Chapter 137: The Decision — A Secret Meeting with Prince Xian
“Yaoyao, if I told you that this throne is something I absolutely must take, would you leave me because I can’t fulfill your wish?” Yan Mohan suddenly asked.
Nan Xun froze. That answer was rather unexpected.
After thinking for a moment, she countered instead of answering directly. “If I said I would, would Your Majesty let me go free?”
The moment Yan Mohan heard this, he seemed to go mad. He suddenly flipped over and pressed her down, viciously gnawing at her tender flesh like a ferocious beast. “Yaoyao, keep dreaming! Unless I’m dead, you can forget about leaving me for the rest of your life!”
Little Eight chose this very moment to chime in. “The big boss’s darkening value just increased by 2 points. It’s now 92.”
Nan Xun had no time to respond. Darken, then darken—this time it was a gradual darkening, which was still better than the previous bosses who snapped straight to full black mode, right? Besides, she was busy being “griddled” again, covered head to toe in hickeys—deep blue and purple, so deep they were practically about to break skin.
When Nan Xun woke up, Yan Mohan was already gone. The bedding beside her was somewhat cool—he had clearly left early.
It seemed the big boss truly valued the imperial throne. Asking him to abdicate for someone else was nothing but a fool’s dream.
For three whole days, Yan Mohan did not come to Pengyue Palace.
Cui Huan grew worried. “Your Highness, did you quarrel with His Majesty?”
Nan Xun patted her head. “It’s fine. Even ordinary couples have their bumps and scrapes, let alone His Majesty and me. In a few days we’ll be back to normal—don’t worry, girl.”
With Yan Mohan not coming to disturb her for those three days, Nan Xun took the opportunity to plan carefully. In the end, she suddenly slapped the table and made an important—and momentous—decision.
This time, Nan Xun went to White Horse Temple to fulfill a vow, but that was only the surface reason. She had already arranged to meet Prince Xian.
“His Majesty is unwilling to abdicate,” Nan Xun said bluntly.
Yan Moyu had already anticipated this outcome, so he wasn’t surprised. He gave a bitter smile. “It seems that, for the sake of the common people, my brother and I can only meet on the battlefield. Though forcing the palace is a great crime of treason, if Father Emperor knew in the netherworld, he would not blame me. This realm cannot be ruined in my imperial brother’s hands.”
“I can help you,” Nan Xun suddenly said.
Yan Moyu stared at her in shock. “Your Majesty the Empress, could it be that you intend to—”
“That’s right! But Prince Xian must agree to a few conditions. This matter will be known only to you, me, Heaven, and Earth. If you can do that, I will help you ascend the throne legitimately. But if you betray me after crossing the river, I have plenty of ways to make you infamous for all eternity!”
No one knew what the two discussed behind closed doors—only that this time, their conversation lasted an unusually long while.
Including the secret talk and the incense-burning to fulfill her vow, by the time Nan Xun left White Horse Temple, two full hours had passed.
On the road back, Little Eight calmly reminded her, “The tyrant big boss’s darkening value just rose another 5 points. It’s now 97—almost full.”
Little Eight found it rather curious. Unlike the previous big bosses, whose darkening values shot straight to the max, this tyrant’s value had started at 75 and then climbed little by little.
Trembling with unease, Nan Xun asked, “Why did the big boss’s darkening value suddenly increase? Could it be that he knows I met with Prince Xian?”
That couldn’t be it, right? Prince Xian was cautious—he wouldn’t mess up something like this.
Nan Xun felt she might be overthinking it.
Yan Mohan had already been waiting in Pengyue Palace for a long time. When he saw Nan Xun return, he pulled her straight into his arms, leaned in to sniff lightly at her neck, and said softly, “So fragrant. Yaoyao, did you bathe?”
As he spoke, his gaze was cold and gloomy, a monstrous hatred of betrayal and deception churning in the depths of his eyes.
He smelled an extremely familiar scent of sandalwood—the very kind Yan Moyu favored most.
This was the second time he had smelled it, and both times coincided exactly with Yaoyao’s visits to White Horse Temple.
This time, they had been together for a full hour. What had they been doing during that time?
A lone man and a lone woman—what else could they have been doing?!
Why did Yaoyao betray him? Why?!
He had given her his whole heart—was that still not enough? Or had she never truly forgiven his deception from the beginning, and her later compliance was merely to lull him into letting down his guard, so she could join forces with Yan Moyu to take revenge on him?
Yaoyao, you can take revenge on me—but why betray me?
The tragic thing was that even if she betrayed him, he still couldn’t bear to kill her.
Yan Mohan tightened his hold on the woman in his arms and suddenly bit hard into her neck.
Nan Xun hissed in pain and quickly pushed his heavy head away, glaring at him. “Yan Mohan, are you a dog or something? I didn’t bathe. I just went to White Horse Temple to fulfill a vow and got covered in incense smoke. I didn’t want to come back to see you smelling bad, so I changed my clothes.”
Yan Mohan looked slightly dazed. “Yaoyao… is that really all?”
Nan Xun shot him a sideways glance. “What else would it be? Sure, White Horse Temple is full of monks—but monks are still men. Would it make sense for me to bathe there? Would it?”
She said this with perfect composure, but inside she was already exploding. Little Eight, has the big boss discovered something? Has he? He must know I met Prince Xian—but how did he find out? This time I talked with Prince Xian for so long—he won’t think we were doing something indescribable, will he?
Little Eight hurriedly replied, “That shouldn’t be the case. The intelligence report he received didn’t mention you meeting Prince Xian. Prince Xian did a pretty good job keeping things confidential.”
Nan Xun was certain. “No—something’s off about him. He very likely already knows I met Prince Xian! That was close. Good thing I reacted quickly just now and didn’t give anything away.”
After hearing Nan Xun’s explanation, Yan Mohan let out a low “oh.” His gaze went blank for a brief moment, then he suddenly hoisted Nan Xun onto his shoulder and strode toward the inner chamber, all while running his mouth. “Yaoyao, I missed you—so much.”
“Yan Mohan, you—”
Through this round of “griddling,” Nan Xun keenly felt Yan Mohan’s anxiety and fear. She really wanted to explain that there was truly nothing between her and Prince Xian, but if she spoke first, she’d only be inviting trouble.
Moreover, this time the “griddling” experience was extremely unpleasant. In the past, there was always some foreplay—warming the pan, sprinkling a bit of scallions and such. But this time, that beast did nothing at all—he just picked her up and tossed her straight into the hot oil. It hurt so much she wanted to bite someone.
That beast even bit her all over, like the king of beasts patrolling his territory—once the inspection was complete and no issues were found, he stamped his mark, letting everyone know that no one else was allowed to touch what belonged to him.
The beast was pleased after his territorial patrol—but Nan Xun was not. Very much not.
She became even more convinced that the decision she’d made was the right one. This beast had grown too accustomed to comfort and privilege. Sooner or later, he needed to taste a bit of hardship.
