This absolutely could not be done!
After the Crown Prince left, Sun Shaozong paced anxiously beneath the corridors of West Garden. If he had not feared that leaving without a word would cause unnecessary trouble, he would have fled long ago.
What kind of person was the Crown Princess?
She was one of the most exalted women beneath heaven. Even if she never became the mother of the realm, she was hardly someone outsiders could casually covet.
Besides, if only heaven and earth knew of it, that would be one thing. But right under the Crown Prince's nose, openly, in broad daylight...
Leaving everything else aside, if he truly complied with the Crown Prince's wishes, then he would be caught by the throat afterward—well, nine inches might have been a more fitting measure. In any case, once that happened, he would be tied to the Crown Prince for good, with no room left to turn back.
That did not suit the Sun family's original intention of keeping on good terms with all sides.
Refuse!
He had to refuse!
Sun Shaozong ruthlessly crushed the faint impulse that had just arisen within him, then revised his mental draft of a tactful refusal more than a dozen times before he finally saw two figures approaching, one before the other.
The one in front was naturally the Crown Prince.
As for the one behind him...
Dressed in red and white, she cradled a full moon against her chest; flowing sleeves like drifting clouds bound two pale lotus roots. A touch of vermilion graced her lips, her waist could be encircled in one hand, and her hips surpassed peach rings. Even her legs, stepping in thick-soled embroidered shoes, swayed with alluring outlines as she walked.
Had he not already known, Sun Shaozong might not have