Thank you Raizin for the coffee treat! 
A chapter will be released early for each coffee treated as a thank you gift. Thank you everyone for the support and comments!
Feeling the warm breath by his ear, Mo Yi’s heart pounded like a drum. Especially when she called him “Brother Mo Yi,” he felt his head heating up, his whole body tingling as if electrified. Unable to control his erratic breaths, Mo Yi could only stand there blankly, not knowing how to react.
Though he was usually decisive and commanding, capable of leading armies, in front of this person, he felt tongue-tied, awkward.
Yet, seeing Mo Yi’s adorable reaction, Bai Ren couldn’t help but smile inwardly. Without teasing too much, he lifted his head, his gaze hopeful as he asked, “So, Brother Mo Yi, how do we get out?”
Nonchalantly strolling out together from the main gate, it was indeed too conspicuous.
Mo Yi seemed to have realized this too, but Bai Ren calling him “Brother Mo Yi” again truly made his cheeks flush.
Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to stop it. Considering the late hour and his own skills, taking someone out was actually easy.
So, Mo Yi took Bai Ren to a secluded spot under a wall, then crouched down, gesturing for Bai Ren to step on his shoulders and climb up.
For Bai Ren, climbing up like this would be easy, given his skills; he could even fly out with ease. The issue was, he couldn’t bear to use Mo Yi as a stepping stone. As a grown man, he certainly wasn’t light.
If they had to go this route, he’d rather be carried out. Of course, he’d gladly carry Mo Yi himself if needed. But doing so would give away his identity.
When they were together, Bai Ren never cared who was stronger, especially not in front of Mo Yi; he didn’t feel embarrassed to show weakness.
Partially lifting his veil, deliberately showing a conflicted expression, Bai Ren looked at Mo Yi and said, “Brother Mo Yi, I might not be able to do this. The wall is too high.”
Hearing this, Mo Yi’s heart softened. He thought, perhaps Bai Ren was right. Even though she was tall and slender, she was still a delicate woman, and he, accustomed to roughness, wasn’t considerate enough.
But using another method, would Bai Ren misunderstand his intentions?
With these thoughts in mind, Mo Yi hesitated before asking, “In that case, I could carry you over, but I’m afraid it might inconvenience you…”
Mo Yi spoke, glancing at Bai Ren with some concern.
Bai Ren had been waiting for this moment. Upon hearing Mo Yi’s words, he stepped forward calmly.
Without needing Mo Yi to initiate, he reached out his hands, embracing Mo Yi’s neck with a light laugh, “I believe General Mo is a righteous gentleman. So, I’ll trouble General Mo to take me over!”
Stiffened by the embrace, Mo Yi looked at Bai Ren’s smiling face, feeling a hint of sweetness in his heart. Perhaps Bai Ren harbored some affection for him as well; otherwise, how could she let him carry her like this?
Keeping the rules in mind, Mo Yi wrapped his arms around Bai Ren’s waist. With a powerful push from his toes, Mo Yi leaped into the air, effortlessly flipping over the nearby wall and landing on the other side with Bai Ren.
Releasing his grip reluctantly, Mo Yi saw the surprise on Bai Ren’s face and praised, “Brother Mo Yi, your skills are truly impressive!”
Mo Yi scratched his head awkwardly, feeling grateful for his years of hard training for the first time.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Afterward, Bai Ren put on his veil, and together with Mo Yi, they headed towards the marketplace.
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He pursed his lips, feeling that Bai Ren was indeed too outstanding, even though she had concealed her appearance. Little did he know, more people were staring at Bai Ren because of his towering height, especially when dressed as a woman. They had never seen such a tall woman before.
Moreover, even with her appearance concealed, Bai Ren’s aura was exceptional. He didn’t deliberately conceal his own presence, and coupled with the handsome Mo Yi by his side, they were indeed a striking pair in the crowd.
In no time, they arrived at the center of the lantern festival, the Zhuangyuan Pavilion.
During the imperial examinations, many scholars would come to stay here, and naturally, many of them eventually became successful scholars.
The literati of the capital also liked to gather here, composing poetry and engaging in refined activities.
For this lantern festival, the Zhuangyuan Pavilion had prepared many exquisite lantern riddles. Whether guessing riddles, composing poetry, or matching couplets, there was a chance to win a lantern as a prize.
In addition to eager scholars, many ordinary people also crowded around to watch the excitement.
It was Mo Yi’s first time attending a lantern festival in the capital, so he looked around with curiosity. He noticed that Bai Ren, beside him, was heading straight towards the inner circle.
Could it be that Bai Ren liked the poetry of these literati?
Thinking about his own lack of proficiency in poetry and literature, Mo Yi felt a bit nervous. The only thing he was decent at was military strategy. He worried that if Bai Ren took a liking to a lantern, he wouldn’t be able to win it back with his skills.
Facing someone he admired, he couldn’t help but overthink.
Little did he know, Bai Ren was indeed drawn to something, but it had nothing to do with the poetry of the literati. He walked closer to get a better look because he spotted a lantern on the second floor that resembled Mo Yi’s animal form. It was adorable, and he immediately took a liking to it, wanting to win it as a keepsake.
As for how to win it, Bai Ren was confident he wouldn’t lose to anyone.
“Let’s go up to the second floor,” Bai Ren turned to Mo Yi and said.
Mo Yi nodded when he heard that and followed Bai Ren’s gaze to the hanging lantern upstairs.
However, he thought that what Bai Ren was interested in was the lotus lantern beside it.
That lantern looked exceptionally delicate, the kind of thing a young lady would like.
