Chapter 47

Fine beads of sweat flowed from her hair strands, tracing along that sharply defined profile, dissolving onto the embroidered pillow, drop by drop, as if wanting to drain all the moisture from her body.

Pei Yuanshao opened his mouth, gasping heavily.

The air was mixed with the enticing fragrance emanating from the person in front of him after their passionate encounter.

The scent was sweet but not cloying, subtle yet domineering, rushing into his throat and permeating his internal organs.

He opened his eyes wide, dazed by this mind-numbing fragrance.

The woman in front of him, however, had no intention of letting him go. Her hot breath sprayed on the side of his face, the heat dyeing his round earlobe a crimson red, spreading across his entire skin.

Her black hair was disheveled, tea-colored eyes tinged with red, brows slightly furrowed. As her thin lips parted and closed, her cold voice slid across his eardrum, reverberating in his heart.

Pei Yuanshao couldn’t distinguish what she said, only the three words “Liu Changning” occupied his entire mind.

His lips trembling, he instinctively repeated her name along with her: “Liu… Liu Changning. Mmm…”

With his call, the person’s aroused woody scent erupted like a volcano, enveloping him, quickly invading all his limbs and organs.

As waves of tremors passed through his heart, Pei Yuanshao blinked away the water droplets clinging to his eyelashes, staring intently at her moving lips, which in his memory should be cool and soft, if he were to touch them…

Once an evil thought arises, it grows like wild grass, impossible to erase.

Pei Yuanshao unconsciously tore off his clothes, but even with his garments removed, the heat did not subside.

His body shook, his arms trembling as they climbed onto her shoulders. Leaning forward, his slightly raised lips clumsily pressed against the soft cherry red before his eyes. As their lips touched, the cool temperature made his furrowed brows relax slightly.

But what followed was an increasingly strong impulse from the bottom of his heart, spreading down from his lips.

Waves of heat surged in his heart, compelling him to pull down her head impatiently, wanting to…

He actively entwined with her, his bloodshot eyes meeting her half-clear gaze.

Pei Yuanshao awkwardly averted his gaze, closing his eyes briefly before hoarsely and shamefully pleading, “Give me… If you… you feel tired, I… I’ll move myself…”

He had discarded the most precious sense of shame and dignity as a young man, because he was going mad!

He needed this passionate act of devotion to prove that she was Liu Changning, the deceased village girl, not the heartless Liu Cangyun.

This snowy night was desperately maddening.

An hour ago, under the bare bamboo grove of Nanhua Temple.

“What does it matter if I’m Guangjing! There’s one thing you’ve guessed wrong. Back then, this king didn’t go to West Qiao Village because of a scheme against you, but because of her!”

“Look at you, full of jealous hatred. The overly jealous Long Diqing is too pathetic.”

…

“Hah! Long Diqing is quite imaginative. So in your eyes, I’m that despicable. You can rest assured, from beginning to end, Jing Huan will only ever love one person in all lifetimes, and her name is Liu Changning. Whether it’s Liu Changning from West Qiao Village or the top scholar Liu Changning, they are one and the same person. I don’t believe you couldn’t recognize her?”

“You must have recognized her, Long Diqing. You’re just too cowardly to believe it! She died in accordance with fate, destruction before rebirth. The village girl back then was her. The current top scholar is also her!”

…

“Whether you believe it or not is none of my concern! If you hadn’t provoked me first tonight, insulting my feelings for her, how would I have kindly helped you break through this thin veil? It hurts, doesn’t it? It should hurt.”

“The gentleness you thought you had is all fake. That great fire back then, how could someone as clever as you not understand? It was her own doing, meant to burn away the past and future of the village girl, to be reborn anew. You are nothing but a stranger to her.”

