Just as he was lost in thought, Mo Yuanlin’s voice suddenly rang in his ear, and Eunuch Feng quickly came back to his senses. He saw Mo Yuanlin throw down the memorial in his hand, stand up, and stride out.

Eunuch Feng: "..."

What?

Going to greet her in person again?

Oh, Emperor, can’t we be a bit more mindful of our image?

Miss Yun is already in the palace, just have someone bring her over, she won’t get lost, will she?

As the dignified ruler of a nation, always lowering oneself to personally greet a woman—what’s the matter with that? How would it affect the imperial majesty if word got out?

"Yes, Your Majesty..."

Though he didn’t agree in his heart, he didn’t dare speak up. Eunuch Feng shook his head and quickly responded, bending over to follow.

Just as they exited the palace door, they saw a procession treading the clean and level bluestone ground, slowly making their way towards them.

A little eunuch led the way in front, followed by Yun Wanyao, and behind her was Situ Yin leading the Iron Eagle Guard.

Mo Yuanlin stopped, standing on the steps, looking at them from a distance; to be precise, only looking at her.

His gaze was focused and intense, almost tangible. Even if Yun Wanyao wanted to remain unaware, it was difficult.

She halted her steps, instinctively turned her head to look, and saw the tall and imposing figure standing on the bluestone steps.

Backlit, she couldn’t discern his expression; she could only see the noble, mysterious, and magnificently powerful dragon pattern on the dark dragon robe. Yun Wanyao’s heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t control her chaotic thoughts.

"Miss Yun?"

Seeing her suddenly stop, Situ Yin frowned and stepped forward, lowering his voice to remind her. Yun Wanyao quickly came back to her senses and hastily apologized.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought. Let’s hurry over so the Emperor doesn’t have to wait long."

"Mm, alright."

Hearing this, Situ Yin’s tightly furrowed brow relaxed, and he nodded in response.

The group quickened their pace and moved forward, bowing in salute to Mo Yuanlin.

After the salute, Mo Yuanlin descended the steps and, in front of everyone, naturally took Yun Wanyao’s hand and turned to walk back up the steps.

Boom!!!

It was as if something exploded in Yun Wanyao’s mind, leaving her brain in a muddle. Her face instantly turned crimson, and she hurriedly tried to shake off his hand.

However, being skilled in martial arts, he knew how to use subtle strength. Though he didn’t grip tightly, it seemed as if his hand was glued to hers, and she couldn’t shake it off.

Just as she was about to continue shaking her hand, she suddenly heard the man’s low voice.

"Yesterday you missed the appointment, today you’re late. Yun Wanyao, tell me, how should I punish you, hmm???"

Yun Wanyao: "..."

It was as if a spell had been cast on her, she suddenly stopped her actions and turned to look at him.

He looked straight ahead, his profile exceptionally handsome, chiselled like a piece of fine jade, revealing no emotion beyond extreme beauty. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The door of the Imperial Study closed, completely isolating all unrelated persons.

Yun Wanyao came to her senses and urgently explained.

"Calm down, Your Majesty, there is something I must clarify. It indeed was my fault that I missed the appointment yesterday, but today’s tardiness was accidental, definitely not my intention..."

"After receiving Your Majesty’s letter, I immediately set off for the palace, but was unexpectedly intercepted halfway by King Qi, delaying me for a while. So, Your Majesty, you cannot blame me for being late."

It’s not that Yun Wanyao sincerely wanted to report Mo Yuanhao’s misconduct.

But, as the Iron Eagle Guard was the Emperor’s people, though they didn’t come out early to resolve the situation today, they did appear when Mo Yuanhao attempted to forcibly send her back to the Yun Family, which was a very timely intervention.

This shows that, as Mo Yuanhao said, they had been secretly following her for a long time. Therefore, neither Mo Yuanhao’s interception nor his incessant pestering in the carriage could be hidden from the Emperor.

Rather than not mentioning it and arousing suspicion, it was better to speak up and perhaps deflect some blame.

"Is that so?"

He looked down at her, smiled meaningfully. Yun Wanyao didn’t know what he meant and didn’t bother to think deeply, just nodded in response.

"Yes, if Your Majesty doesn’t believe me, you can summon Commander Situ for questioning."

His gaze flickered, he reached out and brushed her face, his rough thumb lightly sliding over her delicate skin.

"Why did King Qi stop you?"

Yun Wanyao was just about to answer when she suddenly thought of something and, raising her neck, looked into his pitch-black eyes with a light smile.

"Your Majesty, there is something I don’t understand and would like to ask you."

Ha, instead of answering his question, she turned it around to ask him. Indeed, only she would dare do so, but he allowed it.

Mo Yuanlin raised an eyebrow and said, "Mm, ask."

"Is it true that Your Majesty sent someone to follow me in secret?"

She didn’t mention the Iron Eagle Guard or Situ Yin because once a specific name is mentioned, the scope of the target is narrowed down to that range.

And the forces available to the Emperor are far beyond merely the scope of the Iron Eagle Guard.

"That’s right!"

He admitted without hesitation, without any attempt to conceal it, but soon continued to speak in defense of his actions.

"But I am not monitoring you. After your last outing, there was an accident, you were injured and unconscious. Do you remember that? I even went to the Yun Family to see you, but, out of considerations for propriety between men and women, I didn’t see you."

"Upon hearing of your injury, I was very worried and became acutely aware for the first time that the security in the Capital is far from adequate, and your defenses are too weak, making it easy for others to exploit. Therefore, I sent people to protect you."

As expected, Yun Wanyao felt a little displeased. It wasn’t because of his secretive actions, but because...

"Since they’re meant to protect me and have been following me, why didn’t they show up when King Qi entered my carriage?"

In her agitation, she even forgot to refer to herself properly.

Recalling the frightened and anxious look on her face when Mo Yuanhao threatened her, Yun Wanyao felt quite upset.

Seeing her annoyed expression, Mo Yuanlin found it amusing and couldn’t help but lightly pinch her cheek.

"After the annulment of the engagement, you haven’t met with King Qi alone, I suppose he was quite dissatisfied with the unexpected one-sided annulment and wanted to ask you for an explanation."

"Now that the engagement has ended, I thought it would be good for you to clarify things with him, to prevent him from harboring resentment and speculating wildly, which might lead to a grudge over time..."

With such thoughts in mind, Mo Yuanlin had long instructed Situ Yin that unless Mo Yuanhao intended harm towards Yun Wanyao, he should not stop him from meeting her for the first time since the annulment.

Even the secret decree he prepared in advance wouldn’t be used as long as Mo Yuanhao didn’t act inappropriately.

But unfortunately, he did cross the line!

Thinking of this, a trace of coldness flashed quickly in Mo Yuanlin’s eyes.

Regarding what happened today, with Yun Wanyao being intercepted by Mo Yuanhao, Situ Yin had already sent the news ahead, so he was already well-versed in the situation.