I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

"Does Your Highness have any foreign women who catch your eye?"

"Hmm~"

Bai Zhou smiled and raised his head.

"No."

"And this person..."

"This is Lu Qing, Grand Master of the Palace, Lu Xianrong."

"In a while, it should be Situ."

"It's still early, Your Highness."

Old Liboli waved his hand, extremely modest.

"This is Kal'tsit, a woman who keeps her mouth shut about the heat and cold, yet composes palace poems with unparalleled talent. I spent a long time pursuing this virtuous woman, so don't frighten her."

During the day, he introduced Kal'tsit to him.

"I have met Doctor Lu."

Kal'tsit bowed to old Liberi.

“Sir, there’s no need for such formality. Your accent is truly authentic; even young people who have lived in the capital for many years cannot speak it.”

"Thank you for the compliment."

"He is neither arrogant nor impatient; he truly possesses the qualities of a great talent. Excellent, excellent."

Old Liberi stroked his beard, carefully examined Kal'tsit for a few moments, and then nodded in satisfaction.

"Your Highness has developed your own discerning eye. Not bad, not bad at all."

"You're overthinking it, Lord Lu. Kal'tsit and I are like-minded friends, and I'm not into that kind of thing."

He poured the old man a glass of wine, looked at him during the day, and explained the relationship between the two of them.

"Your Highness, one must think things through. If you don't, opportunities will slip away. Once a good opportunity is lost, there's no time to even cry."

No matter what Bai Zhou said, he didn't change his mind. Instead, he cheerfully tried to persuade Bai Zhou.

"..."

Seeing that the old official was unyielding, Bai Zhou angrily reached out and tugged at his beard.

"Oh, right."

After taking a sip of wine, Lu Xianrong looked up at the daytime.

"Has there been any progress in what Your Highness has been doing?"

"It'll be soon, it'll be soon. It could be as quick as a few years, or at least ten years."

"Then, Your Highness, when will you leave Great Yan again?"

"Hmm...we'll see."

His eyes drifted over to Kal'tsit, whose ears, though disguised as invisible, twitched at his words. Bai Zhou leaned close to Lu Xianrong's ear and whispered:

"That depends on how long Kal'tsit wants to stay."

"Your Highness still needs to work harder."

Lu Xianrong also shared his experience with Bai Zhou.

"I think this girl may not be good at breastfeeding, but she is very beautiful, and the baby she gives birth to will surely be beautiful. If I can hold Your Highness's child before I die, this old minister will have no regrets in this life."

"...I already said...I'll try my best."

It was precisely because he kept bringing up the topic of his childbirth that Bai Zhou didn't want to talk to Lu Xianrong anymore.

"Yes, Second Uncle is here."

Chilong, who had just finished seeing the child, arrived here with a beaming smile.

As usual, after a brief period of haggling, the banquet officially began.

Daylight returned and a new prince was born. With these two joyous occasions, the officials at the banquet raised their cups in celebration, beaming with delight.

Last time, because he drank alcohol, Kal'tsit pinned him to a chair and lectured him for a long time, so now he only drinks juice instead of alcohol during the day.

Apart from Lu Xianrong, the other senior officials who were close to Bai Zhou, after getting quite drunk, also came one by one to have a long talk with Bai Zhou.

However, most of the content is related to Kal'tsit.

Such as: "When will Your Highness get married? This old minister will certainly attend." "When will Your Highness have children? This old minister has three principles for raising children, which will surely make your child a great man. I will give them to Your Highness today." "Has Your Highness tried them yet? No? Haha, then if you have some free time one day, I will take Your Highness to see the number one artist in the capital."

As the banquet came to a close, the drunken men were all sent back by the Imperial Guards, who looked at them with disdain.

"Honestly, I've said it so many times. These shameless old folks just won't listen."

Bai Zhou rubbed his face, which was stiff from smiling for too long, and complained helplessly about the enthusiasm of his ministers.

"I'm going to talk to my second uncle for a bit. Kal'tsit, would you like to wait a little longer or rest first?"

He has been talking with his ministers and hasn't paid any attention to the Red Dragon yet.

"Your Highness, please go ahead. I will wait for you here."

Having received permission, Bai Zhou got up to find the Red Dragon.

"Second uncle."

Chi Long had just seen off the last minister and was rubbing his back as he prepared to return.

"Ah Xi, you've come at the perfect time. Shall we go for a walk, you and I?"

"it is good."

Please take good care of me in the days to come after I return to the 52nd year, my dear Kal'tsit.

At night, apart from the patrolling soldiers, all the lights in the palace halls were extinguished. The vast palace looked rather deserted.

Walking with the red dragon, a gentle breeze blowing, Bai Zhou sighed softly.

"Why are you sighing, kid?"

Red Dragon chuckled and patted him on the back. Before he could even complain, White Day sighed first.

"I'm so annoyed by those shameless old men. They keep urging me to get married, even though I'm getting married late."

During the day, he complained to Chilong about the old ministers' various urgings on him.

"It's all because you have such high standards, setting your sights on an immortal and refusing to let go no matter what."

"I think that girl from the Chen family is quite nice; she's good-looking and fertile."

"I don't like her."

"...Yes...these three words, 'I don't like it,' have deterred countless young women from their aspirations to marry into wealth."

The red dragon stared intently at the daytime, its eyes gleaming.

Those were curious, inquisitive eyes.

"That Kal'tsit... Ah Xi, tell your second uncle the truth, do you like her?"

"Ugh?"

Bai Zhou shrank to the side to avoid the red dragon's gaze.

"Stop, don't try to fool me with that friend act. The way you two are behaving doesn't seem like what ordinary friends would do."

The red dragon persisted relentlessly, giving chase.

"Hmm... I do like it."

With nowhere else to retreat, Bai Zhou had no choice but to honestly answer the Red Dragon's questions.

"But it's just liking."

During the day, one can clearly distinguish between liking and loving.

Liking is a feeling, but love is a lifelong action.

Liking may be the beginning of love, but it may not turn into love; but love is love, and it will never fade into liking.

Even though they had been separated for ten years, Bai Zhou could still clearly picture Xi's appearance in his mind, remembering what she liked and what she disliked.

He could clearly sense what his feelings for Xi were like.

It condenses without dispersing, and gathers sand to form a mountain.

Kal'tsit is a very nice person, and he likes her very much.

But he had more respect for Kal'tsit.

He respected Kal'tsina's unwavering ideals and was grateful for her protection of the civilization on Terra for so many years. Therefore, he was willing to accompany her, to lend her a helping hand, and to shelter her from the storms of life.

But that was the end of their relationship.

This liking, though intense, will not evolve into love.

Bai Zhou didn't think he had the right to taint this pure feeling.

He didn't believe that someone he had only known for a year could make a respected wise man blind his reason to love him.

"Sigh... You'll have to figure out your own business... There's nothing I can do."

The two fell silent again.

"Are you still leaving?"

"Um……"

Bai Zhou smiled sheepishly.

"I promised her I would help her."

"Then...when are you leaving?"

"It's not decided yet. I'll discuss it with her tonight."

"Yes, two people need to communicate more and get to know each other better. Like me, I know your aunt inside and out. You know her..."