…

“Don’t deny it so quickly! Hah! It’s not that you don’t believe, it’s that you dare not, you’re unwilling to believe. The Assistant Minister Long Diqing has always been meticulous, observing words and expressions should be first-rate. But back in West Qiao Village, you spent day and night with her, yet you couldn’t detect anything unusual about her. She was skilled in the six arts, proficient in poetry and prose. Astronomy and geography, she knew it all. Yet you didn’t know. I guess it’s not because you’re stupid, but because she intentionally concealed it.”

“Do you know why I recognized her identity as soon as she entered Jinling City? Because I spent a month with her. Although she didn’t develop feelings for me, she was honest with me…”

“Your Highness keeps talking about how deeply she cared for you, how gently she treated you. It’s particularly laughable. If you hadn’t blackmailed her with that contract, she might not even have allowed you to put on an act. It’s a shame that despite your social graces and far-sighted plans, you naively believed that her gentleness towards you was sincere. How ridiculous!”

“The truth must be cruel. The village girl Liu Changning whom Your Highness loves to the bone is not the cold-faced but warm-hearted person you thought… she was merely pretending with you. Your suffering today is largely self-inflicted.”

“I guess you’d rather believe that the village girl Liu Changning is dead than accept that she’s the living Liu Cangyun. Because if she is Liu Cangyun, Your Highness’s tragic sorrow becomes a laughable joke. Am I right?”

“Oh my! Angry from embarrassment! In this sacred Taoist place, Long Diqing dares to use violence against me! You’d better think through the consequences!”

Jing Huan’s mockery was vivid in his mind, even in his drunken state, unable to erase the constant light sneers in his ears.

If Liu Changning was indeed Liu Cangyun, her gentle treatment was all an act!

Then what was it that he loved?

If the only person in this world who gave him warmth was a liar! He must have gone mad!

So, he refused to believe.

The past and present lives of Ming De Long Diqing were full of deception and conspiracy, filth and scheming.

When he was betrayed by his close younger brother, he didn’t go mad, because he was Long Diqing Pei Yuanshao. If family affection was misplaced, he would simply take it back. In this life, he would hold a grudge and categorize him as an enemy.

When he was reborn and learned that the Empress Mother had designed this death trap to make him and his sister give way to Jing Huan, he still didn’t go mad. If the mountain wouldn’t come to him, he would go to the mountain.

All conspiracies were merely means to control the world. He could carve out a bloody path in this deadly situation.

He thought his heart was strong and resilient. But because it was her, a gentle push was enough to make it collapse.

He could avoid seeing Liu Cangyun, could disbelieve Jing Huan’s malicious provocation. He could bury his head in the sand, turn a deaf ear.

He kept trying to convince himself that person couldn’t be so heartless, she wasn’t Liu Cangyun. The village girl he loved might not have fallen in love with him, but she had genuinely treated him with kindness.

But the despair in his heart was uncontrollable.

Jing Huan said the Liu Changning he loved was a fabricated person. He wanted to argue, but couldn’t find a reason.

On this winter night, he was shivering with cold. After drinking himself into a stupor, even the last thread of clarity was almost worn away to madness.

That person must have pitied him, unable to bear seeing him deceived by villains. For the first time in two years, she appeared in his dream.

Just like that day in Huashi Town, when she suddenly appeared in the alley, supporting him step by step out of the damp and darkness.

Tonight he needed to keep her, needed her to fiercely claim him as her own, to give him overwhelming pleasure, to dispel this room’s coldness and the hollow despair in his heart.

—

The man lying on the hard bed had reddened eyes, misty with tears.

His clothes were completely removed, revealing fair skin, defined muscles, a slender waist and shapely buttocks, a handsome figure with perfect proportions.

Liu Changning, controlled by the aphrodisiac fragrance, had reached her limit.

The man before her, however, seemed determined to offer himself to her.

He clumsily bit and nibbled at the corner of her lips, but without technique, randomly pecking.

His long, slender hands trembled as they removed her clothes, his reverent expression unable to hide his confusion. He could only instinctively press close to her body, moving restlessly.

A flash of crimson passed through Liu Changning’s eyes. She used all her strength to prop herself up, distancing herself from him, and stared at him steadily.

