Chapter 48

Outside the meditation room, goose feather-like snow was flying, accumulating on the trunks of withered trees. With a “pa” sound, a dry branch, unable to bear the weight, fell heavily onto the snow-covered bluestone ground.

Liu Changning opened her eyes, the tea-colored pupils fading from bloodthirsty crimson, now clear and lucid.

After passion and love, one should feel tired, but perhaps due to this body being female, in such matters, the physical strength was particularly abundant.

She only dozed for a short while before the physical fatigue disappeared, and her thoughts became exceptionally clear.

Under the moonlight, the man embracing her had already fallen into deep sleep, his fair skin marked with countless dark red imprints. His angular profile still held a faint blush, and the corners of his lips retained traces of silver threads from their earlier intense moments.

His sleep was not peaceful, his long arms tightly wrapped around her, as if unwilling to let go, his legs stubbornly entwined with hers, not allowing her to break free.

Liu Changning reached out to smooth his furrowed brow, her tea-colored eyes filled with a tenderness she had never expected from herself.

“If you take my body, you must marry me!”

For the first time, a fragmented memory imprinted itself clearly in her mind.

The face of the man in red clothes and black hair in the memory fragment, as delicate as a spirit, overlapped perfectly with the face before her.

Liu Changning’s snow-white fingertips traced along his relaxed brow, down past his raven-feather eyelids, over his straight nose, and finally rested on those thin lips.

She gazed at him silently, her cherry lips parting slightly, soundlessly saying, “I’ve taken your body, may I marry you?”

The man beside her remained motionless, his nightmares seeming to recede, a smile curling along her snow-white fingertips, hanging a clean, faint smile.

Her gaze deepened as she leaned down to place a comforting post-coital kiss on the corner of his upturned lips, allowing the man with closed eyes and constant nightmares to fall into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Liu Changning’s consciousness was exceptionally clear at this moment, the sensation on her lips echoing in her heart.

There was no sudden heartbeat as described in mortal novels, nor any aftertaste or melancholy.

But the moment their lips touched, it felt right, just like the earlier indulgence, as if she had been waiting for this man for many years. If she didn’t give him her tenderness, it would be another mistake.

Liu Changning had cultivated the way of emotionlessness for thousands of years. She didn’t understand human love and had no particular feelings for men. But in all the frenzy of tonight, apart from the first time under the influence of the aphrodisiac incense, she was completely clear-headed in all subsequent demands. When she met his eyes, tinged with pleasure and pleading, she couldn’t stop, feeling only a surge of pity.

She didn’t understand love, didn’t understand where this sudden pity came from or where it would lead.

But there was a crying voice in her heart, engraved on her soul’s imprint, too thick to dissolve, desperate and sorrowful, saying, “Cang Yun, to make you remember me, I’ve used the greatest effort of this life. In this last life, can you try for a while? Find me.”

Liu Changning couldn’t bear such a near-desperate call, beating at her heart, the voice lingering in her mind, as if pushing away the man before her would one day lead to regret.

Thus, tonight she naturally took him, again and again.

Even though he never called her name, the deep and desperate love was surely for his heart’s beloved.

But at the moment when the memory fragments became clear, she saw clearly the man and woman in the fragments.

The red-clothed, black-haired man’s pleading instructions, the white-clothed, cold woman’s worry on her face, even though the image was brief, it reminded her frame by frame that it might be his previous life, as well as her own lost memories.

The voice etched deep in her soul constantly urged her to recover her memories, to find him.

Even if he was heartbroken for someone else… she owed him this wait, and she would repay it!

Deep in the night, snow was falling.

It should have been a quiet night, but footsteps came from outside the door, treading through the snow. They stopped at the wooden door, listened carefully for a while, then hurriedly left through the snow.

Liu Changning glanced at the pitch-black night, a cold smile curling at her lips.

The sounds from the Long Di Qing’s meditation room tonight had probably reached the ears of those with ulterior motives.

Since entering this Jinling City, she no longer had the opportunity to mind her own business.

Those who planned for him to enter the Second Prince’s room tonight, seeing she wasn’t there, must be stomping their feet in frustration.

When one plan fails, another is likely to be born.

If she were to walk out of Long Di Qing’s room tomorrow, it surely wouldn’t be a good thing.

She herself wasn’t afraid. Being able to become the top scholar among the poor students in Lingnan wasn’t just based on a few policy essays.

A year earlier, some of the poor female students she was friendly with had already entered the court as officials. Though their positions weren’t high, they were part of the network she had laid down.

Her reputation couldn’t be completely ruined by mere slander.

But that person…

Now in a high position of power, even a small misstep could be exploited by those with ulterior motives, creating more sordid affairs.

The pro-emperor faction could support Long Di Qing in assisting with state affairs for three reasons. First, because he could control various factions and oversee the big picture. Second, as a man, he wasn’t bound by the way of husbands, and even if his conduct was questionable, even as Long Di Qing with great power, he couldn’t shake the Empress’s authority. Third, although his behavior was frivolous and his morals flawed, he didn’t have any improper interactions with court officials or aspiring scholars.

It was precisely because of this that Long Di Qing’s position was unshakable. He didn’t affect the Empress’s status, nor did he insult the reputation of righteous female officials entering the court, and he could assist the Empress in governing.

Only such a man could appear in the court and be supported by the pro-emperor faction.

If she were to walk out of his room tomorrow, and those with ulterior motives made a big deal of it, how would he handle it?

If she wanted to marry him, she had to protect him first.

Rather than letting this clear, hot night become a tool for those with ulterior motives to manipulate court politics.

The night of the winter solstice was particularly cold. Liu Changning looked back at the man sleeping with closed eyes. He seemed extremely tired, his hair damp with sweat, forming a strand stuck to his jade-white face.