"Ling'er, if you need anything, just call out. Your brother is outside."
After he finished speaking, he left under the moonlight. In the open space in front of Xiangwu Courtyard, Shimei, Shilan and the others quietly retreated. In the spacious courtyard, only Ye Lingfeng and Hailing remained, gazing at each other.
Anger slowly crept onto Ye Lingfeng's exquisite face. His eyes shifted from Hai Ling's face to her chest, and then his cold, alluring voice rang out: "Throw that little beast away."
A little yellow lion dared to occupy Ling'er's arms, which made him very uncomfortable. If it weren't for the fact that the little lion was in Ling'er's arms, he would have slapped it away long ago.
Ignoring Ye Lingfeng's anger, Hai Ling calmly replied, "It's so late at night, why does the Emperor insist on speaking to me? Is it just for this?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she didn't listen to Ye Lingfeng's words and throw away the little yellow lion in her arms. Instead, she reached out and gently stroked the little lion Qiuqiu's head. Qiuqiu saw that the man was very nervous, and she just wanted to make it relax a little. It was a lion, and there was no reason for it to be so afraid of a person.
Unfortunately, her attempts to soothe it were completely ineffective. The little lion's legs went weak from being frightened by Ye Lingfeng's increasingly sinister gaze. The man's eyes were too terrifying; it was scared.
Seeing that Hai Ling ignored his words, Ye Lingfeng suddenly lunged forward, reaching out to grab the little lion ball and throw it away.
Unfortunately, Hai Ling had already summoned her Fire Cloud Boots. Seeing him flash over as fast as a shooting star, she dodged and moved aside, causing Ye Lingfeng's hand to miss its target. The two were only a meter apart.
Ye Lingfeng's deep eyes were blazing with fury, crackling and burning.
"You're actually protecting it."
Hai Ling raised an eyebrow. This was her little pet, so naturally she would protect it. Besides, the little lion was terrified by him. Was it really necessary for him to be so angry about such a small pet? However, seeing the little lion's fear, Hai Ling couldn't bear it. She silently recited a prayer and then opened the Seven Star Glazed Bracelet, putting the little lion inside.
It all happened in the blink of an eye; the little lion vanished into thin air.
Ye Lingfeng narrowed his eyes, his dark pupils slightly narrowed, a dangerous and sharp light flashing as he stared intently at Hai Ling's bracelet. Earlier, he had noticed a pearl on her arm that was more dazzling than the other pearls, and the little lion had disappeared. Could it be that the little lion, as well as the Cold Demon Palace's Thousand-Day Red Poison that she had previously possessed, were all due to this bracelet?
This bracelet is truly magical. Ye Lingfeng looked at the bracelet and for some reason felt a sense of familiarity with it. Then it dawned on him that he often saw Ling'er wearing it on her wrist, so how could he not be familiar with it?
Hai Ling put away the little lion and looked up to see Ye Lingfeng staring at the Seven Star Glazed Bracelet on her hand. She understood that this man probably already knew that her Seven Star Glazed Bracelet had a unique ability. She didn't want to hide it from him, but right now she was concerned about something else.
"Ye Lingfeng, please retract the list of candidates who will allow me to enter the palace for the imperial concubine selection."
In the darkness, her words were cold and chilling, her pretty face serious, without a trace of pretense or any other expression.
Ye Lingfeng's once radiant face suddenly darkened, his eyes blazing with fury. He moved swiftly toward Hai Ling, who naturally wouldn't let him have his way and tried her best to avoid him. Unfortunately, the power of the Fire Cloud Boots was no match for her superb lightness skill, and she was eventually caught by Ye Lingfeng. Ye Lingfeng held her hand tightly, his magnetic, deep voice ringing out.
"Why are you unwilling to enter the palace? You used to like me, but why have you become so resistant to me since returning from the Great Zhou?"
Ye Lingfeng never used the title "I" in front of Hai Ling. In her presence, he was simply a man who loved her. Although he was surrounded by glory and power, so what? Now he was just a man who loved Ling'er, and he would never let her go.
Hai Ling didn't speak. Was she going to say that she hated the royal family, hated their scheming and plotting, and that she just wanted to live a simple life?
