The flower bloomed at the beginning of the season and met you again 022 was locked up again

  Taole'er smiled faintly, she thought he was too special, forgetting that apart from his status, he was just an ordinary man. "You don't need to rack your brains thinking about where you're not as good as him. In fact, even a fool knows that you're better than him in every way. You're more handsome than him, more talented than him, and more capable than him... You are the high-and-mighty Prince Yu, the one who makes enemy countries tremble with fear on the battlefield, while he's just a commoner."

  "I think everyone thinks so, including Liu Rong. However, there is one thing you can't give to Liu Rong, but he can. That's why in front of Liu Rong, you are not as good as him."

  "What?" He turned around abruptly, dissatisfied with what he had heard.

  "Love, a love that is unique to one woman. You can give Liu Niang pampering, but can you give her the only love? You cannot, but that man can. Perhaps outside of the palace, she will no longer be able to live this life of luxury. But there will be someone who wholeheartedly dotes on her, considering her more important than anything else. They may become ordinary farmers, with the man working in the fields and Liu Niang following behind him, wiping away his sweat. Or perhaps that man is skilled at writing and painting, they will set up a small stall by the street. One person writes and paints, while the other looks on, offering suggestions when someone comes to look at their work, then collecting money and thanking them."

  Thinking of that scene, my heart softened, and a faint smile appeared on my face. In fact, from ancient times to the present, what women have been pursuing is mostly just this kind of exclusive love, this unique pampering.

  Feng Ye quietly listened and watched the smile on her lips, losing himself. But he quickly regained his composure and coldly said: "A pack of nonsense!"

  Le'er walked closer and leaned into his arms. She reached out to adjust his collar and whispered, "What are you angry about?"

  Feng Ye heard her words and lowered his head, their eyes colliding. To him, Le Er's question was strange. His woman had an affair with someone else, shouldn't he be angry? "Shouldn't I be angry?"

  Le Er smiled faintly, tiptoed, and reached out to stroke that determined chin. "Then can you tell me, what are you angry about?"

  "My woman is having an affair right under my nose, do I need to ask for a reason to be angry? If this gets out, Prince Yu will become the laughing stock of others after dinner conversations. Can't I be angry? Or do you think I should be overjoyed? Or perhaps you want to be overjoyed?"

  Tao Le'er gazed deeply at him, then smiled. In her eyes was sincerity. "You're right, I should be overjoyed. With one less person monopolizing my husband, shouldn't I be happy?"

  Feng Ye's eyes narrowed, full of a dangerous aura. "Could it be that you actually want to monopolize this king?"

  He believed that in the turbulent dynasty, there were not a few women who thought this way, but there was absolutely no one who dared to make such a request.

  Taole'er raised her chin, fearlessly meeting his unusual gaze. "What's wrong? I think that in the palace, who wants to monopolize you is not just me? Who in this world wants to monopolize you, and it's not just your several wives?"

  His sword-like eyebrows rose high, his large hand pinched her small chin. "Do you know that I, the king, am not a commoner and can't have only one woman?"

  He likes her very much and wants to pamper her, but he never thought of having only one woman. The emperor loves the empress so much, yet there are still three thousand beauties in the harem, and he occasionally visits them, doesn't he? A man, especially a man like him who stands tall and proud, how can he be monopolized by someone?

  "What's wrong with that?" A hint of bitterness in her heart, but a smile on her face. "Why can't the king favor just one woman? Am I not worthy of being favored by the king alone?"

  "This king can dote on you alone, but won't have only you as his woman, do you understand?" His large hand stroked the corner of her eyes, those clear and determined eyes almost bewildering him.

  Without hesitation, he shook his head. "I don't understand. If you can dote on me alone, then do other people still exist and have any significance to you? Are the many women you keep in the palace a symbol of your status as a king or a demonstration of your masculine charm?"

  "How dare you!" The hand that had been stroking the corner of his eye slid down to the slender neck. His thumb moved lightly, touching the delicate skin. "Taolier, don't think that just because I've indulged you slightly, you can question any of my decisions or thoughts. My having three wives and four concubines is my right, it's none of your business!"

  Tao Le'er lowered her eyelids, took a deep breath, and then met his gaze again. "That's because, Your Highness doesn't understand what love is. Love can only be between two people, having one more person is not allowed."

