Xiao Mo truly hadn't expected it.
The daughter of the Yan Clan he had married would turn out to be the young woman he had met several times before.
But thinking about it carefully, Xiao Mo felt he should have realized it the first time he saw her in the palace.
At the time, Empress Dowager Yan was the only one in the imperial harem. Any woman who could enter the harem was naturally a relative or friend of the Empress Dowager.
Besides, it had only been a few days since he had become engaged to a woman from the Yan Family.
So it was only natural that Yan Ruxue had entered the palace to visit Empress Dowager Yan.
"Indeed, it's been a long time since I last saw you, miss." Xiao Mo set down the jade scale and sat beside Yan Ruxue. "It seems you and I are truly fated to meet, miss."
Yan Ruxue smiled softly. Beneath her long lashes, her beautiful eyes shimmered gently, like a butterfly fluttering its wings.
"Could it be that Your Majesty doesn't think that my visit to the palace was deliberate? And that, for the two times we met afterward, the Empress Dowager learned of Your Majesty's whereabouts and deliberately let me know, so I could 'bump into' you and win your favor?"
"There was no need."
Xiao Mo smiled and shook his head as he replied.
"Even if people don't say it openly, most of them know the state I'm in. Even ordinary folk know."
"Your Yan Family probably felt that marrying you to me was a bit of a slight to you. What's more, the Empress Dowager arranged this marriage, and I've already agreed to it. It can't be changed anyway, so why would you need to deliberately win my