If Ling Feng were the Demon Lord of the Cold Demon Palace tonight, even if the world said he was evil, cold-blooded, and ruthless, she would still be willing to give him a chance.
But he was not; he was the ruler of a country, the new emperor of Northern Lu.
Besides, he had helped her a lot and given her a lot of warmth. If he needed her help in the future, she would naturally help him, but that did not include marrying into the palace as a concubine.
"I don't want to marry into the palace."
Hai Ling didn't want to talk to this man about being together for life, because such a thought would probably be a joke to an emperor.
"That's not up to you."
Ye Lingfeng was clearly angry, and not just a little angry, but extremely angry. In the darkness, he was surrounded by the aura of a cold pool, his dark, jade-like pupils were cold and sharp, and his sexy, handsome lips were tightly pursed as he stared at Hai Ling without saying a word.
He ascended the throne in the shortest time possible, hoping that she could be at peace when she came to Beilu. Who knew that once she arrived, she would treat him like a stranger? How could he bear this? At this moment, he couldn't help but miss the chubby, happy little girl from before. When she saw his beautiful face, she would even drool and take advantage of him. But those were the things he loved. The little girl in front of him was too aloof. He didn't like her.
However, he knew why she was like this: firstly, because her mother had passed away, and secondly, because she had been hurt by the royal family.
Thinking of the latter possibility, a glint suddenly appeared in Ye Lingfeng's eyes. Could it be that she disliked him not because of who he was, but because he was a member of the royal family?
"Is it because I am the emperor?"
Ye Lingfeng spoke, his exquisite face radiating a magnificent aura, like a dragon soaring and a phoenix dancing, its brilliance boundless.
His long, slender hand relaxed involuntarily. When he looked at Hailin, his pupils were now shimmering with a deep, captivating light, a far cry from his previous coldness. His deep, magnetic voice rang out.
"Ling'er, I will never betray you. Whether it is the emperor, the left prime minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Xi Lingfeng, or the demon lord of the Cold Demon Palace, none of them will betray you."
Looking at him, with his captivatingly beautiful face, radiant as jade, and deep, warm eyes, and a faint smile on his lips, she seemed to see everything from the Great Zhou Dynasty. His actions had saved her from danger time and time again. Could such a person truly be the one she would cherish for the rest of her life?
Hailin's pretty face was slowly enveloped in a halo of light, her eyes sparkling.
Their eyes met; the night was silent, yet filled with tenderness.
Suddenly, a sound rang out, and Hai Lingyou snapped out of her daze, pulling her hand away from Ye Lingfeng's grasp. She then looked towards the person who had appeared in the night.
It turned out to be Ye Lingfeng's subordinate, Shizhu. Upon realizing that he had disturbed his master and Hailing's time together, Shizhu felt annoyed and lowered his head to look at the ground, not daring to look at his master. Even though he was several feet away, he could feel his master's annoyance.
Ye Lingfeng's face was cold and his tone was gloomy as he asked, "What's wrong?"
"Your Majesty, the envoy from Shaoyi Kingdom has been housed in the post station. Tonight, when I escorted Emperor Jing of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the post station, I was surprised to discover that the envoy from Shaoyi was none other than General Bai, formerly of the Great Zhou Dynasty."
"Hakuno? Makino?"
Ye Lingfeng read out the two names and understood. It turned out that Mu Ye, like him, was a prince who had gone missing. His last disappearance was when he led the Bai family army back to Shaoyi to reclaim the city that had been taken by Nanling.
"Feng Zixiao saw him."
"I have seen them, which is why I was worried they might clash. Currently, the rulers of Shaoyi and the Great Zhou Dynasty are residing in our Northern Lu's post station. If something happens to them, Northern Lu will be in trouble."
Although Shi Zhu was just a subordinate, his mind was no less than that of a strategist.
Ye Lingfeng's face was as calm as he slowly spoke: "Immediately issue an edict to General Ji Cong, ordering him to lead five thousand soldiers and distribute them throughout the post station. They must be extremely careful and not allow anyone to harm the envoys from the three kingdoms."
"Yes, I will do it immediately."