Meng Fu lowered her head to look at Li Yue. His Majesty’s acting had never been any good. Right now, he looked like a well-fed big cat who had just been groomed, only lacking the big characters “I’m so happy” written on his face, yet he could actually vow solemnly that he was still angry.
She slightly tilted her head, the corners of her lips held a smile, her expression somewhat playful. She just stood in place without moving.
Li Yue probably knew he couldn’t deceive A’Fu. A’Fu had kissed too quickly just now, and now that he wanted to savor it again, he couldn’t even grasp the feeling. Li Yue worked hard to put on an angry expression and said to Meng Fu, “You kissed me just now without permission, hurry over and let me kiss you.”
But before he could finish speaking, he couldn’t hold it in and started laughing first.
Meng Fu also followed with a light smile, lips pressed together, her eyes curved.
The sunlight was warm, wisps of blue smoke curled up from the golden incense burner, lingering all around.
Last night, Li Yue had read a few romance storybooks, and had a whole night of jumbled dreams. He thought that just yesterday he had only held A’Fu’s hand, and should take it slow, so as not to scare her. But instead, he got a shock from A’Fu this morning. His Majesty had been taken advantage of for nothing—where was he supposed to put his face?! He must reclaim his dignity!
Seeing that Meng Fu didn’t come coax him, His Majesty simply stood up himself and turned to face Meng Fu.
Meng Fu still stood where she was. His Majesty took a step forward, abruptly shortening the distance between them. His shadow enveloped Meng Fu, as if he had already pulled her into his embrace.
That step of his seemed to land right on Meng Fu’s heart. Her lashes trembled lightly, countless thoughts entangled within her mind, but all floated away lightly with His Majesty’s footsteps, leaving only the sound of her heart pounding fast.
His Majesty might still be worried about offending Meng Fu. He lowered his head and gently raised a few strands of hair hanging down her forehead, asking her, “A’Fu knows what I’m about to do, right?”
Meng Fu certainly knew what he wanted to do. She also knew that if she said “don’t” now, His Majesty would definitely step back.
His Majesty was tall, nearly a full head taller than her. His whole body was taut, like a beast poised to pounce during a hunt. She tilted her head up to meet His Majesty’s eyes. His lower eyelids were slightly tensed, his dark pupils like a bottomless well, and within them seemed to flicker flames.
Meng Fu moved her lips but in the end said nothing. She nodded at him.
Li Yue carefully pulled Meng Fu into his arms, lowered his head, and placed a light kiss on her forehead. His hand brushed across Meng Fu’s cheek, and he murmured, “I won’t do anything else. I just want to kiss you.”
Actually, last night when Li Yue confiscated some erotic storybooks from the hidden guards, someone had even sneakily inserted two volumes of fire-avoiding diagrams [a euphemism for erotic illustrations or sex-ed manuals]. When Li Yue saw them, he was utterly speechless. Did they think he was an idiot? He was already twenty-three, how could he not understand this stuff?
His palm was rough and hot. His lips stayed by Meng Fu’s cheek, lingering at the corner of her mouth, kissing again and again. Meng Fu slightly tilted her head, enduring His Majesty’s rain-like kisses. She felt as if the heart in her chest was about to explode. It was her first time being so close to a man. Meng Fu had thought she could always remain calm no matter what. Though she had felt nervous and shy after kissing His Majesty’s cheek earlier, it hadn’t been enough to make her lose composure. She could even quickly adjust her mood and admire His Majesty’s embarrassment. Yet now, faced with His Majesty’s kisses, Meng Fu was finally at a loss.
Li Yue perhaps felt the position wasn’t intimate enough. He turned and sat down, placing Meng Fu on his lap. He rarely showed his forceful side in front of Meng Fu, but his nature always carried a trace of ferocity and possessiveness. His kisses, at first still gentle, gradually turned into ones that wished to swallow all of Meng Fu whole.
His lips brushed past Meng Fu’s lips. Meng Fu’s breath hitched. Her eyes fluttered open slightly, meeting Li Yue’s gaze. In the end, she didn’t retreat and opened her lips in coordination with His Majesty.
She was sitting sideways on Li Yue’s lap, His Majesty’s hands clasped around her waist. Their warm breaths mingled. His Majesty’s palms were scorching, and her body seemed to start melting from where he touched her. She vaguely saw the dazzling lights of the Lantern Festival, tens of thousands of river lanterns floating on the water. As the pebble in the boy’s hand was thrown into the water, rings of ripples spread outward. The reflections within broke apart, but not long after, they gathered again.
After a long while, that lingering kiss finally ended. Li Yue reached out and brushed aside the strands of hair hanging over Meng Fu’s forehead. Her lightly colored lips were slightly parted, her cheeks tinged with red, and her eyes were shrouded in a thin layer of mist. When she looked up at him, her gaze was especially shimmering and full of emotion.
Li Yue had never seen Meng Fu like this before, and suddenly felt the Zichen Hall was a little too hot. He should drink a cup of water to suppress the heat in his body—but he was still reluctant to let go of the Meng Fu in his arms.
