The next morning, as the Cold King and his consort returned to their room from the spatial dimension, they heard the commotion outside.
The Cold King and his consort quickly opened the door and stepped out. Upon looking up, they saw Ye Ying suspended from a crooked, old tree by hemp ropes. Sitting leisurely on a stone bench beside the tree was Ming Jiuxiao.
He was surrounded by Yin Chen and a group of guards holding long swords, all pointed at him, yet none could get close to Ming Jiuxiao.
Leng Ruo Li walked over with a frown.
“Ming Jiuxiao, what mischief are you up to this early in the morning?”
“Girl, you should ask that cold, unfeeling man of yours about this,” Ming Jiuxiao said, looking at Jun Moh Han beside Leng Ruo Li.
Hearing this, Leng Ruo Li turned to Jun Moh Han and asked him with a frown, “What exactly is going on?”
Jun Moh Han met Leng Ruo Li’s gaze but said nothing.
Leng Ruo Li became anxious.
“What’s wrong with you two?”
Leng Ruo Li noticed that both of them had very strange expressions.
“Your Highness the Cold King, you’re unwilling to say, aren’t you?” Ming Jiuxiao asked him with a sly smile.
Then, Ming Jiuxiao continued, “Then I’ll say it!”
“Girl, last night, your cold, unfeeling man had his subordinate arrange a ‘nice place’ for me. Do you know where it was?”
“Where?” Leng Ruo Li asked, full of confusion.
She had originally wanted to drive Ming Jiuxiao away last night. However, what she found strange was that Jun Moh Han, who normally disliked Ming Jiuxiao, wanted to keep him.
This matter had already puzzled Leng Ruo Li, but she hadn’t thought much of it at the time.
She hadn’t expected such a scene to unfold this early in the morning.
“Your Cold King’s mansion’s outhouse.”
As soon as Ming Jiuxiao said this, everyone almost burst out laughing.
“Haha…”
Their King was truly amazing! The outhouse was indeed a “nice place” for this effeminate man.
“Laugh, laugh! What’s so funny?” Leng Ruo Li immediately stopped everyone.
Then, she turned to Jun Moh Han and questioned him, “Jun Moh Han, if you didn’t want Ming Jiuxiao to stay in the Cold King’s mansion, you could have just kicked him out. Why insult him like this?”
“He said it himself that he had nowhere to stay and asked this King to arrange a place for him. This King has already arranged a place for him, and he should be grateful to this King.”
Jun Moh Han had Ye Ying arrange the outhouse for Ming Jiuxiao with the intention of humiliating him, all because Ming Jiuxiao had designs on his consort.
“But you can’t make him live in the outhouse. We still have many empty courtyards in our mansion, couldn’t you have just arranged any courtyard for him to stay in? If you didn’t want to keep him, you could have simply kicked him out of the Cold King’s mansion. Why play such petty tricks with him?” Leng Ruo Li rebuked Jun Moh Han with exasperation.
Upon hearing this, Jun Moh Han exuded an aura of coldness, causing the surrounding temperature to drop by several degrees. His face turned as cold as a thousand-year-old block of ice.
“If this King made him live in the outhouse, are you feeling sorry for him?” Jun Moh Han asked Leng Ruo Li with a dark expression.
“Jun Moh Han, you are being unreasonable,” Leng Ruo Li immediately rebuked him.
“You better not be, otherwise, this King will destroy you before letting him have you,” Jun Moh Han declared domineeringly and solemnly.
With that, he flicked his sleeve and turned to walk into his room.
“Jun Moh Han, you…”
Leng Ruo Li looked at Jun Moh Han’s retreating back, feeling an uncontrollable surge of anger. This man…
She remained silent for a few seconds, then said to Ming Jiuxiao, “Hurry up and let Ye Ying down. He was just following orders.”
“Certainly. Since Sister Ruo Li has personally spoken, I will let this lackey go.”