But if he were to say, Mo Yi thought he preferred the small dog lantern next to the lotus lantern.
Mo Yi had always liked dogs since he was young, and whenever he saw a stray dog on the road, he would buy food to feed it.
He had never seen such a cute dog lantern before.
It’s no wonder that most people come here because the lantern prizes at Zhaoyuan Tower are the most exquisite. Those foxes, rabbits, and lotus lanterns around couldn’t compare to the dog lantern.
Subconsciously taking a few more glances, Mo Yi followed Bai Ren upstairs.
Upstairs was much quieter than downstairs, and the puzzles were more difficult, requiring outstanding talent to win the rewards.
As soon as Mo Yi and Bai Ren came up, they heard thunderous applause from a group of people not far away.
Looking in the direction of the sound, there was a young man in his late teens, holding a couplet he had just written.
Leaving aside the quality of the handwriting, Bai Ren knew from the content of the couplet that this was a young man with lofty ideals, wanting to change the world.
But after Mo Yi noticed the man’s face, he immediately stopped in his tracks.
It’s the emperor!
How could he be here?
Mo Yi murmured to himself, thinking about how different Emperor Huang Futian’s performance was compared to his memories.
And looking at his familiarity with the people around him, it seemed that this wasn’t his first time at Zhaoyuan Tower.
Just as Mo Yi noticed Huang Futian, Huang Futian also noticed him.
The eyes of the emperor and his subject met, and the young emperor showed no sign of panic, just nodded gently at Mo Yi.
He was also surprised by Mo Yi’s presence. Although there were many talented individuals here, high-ranking officials and nobles were extremely rare.
Huang Futian liked it here because the young people here had more innovative ideas, although they lacked experience and sometimes overly idealistic. But some of their political views could also provide him with new insights.
Furthermore, he could also discover some buried talents here, which he could use in the future. As for how to bring them to the spotlight, he could easily come up with an excuse.
Mo Yi knew that the other party didn’t want to reveal their identity and he also didn’t intend to disturb them.
As for Bai Ren on the side, he had already been informed by the knowledge in his mind that the person across from them was the protagonist of a small world.
However, even if he was the emperor, the protagonist, so what? It had nothing to do with him at all.
Today, he specifically went out on a date with his precious little puppy.
He had only one goal here, and that was the dog lantern.
So Bai Ren stepped forward and began to carefully read the rules. On this side, all one had to do was guess the lantern riddle correctly to win the lantern.
However, just as he was looking at the question, a sudden strong gust of wind blew, directly lifting the veil on Bai Ren’s face.
Although it was only for a moment, some people saw his face.
Among these people was Huang Futian.
There was an undeniable astonishment in the young emperor’s eyes. Although he was an emperor, he had never seen a woman with such a beautiful appearance, and he felt even more impressed by her cold and distant demeanor, which was different from any woman he had ever seen.
Seeing that she had come with Mo Yi, he speculated about their relationship.
Mo Yi naturally also noticed Huang Futian’s gaze, and his heart sank. He regretted bringing Bai Ren out to play tonight.
The men who approached Bai Ren after seeing her face only irritated him, but what he feared most was that the emperor would take an interest in Bai Ren.
The other party was the sovereign of a nation, while he was just a commander of the imperial guards. How could he compete with him?
At this point, Bai Ren had already confirmed the riddle corresponding to the dog lantern: “Keep away from fireworks, feel at ease, guess a character.”
Soon, Bai Ren thought of the answer to the riddle, but before he could speak, a voice sounded from not far away, saying, “It’s ‘grace’.”
The person speaking was indeed Huang Futian.
The young emperor smiled and walked over, saying to the shopkeeper, “Keep away from fireworks, remove ‘fire’ from ‘smoke’, then add ‘heart’, naturally it becomes ‘grace’. Shopkeeper, did I guess it right?”
The shopkeeper immediately nodded and said, “Exactly right, exactly right, the answer is ‘grace’. This young sir, this lantern is yours!”
After saying that, Huang Futian even nodded politely towards Bai Ren.
Bai Ren, expressionless, didn’t respond with any etiquette.
Cursing inwardly, he thought, You’re showing off blatantly with your conspicuous appearance, stealing the lantern I planned to use to please my wife.
But in the next moment, the young emperor who took the lantern handed it to Bai Ren and said, “I would like to present this lantern to the young lady. I wonder if the young lady would accept it?”
Those who had seen Bai Ren’s face didn’t find anything wrong with Huang Futian’s actions. They regretted not guessing the lantern riddle first so they could court this beautiful woman.
Only Mo Yi, with tightly pursed lips and a tense jawline, clenched his fists nervously, praying in his heart that Bai Ren wouldn’t accept the lantern from him.
But the next moment, he saw the slender eyes of his beloved curve into a crescent moon.
Happily, she said, “Thank you very much,” and accepted the lantern.
Mo Yi’s heart immediately sank to the bottom of the abyss. But the next moment, the person across from him turned to look at him and then handed the dog lantern to him, saying with a smile, “Brother Mo Yi, this lantern is for you! When I came, I immediately set my eyes on this lantern, and I wanted to win it for you. I also want to thank this young sir for making my wish come true!”
Bai Ren: Bro, thanks for helping me in my pursuit (*￣︶￣*)
Huang Futian: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
tsk tsk, Emperor, trying to butt in on other’s dates? Even if you’re the protagonist, nobody likes a third wheel~ thanks for the chapter(s)!
Bai Ren and Mo Yi are equally shameless sometimes
I’m laughing to death over here🤣
Thank you so very much for the update!!~
I accidentally dropped my phone because of the emperor 💀 Look what you did, not minding your business!