This was a gift from the man who loved me most.

It was still dim and gray with dawn when the carriage set out. Because winter mornings came late, the broad street outside the Hui family escort house was not nearly as crowded as it would be by day. Only a few cleaners with lanterns were sweeping the road, and only one girl in simple white women’s clothing stood beneath the escort house’s guiding lamp practicing tai chi.

The cleaners found her strange, wondering whether the girl might be a little unwell in the head. Their gazes kept drifting toward her, and just as they were full of suspicion, a lavish carriage suddenly came racing by. After it passed, the girl was gone. The cleaners shook their heads, certain their eyes had played tricks on them, or that they had seen a ghost.

In truth, the girl had simply leaped into the carriage. She was the heroine, Yue Er.

A few days earlier, Yue Er had agreed with Zhao Chengxian that he would take her into the palace today. After she jumped onto the carriage, she saw Zhao Chengxian with his eyes closed. She shook her head, walked over, patted his shoulder, and laughed softly, “Stop pretending to be asleep. Do you really think I’d fall for that again?”

Last time, she had thought he had not slept all night and was truly dozing off. This time, she would not be fooled.

Zhao Chengxian straightened up and looked at Yue Er with some disappointment. “I thought someone would be just like last time, whispering sweet nothings in my ear. Ah, I miscalculated again!”

He was joking. He simply felt a little low and wanted to close his eyes to steady himself. After all, sending the woman he loved into the palace again and again as a close brother’s prospective concubine was truly testing Zhao Chengxian’s endurance. He had so much reluctance in his heart, but he did not want to say it out loud, because he knew Yue Er felt just as uneasy as he did.

Yue Er shot him a coquettish glare. “What sweet nothings? There weren’t any, were there?”

Her face was as red as a ripe tomato. Though there had been no sweet nothings, there had at least been tenderness in her eyes. If she had known he would tease her about it, she would never have done such a thing in the first place.

Seeing Yue Er’s adorable blush, Zhao Chengxian deliberately leaned closer and closer, then whispered in her ear with a light laugh, “There were no sweet nothings? Want to make it up to me now?”

He had met many women, but none like Hui Yue Er, who possessed both steadfastness and delicate beauty, someone who could be at ease in the working world yet still blush shyly before the one she loved. To think that such a lovely girl actually liked him—just the thought made Zhao Chengxian feel wonderfully happy.

Yue Er smiled. “Forget it. I’m afraid I’ll scare you.”

She really did not know what counted as sweet talk. This was her first romance, after all; how could she compare with Zhao Chengxian’s carefully trained women? Those parents who were sending their daughters away must have long ago taught them how to please a husband.

Zhao Chengxian kept trying to tease her. He drew her into his arms and smiled. “I want to be scared by you. Little Crescent, go on and try.”

At that moment, Zhao Chengxian looked nothing like a prince at all; he was completely a roguish scoundrel. Yet he was the kind of scoundrel no one could dislike.

Yue Er wanted to change the subject, so she lifted the jade pendant necklace at her neck for him to see, then asked him with a wicked little smile, “Is this pretty? It was given to me by the man who loves me most. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Well, her father was indeed the man who loved her most.

The moment Zhao Chengxian heard that, his expression turned green. “The man who loves you most?” he blurted out.

Yue Er nodded. Zhao Chengxian grew even more anxious, his voice rising as he asked, “Who is it?”

Then he lowered his voice and said, “Little Crescent, you’re too innocent. A man may say he loves you most, but in his heart he may not even be thinking of you. Of course, I’m an exception, so you must judge carefully before trusting anyone!”

He tried to guess who it was, running through every possibility from Xuan Yuanren to the brothers of the escort house, but none of them seemed likely.

Still smiling, Yue Er said, “Even if that person said nothing at all, I would know he loved me, because he was the first man ever to be good to me.”

Hearing that, Zhao Chengxian became a little annoyed and let go of her, refusing to pay her any attention. Yue Er leaned her face toward his, but Zhao Chengxian turned away and still would not look at her. Finally, Yue Er whispered in his ear, “That person is my father. Isn’t he the first man ever to be good to me?”

Zhao Chengxian suddenly turned back and kissed her.

The two of them remained locked in a kiss until the carriage came to a stop. Yue Er smiled, gave him a deep look, climbed down from the carriage, and ran off.

Standing beside the carriage, Zhao Chengxian thought to himself: Little Crescent, I hope I never have to send you into the palace again.

Ladies and gentlemen, old and young, men and women, and all those in between, hurry and shower me with golden tokens, red envelopes, and gifts. Do not hold back; let the storm come even fiercer!