Li Yue walked toward Meng Fu. Qingping was somewhat afraid of him, yet firmly shielded Meng Fu by her side, like a little hen protecting her chick when an eagle swoops down.
Li Yue clicked his tongue. Just a few days ago, Qingping was still addressing her as “Madam this” and “Madam that” in front of him — this change was too fast.
Qingping immediately noticed that this look of his was somewhat familiar, and she quickly understood — the miss’s pretentious behavior back at the marquis manor earlier must’ve been learned from this person.
Following this line of thought further, when the miss often went out afterward and didn’t bring her along, she was most likely going out to meet this person.
Why did the miss make things so troublesome! Wouldn’t it be easier to just bring this person directly into the marquis manor?
Qingping truly couldn’t figure out what Meng Fu was thinking. Meng Fu opened her mouth and said to her: “Qingping, go help me boil a kettle of water.”
Qingping turned her head to glance at Meng Fu. She knew that the miss wanted to send her away. She didn’t feel at ease letting the miss be alone with this man, but the reality was that, without her knowing, the miss had already met with him who knew how many times. Even if she was uneasy, it was already too late.
Unwillingly, Qingping walked toward the small kitchen in the back, dragging her steps, turning back every three steps.
Once she was out of sight, Li Yue pulled Meng Fu into the room. With a pretentious sigh, he said, “Why is she like that? Is she afraid I’ll eat you?”
Meng Fu glanced at Li Yue and said to him, “Your Majesty, if you didn’t tease her, how would she be like that?”
Li Yue rubbed his chin and said to Meng Fu, “Actually, the steward and the eldest young lady aren’t bad either — that’s how it’s written in the storybooks.”
Your Majesty didn’t used to read those things, right? Meng Fu looked at Li Yue with some doubt and asked him, “How come you’re reading storybooks now?”
“Just browsing casually.” Li Yue shut the door behind him. Originally, he wanted to see how those storybooks described winning over girls’ hearts, but what he found was mostly the author’s self-indulgent fantasies — neither literary nor martial. Why would any eldest young lady follow them?
Meng Fu looked at the tightly closed door behind Li Yue and didn’t say anything. She just said, “Your Majesty, you still have to attend court tomorrow.”
As soon as the word “attend court” came out, Li Yue’s face immediately showed a few clear traces of reluctance. Happy days were truly short-lived. He opened his arms and said to Meng Fu, “Then why don’t you come over and let me hold you?”
Meng Fu let out a low laugh. She walked over, stood on tiptoe, and kissed his cheek. Li Yue took the opportunity to pull her into his embrace — the scene in the Zichen Hall during the day reappeared here.
With soft fragrance and warm jade in his arms, Li Yue kept telling himself in his heart to restrain himself, but still couldn’t help but swiftly steal Meng Fu’s breath, breaking into her lips and teeth, launching an all-out assault.
Meng Fu lifted her hand, wrapped it around his neck, and cooperated with Li Yue to deepen the kiss.
The twilight light filtered through the window gauze, casting a faint layer of light and shadow over the two of them. A light sweet fragrance drifted in from somewhere, carrying an undetectable trace of alcohol, quietly intoxicating anyone within.
A long while later, the two sat on the bed. Meng Fu leaned into Li Yue’s arms, her right hand clutching the front of his robe, her left hand interlaced with his fingers, breathing softly.
Li Yue’s other hand was wrapped around Meng Fu’s waist. He let out a light sigh: “Still have to wait another half a year.”
Meng Fu thought for a moment, then reminded him: “Your Majesty, half a year later is only when the matter is made public. By then, you’ll probably have to argue with the court officials for some time. The Astronomical Bureau will also have to choose an auspicious date, and we still have to prepare for the grand wedding. It’ll take at least another two or three months.”
Li Yue: “……”
“I’ve changed my mind, A’Fu.” His chin rested on Meng Fu’s shoulder, his warm breath brushing against her neck. Meng Fu felt as though his warmth was spreading from every point of contact between them, completely wrapping around her.
She raised the hand curled in front of her chest and lightly patted Li Yue’s back twice as comfort. Then her hand slowly slid down along his spine. Her five fingers lifted and fell one after the other, like playing a piano.
Li Yue held himself back and held himself back, then gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, “Don’t you go teasing me.”
Meng Fu found his reaction amusing. She simply used her finger to start writing words on His Majesty’s back. But before she could even finish writing one character, His Majesty, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly jumped up with a whoosh and even took two steps back.
Meng Fu tilted her head up and asked, knowingly yet feigning ignorance, “Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”
Li Yue glared at her and said, “Didn’t I tell you not to tease me!”
Meng Fu glanced at her own hand, then looked at Li Yue again and asked innocently, “Did I?”
“A’Fu, you’ve turned bad now.” Li Yue sighed and made a pained and indignant expression.