After saying this, Ming Jiuxiao casually plucked a leaf from the tree and flicked it gently. In a blink of an eye, the hemp rope binding Ye Ying was severed. Following that, Ye Ying’s face slammed heavily onto the grass.
Yin Chen and the other guards quickly ran over to help Ye Ying up, unblock his pressure points, and with much fumbling, they helped him untie the ropes.
“Ming Jiuxiao, you should leave now! The Cold King’s mansion does not welcome you.” Then, Leng Ruo Li issued him a guest order.
“Don’t, Sister Ruo Li. I truly have nowhere to stay, which is why I sought refuge in the Cold King’s mansion. Just arrange any courtyard for me to live in, as long as it’s not the outhouse or the dungeon.”
Ming Jiuxiao pleaded with Leng Ruo Li in a low voice.
After he spoke, Leng Ruo Li looked at him with suspicion.
“You, the esteemed Lord of the Crescent Moon Tower, have nowhere to stay? Who are you trying to fool?”
“Sister Ruo Li, I am telling the truth. I truly have nowhere to stay, which is why I sought refuge in the Cold King’s mansion.”
Although he had another important reason, which was to be able to see Leng Ruo Li anytime, he dared not speak it out.
“Then give me a reason to stay,” Leng Ruo Li threw a condition at Ming Jiuxiao.
“A reason?”
Ming Jiuxiao was stunned for a moment.
“Yes, you must find a reason that convinces me to let you stay. Otherwise, you should leave immediately,” Leng Ruo Li said indifferently.
“Alright, alright. It’s just finding a reason for you to let me stay. Let me think carefully first.”
Ming Jiuxiao furrowed his brows, one hand protecting his chest, the other pinching his chin as if in deep thought.
“Hurry up, I don’t have that much time to waste with you,” Leng Ruo Li urged him.
That overbearing man, Jun Moh Han, was still throwing a tantrum, and she needed to go into the room to appease him.
“I am the life-saving benefactor of the Empress Dowager. Does this reason count?”
After a moment of contemplation, Ming Jiuxiao offered this reason.
Leng Ruo Li immediately shook her head upon hearing it.
“No, it doesn’t. If you are truly the Empress Dowager’s life-saving benefactor, then why don’t you let the Emperor or the Empress Dowager arrange a residence for you? Why come to the Cold King’s mansion?”
Leng Ruo Li refuted him on the spot.
“Uh… haha…”
“Ruo Li is right. Then I, this Lord, will find another reason.” Ming Jiuxiao said with an embarrassed expression.
He then pretended to rack his brain again.
“Got it! Ruo Li, I actually took refuge in the Cold King’s mansion to escape a crazy woman. You have no idea how annoying Lin Zhenfei’s daughter, Lin Mengzhi, is. No matter where I hide, she can find me. She clings to me like a sticky plaster.”
At this point, Ming Jiuxiao’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and he let out a long sigh.
“Originally, I wanted to return to the Cold King’s mansion with you the night before last. But I was afraid that crazy woman would come to the Cold King’s mansion and cause trouble, so I didn’t dare. As a result, even when I hid in the Yichun Tower, she found me. Later, after much consideration, I thought hiding in the Cold King’s mansion would be the safest. This is because the people of the Duke Lin’s manor are quite intimidated by the Cold King’s mansion. Even if Lin Mengzhi is bold, she wouldn’t dare to barge into the Cold King’s mansion and make a scene,” Ming Jiuxiao said with a bitter expression.
“Are you telling the truth?”
Leng Ruo Li’s face was full of doubt after hearing this.
“I can swear to the heavens!”
Seeing that Leng Ruo Li was unwilling to believe him, Ming Jiuxiao immediately raised his hand to swear.
“Alright, I’ll believe you this time!”
Leng Ruo Li snapped her fingers at the sky. Then she added, “Yin Chen, go and arrange a courtyard for the Lord of the Crescent Moon Tower to reside in.”
“But… Consort, His Highness…”
Yin Chen hesitated…
“Just do as I say. I will speak to your King.”
“Okay!”
After that, Yin Chen respectfully agreed.