He always sent her cute, chibi-style red fox emojis, so she’d already guessed that Zexun’s beast form was probably a red fox.

She thought of the red fox’s single tail.

"A single tail." Jiang Zheyu’s eyes twinkled. "Am I right?"

A faint, knowing smile touched Zexun’s charming eyes. His gaze turned indulgent as he looked at her. "Nope."

Just as he expected, Jiang Zheyu’s tea-colored eyes widened in surprise when she heard his answer. "Ah, really? I’m not?"

"I have nine tails." Watching her reaction, Zexun couldn’t resist gently reaching out to pat Jiang Zheyu’s head before slowly standing up straight.

Caught off guard, Jiang Zheyu simply followed his lead and stood up as well.

Zexun then lowered his hand.

It was a casual gesture, one Jiang Zheyu paid no mind to, but Zexun secretly curled his fingers after.

"Mr. Ze, you always send emojis of a fox with one tail, so I just assumed you were a one-tailed red fox," Jiang Zheyu said with a light laugh.

"Ah, that’s because there aren’t any nine-tailed fox emoji packs," Zexun replied with a faint smile.

The two of them finished touring the rest of the museum, and afterward, Zexun took Jiang Zheyu back to her villa.

Jiang Zheyu said her goodbyes and was about to head into the villa when he called out to her from behind.

"Miss Jiang, wait a moment," Zexun called.

Jiang Zheyu turned to look at him.

"Miss Jiang, you must have guessed what I’m about to do." Zexun’s faint smile was like an exquisitely beautiful flower, one that looked dangerously alluring yet was colored with an unexpected gentleness.

As he spoke, he walked to the back of the Hovercar and pulled out another large bouquet of pink roses.

"For you, Miss Jiang." Zexun offered her the large bouquet of pink roses. "I hope you like them, and that you didn’t find our day at the museum boring."

’Well, I accepted them the first time,’ Jiang Zheyu thought, ’so I might as well accept them a second time.’

She slowly accepted the pink roses from Zexun, tilting her head up slightly to look at him with a faint smile. "Thank you. But even without the flowers, I had a very interesting time at the museum with you."

"The pleasure was all mine." Zexun’s handsome eyes sparkled with a radiant smile. "I hope that whenever you see these flowers, Miss Jiang, you’ll remember the pleasant time we had."

"Mm," Jiang Zheyu smiled.

And with that, Zexun left.

Once again, Jiang Zheyu returned to her villa holding a large bouquet of pink roses.

She had her smart housekeeper, Xiaoyi, put the pink roses in a vase to be cared for.

As she did, she noticed that the flowers Zexun had sent before had already filled all the vases and were still blooming beautifully.

The smart housekeeper, Xiaoyi, was taking excellent care of the pink roses.

The pink roses really were beautiful.

’The first half is over, and the second half is about to begin,’ she mused. ’Why are there so many appointments every single day?’

Jiang Zheyu felt like a social butterfly.

Spending the morning with one man, only to spend the afternoon with another.

She quickly shook her head.

Jiang Zheyu had planned to take a Hovercar there herself, but when she reached the door, she found Feng Qi already standing there.

She was used to seeing Feng Qi in his black military uniform.

Today, however, he had specifically worn a black suit. It was pressed perfectly straight without a single wrinkle, and his hair seemed impeccably combed. She even noticed a slender, black, teardrop-shaped earring in his right ear. For a moment, he looked incredibly noble and elegant. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

It seemed he had really made an effort to dress up.

’But we’re just grabbing coffee, it’s not a date,’ Jiang Zheyu thought to herself.

"Jiang Yuyu, do I look good?" Feng Qi’s lips curled into a smile as he reached out, grabbed Jiang Zheyu, and pulled her closer. He tilted his head slightly. "Aren’t I handsome?"

"You stopped being handsome the moment you asked," Jiang Zheyu said after a pause, giving Feng Qi a complicated look.

When he was silent, Jiang Zheyu had to admit he was quite handsome. But the second he confidently asked for her validation, he suddenly seemed a lot less so.

’Handsome guys are more handsome when they’re a little humble,’ she thought.

"Jiang Yuyu, can’t you give me a single compliment? I spent a long time getting ready." Feng Qi sighed softly. He glanced at her own casual clothes—she clearly hadn’t dressed up—but he didn’t look too disappointed. "Let’s go. Time for our date."

"We’re just getting coffee," Jiang Zheyu repeated, climbing into the Hovercar with mixed feelings.

The two of them settled into the Hovercar.

"About that surveillance video you sent me," Feng Qi began slowly, "I had my men check with the sanitation department. They sent over the file on the sanitation worker Beastman who collects trash in this area. However, the one on this route is an Old Beastman. He doesn’t match the one in your video."

He paused and looked at Jiang Zheyu.

Jiang Zheyu looked back at him silently, waiting for him to continue.

"After our ’date,’ I’ll take you to the Imperial Palace," Feng Qi said, looking at her. "This is also His Highness’s wish. He has already had people prepare a chamber for you. It will be safer for you to live in the Imperial Palace."

Jiang Zheyu had no objections to this arrangement.

’In any case, the female lead is about to finish developing the serum that lowers the Beastification Value anyway.’

’At that point, the Empire will be focused on protecting her, not me.’

Thinking of this, Jiang Zheyu recalled that the original female lead was kidnapped by Si Yu even while living in the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace might be safe, but with all the different factions constantly scheming, its security seemed insufficient when someone was determined to pull off a kidnapping.

After all, the Empire’s strongest combatants were all on the front lines, not on the Imperial Capital Star.

’Thinking about it, I haven’t seen Si Yu make any moves in a while. He probably didn’t take what I said last time seriously, right? He’s probably lost interest in me by now, right?’

That thought put her at ease.

But Jiang Zheyu didn’t know she was celebrating too soon.

The coffee shop they arrived at was not the same one Jiang Zheyu had visited with Si Yu.

They found a table inside. The coffee shop was bustling with many other Beastmen and females.

"What kind of coffee do you like? Go ahead and order, it’s my treat." Jiang Zheyu had, after all, promised to buy him coffee.

"Ladies first," Feng Qi said, letting her order.

Not one to stand on ceremony, Jiang Zheyu ordered first, then looked at him. "Your turn, Captain Qi."

"I’ll just have whatever you’re having," Feng Qi said nonchalantly.

The coffee was brought to their table.

"Jiang Yuyu, do you have any idea how long my matching application has been gathering dust in your inbox?" Feng Qi’s ink-black eyes watched her quietly, the corner of his lips lifting in a wry smile.

Jiang Zheyu paused, then nodded silently. "I know."