He walked over again, stopped in front of Meng Fu, bent down, and imitated the way Meng Fu had done earlier — his fingertips lightly wandered across her back. Through several layers of clothing, wherever his fingertips passed, it felt like it was about to burn.
Meng Fu was twenty-two years old this year — not a little girl who knew nothing. She leaned into Li Yue’s embrace, her body trembling slightly, letting out a vague and ambiguous soft moan. In an instant, Li Yue felt this wasn’t seducing A’Fu anymore — it was torturing himself.
Li Yue stopped his hand. His voice was low and hoarse as he said to Meng Fu, “If you keep doing this, I really won’t be able to hold back.”
Meng Fu lifted her head and looked at Li Yue. Her eyes were wet and glistening. Li Yue was staring straight at her, and in those pitch-black pupils, it seemed like flames were leaping.
Meng Fu closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she raised her head again, the emotion on her face had faded quite a bit. She said to Li Yue, “Your Majesty, it’s getting late. If you continue staying here, Qingping outside will start to worry.”
Li Yue looked at her in surprise. He opened his mouth and, after a long moment, blurted out, “A’Fu, your face-change is way too fast!”
Meng Fu tilted her head slightly and smiled. “Shall I go outside and give you some time to calm down?”
“…No need. Just let me hold you again,” Li Yue said, then sat down and pulled Meng Fu back onto his lap.
This time, His Majesty was much more well-behaved. After quite a while, as his desire gradually subsided, His Majesty truly had to leave. He gave Meng Fu a heavy kiss on the lips before standing up.
Meng Fu rose to help straighten his clothing. Just before Li Yue left, he said to her: “Oh right, don’t tell Qingping about my identity.”
Meng Fu asked him: “What did Qingping do to provoke you?”
Li Yue replied: “Nothing, just teasing her.”
The sky had completely darkened. A silver moon hung in the night sky. Meng Fu saw Li Yue off to the door, and only when his figure disappeared at the end of the long street did she turn around and go back inside the residence.
In the courtyard, the moment Qingping saw Meng Fu return, her face immediately showed an expression as if she were about to cry. Even if her young miss had divorced the Marquis of Xuanping, she still shouldn’t end up with a steward, right? That man might not even have shed his slave status yet.
Qingping’s heart was filled with deep anxiety as she asked Meng Fu, “Miss, are you really going to be with him in the future?”
“Yes,” Meng Fu nodded. She instructed Qingping, “Don’t mention this matter to anyone else.”
“Of course I know I can’t tell others!” Qingping cried out.
Did they take her for a fool? Her young miss — the eldest daughter of the Meng family, former wife of the Marquis of Xuanping — ending up with a steward, if word got out, people would definitely mock her.
Qingping felt her baseline standards were gradually lowering. She took a deep breath and asked Meng Fu, “Then… is he of good status?”
His Majesty did not allow her to reveal his identity to Qingping, and Meng Fu had no intention of saying more. She only said to Qingping: “You’ll know in the future.”
Qingping automatically interpreted this as meaning that the man was of slave status — meaning he hadn’t yet redeemed his contract of indenture, and it was unknown when he could regain his freedom.
Qingping pulled a long face, her expression like one mourning the death of a loved one.
Meng Fu saw her like this and truly pitied her. She came over, raised her hand, and patted Qingping’s cheek, saying to her, “It’s not as bad as you think. He’s very good.”
But Qingping didn’t believe a word of it. She felt that her miss was now completely bewitched by that man, so naturally everything about him looked good to her.
Qingping moved her lips, wanting to say a few more words to persuade her, but when she saw the faint smile on Meng Fu’s face under the moonlight, she swallowed all her words back down.
Right now, the young miss looked much happier than when she was at the Marquis Manor. In those last few months before the divorce, even though the young miss had been spirited and fierce like a whirlwind in the manor, Qingping had always felt something about it was unreal — like a dream. One day, that dream would end, and the young miss would return to her old lifeless self.
Only now was Qingping certain that she had truly come back to life.
Since the miss was happy, then there really wasn’t anything bad about it.
Let’s just hope he never fails her in this lifetime.
After returning to the palace, Li Yue told Gao Xi to prepare a gift to send to Pang Huazhen. Pang Huazhen, who did fortune-telling at home, received His Majesty’s thank-you gift and was utterly bewildered. Why was His Majesty acting so strangely, sending him such things?
He racked his brains in the middle of the night, finally coming up with a very terrifying guess — the emperor must have taken his medicine and didn’t get any results, and now was planning to beat him up tomorrow. This gift was advance payment for the medical fee.
This guess was kind of far-fetched, but when placed on His Majesty, it somehow made perfect sense.
Poor Divine Physician Pang was tormented by this thank-you gift and didn’t sleep all night.
After the news of the divorce between the Marquis of Xuanping and his wife spread, everyone who heard of it was curious about the reason behind their separation.