Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Pillow Talk, Recalling Their First Meeting
Worried Lan Zhi might hear them, Ji Qingwu didn’t dare struggle too much.
Emperor Wu Su placed a hand on the small of her back and effortlessly pulled her in again.
She was like a fish on a cutting board.
All her struggles were futile. When she would be devoured was entirely up to his mood.
His voice grew husky. In an indulgent, doting tone, he said, "I see you understand everything perfectly. You’re always just playing dumb with me."
From that single sentence, Emperor Wu Su keenly sensed a change in her.
She wasn’t rejecting intimacy with him now. Instead, she was worried about her family discovering their relationship and being used by people with ulterior motives.
If Mrs. Qiao knew she was the mother of a Prince, and that Jiu Jiu was a Princess, would she still treat them as she had before? Even if Mrs. Qiao was unaffected, who knew what trouble would arise if the Qiao Family and the Ji Family were to find out.
Once a person gets a taste of power, they undergo subtle, uncontrollable changes. In their struggle to hold on to it, they become someone else entirely—just like the Empress Dowager in the palace.
How many people in this world saw power as nothing but trouble?
Ji Qingwu might be clueless about other things, but when it came to this, her thinking was exceptionally clear.
The corners of his lips curved up, and his mood brightened considerably.
Ji Qingwu was pinned against the soft bedding, her face pressed into the bed. It felt as if he had her heart in his grasp, too.
When he remained still for a moment, she stealthily tilted her head to glance at him, only to meet his smiling eyes.
She said, "Your Majesty’s mood has improved quite a bit."
’Does pinning me down make him this happy?’
Though she couldn’t fathom what the Emperor was so delighted about, Ji Qingwu stopped moving and continued to lie there, quiet and compliant.
’Perhaps some people just have... unusual preferences.’
Through the thin fabric of her clothes, Emperor Wu Su gave her soft waist a squeeze. "It was Ah Wu who told me," he said, his voice clear, "that when one is unhappy, one should eat something they love to soothe their mood."
Just as Ji Qingwu tried to escape his clutches, propping herself up on her hands to sit...
"What would Your Majesty like to eat? I’ll go—"
The next instant, her slender, willow-like waist was pressed back down into its former curve.
A solid, heavy weight pressed down on her, followed by a flurry of urgent, intense kisses from behind.
She felt herself sink into the soft mattress, forced to turn her head to the side to bear it all.
A confusing heat bloomed in her chest.
Something seemed to have set Emperor Wu Su off; he was practically bursting with excitement.
The jade hairpin in Ji Qingwu’s hair slipped out at some unknown moment. Her cloud-like tresses scattered across the sky-blue sheets, the brocade quilt long forgotten in some corner.
Her body went limp, devoid of strength. He was still buried in the crook of her neck.
Unable to bear it any longer, Ji Qingwu gave him a push, but it was so feeble it felt more like a tickle.
...
Having had his fill of his "favorite food," Emperor Wu Su’s mood was now as bright as the midday sun.
He gazed down at her. Only at times like this was she so wonderfully docile. Her misty eyes would reflect his image alone, seeing no one else.
This pliant demeanor, however, lasted but a moment.
For Ji Qingwu had noticed that His Majesty the Emperor was as energetic as a dragon and fierce as a tiger. He wasn’t tired in the slightest; his features were completely relaxed.
She finally realized she’d been trapped. While Emperor Wu Su was momentarily unguarded, she kicked her legs, bundled herself in the quilt, and—quicker than a rabbit—retreated to the corner of the bed once more.
’This time, you really can’t blame me for trying to escape. He really is going to eat me!’
The Emperor lay on his side, propping up his head in a languid pose. His gaze was gentle as he said, "Come here, Ah Wu. Just let me hold you."
What they’d just done was much more than "holding." There was no way Ji Qingwu would fall for that again. She looked down and straightened her clothes, her rejection obvious.
"Not behaving again."
He followed her to the corner of the bed, but at least they were both sitting up, still fully dressed.
Ji Qingwu knew that if she didn’t say something, she would be "conscripted" for other activities.
Her eyes shone with moisture. "Your Majesty," she said, "let’s talk for a while."
But it was as if Emperor Wu Su couldn’t speak without his hands and feet getting involved. He stole another peck from her swollen, glistening lips before magnanimously saying, "Speak."
Ji Qingwu toyed with her little finger and asked, "Earlier in the courtyard, Your Majesty said many things. How did you know that I’ve played the Konghou? I’ve never played it in front of other people."
’She wasn’t the only one hiding secrets. He was hiding quite a few things himself.’
Ji Qingwu recalled their first meeting. It must have been after she learned her "conquest mission" had gone wrong, when she had waited for him at the entrance of the camp.
Back then, sitting high atop his horse, his face was cold and severe. He hadn’t even deigned to spare her a single glance.
The man sitting on her bed now—his eyes deep, his lips curved, his expression tender—seemed like a completely different person from the man back then.
Seeing that he wasn’t answering and was just staring at her, Ji Qingwu’s face grew stern. "Why aren’t you speaking, Your Majesty?" she urged, her tone serious.
She pressed her lips together, trying to hide an inward smile. ’Finally, it’s my turn to say that!’
Emperor Wu Su looked at her meaningfully. "I’ve also been to the place where you practiced the Konghou."
Ji Qingwu thought for a moment. "I deliberately chose a secluded place to practice so I wouldn’t disturb anyone. Your Majesty saw me there?"
It was a lake about three or four li from the Northern Border Camp. Its water was as clear as a mirror, so it was called Mingjing Lake.
She said, "If I had known Your Majesty was also there for some peace and quiet, I definitely would have practiced somewhere else."
Emperor Wu Su’s mouth turned down slightly. "How thoughtful. Shouldn’t you have said you’d just stop practicing that damned Konghou?"
’Looks like the Emperor really resents that Konghou.’
"What was Your Majesty doing there?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.
But Emperor Wu Su’s expression grew strange, and he remained silent.
"What could you possibly be doing at a lakeside..." Ji Qingwu’s eyebrow shot up. "Don’t tell me Your Majesty was—"
His large hand suddenly clamped over her mouth. She blinked her bright eyes, her lips pouting as she let out a muffled hum of protest.
Emperor Wu Su pointed to the outer room.
Remembering that Lan Zhi was still sleeping outside, Ji Qingwu’s guilty conscience took over, and she fell silent.
’No wonder he didn’t make a sound to shoo me away. He couldn’t get out of the lake, so he had no choice but to endure the "heavenly music" I was creating.’
The image made Ji Qingwu’s eyes curve into crescents. She pulled his hand away. Her lips, red as rose petals, were brimming with an unconcealed smile.
Once Ji Qingwu had this epiphany, it was as if the floodgates had opened, and more realizations followed in quick succession.
As something else occurred to her, her eyes filled with anticipation. "Was the first time you saw me at Mingjing Lake, Your Majesty?"
This time, Emperor Wu Su didn’t speak. He just shook his head.
’Not at Mingjing Lake? Then where could it have been?’
Ji Qingwu racked her brain, but she was certain the first time she’d laid eyes on Emperor Wu Su was that day at the camp entrance.
Her curiosity had been thoroughly piqued, but she couldn’t get the answer.
Her cheeks puffed out. Gritting her teeth, she began to sulk.
Emperor Wu Su said, "Now you can get a taste of how I felt back then."
