Chapter 109: Well Done—Waiting to Get on Him
Little Eight was stunned silly by Nan Xun’s bold declaration. It took a long while before it stammered, “G-good… good job. I’ll just sit back and wait for you to get on him.”
Nan Xun burst out laughing, then laughed even harder. “Little Eight, didn’t you tell me that this tyrant can’t perform? I really do want to get on him, but he can’t even get it up—hahahaha…”
Little Eight choked, cursing “damn it” in its heart.
Because Nan Xun had never fully believed it and even doubted its beastly integrity, Little Eight had once explained to her the truth behind the ‘evenly shared rain and dew’ of the harem. Back then, Nan Xun had been so shocked she could have stuffed an egg into her mouth—but she believed it, and even praised the tyrant for being broad-minded enough to “hold a boat in his belly.”
So just now, it had been played by Nan Xun!
In a huff, Little Eight didn’t want to talk anymore. Nan Xun teased it a couple of times, but it ignored her, so Nan Xun hugged her blanket and went to sleep on her own—and slept especially soundly.
Early the next morning, the masked man recuperating in the outer hall was gone. Cui Huan was delighted, saying that he at least had some self-awareness, to have rolled out so early.
However, on the third night, while Nan Xun was practicing swordplay in the courtyard, a dark shadow suddenly vaulted over the wall. Holding a longsword, he engaged Nan Xun in combat.
The man’s swordsmanship was excellent. Against Nan Xun, he could counter every move. In the end, he directly used one move to knock her sword aside, and just as Nan Xun was about to fall, he stretched out his long arm and suddenly pulled her into his embrace.
Beside them, countless white locust blossoms fell from a great tree. A rain of flowers drifted down, their fragrance lingering around the two of them. Their eyes met, gazes intertwining—he dressed in black, she in a white gown, her hem fluttering in the wind, tangling and brushing against the edge of his black robes.
The scene was damn beautiful, but Nan Xun knew this man in front of her was no good bird.
Cui Huan, who had just brought over some tea, was stunned. With a bang she set down the teapot and shouted, “You lecher, let go of my lady at once!” Then she charged in with her fist.
Before Cui Huan reached them, the man had already released Nan Xun. He even bowed politely to her. “I have offended you, miss.”
Nan Xun picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground and looked at him without anger or irritation. “So you know you offended me? But what use is saying it? Shouldn’t you compensate me?”
The man looked at her quietly and asked with some curiosity, “How would you like me to compensate you?”
Nan Xun gave a light laugh. “I was joking—you took it seriously? I say, your nerve is really something. Do you think this imperial palace is a place you can come and go as you please? Aren’t you afraid some lackey of the emperor will discover you again and poke another hole in you?”
Lackey…
The man’s eyes darkened, a cold light flashing through them.
“These past two days I haven’t been able to eat or sleep. I’ve been thinking about what you said,” the man suddenly lowered his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Nan Xun blinked, feigning confusion. “What I said? Aside from telling you to get lost, did I say anything else?”
Hearing this, the fist the man had clasped behind his back tightened abruptly, as if he were forcibly restraining some anger. But soon, he relaxed his grip.
“You clearly said that we had physical contact, and you even told me to marry you,” the man said quickly, his head slightly bowed.
Nan Xun really wanted to applaud his acting. The corners of her mouth twitched upward, but she held it in.
“So what? You took it seriously and want to marry me?” Nan Xun smiled as she looked at him, a trace of mockery in her words. “A man who doesn’t even dare show his face—how dare you boast about marrying me?”
The man hurriedly said, “I can’t reveal myself right now, but if you’re willing to marry me, I’ll let you see my true face immediately.”
Nan Xun cast him a sidelong glance and said flatly, “Then have you forgotten? I’m a concubine of the harem—His Majesty’s woman.”
“So what? The emperor has three thousand beauties in his harem, but the one I want is only you.” The man stared unblinkingly at the woman before him.
His eyes were very dark and deep. When he deliberately released a gentle expression, it gave people the illusion that he was deeply in love.
Nan Xun suddenly laughed. “I say, man, are you serious? You fell in love with me at first sight? You’ve taken a fancy to me? Just because last time I gave you shelter for one night and tossed you a bottle of hemostatic medicine, you fell for me? If that’s the case, your heart moves far too easily. Such a casual man—I wouldn’t dare trust him.”
As she spoke, she tossed the sword in her hand.
With a clang, the blade landed precisely in the scabbard beside it.
Nan Xun waved her hand and walked off without looking back. “Go back. If you’re discovered by the patrolling guards again, I won’t take you in next time.”
With a bang, Nan Xun shut the door tight, blocking the masked man’s affectionate gaze outside.
The masked man didn’t explain much. The next night, however, he came again.
Standing tall beneath the locust tree, he quietly watched the woman practicing her sword, saying nothing.
Snow-white locust blossoms gently fell onto his shoulders and then slowly slid down the curve of them. A few petals lingered unwillingly, more and more piling up on his shoulders as blossoms fluttered down, until at last he, too, was steeped in that intoxicating fragrance.
After finishing a set of sword forms, Nan Xun frowned at him. “Why are you here again? Is it that your abilities are so heaven-defying you can come and go in this palace at will, or is it that you don’t want to live anymore and are in a hurry to come die?”
Beneath the mask, the man’s thin lips pressed together slightly. After a moment of silence, he said softly, “I just suddenly remembered that I forgot to tell you my name.”
Nan Xun looked at him as if he were a lunatic. “You don’t need to make a special trip just to tell me your name, because I have no interest in knowing it.”
“But I want to tell you,” the man said. “My name is… Yan Han.”
Nan Xun rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, I know now. You can get lost.”
The silver-masked man who called himself Yan Han didn’t immediately get lost after hearing this. He simply gazed at Nan Xun with dark eyes for a long while. Only when her figure was gradually swallowed by the door did he turn around and vanish into the night.
Nan Xun, who had just closed the door and was secretly peeking out through the crack, felt that the tyrant’s acting was simply superb. She was already out of sight, yet he still had to perform a scene of reluctant, lingering affection outside the door.
“Your Highness, why didn’t you just drive him away? You even talked to him for so long,” Cui Huan asked in confusion.
Nan Xun lifted the teacup from the table and took a sip, then said, “I think this kid is quite to my taste, so I’m testing him. If he really can give me a sincere heart—”
She paused slightly, then narrowed her eyes and smiled. “I wouldn’t mind putting a green hat or two on that tyrant.”
Hearing this, Cui Huan’s eyes widened like copper bells, her jaw nearly dropping.
“Y-Your Highness, you—you want to put a green hat on the emperor?” Cui Huan stammered, unable to get out a complete sentence.
