The a.s.sistant studied Qiao Anhao. When she finished reading, he chucked down another mouthful of beer. “Miss Qiao, finished reading? Of the forty eight lines, all of them were about you.”

Qiao Anhao’s hands clenched into fists. Staring straight at him, she asked in a low voice, “Where is he?”

A tear dropped down her face, splas.h.i.+ng onto the phone screen. 

Lu Jinnian’s a.s.sistant acted as though she hadn’t said anything. “He made me swear not to tell you anything.”

Another tear formed instantly, but she continued to stare intently at him. “Where’s Lu Jinnian? Where did he go?”

His a.s.sistant continued to ignore her. “Honestly, I’ve been with Mr. Lu for so many years and I have never disobeyed him before. I obediently followed his every command, but this time, I can’t take it any longer. Even if he is to blame me afterwards, I still want to tell you some things.” 

Qiao Anhao suppressed her tears, shouting, “I’m asking you where is Lu Jinnian? Lu Jinnian! Where is he?” 

Qiao Anhao shouted out those three sentences before stopping. Due to her loud voice, she garnered the attention of the pa.s.sers-by, but since they were seated quite far from the others, no one could hear what she had been saying. 

“I don’t know! I wanted to ask you where did he go!” the mild mannered a.s.sistant snarled, his eyes turning red. Grabbing onto the beer on the table, he chucked another large mouthful, stopping only when half the cup was gone. Slouching onto the chair, he shut his eyes for a while.When he reopened them, he was visibly calmer. He first apologized to Qiao Anhao, then said standing up, “I’ll bring you somewhere first.”

Qiao Anhao nodded. She stood up and followed behind him.

The a.s.sistant led her to the top floor of “Lijing Pavillion”, the room at the very end. He swiped the card to open the door before signaling for Qiao Anhao to enter. 

She walked in with Lu Jinnian’s a.s.sistant trailing behind her. He pointed to the balcony, signaling for her to go over there. 

It was currently night time, and since there weren’t any lights switched on, the balcony was in pitch darkness. Qiao Anhao scanned the surroundings, but all she could see was the stars and the lights from the forbidden palace. 

After about five seconds, the balcony suddenly lit up – colorful neon lights flickered continuously from all directions. From them, she could vaguely see a European style dinning table and walked over to it. There was a heart-shaped design made from candles on it, and the inside was filled with Chinese Bellflowers that had already withered. 

The candles had been burnt and were left with only half the stick. 

The poles around the balcony were decorated with beautiful flowers that had also withered. 

Where was this? 

Qiao Anhao looked around curiously. Just when she was about to ask what this place was, she caught sight of the lights in front of her.