Chapter 33

Liu Changning narrowed her eyes. She stepped forward, bent down, and pinched a corner of his undergarment.

Jing Huan’s body trembled, his heart quivering uncontrollably. Their “emotion demon” clan was born with strong desires. Such contact without clothes between would ignite intense fire.

Although he had now become an ordinary mortal, the evil thoughts of the emotion demon clan remained deep in his soul.

Liu Cangyun was the person he had thought about for five hundred years, a yearning that burned day and night.

Even if she gave him one more cold glance, he would be willing to die on her.

The body he now inhabited was instinctively sensitive to women’s scent.

When she approached, his body and soul were filled with a sense of emptiness, wanting. A strong desire he couldn’t control or suppress.

He abandoned the dignity of a demon lord, just because he craved her body.

Originally thinking this seduction would again be a vain hope, but if there was even a sliver of possibility, even clumsy enticement, he was willing to do it.

Their emotion demon clan, once such terrible desire arose, would stop at nothing to obtain it, doing everything possible…

Even if they failed, there would still be another chance waiting to hunt.

He was going back to the capital. If this seduction didn’t succeed.

In the future, with the entire country in his hands, she would still be his.

All land within the four seas belongs to the sovereign, all people within the realm are subjects of the sovereign.

When the emotion demon clan falls in love, it’s an entanglement for lifetimes, willing to destroy heaven and earth. Love turns to hate, love turns to fear.

He thought in this life, he could proceed slowly, but he overestimated himself.

He wanted…

Jing Huan trembled, desire bursting forth from his eyes.

Her body exuded a faint scent of grass and wood, not strong.

But as the distance between them grew closer, that fragrance directly entered his slightly parted mouth, penetrating his lungs, forcefully invading his entire body.

Jing Huan’s legs went weak, his whole body seeming to ignite. He had no strength to speak, only panting heavily, his crimson phoenix eyes staring longingly at her cool fingertips on the corner of his clothes.

Those slender white fingers pinched his undergarment, moving upward…

Completely covering his exposed skin…

Liu Changning reached out to help him pull his clothes together, covering that large expanse of exposed fair skin.

Jing Huan tilted his head, a flash of confusion passing through his crimson eyes, and he leaned forward a bit more.

The woman before him looked straight at him with a pair of cold eyes.

Liu Changning stared at him for a moment, then sternly reprimanded: “As a gentleman, isn’t it shameful to casually undress in front of a woman? Even if you like someone, you should have dignity. Self-respect is the foundation for loving others.”

Jing Huan looked at her in a daze, feeling waves of disappointment, but her scolding was the reason he liked her.

Others liked her for her peerlessly elegant appearance, but what he liked was her emotionless and desireless nature, yet respecting others more than anyone else.

Liu Cangyun was a very strange person. She was emotionless and desireless, as if cultivated to madness, yet she was more frank and pure than anyone else.

She innately possessed the concept of treating everyone equally, with no high or low, noble or base in her eyes, all things were equal.

Thus her occasional seriousness, in others’ eyes, in the eyes of her former disciple Jing Huan, was the most moving gentleness in this world.

Although the thoughts in his heart were hard to extinguish, Jing Huan did not continue to remove his clothes to seduce her. He stood dazed in place, greedily inhaling her cool fragrance. After five hundred years of ups and downs, finally regaining such unintentional gentleness, he was unwilling to destroy it.

Liu Changning fully fastened his clothes before straightening up.

She said coldly: “If you have nowhere to go, tomorrow I will personally go to the village head’s house to find another household for you to stay with. My home can no longer accommodate you.”

Having already anticipated this outcome, Jing Huan wasn’t too disappointed. He forcibly suppressed the sudden surge of emotions and desire, tugged at his mouth, and said hoarsely: “Can’t I… stay?”

Liu Changning firmly shook her head at him and said softly: “No. I don’t like anyone.”

“It’s alright, I’ll wait.”

Jing Huan said eagerly, his eyes full of fervor. Liu Changning had seen such looks many times in her several lifetimes, yet it didn’t stir even a ripple in her heart.

Not liking means not liking. No matter how humble one is, it’s useless to force feelings that can’t be obtained.

Liu Changning shrugged, her patience exhausted, unwilling to waste more words with him.

She turned and walked towards the door.

Jing Huan understood her. It was precisely because he understood that he knew he had no way to keep her this time.

Once she turned away, she became extremely cold, all gentleness seeming to vanish like a fleeting dream, leaving no trace on that cool face.

This was the real Liu Cangyun, not absolutely cold, but also capable of being ruthless.

Her occasional unintentional consideration made anyone who interacted with her fall hopelessly in love with her.

Hatefully, she would turn her back, pat her clothes, and withdraw all that gentleness.

Jing Huan narrowed his eyes. If he couldn’t have her through humble pleading, the worst case would only be to imprison and keep her. In this life, he wanted her to belong only to him.

He called out hoarsely to the woman at the door, dejectedly: “If my lady is going to drive me away, I will leave. But could I stay one more night, to cook for you one last time?”