During the time when he and Meng Fu had switched bodies, even though he had tried very hard to avoid seeing or touching certain things that should not be seen or touched, in daily life it was still unavoidable to have those contacts. But at that time, His Majesty was a proper gentleman, nicknamed “Liu Xia Hui,” and had no improper thoughts whatsoever. [“柳下惠” (Liu Xia Hui) – a historical figure known for strict self-restraint, famously sat with a woman on his lap without any indecent thoughts.]
But now, A’Fu was sitting fully clothed in his lap, and His Majesty’s mind was instead full of impure junk thoughts.
This really shouldn’t be the case.
His Majesty reflected on himself for a moment—then still wanted to continue.
“A’Fu…” Li Yue’s voice was low and slightly hoarse. He seemed to give a soft sigh, “My A’Fu.”
Meng Fu let out a soft “mm” and replied to him, “Your Majesty.”
Li Yue lowered his head, his lips landing on her fair neck, causing Meng Fu to tremble lightly. She truly had no strength, could only grasp tightly at Li Yue’s robes with both hands. She heard His Majesty whisper by her ear: “I really want to marry A’Fu right now.”
Meng Fu’s heart softened. When Li Yue lifted his head, she leaned forward slightly and gave a peck at the corner of Li Yue’s lips as comfort, then quickly retreated again.
Li Yue felt his body grow even more heated, but he knew his limits. Before the formal wedding, before A’Fu became his wife, what he could and couldn’t do—he was clear about all of it.
He was just a little impatient.
Li Yue had once thought he wasn’t fond of women.
Like hell he wasn’t! He just wanted to kiss his A’Fu, wanted to take her with him wherever he went.
When Gao Xi came in, he saw the two embracing each other, acting lovey-dovey. Although Eunuch Gao had no such worldly desires, he still understood this kind of situation. Young people, after all—especially His Majesty, who, now in his twenties, had finally fallen for a girl—being unable to restrain himself was perfectly reasonable. If he were like himself, with no such desires, that would be the real problem.
Eunuch Gao really didn’t want to disturb His Majesty at this time, but if they went along with His Majesty’s wishes, they might still be kissing come tomorrow morning.
It was Meng Fu who noticed Eunuch Gao’s arrival first. She placed her hands on Li Yue’s chest and pushed the emperor away with a bit of force.
His Majesty hadn’t kissed enough yet, and just when he was about to kiss her again, sensing Meng Fu’s resistance, he stopped immediately. Only, his eyes revealed a trace of confusion, as if saying, Why stop now? I’m going to be angry!
His Majesty was truly too adorable. Meng Fu suddenly forgot how this “adorable” emperor had just moments ago aggressively stolen her breath away. She softly reminded him, “Eunuch Gao is here.”
Li Yue raised his head, and sure enough saw Gao Xi standing at the entrance of the hall. A trace of impatience showed on his face. Gao Xi received a sharp look from His Majesty, but he had no choice. If he didn’t come in, the Empress Dowager would start getting anxious. He spoke: “Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager asks that you go over for a moment.”
Li Yue gave a reluctant “mn,” then planted another kiss at the corner of Meng Fu’s lips before unwillingly letting go. When Meng Fu stood up, Li Yue helped tidy up her slightly loosened and messy clothes, then began to fix his own.
Meng Fu glanced toward Eunuch Gao. Eunuch Gao still stood at the doorway, his body slightly bent in a respectful posture, his gaze on his nose, nose on his heart [a Taoist meditative phrase implying deep focus or, in this case, avoiding seeing what shouldn’t be seen], putting on the appearance of someone completely unaware of what had just occurred inside the Zichen Hall.
Meng Fu lifted her hand to press her forehead. She had never imagined that one day, she would do such a ridiculous and wild thing.
If she told her past self what had just happened, she would definitely think she had gone mad.
She and His Majesty had only just confessed feelings yesterday, and now today it had already reached this stage—the pace really was a bit too fast. But in this world, some grow old together as strangers, while some feel like old friends upon first meeting. She just really, really liked His Majesty. His Majesty liked to be close to her—how could she not feel the same?
She had left the Marquis’ manor, left the Meng family, broken away from her past constraints. She was now free. She could stop hiding her joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, and try her best to face her true feelings.
The Empress Dowager had been waiting in Cining Palace for a long time before finally seeing Meng Fu and Li Yue come in, one after the other. From Gao Xi’s mouth, she had already heard that the Emperor had changed clothes early in the morning and left the palace to fetch someone. Upon hearing this, and hearing that he had even specially changed into coarse cloth clothing to disguise himself as a coachman—she honestly didn’t know what to say.
Call him clever? If she hadn’t pointed it out to him, he wouldn’t even have realized he liked that girl.
But say he’s completely clueless? He could still go and do something like that.
The Empress Dowager asked Meng Fu a couple of questions about the matter of the divorce. She felt that the young lady before her seemed somewhat different from the last time they met. She didn’t think much of it, only assumed Meng Fu was affected by the divorce, and inevitably felt tender affection toward her. Her tone grew increasingly gentle.
After asking Meng Fu, the Empress Dowager turned to look at Li Yue. She did not avoid Meng Fu’s presence and directly said to Li Yue: “Your Majesty, Aijia knows you are in a rush to bring A’Fu into the palace, but A’Fu has only just divorced Xuanping Marquis. You should at least wait half a year, right?”
Li Yue frowned and said: “Isn’t half a year a bit too long?”