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The entire concubine ceremony was witnessed by the man in black.

The girl who looked like Xiao Jiu had become the Crown Princess.

And his Xiao Jiu, her whereabouts were still unknown.

He had planned to leave tonight, but instead, he sat on the rooftop, listening to Concubine Xu speaking drunkenly.

Inside the room, only a palace lantern was lit, casting dim light.

"Cai Xia..."

The maid on night watch had probably fallen asleep, as Concubine Xu called softly with no one hearing.

The man in black moved silently to the table, picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea without making a sound, his movements smooth and silent.

After setting down the teapot, he carried the cup to the bedside, only to see a hand reaching out from under the covers, grasping the bed drapes firmly.

"What is a young lady like you doing, drinking alcohol?" The man in black lifted the bed drapes with one hand, only to see half of Concubine Xu’s body uncovered outside the bedding, her cyan camisole unable to conceal her slender, fair arms.

Her waist-length hair was somewhat disheveled, covering half of her face. The visible part was unusually flushed.

Perhaps because he was trained in martial arts and his observation was keener, he remembered that she had been plumper when he last saw her.

Now, she seemed so delicate and fragile, as if a gust of wind could knock her over.

Concubine Xu’s head felt dizzy and uncomfortable, and she murmured, "So thirsty..."

Hearing her uncomfortableness, the man in black sat down by the bed, pulled up the bedding to wrap her body, leaving only her head exposed. He then cradled her and brought the tea cup to her lips.

Concubine Xu found her source of water and drank with her mouth wide open.

The man in black looked down at her drinking, child-like. The water she couldn’t swallow in time spilled from the corner of her mouth down her neck, and he instinctively wiped it away with his finger.

A girl’s skin was much more delicate and smooth than a man’s.

He paused his finger, then withdrew his hand.

After she had drunk her fill, Concubine Xu turned her head away, "Enough, enough."

The man in black placed her back on the bed, stood up, and put the teacup back on the round table.

After the beginning of summer, the temperature gradually rose, and combined with the alcohol, she felt even hotter than usual—heat compounded by the blankets.

Concubine Xu kicked off the bedding, half of her body exposed. She then turned over and hugged the bedding, pressing it with her legs, perfectly revealing the curves of her figure.

She groaned in discomfort.

"So hot..."

When the man in black turned back to the bedside, this was the scene he saw. His gaze grew heavy; he bent down to pull the bedding to cover her, but Concubine Xu’s hand grabbed his wrist.

The man in black paused, and as he looked at Concubine Xu, he heard her mutter softly, "Can you take me away from here? It’s so uncomfortable!"

To him, her words meant she regretted entering the Imperial Palace two years ago without having served in the Crown Prince’s bed, becoming Crown Princess, and now wanted to leave.

He snorted, "If you knew this would happen, why did you choose to come here in the first place?"

If she hadn’t entered the palace, there would have been no need to compete with a host of women for affection. With her status as Concubine Xu, she could have married well and been the main mistress of her household, not a concubine.

Concubine Xu was in a half-asleep daze at this moment. In her dream, she found herself in a desert with the hot sun beating down. Thirsty and hot, she felt terrible and dizzy.

Suddenly, someone offered her water, and like grasping a lifeline, she desperately wanted this person to take her away from the desert.

"I don’t want to stay here, it’s too uncomfortable," she almost cried in her dream. Growing up pampered, how could she endure the harsh climate of the desert?

The bedding the man in black had covered Concubine Xu with was pushed away, and half of her body was exposed.

Because she was lying flat, the curves of her upper body were fully exposed.

The man in black’s gaze lingered on her for a while before suddenly letting the bed drapes fall to cover up Concubine Xu’s sleeping form, also obstructing his own view.

Concubine Xu, having lost her lifeline, broke out in a cold sweat and woke up terrified from the nightmare, "Ah!"

The man in black, intending to leave through the window, paused when he heard the scream and turned back to the bedside. He reached to lift the bed drapes but then pulled his hand back, considering her state of dress.

"What’s wrong?"

Concubine Xu, hearing the familiar voice, froze for a second before she pulled open the bed drapes and saw the man in black standing by the bed and froze again.

Before Concubine Xu could react and ask, a teasing voice came from above.

"Are you, seducing me?"

The drunken Concubine Xu was slower to react than usual. She looked down at her attire and, belatedly remembering what had happened, immediately grabbed the blanket to wrap herself up, leaving only her head exposed.