At some point Princess Yang Zi's fingers started to bleed already, from how long she kept chewing at her nails.    
She was overly anxious and moody, the servants didn't know what to do  more, for pleasing her. 
Everyone was thinking that she was in pain because king Yang, her father, had passed away a few days ago.
Nobody would have guessed that she was in such a big distress, because of a totally different reason from mourning her dad:
The new king, Wang Yibo, didn't fu*king touch yet the green rose!!!

On top of that, tomorrow morning she will start her journey for the Rose kingdom's hunting session and ball.
And the new king insisted to accompany her, for protecting her, he said...But Andy knows very well why her disgusting cousin wishes to join her!
Should she take the green rose with them, or should she wait for King Yibo to touch the rose after coming back from Rose?
No, she can't take this huge risk, what if this bastard will charm and infect prince Xiao Zhan with his homoual disease and she will have no chance to become his wife and the Rose's queen? 
What if the Peony's king will sing for who knows what reason and prince Beauty will fall in love with her cousin's divine voice, same as it happened to so many subjects from Peony kingdom, no matter if men and women?
Andy was determined to try  everything to convince the king to touch the rose before the trip to Rose! And if he will not, she will take the rose with them to Rose!

The princess had almost accomplished her goal and Yibo was about to remove the globe from the rose, when one of the kingdom's loyal spies asked for permission to talk to the king in a very important matter. Damned dammit, what a moment he chose!

Even though Yang Zi was dying to know what would be that  important matter, she knew that the king wasn't allowed to share the kingdom's political secrets with no one, therefore she left, promising to herself to not give up on her plans.

Yibo  has just finished writing into the journal about his second  encounter with Beauty,  and was about to go to sleep.
Going to sleep was just a sort of speaking, because he was going to  think about Beauty, like he was always doing at the end of the day. 

He was already in bed,  in the middle of recalling the evening when he accidentally barged into the Peony's royal bathroom, not knowing that the Rose's prince was inside,  taking a bath...oh good lord!...when ZiZi asked him to let her in.

She baked a cake  by herself, and she wanted his opinion if she would make a good wife for the Rose's heir, about whom she heard that he likes chocolate cakes.

He took a bite, even though he was not crazy about sweets,  but he didn't even have the chance to praise his cousin's baking skills, that Liu Hai Kuan asked for permission to see him, in a very important matter.

~(A/n: The second encounter with Beauty will  be presented in a separated chapter)~

After King Wang Yibo ripped the red waxed seal of the document handed by the spy,  his face got increasingly pale while reading: the document was an elaborate scheme about how to assassinate the members of the Rose kingdom's royal family, during the hunting session. 

" Hai Kuan, did you find out who wants them dead and why?", the king asked his spy, who was also his childhood friend, his trustworthy and loyal servant, as well.

"Yes, I know your highness, I stole the document from one of them. 
They are a group from the Rose nobility who plans to overthrow king Xiao by killing him, along with his heir. 
This group intends after that to enthrone king Xiao's nephew. His name is Wen  Ciao, and  I don't know what to say for sure, if he's mentally disabled, or just simply an idiot.
You can figure out why the traitors want him to be their king, as to manipulate him in the way they want."

"Does that nephew know about the group's plans?"

"Not only he does know, but also he proclaims himself as their leader. He wants to be happy, he said. 
And as stupid as he is, he believes that happiness means power, wealth, fame, also he believes that it's his right to be the Rose's king!
It got to my ears that it's not the first time. They  planned to kill the king and his heir  a few years ago, but the action  failed. They tried first to drown the prince, but someone saved him. So they got scared that  the savior could  identify the criminal, therefore they gave up on their plans to kill the king.
Then something happened to Wen Ciao, an accident or something, that  kept him half  paralyzed for a long time, until recently, when he was finally apt for the position of king, at least physically. "

"They tried to drown the prince, you say?
Oh, god, so he was right that someone pushed that rock over him?", the king shouted, puzzling his best friend, who kept asking him what was that about?

But the king dismissed his bugging:
"Nevermind, don't worry, it's nothing!
Hmm, Beauty's own blood related cousin!
How sad...
I'd be devastated to know that my own cousin, ZiZi jiějiě, would wish me dead for power, wealth and fame.
Anyways, we need a plan, go gather your team and meet me in ten minutes, but not in the throne room. I'll wait for you in my sleeping room, where nobody could listen to us! We need to be careful!"

"Your highness, I believe that it would be safer to let me and my team to take care of this,  I advise you to stay aside. 
Also, you shouldn't join the Rose's hunting session, nor you, nor princess Yang Zi, it's too dangerous!"

"There is no way to do so, I need to be there to protect him, I mean to protect Rose, the instability of a neighboring kingdom could bring war and insecurity for our kingdom, too.
As for  ZiZi, I'm sure she will want to go by all means, she waited too excitedly for this ball. 
But I put all my trust in you that you will find a way to provide her the best protection." 

After the king has decided together with Liu Hai Kuan and his team, the strategy that would be for the best of Peony kingdom's safety , and the knights were gone, Yibo's loyal servant and best friend tried one last time to convince the king to give up on the journey to Rose, but with no avail.

"No, Kuan Kuan, stop trying to convince me, because I will not make up my mind."

"Alright, as you command, your highness, I give up, but can I ask you something?"

"You can ask anything as long as it's not for trying again to make me stay home."

"No, I want to ask you about that crystal globe from the window sill.
You have never told me more details about that weird green rose."

"I have nothing to tell you more, than I've already told you. It's a present for the Peony's king from an old woman, I didn't meet her, though. Princess Yang Zi found the elder waiting at the castle's gates.
She might be a talented gardener, judging from what she was able to produce, such a beautiful and unique flower. Pity that we have never heard anymore about her, since then.
The rose is so special that I didn't even dare to remove the covering bowl.
But why do you say it's a weird flower, besides that it's green, of course?
Unique yes, but why weird?", the king asked, taking the crystal pot from the sill and placing it on the table, where the light was stronger. 

"Don't you find it strange that there is not a single drop of water in that smaller bowl the flower is resting? How can a flower live without water