Liu Changning’s steps paused: “Fine, if you insist, staying one more night is no problem. Considering you’ve worked diligently in my home this past month, I’ll give you a piece of advice: if obsession isn’t removed, it harms both oneself and others. In future interactions, keep your thoughts proper.”

Jing Huan dazedly agreed, her words reminding him of his master’s earnest teachings on Mount Canglang years ago.

Just the two of them on Mount Canglang, beautiful as a dream.

—

Liu Changning stepped out of the washroom threshold and immediately saw the red-clad man outside the door. He seemed to have been watching for a long time, yet also as if he had just passed by.

Those complex peach blossom eyes unexpectedly met hers.

He was stunned for a moment, quickly averting his gaze, pointing at the washroom, stammering and trying to cover up: “I came to wash my hands.”

Liu Changning nodded: “Oh.”

She brushed past his shoulder as she walked by. A flash of disappointment passed through Pei Yuanshao’s eyes.

Just now, he had clearly heard their conversation inside the washroom from outside.

As he expected, she indeed said “No.”

But today, hearing her reject another man with his own ears, admitting she wouldn’t fall in love with anyone.

While feeling relieved, his heart was left with mostly a heavy sourness.

If only the difference between them was just status, he could work hard to create opportunities for her, let her go to school to study and become literate. No matter her future achievements, she would still be the most honored wife-master, protected by the Mingde Emperor.

If it was because of the undercurrents in the court behind him, assassination plots, fearing to implicate her, he could speed up the process of closing the net, personally resolve the dark currents in the court, and then come back to find her.

If she despised his bad reputation, he could even take off his clothes and let her see the cinnabar birthmark on his lower body to prove his innocence. He could explain to her in person that he wasn’t promiscuous at all. No woman had ever touched even a corner of his clothes, it was all pretense.

If she…

These days, when he realized the thoughts in his heart had unknowingly taken root, sprouted, and grown into a towering tree that could not be shaken.

Pei Yuanshao thought, perhaps he still had a way, he could make himself try to be better, find ways to remove the difficulties between them.

That’s why he had that letter of recommendation for the academy personally written by Grand Tutor Jia.

That’s why he had been going out early and returning late to set things up recently. He wanted to close the net on the situation in the Northern Border. He had found the person he wanted, and if she didn’t mind him, they could live a life of one couple for eternity. He was willing to do his utmost to deal with the mess behind him.

The peach blossoms would bloom in the third month, his mansion needed a wife-master who, though ordinary, filled his chest with happiness.

After figuring this out, even working day and night, he felt it was worth the effort.

But today, her cold rejection of others was like a bucket of cold water, thoroughly dousing all his passion, leaving no room for hope.

The man inside said he would wait for her, and he wanted to say he would wait too.

But he couldn’t force her to do things she didn’t like in the name of love. In his previous life as a spirit, that scene of mistaken love between monarch and subject in Qianqing Palace taught him that respecting the other person should come first in love.

So he couldn’t force her.

Pei Yuanshao clutched his chest, his expression pained. The fondness he couldn’t express, the longing destined for despair. Held in his heart, it ached.

He supported himself against the wall with one hand, his eyes dim.

Unexpectedly, the light before him was suddenly blocked by a shadow.

Liu Changning had turned back. She lowered her head, carefully looked him over, staring at the abdomen his hand was covering, and asked displeased: “Did you get into trouble outside again and get injured?”

Liu Changning stood backlit, patting her own shoulder. She frowned, saying with distaste: “Always causing trouble. Lean on my shoulder, I’ll help you back to your room first.”

“I…”

Liu Changning glanced at him sideways, and Pei Yuanshao swallowed the explanation about to leave his mouth.

He nervously glanced at her not-so-broad back and carefully leaned against it.

Just like that day in the alley of Huashi Town, she supported his arm and slowly helped him back to his room, step by step.

The familiar heartbeat filled his chest cavity. Pei Yuanshao could only awkwardly cover his chest, trying to hide the drum-like noise.

The long-missed scent of grass and wood from her body reached his nose, and that intense despair in his heart was completely dispelled by this sudden, unexpected gentleness.

Liu Changning supported him and settled him on the bed in the inner room.

“Is the wound serious? Do you need me to help apply medicine?” she asked flatly with her arms crossed, her face showing a hint of impatience, but she didn’t turn to leave.

A flash of disappointment passed through Pei Yuanshao’s eyes. He had thought she treated him differently, but looking carefully, there was no love in her eyes. Her occasional consideration was just the innate gentleness in her bones.

He lowered his head, hiding the uncontrollable disappointment on his face.

He said softly: “I’m not injured, just had some discomfort in my chest earlier.”

After speaking, he opened his mouth and dejectedly said to her: “Thank you.”

Liu Changning looked suspiciously at her convenient husband sitting quietly on the bed.

She couldn’t help asking: “Are you really alright?”

Pei Yuanshao kept his head down, thinking of the scene in the bathroom earlier when she helped someone pull up their clothes. Feeling angry and ashamed, he said: “It’s nothing. The man next door needs your concern more, what am I?”