Beauty Snatched

When the singing ended and the dance music died away, the songstresses withdrew. Xia Zimo, dressed in ordinary clothes, stood in the middle of the hall, as lovely as a scene in autumn.

For a long while, the hall was silent. Before that breathtakingly beautiful sight, even breathing too heavily seemed like an affront.

The red-robed eunuch, whose lack of desire made him fearless, was the first to come to his senses. He gave a low cough and cried in his shrill voice, "The dance presented by the Heavenly Buddha Kingdom was peerless. By His Majesty's decree, reward them!"

The word "Reward!" rippled through the hall in wave after wave. Those waves seemed to carry a potent restorative, and the deathly silence was instantly stirred to life.

The Son of Heaven of Great Yue was beaming, his earlier despondency swept away. His throat bobbed as he stared in a daze. Only after a long moment did he force himself to resist the urge to step forward, take the jade beauty by the hand, and lead her back to the throne.

The moment the Son of Heaven of Great Yue had settled onto his throne, the birthday celebrations were interrupted once more. Someone spoke up: "I beg Your Majesty to hear me. There are no female attendants in Cheng Hall. This woman's beauty is peerless, and her dancing is captivating; she suits my tastes perfectly. I beg Your Majesty to grant her to me."

The speaker was Ji Lie.

As a cultivator, he had never been moved by beauty—until he saw Xia Zimo's image in the Imprint Pearl. One glance, and a hundred years seemed to pass.

Now, seeing her in person, he felt as though his very soul had become trapped in that brilliant, graceful figure.

He also knew his