#404 - You're still the same as before

Xu Ming, along with the palace maids, were utterly stunned.

They wondered if they had misheard.

What did His Majesty just say?

Turn around?

Was it really okay for Minister Xu to just turn around and be done with it?

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This didn't seem like a matter of simply turning around, did it?

"Your Majesty, perhaps I should still step outside," Xu Ming said again. "Once Your Majesty is changed, you may summon me again."

"There's no need for such trouble. I said, just turn around," the Dragon Empress said, tilting her head as she looked at Xu Ming. "What is it? I don't mind, but Minister Xu is starting to mind? Could it be that Minister Xu dislikes me?"

"Your Majesty is speaking out of turn," Xu Ming quickly replied, his tone sounding panicked, but in his heart, he was cursing up a storm.

"Then it shall be so," the Dragon Empress said, opening her arms to the palace maids. "Help me change."

Palace Maids: ". . ."

Since Her Majesty had spoken, they had no choice but to step forward and assist her in changing.

Xu Ming immediately turned around.

Xu Ming wanted to open the door and leave, but the Dragon Empress was changing, and she hadn't allowed him to leave.

If he were to leave now, it would be considered disobeying the imperial decree.

But then again, he was a subject of the Wu Kingdom, not the Dragon Palace.

He only referred to himself as 'subject' out of modesty; logically speaking, she had no authority over him.

Moreover, if he really stayed here while the Dragon Empress changed in front of him, he would be even more finished!

He was thinking of how to explain to the Dragon Empress later—that he wasn't her old flame.

He wouldn't even know how to explain it then.

Because the Dragon Empress thought he was her old flame, he was receiving such benefits.

The question was:

If the Dragon Empress knew that he wasn't the reincarnation of her old flame,

If the Dragon Empress realized she had been mistaken all along,

What would his fate be?

He, someone who had seen most of the Dragon Empress's skin, even being in the same room while the Dragon Empress was changing clothes naked behind him.

Even if he returned to the Wu capital, he would probably be doomed.

With the Dragon Empress's temperament, she dared to kill even a relative's son; when she wanted his life, the Martial Emperor wouldn't protect him.

Although the Martial Emperor was good to him, in the face of the Wu Kingdom's interests, the Martial Emperor could sell him out at any time.

He feared that the Martial Emperor would tie him up and send him to the Northern Sea before the Dragon Empress even made a move.

"I can't stay here!"

Xu Ming made up his mind; he had to leave!

But just as Xu Ming was about to disobey the Dragon Empress's order and leave the palace, he found that he couldn't move his feet.

Xu Ming looked down.

Pale blue glowing light stuck to his feet.

"Damn it!"

Xu Ming cursed in his heart.

Was she determined to change clothes behind him?

What kind of fetish was this?

Xu Ming wanted to shout, "I'm really not your old flame!", but hearing the rustling sound of silk behind him, he knew that the Dragon Empress had already taken off her clothes and was putting on her inner garments.

It was too late for anything now.

To save his life, even if he wasn't her old flame, he had to pretend to be her old flame.

"Wouldn't this be considered NTRing her old flame?" Having no choice, Xu Ming's originally suspended heart was completely dead, so he started thinking about irrelevant things.

Xu Ming thought it should be considered as such.

But he hadn't actively become a cuckold; he had been forced to become one!

He could only say to that Dragon Empress's old flame, 'Don't blame me.'

"Minister Xu may turn around now," the Dragon Empress said.

The blue glowing light at Xu Ming's feet disappeared, and Xu Ming didn't think about leaving anymore.

Xu Ming turned around.

The inner garment that the Dragon Empress was wearing was actually designed with the underwear, so Xu Ming couldn't see the two key points anyway.

"Minister Xu, continue choosing," the Dragon Empress said, waving her hand, and several more maids stepped forward.

This time, they were choosing the outer robe, which was also the most formal and important piece.

The attire for the Four Seas Ceremony looked very beautiful; the sea-blue robe was luxurious and grand, and the embedded jewels gave a sense of just the right amount, neither feeling superfluous nor failing to add a touch of nobility to the robe.

The golden robe was more in line with the identity of an emperor; wearing it on the Dragon Empress would definitely bring out her empress-like aura.

But Xu Ming's attention was drawn to a black-gold robe.

Whether it was the stitching or the patterns on it, this black-gold robe gave Xu Ming a comfortable feeling.

Xu Ming felt that this black-gold robe would definitely look very good on the Dragon Empress.

"This humble subject dares to think that this robe would be more suitable for Your Majesty," Xu Ming said.

The Dragon Empress glanced at the black-gold robe, a strange look flashing in her eyes: "Since that's the case, then choose this robe. As for the jewelry and such, Minister Xu, please help me choose them as well."

As the Dragon Empress finished speaking, the remaining palace maids split into several groups, taking turns walking in front of Xu Ming.

Xu Ming chose hairpins and various other ornaments for the Dragon Empress.

Although Xu Ming hadn't studied things like jewelry, looking at these works of art, Xu Ming was sure that each one was priceless.

After Xu Ming finished choosing, several palace maids took the robe and jewelry and began to dress the Dragon Empress.

After an incense stick's worth of time, when the maids dispersed and the Dragon Empress, dressed in a black-gold robe, stood in front of Xu Ming, Xu Ming's eyes suddenly lit up.

Wearing this robe, the Dragon Empress naturally exuded a sense of majesty. The long train of the robe was held by the maids, and a black-gold ribbon tied around the Dragon Empress's slender waist.

A black swaying hairpin was pinned in the Dragon Empress's hair, and there were no other ornaments besides that.

This kind of clean feeling formed a strange harmony with the black-gold robe.

Xu Ming looked at the Dragon Empress in her full dress, his gaze unable to move away for a moment.

Beautiful.

It was really too beautiful.

It even seemed as if the word "beautiful" was born for the Dragon Empress.

A thought suddenly emerged in Xu Ming's mind: the woman in front of him was truly the number one beauty on the beauty榜, even if the Heavenly Dao came, it wouldn't work.

The Dragon Empress noticed Xu Ming's gaze and was very satisfied: "I will wear this outfit to attend the Four Seas Ceremony. Thank you, Minister Xu, for making a special trip here today."

"Your Majesty is too kind. It is this subject's honor to be able to help Your Majesty," Xu Ming bowed. "If Your Majesty has nothing else, then this subject will take his leave first."

The Dragon Empress nodded, not stopping him this time.

When Xu Ming completely disappeared from the Dragon Empress's sight.

The Dragon Empress looked at the outfit she was wearing, her eyes lowering slightly:

"As expected, you still like this outfit on me as much as before."