What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?-Chapter 436 - 432: Blossoms and Full Moon—Empress Extra Story (Part 3)
The scrolls from the wedding...
Where did I put them?
Tang Xiaobai wondered to herself as she searched.
She knew there were some educational books among her dowry, but she was never interested in studying.
After hearing her mother mention them today, she couldn’t resist looking for them when she returned.
But her dowry was too extensive, and she hadn’t paid attention to it initially. Where could she find it all of a sudden?
"What is Your Highness looking for?" Tao Zi couldn’t take it anymore.
Tang Xiaobai thought for a moment: "I don’t know what I’m looking for either—"
Tao Zi: ...
"Maybe it’s a book? Or a painting?" Tang Xiaobai tried to describe it.
"The books and paintings from Your Highness’s dowry aren’t kept here." Tao Zi looked at her with a laugh.
"Then where are they?" Tang Xiaobai asked blankly.
She had left all the matters of her dowry to Tao Zi, she genuinely didn’t know.
"One part is in the East Pavilion, and another is in the back hall of Daji Hall."
The East Pavilion was Tang Xiaobai’s study. She knew what was in her study, and there definitely weren’t any educational books.
Daji Hall, located next to Lizheng Hall, was a vacant palace.
"How did it end up there?" Tang Xiaobai muttered as she stood up.
"Wasn’t it because after His Majesty ascended the throne, he added to the dowry twice, and there wasn’t enough room in the back hall of Lizheng Hall, so I had them clean out the back hall of Daji Hall to store Your Highness’s dowry."
Tang Xiaobai remembered this.
A portion of the Empress’s dowry was prepared by the Ministry of Rites.
After Li Mu ascended the throne, he insisted that the Ministry of Rites supplement her dowry to match the Empress’s standards.
The always affluent Duke Yan Mansion wouldn’t be left behind and also supplemented her dowry to the Empress’s standards.
This often left Tang Xiaobai feeling empty due to her excessive wealth.
"What books or paintings is Your Highness looking for? I’ve got a catalog here!"
Tang Xiaobai shook her head.
Those books definitely weren’t in the catalog, but—
Tang Xiaobai paused.
That did remind her.
They were not formal books or paintings, so they might not have been kept with the usual books and paintings.
"Do you remember some scrolls wrapped in red silk brocade, perhaps with double lotus embroidered on them?" Tang Xiaobai tried to recall.
Tao Zi immediately frowned.
Oh no! Complete blank!
She was in charge of the Empress’s dowry, and when Her Highness asked, she couldn’t answer! Such a disgrace!
"Your Highness, wait! I’ll go look for it!" Tao Zi rolled up her sleeves angrily.
"No need—" a cool voice interrupted Tao Zi’s aggressive momentum.
Outside the door, His Majesty the Emperor stood against the light, his gaze inexplicably deep wearing a dark robe with jade belt.
"I know where it is," he said.
...
When Tang Xiaobai took the brocade pouch embroidered with double lotus, her hand trembled slightly.
"You haven’t peeked, have you?" she asked hopefully.
Li Mu didn’t speak, but his reddening ear tips gave the answer.
Tang Xiaobai’s face also reddened, holding the pile of educational books tightly: "How did you know it was here?"
The items were in her study, yet she had no idea?
"I put them there."
"You snuck them?" Tang Xiaobai glared and asked.
"No," Li Mu quickly denied, "You originally left them in the bedchamber, and I felt it was inappropriate, so I brought them to your study."
Tang Xiaobai was silent for a moment and asked, "Did you really look at them?"
The young Emperor’s face reddened slightly: "Just a glimpse."
Tang Xiaobai was puzzled.
If he had looked at them, why did he say they weren’t suitable for the bedchamber and more suited for the study?
Did she guess wrong about the contents of what she held?
She hesitated, looked down, and considered, then opened the brocade pouch.
Inside the pouch were scrolls, and as Tang Xiaobai pulled out a scroll, the Emperor beside her coughed: "Ah Jiao, are you... looking now?"
Tang Xiaobai immediately rolled back the partially opened scroll and glared at him: "Did you put this in the study for me to look at during the day?"
Indeed, it was what she had been searching for.
Did this belong in the study?!
Li Mu coughed again, staring at the scroll in her hand: "Why did you suddenly think of looking for it?"
Tang Xiaobai stiffened.
Well... she was the kind of person who searched all over during the day for some naughty pictures to enjoy...
Escaping wouldn’t clear the air now. Tang Xiaobai coughed loudly, justifying, "I... I just wanted to observe!"
Silence.
Tang Xiaobai blinked and asked, "Shall we... observe together?"
Li Mu’s face turned deep red: "No, no need! I’ve seen it all!"
"To review and gain new insights—"
"I still have some memorials to read..."
As expected, the Emperor fled in panic, and just as Tang Xiaobai was about to laugh, she felt a bit troubled.
They had agreed before that since she was still young, they wouldn’t consummate the marriage yet.
Li Mu had always been disciplined and kept his promise, waiting for her to grow up.
So, the question now was, how should she tell him that she’s already grown up?
Tang Xiaobai pondered over her books...
...
In the fourth year of the Zhengyuan era, on the fifteenth day of the first month, during the Lantern Festival.
Emperor and Empress holding hands, at the Palace Gate, comforting the people.
Music filled the night, the trees adorned with a thousand lights.
The moment they ascended to the highest point of the gate tower, the night became a curtain, fireworks exploding across the sky.
Tang Xiaobai found herself a little distracted.
Though her eighteenth birthday was grand and magnificent, in reality, every year, her birthday was celebrated with such grandeur.
One reason was it coincided with the Lantern Festival, and another was because she was the Empress.
This year seemed no different from the others.
"Don’t you like it?" His Majesty the Emperor asked softly beside her.
"I do!" Tang Xiaobai turned her face, giving him a bright smile.
Under the glow of lamps and moonlight, his dark eyes looked calmly and attentively at her, and something he saw caused his brow to furrow slightly. He suddenly tightened his grip on her hand: "Are you tired?"
"No!" Tang Xiaobai laughed, shaking her head, "It’s just getting started!"
Li Mu responded with a hum, under the cover of his wide sleeve, quietly hooking her little finger, yet his expression remained calm: "But I’m tired."
What?
Tang Xiaobai glanced at him.
His gaze flickered: "It’s alright, it’s over here."
Tang Xiaobai blinked, her heart pounding uncontrollably.
Over here? Then...
Without letting her thoughts run wild, he led her down the tall structure.
Li Mu walked ahead, his tall figure donned in the grand and flowing imperial robes appeared both regal and uniquely dashing.
The golden dragon patterns on the hem danced boldly as he walked, reflecting the lantern lights and appearing particularly dazzling.
Tang Xiaobai felt inexplicably restless, using her other hand to grasp the corner of his swaying sleeve.
He paused and turned back, the interplay of light and shadow accentuating the dark mole at the corner of his eye, casting an aura both suggestive and vibrant.
Tang Xiaobai’s heart trembled, clutching his sleeve, she softly asked, "Where are we going?"
As she spoke, twinkling stars seemed to flicker in her almond-shaped eyes, making her look both excited and nervous.
Li Mu clenched his jaw slightly, raising his hand, his fingertips brushed lightly yet swiftly past her temples, his voice carried by the night wind, slightly dry—
"To elope."
