C16

Chapter 16 - Sweating

The guards waiting outside the Qianle Palace immediately ran into the palace. "Prince Regent!"

"Look under the bed, what is it?"

"Yes sir!" The guard did not dare delay any longer. Using the weak light of the candle, he groped in the darkness. Not long later, he took out the jar containing the cricket from under the bed.

Seeing that, Gong Shengrui's eyelids squinted dangerously; there was no need to guess to know that they were intentionally stuffed under the bed.

"In the daytime, who has come?"

"This …" The guard frowned and thought for a moment. Then, he remembered the person who appeared in Qianle Palace not long after the shift change, "... At noon, Emperor came over! "

"How long have you been here?"

"Around half an hour!"

"Have you noticed if she has the bottle in her hand?"

The guard's expression changed, and he knelt on the ground with a 'bang'. "This subordinate deserves to die, I did not notice whether or not Emperor was holding a bottle!"

A hint of displeasure flashed past Gong Shengrui's eyes, but he did not make things difficult for him in the end. "Pass down the order, from today onwards, Emperor will be coming to the Qianle Palace, always pay attention to whether she has any strange things in her hands. Once discovered, immediately report it to I!"

"Yes sir!"

Gong Shengrui raised his hand, and rubbed his temples, which were faintly aching, "If Emperor comes back tomorrow, let her go to the imperial study and wait for I!"

"Yes sir!" The guard replied and gathered up his courage to ask: "Prince Regent! Then the cricket? "

"Take it out first!"

"Yes sir!"

— —

Duanmu Yan peeked her head out of the imperial study. After confirming that Gong Shengrui was not in, he bravely entered the study.

His pair of large eyes were darting around randomly, as if he was looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" A deep and seductive voice abruptly sounded from behind her.

"cricket!"

Gong Shengrui laughed coldly: "You're quite bold, you still dare to come looking for cricket!"

"Eh ~" Duanmu Yan suddenly realised that the voice sounded familiar, she slowly turned her body, and when she saw the person in front of him, she immediately swallowed her saliva in fear: "When, when did you come?"

"When you came in!"

"…" Duanmu Yan.

Gong Shengrui brushed past Duanmu Yan and sat in front of the desk: "Where did the cricket come from?"

"It's a gift!" Duanmu Yan lowered her head and pulled at her nails with a conflicted expression. It seemed that she should not have hidden the cricket under his bed yesterday. "I am wrong!"

Gong Shengrui raised his eyebrows. He did not realize that he would still take the initiative to admit his mistake.

"What's wrong?"

"You shouldn't have hidden the cricket under your bed!"

"Where else?"

"There's more?" Duanmu Yan blinked her eyes foolishly, she scratched her head: "I should hide under my bed!"

Gong Shengrui just thought that she had understood the situation somewhat, and his heart fell to the bottom of the valley in an instant. As expected, she shouldn't have held any hope for her.

"The two masters that the I invited for you were there to teach you specifically. How are they doing?" Gong Shengrui said with an unfriendly expression.

Duanmu Yan guiltily retreated, subconsciously wanting to escape.

"Do you dare to take a step out of the imperial study? Do you believe that I will keep you locked up for another ten days to half a month?" A naked threat sounded out from behind Duanmu Yan.

Duanmu Yan wanted to cry, but no tears came out. She slowly turned around and looked at Gong Shengrui with resentment.

"Speak!"

"I … I've angered him; I don't want to learn, I don't want to …"

Gong Shengrui slammed his palm on the table heavily, causing a loud 'bang' to sound as the desk cracked.

Duanmu Yan staggered backwards in fear, almost falling to the ground.

"You, you're so mean to me!" Duanmu Yan's eyes were filled with tears as she timidly denounced him.

Gong Shengrui's face turned gloomy as he got up. Like an eagle catching a chick, he carried Duanmu Yan and walked out of the royal study.