Lady of Peach Blossoms gracefully walked up to Wanyan Dan, lifted her skirt, and curtsied. "Taoyao greets Your Majesty."
"Please, rise!" Wanyan Dan hurriedly reached out to help her up. "Why should there be such distance between us? Back then..."
"The rites between sovereign and subject must not be discarded. Now that Your Majesty has become Emperor, Taoyao naturally cannot be as presumptuous as before." Lady of Peach Blossoms subtly drew back, causing Wanyan Dan's hands to grasp empty air.
Song Qingshu's eyes narrowed. That seemingly casual evasion had actually been an exceptionally sophisticated martial art technique. This Lady of Peach Blossoms was becoming more and more mysterious.
Wanyan Dan sighed. "I still hope you can be as you were back then—laugh when you are pleased, and even curse me outright when you are not..."
Lady of Peach Blossoms smiled faintly and quietly listened to him reminisce without interrupting.
After rambling on for a while, Wanyan Dan saw that she had no intention of responding and found it rather dull. He ended his recollections and asked, "There is a question I have never understood. I never had the chance to ask you before, but today, I want a clear answer."
"What is it that Your Majesty wishes to ask?" Lady of Peach Blossoms replied.
The beauty before him was breathtakingly radiant. Wanyan Dan seemed to return to the days when he had first met her as a youth. "Back then, I was about to ascend the throne. Why did you choose Wanyan Yuan instead?"
Lady of Peach Blossoms lowered her eyes and answered lightly, "I preferred wholehearted love, and I hoped my husband would be wholehearted toward me as well. Your Majesty already has an imperial harem. Why bring up old matters?"
Wanyan Dan hurriedly said, "If I had you,