Upon hearing this system prompt, Su Qingwen's face turned ashen.
"Fine, our friendship is over," she said expressionlessly.
[System: Oh, don't say that. It's a hidden achievement after all, which shows you're gifted!]
It hardly sounded like a compliment. Su Qingwen shed silent, teary noodles.
However, after catching his breath, Hua Yueye really surprised Su Qingwen. Maybe the cake was so moving and so toxic that it addled his brain. Hua Yueye took out his waist token and handed it to Su Qingwen.
Su Qingwen stared blankly. What was going on?
Hua Yueye raised an eyebrow. Looking at the dazed woman, he teased, "Take it. You've achieved your goal. Don't go to all that trouble plotting to kill me anymore. Cough... cough..." After saying that, he even convincingly covered his chest and coughed twice, acting as if he were a martial arts master fatally poisoned by red-crowned crane venom in a wuxia novel.
Was Hua Yueye some kind of drama queen? How come she never noticed this hidden trait before? Su Qingwen silently grumbled, but happily took the token, her happiness almost making her tail wag.
"Hehe, with this, I'll be free as a bird. I can go out and have fun at will. The reward for this mission isn't bad after all. Well, I'll grudgingly classify it as a purple-level mission," Su Qingwen silently gave a mental thumbs up.
What surprised Su Qingwen even more was that the next moment, Hua Yueye said to her, "Come on. I'll take you out for some reconnaissance tonight. Otherwise, you'll get lost as soon as you leave the palace gate and might be abducted by human traffickers. Sigh... But you're so clumsy that probably no one would want you as a child bride. Maybe you'll just be sold to a coal mine to dig coal." Someone let out a regretful sigh.
"Humph! Who do you think you're looking down on? I, Su Qingwen, am not as directionally challenged as Shen Lingyun!" She put her hands on her hips and replied pretending to be angry.
In fact, her heart had inexplicably turned into a soft pink mess. Yes, inexplicably. It was as if warm water was gurgling from her heart, caressing every vein and making her feel all warm inside.
"Come on. Go change your clothes first. We're going out to watch the fireworks," the big bad wolf took out a light blue dress and turned his face away.
"Fireworks!!" Su Qingwen jumped up happily. After all, girls were naturally defenseless against such gorgeous and colorful things. Then she suddenly realized, "Oh~ Why do you have a girl's dress here?" She looked at Hua Yueye maliciously. "Could it be..."
Now it was Hua Yueye's turn to blush. He coughed to cover his embarrassment. "It's not specially prepared for you. Don't think too much."
Maybe his cold demeanor was too deeply ingrained in people's minds, so his shyness was perfectly hidden.
After changing her clothes, Su Qingwen suddenly understood. "Oh, so you have a cross-dressing fetish. It's okay. I won't discriminate against you. After all, cross-dressing is a thing with only two states: never and always. After all, little dresses are so cute. Who can resist them?" After saying that, she sympathetically patted Hua Yueye's shoulder.
Hua Yueye pressed the throbbing vein on his forehead and wisely decided not to argue with this woman.
They walked all the way to the palace gate and openly walked out.
The guards watched as Su Qingwen beamed with joy, walking as lightly as a runaway wild horse, while behind her followed His Majesty the Emperor, expressionless and full of helplessness. Their jaws dropped in astonishment.
"My goodness, could it be that last time was for real! The empress went out to buy medicine for His Majesty," a guard said in disbelief.
"Maybe His Majesty's illness is too serious this time. Buying medicine won't work. They have to invite a miracle doctor on the spot," another guard said sympathetically.
The two looked at each other and made up their minds. "Brother, take good care of your health in the future. You should still exercise self-restraint."
"A man should love himself more."
However, Hua Yueye didn't know what happened after that because by then, he had already taken Su Qingwen to the streets outside the palace.
Strings of red lanterns were like candied haws, emitting a soft glow. The steaming mist wafted out wantonly from the street-side steamers, drilling straight into people's nostrils. From time to time, there were bursts of laughter. The bustling street was full of people coming out to watch the fireworks.
When Su Qingwen got there, she was like a mouse in a rice jar. Her hands were too busy, and she even presumptuously commandeered His Majesty the Emperor's precious feet to carry osmanthus cakes, white sugar cakes, sesame crisp biscuits, brown sugar yuanbao pastries...
She stuffed her mouth full of pastry crumbs, her cheeks bulging like a hamster's. Remembering that her "husband" had been acting as a "laborer," her conscience pricked her, and she held a rose milk cake to his mouth. "Hehe, have some. It's so delicious. It's really good." Someone was so occupied by the food from head to toe that she could barely speak clearly.
Hua Yueye, whose hands were commandeered, took the rose milk cake and accidentally brushed his tongue against Su Qingwen's hand.
It felt tingly. Su Qingwen withdrew her hand.
Hua Yueye stared at her quietly. His eyes were like decades-old aged wine, the aroma of which was intoxicating. One look and one would be doomed.
Suddenly, her heart started pounding. Su Qingwen turned her face away.
The system popped up inopportune.
[It's a flutter of the heart. Oh no, I can't avoid your eyes. The inexplicable thumping for you.]
Su Qingwen: How can you play voice...
"Hey, there's chicken soup wonton dumplings over there. I can already smell the aroma. Wait for me here," the reluctant-to-face-reality Miss Su found an excuse to escape.
Although the chicken soup wonton dumplings were really tempting...
Suddenly, the crowded crowd began to move. Everyone craned their necks and stood on tiptoe, pushing and shoving forward noisily.
It turned out that the flower queen was throwing a flower ball up ahead. Under the gorgeous and charming fireworks, the flower queen was dressed in a long gown, as beautiful as a peony. The flower ball she threw was a lucky charm. Those favored by her would become her guests; those not interested would still receive a hundred taels of gold.
More and more people came to watch the show. Hua Yueye was almost pushed away from his spot by the crowd.
However, danger was looming at the end of the prosperity.
A glint of light sliced through the long night and stabbed straight at Hua Yueye.
It was an assassin.
Out of the corner of his eye, Hua Yueye was about to strike back when he remembered his hands full of food. Just then, Su Qingwen shouted noisily, "Catch it quickly! It's so hot! Don't push me... ah..."
Su Qingwen was bringing a bowl of steaming chicken soup wonton dumplings to someone as a takeaway. Unexpectedly, she was pushed, and the chicken soup wonton dumplings instantly "poured out" ...
The soup traced a perfect arc.
"Splash—"
The assassin, with a head full of steaming chicken soup wonton dumplings, held his knife and stood there stiffly.