She asked hoarsely, “It’s not too late to regret now?”

As their lips parted, a transparent silver thread stretched between them. The man at the bedside showed an expression of bewildered disappointment and desire. He hooked her neck, using all his strength to pull her back onto him.

Haltingly, he said, “I… I want you.”

After speaking, he suddenly closed his eyes and with a quick movement, reversed their positions.

Their flying strands of hair briefly touched in the air, separating instantly.

He reached out to tear off her last piece of undergarment and covered her.

His voice trembling, lips pouting with grievance: “Wife-master, how… how should I serve you? Teach me.”

Liu Changning glared at him fiercely, the last shred of reason overtaken by the aphrodisiac fragrance.

She said through gritted teeth, “Call me Cangyun!”

The person whimpered softly, drenched in sweat, but seemed to be persisting in something, not calling out her name.

At the height of passion, he only opened his mouth to gasp loudly.

That night, the red candles flickered, and moonlight spilled across the floor.

Outside, snowflakes danced, but inside was warm and cozy. The creaking of the wooden bed lasted all night.

The man and woman, both of unparalleled beauty, were entangled together, as beautiful as a painting.

Outside, batch after batch of people came, but upon hearing the ambiguous sounds from within, they quietly left.

–

Liu Changning had a dream, in which there was a grey-white space.

“Liu Cangyun, if your soul could become corporeal in the future, what would you want to do?”

“Marry you.”

“Hey, why should you marry me? I’m a man, in the mortal realm, shouldn’t I be the one marrying you?”

“Oh… I was just teasing you.”

“You old Taoist, usually so serious, I didn’t expect you to be so shameless. With your emotionless and desireless appearance, you want to marry someone? Who would fancy you.”

“Hmm!”

“But, don’t be discouraged. Look at how you walk in and out of my body every day, taking all the advantages. If you really want to take responsibility for me, I… I… I wouldn’t mind marrying you, but you’d have to find a small world where I could marry you.”

…

—

The fragments in her mind kept tumbling, broken and scattered.

The scene changed.

A man in red clothes with ink-black hair, surrounded by an ethereal aura, suddenly appeared in front of the white-robed woman kneeling in meditation.

The woman seemed to sense something. She abruptly opened her eyes, frowning, her lips pressed together as she reproached, “Chitian, be good, change back.”

The man’s ink-colored eyes rippled. He curved his lips, caught her hand, and placed it on his cheek, saying, “No! Cangyun, you’re about to leave, let me show you my appearance, alright? If later you… when I, Sword Grandpa, return to the celestial realm, you won’t be able to see me anymore. Am I handsome?”

He held her hand, stubbornly guiding her fingers to trace over his eyebrows and eyes.

“Be good, change back. You can’t keep consuming celestial spirit power. If you continue to overuse it like this, how will you be able to reassemble your sword soul that took hundreds of thousands of years to gather?” The white-robed woman sighed. She withdrew her cold fingertips, her tone serious and concerned.

She didn’t notice the fleeting sadness in the red-robed man’s eyes. He laughed carelessly, “Old Taoist Liu, since when do you talk so much? Sword Grandpa has vast magical powers… You must remember my appearance. If you can get out in the future and don’t recognize me, I’ll definitely have to punish you. What should the punishment be? How about punishing you by marrying me?”

“No…”

“Hmph, that’s not for you to decide. If you don’t recognize me, I’ll take your body first… Hahaha, with your personality, you’ll definitely have to marry me!”

—

The moment Liu Changning and Pei Yuanshao merged, she clearly saw the face of the man in her mind who called himself “Sword Grandpa”.

Red clothes, ink-black hair, black eyes, and defined lips.

She held the man beside her and fell into a deep sleep, suddenly feeling a warm surge of emotion in her heart, though she didn’t know why she had such intense feelings.

Extremely exhausted, she heard a voice from deep in her memory: “If you take my body, you have to marry me, you know!”