Qian Renxue, May I Invite You to Dance?

Xue Ke had never seen anyone whose looks suited her tastes so perfectly.

He seemed almost tailor-made for her aesthetic preferences.

For a moment, she was completely mesmerized. She lost her usual noble etiquette and stared at Lin Yu without even blinking.

But Lin Yu acted as though he had only inadvertently noticed Xue Ke's infatuation, maintaining a courteous demeanor as he said, "Dear miss, you've been staring at me for quite some time. That's not very proper."

In the Spiritual Sea of Consciousness, the Snow Empress thought, You've been staring at her even longer.

Xue Ke immediately looked embarrassed, but there was no shyness on her face. Instead, she boldly asked Lin Yu, "Sir, did you come to watch the graduation ceremony today as well?"

It was an obvious question, but Lin Yu could tell that Xue Ke had taken a liking to him and had begun to run out of things to say.

The Snow Empress had also noticed Xue Ke's lovestruck demeanor and was utterly astonished. You really are her type. I can't believe someone in this world could fall for another person at first sight.

As Xue Ke and Lin Yu exchanged words, the closeness Xue Ke displayed toward him continued to leave the Snow Empress stunned.

"If you cuddled up to her right now, she definitely wouldn't refuse." The Snow Empress was absolutely certain of it, because Xue Ke's eyes were already filled with Lin Yu's image alone.

Unfortunately, Lin Yu's intended cuddling partner was not Xue Ke.

This left the Snow Empress deeply disappointed.

Lin Yu had not expected the effect to be so good. His conclusion earlier had merely been theoretical; he had never actually tried it before.

But now that his goal had been achieved, he smiled and said to Xue Ke, "Miss Xue Ke, I'm very happy to have met you today. I wonder if you'd be interested in attending the Moon Xuan Pavilion's formal ball afterward."

The ball at the Moon Xuan Pavilion was held after the graduation ceremony, giving the nobles and students present a chance to get acquainted. It was essentially an exclusive social event for the circles of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Xue Ke assumed that Lin Yu was interested in her and wanted to use this opportunity to develop their relationship. She immediately beamed. "Of course. I'm going later. Will you be there?"

Lin Yu said something astonishing. "We can go together."

Xue Ke had not expected Lin Yu to be so bold. If it had been anyone else, she might have suspected ulterior motives, but Lin Yu's looks perfectly matched her tastes.

Xue Ke immediately replied sweetly, "All right."

The Snow Empress saw that Lin Yu seemed to have completely immersed himself in his closeness with Xue Ke. The two looked like they were deeply enamored with each other, and no matter how she looked at them, something felt off.

She reminded Lin Yu several times that only a few hours remained, but every time she did, Lin Yu would say that there was still plenty of time and tell her not to worry.

The Snow Empress had no choice. The situation had already become impossible to turn back from, so she could only reluctantly trust Lin Yu.

Then the Snow Empress watched as Lin Yu and Xue Ke finished the graduation ceremony together before naturally making their way to the ballroom for the formal dance.

Unfortunately, they were stopped by a Soul King guard at the entrance.

The Soul King guard knew Xue Ke, but he did not know Lin Yu.

The Snow Empress's hopes rose. If Lin Yu could not get in, his connection with Xue Ke would end, and they could go find Qian Renxue.

Unfortunately, Xue Ke's face darkened with anger. "Why are you stopping my friend? Who gave you the nerve?"

The Soul King guard's expression immediately changed. He hurriedly said, "This subordinate apologizes. I didn't know he was your friend." He then let Lin Yu in with his head lowered.

The Snow Empress was dumbfounded.

Lin Yu smiled as he entered the ballroom with Xue Ke.

There were already quite a few nobles socializing in the hall.

The arrival of Xue Ke, the princess, became the focus of attention, attracting many nobles who came forward to exchange pleasantries. Naturally, they also noticed the handsome and charming Lin Yu beside her.

Xue Ke enthusiastically introduced Lin Yu. "He's my friend, and an exceptionally outstanding person."

Although she had only met Lin Yu once and had not even spoken with him for thirty minutes, she spoke as if they had been friends for years.

She was extremely excited and even linked her arm through Lin Yu's. She could not have acted more affectionate.

The Snow Empress was speechless. She kept thinking, If only Qian Renxue acted like this. Why does it have to be Xue Ke?

Seeing that the remaining time was steadily dwindling, she thought, This won't do. I have to show myself and drag Lin Yu away. I can't let him keep neglecting his real business.

The contract of the Starry Express clearly stated that they were companions and had to supervise each other in their daily lives.

With Lin Yu acting like this, the Snow Empress had every right to intervene.

But just as the Snow Empress was about to act, the ballroom reached a small climax.

All the nobles erupted in an uproar because an incomparably handsome prince had entered through the doorway. His smiling face belonged to none other than Xue Qinghe.

More precisely, it was Qian Renxue disguised as Xue Qinghe.

Just as I expected. Seeing this, Lin Yu revealed a knowing smile.

The Snow Empress's outstretched hand paused. She stared at Qian Renxue in astonishment, then turned to Lin Yu. "You already knew that Qian Renxue would come here?"

Lin Yu laughed. "Of course. Otherwise, why do you think I came to the Moon Xuan Pavilion and latched onto Princess Xue Ke? Wasn't it all so I could enter the formal ball smoothly and meet Qian Renxue?"

Only then did the Snow Empress realize that Lin Yu had planned his approach to Xue Ke from the very beginning.

She had no interest in such schemes at all. He had simply treated Xue Ke as an admission ticket to the formal ball.

"When you asked Qian Renxue about the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire in the Star Dou Great Forest, had you already planned all this?"

Lin Yu had previously asked Qian Renxue about the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire in the Star Dou Great Forest. He had also asked about the formal ball at the Moon Xuan Pavilion, though he had asked about many other things as well.

That was why the Snow Empress had not known what Lin Yu was really planning.

Lin Yu said, "That's right. Once I learned that Qian Renxue, at this point in time, was a regular attendee of the Moon Xuan Pavilion's formal ball and usually participated in it after the graduation ceremony to befriend some newly risen nobles and outstanding students, I began thinking."

"I wondered whether this might be a good opportunity to get close to the prince."

"And as it turned out, aside from the dungeon, this formal ball is probably the place where an ordinary person like me would have the best chance of getting close to Qian Renxue over the next twenty-odd years."

"Moreover, this formal ball offers a natural opportunity."

"An opportunity for me to get close to Qian Renxue without her killing me."

As its name suggested, the formal ball involved nobles exchanging pleasantries with one another. Afterward, unmarried men could often invite unmarried women to dance.

The sparks of romance could even be elevated through such a dance.

Xue Ke had assumed that Lin Yu wanted to dance with her at the formal ball and use it to deepen their feelings.

That was why she had taken the initiative to introduce him to the other nobles and acted affectionately toward Lin Yu. She wanted to drive away the other unmarried noblewomen who had taken a liking to his handsome appearance.

And now, as the nobles finished socializing, the formal ball soon officially began.

The young noblemen began inviting the young noblewomen to dance.

But Xue Ke went against the trend.

"Lin Yu, may I invite you to dance?"

This was the first time Princess Xue Ke had taken the initiative to invite a boy. She truly liked Lin Yu far too much.

"No."

Lin Yu's clean, decisive rejection left Princess Xue Ke stunned.

Then, to her even greater astonishment, she saw Lin Yu walk toward Xue Qinghe with a smile and adopt an inviting posture. "Handsome Prince, may I invite you to dance?"