I am an incredibly handsome man, and my fiancée refuses to call off the engagement even at the cost

Gu Yan's list of rewards was too large. The day after the palace banquet, Chen Quan told Gu Yan that he needed some time to collect the entire list and invited Gu Yan and Tan Yue to stay at the palace. Coincidentally, Gu Yan was very interested in the Imperial Medical Academy's collection of books, so she accepted the invitation.

From then on, Gu Yan devoted herself to the Imperial Medical Academy, where she studied medicine and alchemy with Mu Qinghe and the imperial physicians. She refused to see anyone else, and if Emperor Chen Quan came, he would send him away with a single word.

The female imperial physicians were very excited, and the two sixth-rank female alchemists were even more excited. Because of their expertise, they had a lot of time to get close to Gu Yan, which made everyone else extremely envious.

"What? The person who poisoned us has been found?" Gu Yan looked up from a pile of books.

Mu Qinghe said, "Found it."

"Who is it?" Gu Yan was quite interested in the person who poisoned her.

"Yang Guifei," Mu Qinghe said.

Gu Yan remembered the silver-haired, purple-eyed woman at the palace banquet. It was her! It was she who had poisoned her.

"No one expected that this Imperial Concubine's alchemy skills would be so high; she's probably close to the seventh rank," Mu Qinghe said.

Alchemists on the Miro Continent are divided into three types: official, unofficial, and wild. Official alchemists refer to those affiliated with the Alchemist Association; they have passed the association's examinations and are members of the association, such as Mu Qinghe. Although Mu Qinghe holds the title of Guest Elder of the Ruohe Empire, he is, in reality, a member of the Alchemist Association.

The unofficial one refers to alchemists who have a certificate but do not belong to the Alchemist Association, such as the Poison King Pang Tong.

Wild alchemists are those who do not belong to the Alchemist Association and do not have licenses or certificates.

However, not having a license or permit doesn't necessarily mean a lack of competence; it could also mean that the person doesn't want to go or feels it's unnecessary.

Whether official, unofficial, or unofficial, there are extremely powerful figures among them.

Before entering the palace, Yang Guifei was a self-taught alchemist, and her alchemy skills were already at the fourth rank.

After entering the palace, he gained favor and his skills were temporarily neglected.

However, ever since Empress Shen Lihua entered the palace, Chen Quan has favored her alone. Other concubines, even if they were not sent to the Cold Palace, were as if they had been banished there. Yang Guifei had no children, so she devoted all her time to studying medicine and poisons. Her alchemy skills improved rapidly, surpassing all the imperial physicians in the palace.

Jealousy led her to spend hundreds of years creating a deadly poison, the very poison that afflicted Shen Lihua, which she called "Thousand-Faced Poisonous Hua."

"Where is she? Has she been arrested?" Gu Yan asked.

"They escaped," Mu Qinghe said.

"We haven't caught them yet," Gu Yan said.

"No, this Imperial Concubine is a remarkable woman. She escaped long ago and had a puppet take her place in her palace. By the time they found her, she was already gone," Mu Qinghe said.

"Aren't you afraid of having your entire family executed?" Gu Yan asked.

Mu Qinghe said, "Her entire family line has long since died out."

When Yang Guifei entered the palace, she still had relatives, but none of her blood relatives were of good aptitude, and none of them surpassed the Earth Spirit Realm. Yang Guifei was already at the Spirit King Realm, and over the past few thousand years, she had outlived her entire nine generations of relatives.

After hearing this, Gu Yan found this Yang Guifei quite interesting and felt that she would meet her again in the future. However, Gu Yan didn't think much of it and quickly forgot about Yang Guifei.

A little while later, the chief eunuch beside Chen Quan came to invite Gu Yan, saying that His Majesty wanted to invite him for tea.

Gu Yan dismissed him with the excuse that she was too busy making medicine.

After the head eunuch left, Gu Yan noticed that Mu Qinghe seemed hesitant to speak, and asked with a smile, "Brother Mu, what do you want to say?"

Mu Qinghe stammered for a long time before saying, "Does His Majesty... does His Majesty often... often send people to see you? I heard... I heard... I heard that His Majesty and the Empress seem to have had a quarrel these past few days."

Mu Qinghe seemed to be implying something, and Gu Yan stared intently at him, making Mu Qinghe blush. No one could stand Gu Yan's direct gaze.

"Brother Mu, thinking too much is bad for your brain." Gu Yan patted Mu Qinghe's shoulder, stood up, took a scroll, and went to the alchemy room.

After Gu Yan left, Mu Qinghe patted his head. Was he out of his mind? There was a precedent, you know? The Tan Yue family's situation was right there in front of him.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The weather was fine and sunny.

Inside the palace, Gu Yan and Chen Quan, the emperor of the Ruohe Empire, sat facing each other.

Today, Chen Quan invited him over with a reason that Gu Yan couldn't refuse—Gu Yan's long list had been collected, and he was asked to come and count the numbers.

Gu Yan held a blue mustard seed bag in his hand, containing hundreds of rare and precious medicinal herbs that he had listed. As expected of one of the twelve most powerful empires in the nineteen continents, their speed was even faster than he had imagined.

The reason for the speed was that Chen Quan wanted to please him, so he collected what Gu Yan wanted at the fastest speed, regardless of the cost.

"Thank you so much, Your Majesty, for collecting them so quickly." Gu Yan politely accepted the mustard seed bag.

"Mr. Li Bai, you're too kind. This is a token of my gratitude, it's only right." Chen Quan gazed at Gu Yan's stunningly beautiful face, his eyes becoming completely captivated.

"Nothing else, I'll take my leave now."

Having received his belongings, Gu Yan had no reason to stay any longer, and he stood up to leave. Just as he turned around, Chen Quan called out to him:

"Wait, Mr. Li Bai, I have something to say."

Gu Yan turned to look at Chen Quan, her gaze calm and unwavering: "Your Majesty, it's best not to say anything."

Chen Quan knew that if he didn't speak today, he might never have the chance again, so he said urgently, "No, I must speak. Ever since I saw your true face at the palace banquet that day, I have never been able to forget you. I don't know what's wrong with me. Before that, I loved the Empress."

"I've always believed that the Empress was the most important person in my life. But... but now..." He gazed at Gu Yan, his eyes filled with deep affection, "I can't deceive myself. The person I think about now is you, my lord. These past few days I've been struggling to suppress myself. I want to forget you, my lord, but I can't!"

Only the two of them remained in the hall.

Chen Quan had long since dismissed his attendants, and even his most trusted eunuchs had retreated outside the hall.

The emperor of the Ruohe Empire knelt on one knee before Gu Yan.

This surprised Gu Yan slightly.

Chen Quan gazed at the celestial-like youth before him. His perfect face was like a pear blossom in full bloom, bathed in the soft moonlight, exuding a cool and elegant charm.

He was breathing heavily, and he knew he was being ridiculous, but he had to say it, or he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"gentlemen……"

Two words, dry, heavy, and full of pleading.

"I...I know this is absurd, and I also know that you have no such intentions towards me."

Chen Quan's speech quickened, as if afraid of being interrupted, "My throne may be insignificant in your eyes. The Empress is my beloved, and so is my heart... But, but I..."

He took a breath, as if using up all the courage he had in his life:

"But I admire you, sir. My heart is sincere, and heaven and earth can bear witness to it."