melting Moon, Chapter Fifty: Two Abnormal Men

"Your Majesty, look! Prince Yao and the others have arrived!"

A surprised scream from the young eunuch caused Chu Xuyao and Dongfang Lie to simultaneously turn their gazes to the two people approaching hand in hand from a distance.

"Wife, look! There it is! Wow-- It's so big! Hey, wife, look, its nose is so long! Ah, it can even roll up wood on the ground! Wife, it's so amazing..." Pulling the absent-minded Rongyue along, Dongfang Yuanyuan gazed at the strange beast in the Imperial Garden, speechless with astonishment.

With a listless glance at the creature with ears as big as fans and limbs as strong as pillars, which was proudly swinging its trunk while rolling up a long piece of wood, Rongyue shrugged slightly. An elephant was nothing special; in the 21st century, it was an animal she saw all the time.

Excitedly waving his arms and legs, Dongfang Yao didn't even bother to greet Dongfang Lie. He grabbed Rong Yue and walked straight past Dongfang Lie and the others, heading towards where the elephant was.

"Wow—it's so strong..." Dongfang Yao stared wide-eyed at the elephant playing with the wood, unable to close his mouth for a long time.

Seeing the curious and admiring look on Dongfang Yao's face, Rongyue couldn't help but chuckle. What a child's heart!

Unable to resist, Dongfang Yao took a few steps toward the elephant, tiptoeing as he tried to touch its trunk, which he found so magical.

With displeasure, it widened its large, bell-like eyes and shook its head vigorously, trying to shake off Dongfang Yao's touch. But the more it resisted, the more it fueled Dongfang Yao's fighting spirit! With all its might, Dongfang Yao hooked its long trunk upwards, defiantly meeting the elephant's eyes, which were full of warning.

Seeing that Dongfang Yao was going at it, it snorted angrily from its nostrils, loosened the rolled-up wood, and tried to deal with Dongfang Yao.

"Brother Yao!" Seeing the hundreds of pounds of wood crashing straight down from above Dongfang Yao, Dongfang Lie cried out in horror, his blood freezing instantly!

Thud! The heavy piece of wood fell to the ground with a dull thud, kicking up sand and dust, and crushing the small wooden stool on the ground to pieces! Amidst the flying dust, Rong Yue, her face pale, gripped Dongfang Yao's clothes tightly, so tightly that Dongfang Lie, who was far away, could clearly see the bulging veins on the back of her hand.

If she hadn't reacted quickly, grabbing his collar and pulling him away just as the log was about to fall on Dongfang Yao's head, it wouldn't have been just this little wooden stool that had been crushed to pieces...

Taking a deep breath, still shaken, Rongyue couldn't help but yell at him, "Are you stupid?! Didn't you know to dodge when the log fell?! Or do you just not want to live?!"

Staring blankly at the furious Rongyue, Dongfang Yao murmured softly, "Wife, you're scolding me..."

"So what if I scolded you! You're lucky I didn't hit you! I was saying you..." Rongyue suddenly fell silent, looking at the swaying Dongfang Yao, her anger instantly turning into worry: "Brother Yao, what's wrong? Did you get scraped? Brother Yao, don't scare me, are you hurt somewhere..."

Slowly shifting his gaze inch by inch towards Rongyue, Dongfang Yao's expression was blank, his eyes empty: "Wife...you called me an idiot...wife, do you despise me now, do you not want me anymore..."

"Liu Rongyue!" Dongfang Lie shoved Rongyue away violently, supporting the trembling Dongfang Yao, and glared angrily at Rongyue: "You are too presumptuous! Who gave you the audacity to insult my imperial brother! In my opinion, you are the one who doesn't want to live!"

Dongfang Lie's fierce force caused Rongyue to stagger back several steps until a pair of iron hands behind her supported her slender waist, which helped her regain her balance.

"Thank you." Rong Yue gave Chu Xuyao behind her a perfunctory thank you, then exhaled a breath of stale air. She was about to step forward to explain to Dongfang Yao when she suddenly felt the iron hand on her waist shrink back in an ambiguous way.

Frowning impatiently, Rongyue looked up at Chu Xuyao and nodded slightly, repeating in a somewhat distant and cold tone, "Thank you." The meaning was clear: he should let go.

Chu Xuyao's body stiffened abruptly, his iron hand retracting again as he angrily stared into Rongyue's cold and aloof almond-shaped eyes. Liu Rongyue! Why the hell did she look at him with such unfamiliar and indifferent eyes! Had she already forgotten everything she said last night after only one night?!

Completely bewildered by Chu Xuyao's raging fury, Rongyue muttered to herself, "He's crazy!" and, with a stern face, growled at him in a low voice, "What are you doing? Let go!"

"Let go of my wife!" Enraged, Dongfang Yao lunged forward, forcefully pulling Rongyue closer, his face filled with suspicion as he stared at Chu Xuyao, whose hands were frozen in mid-air. This Chu guy always seemed to be trying to steal his wife! His wife was his; he wouldn't let anyone take her away!

He slowly pulled his hands back from hanging in the air, hiding them behind his back, and clenched them into two angry iron fists! Pretending to be nonchalant, he glanced at Rongyue lying in Dongfang Yao's arms, and Chu Xuyao revealed a chilling sneer filled with jealousy and resentment.

Completely oblivious to Chu Xuyao's intense emotional shift, Rongyue hurriedly looked up at Dongfang Yao, who was protectively watching over his calf, and explained, "Brother Yao, I didn't mean to say that to you. I was just anxious and worried about you, so I spoke without thinking..."

Withdrawing her wary gaze from Chu Xuyao, Dongfang Yao's expression quickly turned aggrieved and resentful: "But you clearly called me stupid!"

A fool is sensitive about being called a fool, just as a lame person is sensitive about being called lame. Knowing she had touched a nerve, Rongyue was worried about how to comfort him, but just then, an elephant with its trunk raised entered her field of vision!

Rongyue had a flash of inspiration—she'd got it!

"Brother Yao, can I show you something funny?"

"Fun?" Upon hearing these two words, Dongfang Yao's pupils began to light up.