Yan Ruyu waved his hand gently, and the letter vanished into thin air.
"Your Majesty, won't you reply to the letter?"
"No need."
As the king of Qingyun Country, Su Mu's desire to bring benefits to the people was, of course, a good thing. However, now that he had just seen Ling'er, he also wanted to be a bit selfish.
Su Mu would surely find a way to handle the affairs of Qingyun Country.
Mu Wan and Ting Bai were also in Qingyun Country, so Yan Ruyu had nothing to worry about.
Today, the emperor's thoughts were a bit unfathomable. Xiaobai thought that perhaps it was because he had seen Ye Ling smiling so happily today that the emperor had been influenced. Although he had felt a bit sad for a moment, before long, he was back to his old self.
Even at night, Yan Ruyu turned to look at Bai Ze beside him.
"Xiaobai, are you bored? How about we go out for a walk?"
Bai Ze opened his sleepy eyes and stood up straight. Looking at the emperor's hand gripping the book with whitened knuckles, he knew that the emperor must have been struggling for an entire afternoon.
Otherwise, look, the emperor hadn't even turned a single page of the book.
Moreover, anyone could tell at a glance that Bai Ze was sound asleep at this moment, yet Yan Ruyu asked if he was bored and if he wanted to go out for a walk.
Xiaobai understood the emperor's heart.
So he said, "Yes, I am quite bored. Please go out for a walk with me, Your Majesty."
Was it really him who was bored? Or was the emperor distracted? It was obvious at a glance.
Xiaobai shrank his body to a tiny size and followed behind the emperor.
Occasionally, he would even jump into the emperor's dimensional pouch and fall asleep.
As Yan Ruyu walked, his steps deviated from the planned route. Bai Ze knew that his master must be heading towards the Xie family again.
Sure enough, within a quarter of an hour, Yan Ruyu's figure appeared downstairs of Zhao Shuning's residence.
At this moment, a half - moon hung in the night sky.
Under the moonlight, the man's spotless face was extremely handsome.
He just stood quietly downstairs, saying nothing and making no move.
He wondered if the person in the window was asleep.
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Yan Ruyu's figure appeared beside Zhao Shuning's bed.
Looking at the little person on the bed so closely, Yan Ruyu felt that his frozen heart seemed to regain some warmth and was slowly starting to beat.
The little girl turned over in her sleep and mumbled, "Brother."
Yan Ruyu slowly lowered the hand that was stretched out in mid - air.
Did Ling'er have a brother? That brother must be kind to her, otherwise, she wouldn't even miss him in her dreams.
A strange feeling welled up in his heart.
The sound of footsteps came from outside. Yan Ruyu smiled and his body slowly became transparent.
What on earth was he doing?
During the day, he had repeatedly told himself to be careful with this feeling, but at night, the longing entangled him like a nightmare.
Yan Ruyu was at the mercy of these emotions and thought that he must see her immediately no matter what.
This inconsistent and childish behavior, was this really him, Yan Ruyu?
Bai Ze poked his head out of the dimensional pouch and felt quite uncomfortable seeing the flash of loss on his master's face.
The emperor clearly wanted to see Ye Ling so much, but why was he just not willing to take that step?
"Your Majesty—"
"Xiaobai, you're sleepy. Go to sleep."
Ignoring Bai Ze's struggle, Yan Ruyu fastened the dimensional pouch and placed it on the bedside.
Then he started to play chess alone again.
For a thousand years, Yan Ruyu had been extremely handsome. During this period, countless women had shown their affection for him. There were beautiful ones, shy ones, and cute ones. Yan Ruyu had seen all kinds of women.
Bai Ze had witnessed the madness of those women. They could even give up their lives for the emperor.
Once you meet Young Master Yan, your whole life will be ruined.
This saying had been passed down for ages.
During those days, the emperor had managed to maintain his composure and not be disturbed by the worldly affairs. Bai Ze had been on guard against everything, but he hadn't guarded against that snowy winter.
He hadn't guarded against that ragged little girl.
The emperor hadn't guarded against the little girl's smile either.
The moment she offered the purple ball to the emperor, it was like a beam of light suddenly shining into Yan Ruyu's heart.
He didn't take it seriously, thinking that a child with a good nature and great talent could be well nurtured and would surely achieve great things in the future.
That was exactly what Yan Ruyu had thought at that time.
But he never expected that the influence of this child would be so powerful.
When he first saw her, she was alone, poorly dressed, but her eyes were extremely determined.
In the midst of the heavy snow, Yan Ruyu and Bai Ze appeared in that white world. She wasn't afraid or evasive. Instead, she walked towards them.
She said she hoped Yan Ruyu would take responsibility for her.
At that time, he had let his guard down, thinking that Ye Ling was just a little girl and not like those seventeen - or eighteen - year - old girls. She shouldn't be related to his millennium - long lonely and inauspicious fate.
But he didn't expect that during the day - to - day interactions, the little girl slowly walked into Yan Ruyu's heart.
Many of the little girl's innocent words always managed to hit Yan Ruyu's heart accurately.
Yan Ruyu had taken Zhao Shuning to Qingyun Peak.
On the peak, she would skip around behind Yan Ruyu, handing him things. At night, she would cry softly, missing her relatives, and hug Yan Ruyu, hoping to get some warmth and comfort.
Slowly, the child grew into a young girl, becoming more and more beautiful.
The look in her eyes when she looked at Yan Ruyu began to contain some unknown feelings.
Ye Ling was different from all the girls before.
Yan Ruyu didn't realize that his heart was sinking bit by bit.
By dawn, Yan Ruyu still hadn't fallen asleep. He looked at the distant stars, as if he was thinking about something.
Or perhaps, he also missed his relatives on the other side a bit.
Alone in a different world, Yan Ruyu had walked for a thousand years.
His father said that this was his fate. Yan Ruyu always believed in what his father and mother said. They were like his most beautiful longing for his future life.
Could he defy his fate?
Could he become the kind of person he had always dreamed of?
Yan Ruyu was melancholy. His long, slender and smooth fingers snapped in the air, and a thick book appeared on the wooden table.
This book recorded all the most important things in his thousand - year life, including governing the country, cultivating, alchemy, and taming beasts.
But today, he seemed a bit distracted.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly crossed out Ye Ling's name in the book and then wrote Zhao Shuning's name.
This was the only person's name that appeared in this book.