  "Taole!" Feng Ye shouted angrily, shattering the silence. "I have not yet granted you the right to be lawless, do not overstep your bounds and lose all sense of measure."

  "If wanting to monopolize one's own man is also considered unforgivable, then have all the men and women in the world who understand love committed a heinous crime? If so, can't a woman also have several men to be fair? It can't help but make me think that the formation of monogamy must have gone through a very difficult process."

  "Out of the question! How can a weak and delicate woman be compared to a man? It's simply laughable!" The thought of her being intimate with another man made his heart feel like it was being pressed down, and a spark of anger ignited within him.

  "Why not? Women are also human, born of parents, and eating the same food and drinking the same water as heaven and earth. What's the difference? The same life, why can't they get the same respect and rights? In terms of merit, women manage the household, serve their husbands, give birth to offspring, and enable humanity to continue from generation to generation. Where are they inferior to men?"

  She's fed up with him, thinking he was different, but it turns out he's just another narrow-minded and stubborn mule!

  The wind howled outside, but he didn't know how to refute her words. He was never good at debating anyway. "You're not Le'er, are you?"

  Suddenly, the suspicion that had been lurking in his heart all along emerged. No matter how much a person's temperament changed, it couldn't become so vicious. As far as he knew, Tao Le'er could recognize a few characters, but such reasoning was absolutely not something she could express.

  He suddenly changed the subject, Tao Le'er was taken aback for a moment. Then he smiled again, meeting his sharp gaze. "Is this important?"

  "Of course!" he replied without hesitation.

  Tao Le'er smiled again, standing between his arms, stretching out her hand to gently poke at the sturdy chest. "So what you like, is this shell or this soul?"

  The man was stunned, looking at her, not knowing how to respond. He had never thought that this woman with a changed personality was not the original Le'er. However, the answer was obvious. What he liked was certainly not this shell. She wasn't particularly beautiful, what attracted him was this unique and uninhibited personality. It was this soul, different from ordinary women.

  "If you liked this shell, why didn't you care about it at first? If you like this soul, am I still the original Tao Le'er, is it that important?" She took full advantage of his poor eloquence, step by step closing in.

  "This, this is completely different! You're not Le'er, then who are you?" Could it be true what she said to Liu Niang, that she was a soul from another world attached to Le'er's body, and the real Le'er was no longer in this world? No, impossible! Such an absurd thing, absolutely impossible!

  Tao Le'er moved closer to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her face against his chest to listen to his heartbeat. "Master, didn't I tell you that I'm not Le'er?"

  For some reason, the faintly elegant and calm smile that appeared on that familiar face made him feel a chill run through his entire body. He pushed her away, staring at that enchanting curve.

  This scene reminded him of the time in the military camp, when a strange woman suddenly appeared in his tent and flirted with him. He was too confident, even though he guessed she was a spy from an enemy country, but because he thought she couldn't play any tricks on him, he was too careless. If it wasn't for the experienced military advisor who suddenly burst in, he would have already fallen into her trap and been manipulated by others.

  The woman in front of him, who looked exactly like Le'er, easily stirred up his emotions. Thinking about the fluctuations in his emotions over the past few days, a loud alarm sounded in his heart. His large hand grasped her slender neck and lifted her face. "Tell me, who are you? Who sent you? What's your intention? Speak the truth, otherwise..."

  Taole'er was taken aback, but still smiled lightly. "Master, are you interrogating me as a spy? If I really wanted to harm you, I would have done it long ago, why wait until today? Master, do you really think I look like a spy?"

  His starry eyes were still narrowed, his thin lips pursed as he gazed at her. Even he himself didn't notice that the hand grasping her neck had loosened its grip, not wanting to hurt her. "Who knows what kind of scheme you're plotting?"

  Taole'er exhaled a breath, pursed her lips and smiled: "Husband, no matter what I become, I am still your Le'er. Your only Le'er, do you understand?"

  This low whisper made his heart skip a beat. It was as if someone had taken a soft cotton ball and gently teased the tip of his heart. But he was, after all, a great general, and the more it was like this, the more likely it was to be dangerous.

  "No matter how eloquent you are, I won't be easily deceived. Come on in—"

  "Your Highness, I'm here!"

  "Take the princess away and lock her up in the same cell as before."

  "Can I be with Xiao Er and them?"