The other man looked just as shocked, at a loss over what to do with his hands, which had been neatly folded in front of him around a handkerchief.
At the center of the lakeside pavilion, the Eldest Princess noticed that Liang Chen still had not spoken.
He turned around in confusion.
His eyes met Yin Chao's searching gaze.
For a fleeting instant, Midnight looked utterly lost.
He looked like a husband who had secretly tried on women's clothes while his wife was out, only to be caught when she came home unexpectedly.
Midnight stood and hurried toward Yin Chao.
The slight disorder in his steps betrayed his urgency.
The palace attendants watched the scene unfold in astonishment.
The Eldest Princess, who was rumored to have no interest in anything and to be aloof and disdainful of everyone, had actually lost his composure and was approaching a breathtakingly handsome young gentleman.
Then... he gazed at the young gentleman with tender affection.
In a voice so gentle it could melt hearts, he murmured, "I finally found you."
Eunuch Wang, the oldest attendant and the one who had served the Eldest Princess the longest, stood frozen with his eyes wide.
It took a young maid beside him to prompt him.
"Eunuch Wang, should we report this to the Emperor? Eunuch Wang?"
Eunuch Wang came to his senses, gave a startled response, and rushed out of the courtyard.
From behind, he looked like a goose charging into battle.
The maid wanted to laugh, but everyone around her answered to Eunuch Wang, so she forced it down.
In no time, word had spread both inside and outside the palace walls that the Eldest Princess had fallen for a young gentleman of "peerless beauty."
Yin Chao had yet to leave the courtyard, and he deliberately