"Moonlight Pavilion is here. Madam invited me for tea, didn't she? I've been looking forward to your tea-making, Madam." He looked out the window. Moonlight Pavilion's elegant gates were already in sight.
Tang Yuehua secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but her guard did not lessen in the slightest. The Crown Prince had behaved so strangely today that she felt a pressure unlike anything she had ever experienced.
"Your Highness, please." She rose first and prepared to alight from the carriage with elegant poise, while rapidly calculating how to deal with the Crown Prince, who was clearly "up to no good."
The carriage came to a stop, and the door opened. Ye Yang watched Tang Yuehua alight first, her graceful figure wrapped in court robes. Her waist was slender, her steps composed, yet carried a faint tension that was difficult to detect. The smile at the corner of his mouth deepened.
Tang Yuehua turned aside to show him the way, her posture impeccable. Her skirt brushed across the polished floor without making the slightest sound.
"Your Highness, this way, please." Her voice had regained the composure and clear, lilting quality unique to the mistress of Moonlight Pavilion.
Ye Yang looked around with keen interest, his gaze sweeping over the understated yet priceless furnishings before settling once more on Tang Yuehua's retreating figure.
The court robes outlined her slender waist. She swayed gracefully as she walked, possessing a mature allure that created a curious tension with the air of detachment she deliberately cultivated.
The two passed through a covered walkway and arrived at a quiet room beside the water.
Outside the window lay a charming little courtyard, with a rock garden, flowing water, and several bamboo stalks casting their shade, adding to its tranquil atmosphere.
The room was simply furnished, with a rosewood tea table and two meditation cushions. A set of jade-white bone china teaware had already been laid out on the table. Beside it, the charcoal in a small brazier glowed red, and the water in the silver kettle had begun to whisper like wind through pines.
"Your Highness, please sit." Tang Yuehua knelt on a cushion, her movements as fluid as flowing water, displaying all the grace and bearing of a noble young lady.
Ye Yang sat down as invited. His posture seemed casual, but his gaze remained fixed on Tang Yuehua, openly amused.
"Madam's tea-making skills truly live up to their reputation," Ye Yang said, his low voice breaking the stillness scented with tea.
"Every gesture is a sight to behold. No wonder the noble youths of Heaven Dou City all consider it an honor to receive your instruction."
Tang Yuehua's hand holding the kettle paused almost imperceptibly.
His gaze seemed almost tangible, making her feel like an antique being appraised.
She steadied herself and presented him with a cup of clear, fragrant tea.
"Your Highness flatters me. These are merely rudimentary skills. It is this tea's good fortune to be tasted by Your Highness." She lowered her eyes, avoiding his scorching gaze.
Ye Yang did not immediately take the cup. He leaned forward slightly, his gaze passing over the teacup to look straight into Tang Yuehua's eyes, where she struggled to maintain her composure.
"The tea is good, but at this moment, I'm more interested in Madam."
A meaningful smile curled his lips. "Madam said in the carriage just now, 'My heart is in the Pavilion; I dare not entertain thoughts of anywhere else.'"
"But I see a trace of worry gathered between your brows, like a thin veil of smoke. In this quiet place called the Pavilion, is there really something troubling you?"
He reached out a finger. Rather than touching the cup, he lightly brushed the edge of Tang Yuehua's fingertip, which rested on the table as she served the tea!
Tang Yuehua felt as though she had been struck by a faint electric current. Her fingertip jerked back, and she quickly withdrew her hand into her sleeve. Her breathing instantly faltered.
She raised her head. A clear flash of anger finally crossed her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by alarm that she forcibly suppressed.
The Crown Prince's behavior had crossed the line into near-flirtatious impropriety!
"Your Highness!" Her voice carried a faint tremor as she struggled to maintain the last vestiges of her dignity.
"As the mistress of Moonlight Pavilion, all of Yuehua's thoughts naturally concern the Pavilion's affairs and her students' studies. These are trivial matters, not worth mentioning, and I would never presume to trouble Your Highness with them."
She took a deep breath and summoned her unique domain power, one capable of soothing people's hearts—the Noble Circle.
However, the instant her domain power touched the space around Ye Yang—
Buzz!
An indescribable, supreme will surged awake within Ye Yang's soul, like an ancient primordial deity roused from slumber by the disturbance of an ant!
Though it appeared for only an instant, that imperial majesty—towering above all living beings, commanding the five elements and ruling over light—surged back like an invisible tsunami!
"Ugh!" Tang Yuehua groaned, her face turning paper-white.
The blow to her mind made her vision go black.
Crash!
The delicate bone china teacup slipped from her hand and fell onto the hard rosewood table, shattering into pieces!
The clear tea splashed everywhere, soaking the tabletop and Tang Yuehua's moon-white skirt, leaving dark spots across the fabric.
"Oh dear, Madam, how could you be so careless? Let me wipe it for you."
Ye Yang acted as if nothing had happened. He looked at the scene in feigned surprise, took out the brocade cloth he carried with him, and made as though he would step forward.
"No." Tang Yuehua endured her headache and hurriedly stopped him, her voice somewhat rushed. "There's no need for Your Highness to do it yourself. I can take care of it."
As she spoke, Tang Yuehua sprang to her feet as if fleeing and walked toward another room.
Seeing this, Ye Yang slowly sat back down, a playful smile lifting his lips. Tang Yuehua had actually tried to test him.
Ye Yang glanced at the mess on the tea table, then looked away. Before long, Tang Yuehua came back out.
When Tang Yuehua reappeared at the entrance to the quiet room, she had changed into a similarly styled court robe in a more understated shade of pale blue.
She walked to the opposite side of the tea table but did not sit. She merely looked down at Ye Yang, who remained comfortably seated on the cushion.
"Your Highness," Tang Yuehua began. "Yuehua behaved improperly and offended Your Highness's eyes. I am truly mortified."
"But Yuehua is foolish and truly cannot understand. Did Your Highness come to Moonlight Pavilion today to enjoy tea, discuss the Way, and appreciate elegance..."
"Or to take the opportunity to insult Yuehua?"
Clearly, Tang Yuehua could no longer bear it. Otherwise, she would never have said such a thing.
Yet Ye Yang paid it no mind. He shifted into a different position and looked Tang Yuehua up and down, speaking with a smile. "Madam has misunderstood me."
"Wasn't Madam the one who invited me? I merely saw how beautiful you were and felt moved to cherish you. If you take issue with that, why not teach me how I ought to speak?"
He stood up and gave Tang Yuehua a solemn bow, putting on the whole show, though that chilling smile still lingered in his eyes.
[ Ding! Turning retreat into advance: acting +1, mental power +1 ]
Tang Yuehua felt her blood rush straight to her head, and her vision darkened in waves. Was this Crown Prince not shameless beyond belief? Was this really the benevolent Crown Prince she knew?
How was this a request for instruction? He clearly wanted to forcibly bind her, the mistress of Moonlight Pavilion and eldest daughter of the Clear Sky Sect, to his side, making her a plaything to amuse him in his spare time.
Before you continue