Flirting gets you momentary pleasure, but reverse flirting gets you a funeral pyre.

Mu Chen had never imagined that Mingmei would be so proactive, to the point where he completely lost his composure for a full five minutes.

By the time he came back to his senses, Mingmei seemed to have been frightened by his reaction.

She looked at him, a forced smile on her face, her eyes darting around. She softly asked again, "Let me remind you, we're in 'work hours' right now."

As game NPC work hours.

"You mustn't..." You mustn't mess around.

"Working also allows for a little slacking..."

Before Mingmei could finish, Mu Chen, having regained his composure, suddenly reached out and grabbed the hand that had been hooking his belt.

Mingmei tried to pull it back, but instead of letting go, he held her hand. He stepped closer, his other hand resting on her slender waist, and whispered in her ear, "Want to dance?"

"Huh?"

In the brief moment of shock, Mingmei's mind had already played out various scenarios, such as a forced seduction → runaway bride → chasing after his wife (?). But what was Mu Chen saying?

"The night is long, and the atmosphere here is just right. How about practicing some more? Otherwise, you'll be laughed at if you have to go back to lessons after the game ends, right?"

Mu Chen's words snapped Mingmei out of her thoughts.

Meeting Mingmei's incredulous gaze, Mu Chen couldn't help but laugh. Mingmei immediately felt like a self-absorbed idiot!

Mu Chen hadn't really done anything, but Mingmei felt genuinely angry.

"You..."

Before Mingmei could get angry, she felt her body being lifted up by him. She instinctively cried out softly, and when her feet touched the ground again, she felt them land on a raised part of the carpet.

Looking down, she realized that she was standing on his feet. Before she could look up and ask him what he meant, he suddenly started moving, and they were dancing a ballroom dance in that very position!

The bright row of candles flickered with the air currents created by their dancing and spinning, making the candlelight in the palace sway, sometimes bright, sometimes dim. Occasionally, their overlapping silhouettes were projected onto the palace doors, which excited Lu Xiaoyao, who was standing outside.

"Oh my god! What is this position?" Lu Xiaoyao covered her mouth and nose with her hand, her eyes wide, and whispered in shock, "How can anyone do this?"

[Oh my god~ What a position!]

[Standing? So wild?]

[Holy crap! Is this the difference between players and NPCs?]

[Hahahaha, Mu Chen only dares to hug and touch the Merchant Lady, but when it comes to the NPC with Mu Chen's face… hiss! So wild.]

[Stop talking, you're making me feel like I'm watching a love triangle (* /w＼*)]

[If what Zai Zai said about there being someone in reality who looks like the Merchant Lady is true, then this is clearly a love square, right?]

[Who cares how many corners there are, wuwuwu, I'm so jealous!]

[By the way, don't you think this silhouette is weird? It doesn't look like they're doing *that*, does it?]

[If they're not doing *that*, what are they doing, breakdancing? You're just not worldly enough.]

[……]

……

"Still angry?"

Mingmei, who had been dancing with Mu Chen and was completely absorbed in it, didn't know how to answer.

She was the kind of person who got angry quickly and calmed down quickly. What Mu Chen had done didn't seem to be a problem.

Could it be that they would really end up serving him in bed, as the plot said?

Don't be ridiculous, she wouldn't!

Mu Chen wouldn't either, but when she met his gaze, Mingmei had to admit that she had been truly captivated and wanted to indulge in it.

"No… it's just, wouldn't Lu Xiaoyao find out if we do this?"

Mingmei remembered that Lu Xiaoyao was guarding outside.

"With her IQ, she shouldn't."

Mingmei: "…"

So, Lu Xiaoyao's "lack of brains" had become common knowledge?

After dancing a duet with Mingmei for nearly two hours, Mingmei was sweating. She looked up at Mu Chen, who looked perfectly normal. If the situation wasn't right, Mingmei would have praised him as a "young hero with great stamina."

"I have other things to do later. I've already led Lu Xiaoyao here. I'll have her take care of you (business) here until dawn before leaving."

There were a lot of things going on in this game, even for the NPCs. He spent the first half of the night reading memorials, found his wife in the middle, and continued to find people to work for him in the second half.

Even Mu Chen couldn't stand this constant working state. He had to delegate the work in his hands tomorrow!

……

As for the Emperor taking her through the secret passage, the Emperor left first, telling her to stay here to take care of the beauty until dawn before going back to report. Lu Xiaoyao said—damn the ancient imperial power!

She was getting paid as a eunuch but had to serve two people at the same time?!

Damn it!

The above was just Lu Xiaoyao's monologue for a moment. Watching Mingmei, who had been "exercising" for one or two hours, still have the energy to recline on the bed and read, Lu Xiaoyao subconsciously had a terrible thought—ah, the Emperor is not good enough!

"Eunuch Lu, right?"

Because Lu Xiaoyao was standing there suspiciously glancing at her, Mingmei really couldn't ignore her existence. She sat up, reached out and lifted the light gauze in front of the bed, looked at Lu Xiaoyao, who was startled by her calling out, and said, "The moonlight outside is nice. Help me up so I can look at the moon."

"Yes."

Seeing that the beautiful concubine couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and wanted her to go out to enjoy the moon, Lu Xiaoyao increasingly felt that the Emperor might really not be good enough.

_(：3」∠)_

Mingmei took Lu Xiaoyao to enjoy the moon in the cold palace. She looked at the full moon for a while, and as if inspired, she turned to stare at Lu Xiaoyao and said, "I used to be just a small palace maid in the Imperial Kitchen. My dream was actually to become the Head Cook and make boxed lunches."

Lu Xiaoyao: Eh???

[!! Here it comes! The Merchant Lady is still the same Merchant Lady!!!]

[Boxed lunches! Ahhhh! Treasure! If you mess up again this time…]

[Then we'll wait for the next time (bushi).]

The people in the live broadcast room had different opinions on whether Lu Xiaoyao would seize the opportunity.

"Although I became His Majesty's concubine and was thrown into the Cold Palace, I have never given up my dream. I still want to make boxed lunches…"

Mingmei said this set of lines with a stiff face. She herself could hardly bear to watch it, but it was really the system's starting lines for the merchant.

Looking at Lu Xiaoyao, whose eyes had turned into beans, how could Mingmei not be embarrassed and want to dig a hole in the ground?

"Are you… willing to eat the boxed lunch I made?"

"Of course I am!" Lu Xiaoyao answered crisply, but before Mingmei could take out the boxed lunch, she heard Lu Xiaoyao say, "But I think, Your Ladyship, you should make the boxed lunch for the person you want to give it to!"

Mingmei: Huh?

After speaking, Lu Xiaoyao put on an old and mature face, looked at Mingmei as if encouraging her, and said, "Believe me, His Majesty won't dislike your boxed lunch. He wants to be the only contractor for your boxed lunches even more."

Mingmei was silent. Were she and Lu Xiaoyao on the same wavelength?

The comments—[As expected of you, Lu Xiaoyao.]