"I've had enough!"
Jiankang, the capital of the Chen Kingdom.
Beside Qingxi Creek.
Outside a residence, a crowd of guards had gathered.
At their head stood a young man. He muttered, "I think of Lihua day and night. Whatever she asks for, I grant her. Rouge and powder, fine clothes and spirited horses, silks and satins—even this grand estate. All I want is to be close to her and see her every day. But now I can only see her once every few days, and she makes excuse after excuse. I've had enough!"
His voice brimmed with anxiety and pain, yet his eyes held a look of rapture.
"Your Highness!" A burly guard beside him spoke at once. "There are plenty of rumors concerning that daughter of the Zhang Household. You should hear more of them. Don't act rashly!"
The young man's expression darkened further.
Just then, a clean-shaven man with a pale face, standing behind them, said, "My lord is the Heir Apparent. The entire realm will be his. Even if he cannot marry her openly, surely he can bring her here and keep her?"
The young man nodded, then worried aloud, "But what if she refuses..."
The pale-faced man smiled. "If my lord makes up his mind, is she some divine maiden or immortal who can slip through his fingers?"
The guard frowned. "If His Majesty finds out..."
The pale-faced man cut him off. "Even Your Majesty cannot keep holding my lord back every time, can he? When my lord took a liking to the Shen Clan's daughter, Your Majesty refused him on account of some distant Imperial Clan member nobody knew what to make of. Now my lord has finally found someone dear to his heart again. She is only a daughter of the Military School. Whatever