Chapter 39 You won't even coax me with a single word?

For some reason, she suddenly remembered the monsters in the storybooks, the foxes that turned into people, didn't they like to lure people into making mistakes in the middle of the night?

The thought only lasted a moment before she immediately dismissed it.

Fox spirits and ghosts are ethereal and elusive things. Even if they truly existed, they wouldn't travel thousands of miles to find her in a secluded mansion. It's probably Li Shangxuan.

She lay still, pretending not to hear.

A moment later, Liu Ye'er walked in from the outer room. "What are you doing, Miss? Why are there strange noises coming from inside..."

Wasn't Liu Ye'er asleep last time? Why is she still awake this time?

Yang Qing quickly said, "You must have misheard. Okay, go out now. I'll call you if I need anything."

Liu Ye didn't think much of it and went to the outer room again.

Yang Qing enjoys being alone; she's gotten used to it.

As soon as she left, the knocking on the window started again. Yang Qing suppressed her anger, got out of bed, put on her shoes, and opened the window. Sure enough, she saw Li Shangxuan, that dog, standing by the window, looking at her with a smile.

Yang Qing was furious. She lowered her voice and said, "Are you crazy?"

Li Shangxuan skillfully pinched her puffed-up cheeks: "Don't you like this?"

Yang Qing asked, puzzled, "What do I like?"

Li Shangxuan said, "Adultery, isn't that what the book you're reading is about?"

He did indeed look, and Yang Qing blushed. "I don't like you, and I don't want to have an affair with you."

Li Shangxuan said, "Indeed, we can't be considered to be having an affair. You can think of us as strangers, or perhaps as one of the guards?"

Yang Qing said sullenly, "You really want to be cuckolded. If you actually get pregnant one day, don't get angry again."

Li Shangxuan's eyes turned cold: "You still want to cuckold me?"

He had investigated for a long time but found no evidence that Yang Qing had an affair with anyone. He had been relieved, but after hearing what she said, the feeling of suspicion and jealousy resurfaced, and his smile turned cold.

He warned again, "If you dare, see how I deal with you."

Yang Qing was both angry and aggrieved: "Why are you so domineering? You always say such irresponsible things, and I only said one sentence, and you threatened me so fiercely. I hate you so much."

She spoke in a low voice, but the inner and outer rooms were only separated by a curtain. Liu Ye'er must have overheard their conversation and burst in unexpectedly, "Miss, did you hear anything...?"

She couldn't say anything more. There was nothing obstructing the view from the window, and she easily saw the two people talking through it.

Her mouth seemed to have lost its own for a moment, and Liu Ye ran out as if fleeing the night.

Li Shangxuan simply jumped in through the window. Yang Qing got angry and said, "It's all your fault! Now that everyone has seen us, how am I supposed to face anyone after this?!"

Li Shangxuan took her hand, feeling puzzled. Although she was cute when she was angry, why did she always get angry whenever she saw him?

She whispered comfortingly, "It's alright. We're a legally engaged couple now. Even if word gets out, it won't be a big deal. Besides, your maid can't hide our affair from you."

Yang Qing naturally believed that Liu Ye'er wouldn't talk nonsense, but she still glared at Li Shangxuan, "You're always like this."

Li Shangxuan stroked her face, his lips already very close, almost touching hers if he lowered his head even slightly.

Yang Qing was nervous, wondering when this lecherous man would take advantage of her again.

But the kiss she imagined never came. It was as if he just wanted to talk to her like this: "What am I always like? If you dare to see another man, I'll lock you up and make sure you never see anyone."

Why are you standing so close when you're just talking?

His warm breath fell on her face. His words were dangerous and ambiguous. Even without being explicitly stated, Yang Qing knew what kind of situation she would face if he locked her up...

She blushed just thinking about it. She wanted to push him away, but Li Shangxuan didn't budge. She tried to turn her head away, but he held her face and wouldn't let her move.

Yang Qing said, "You're shameless."

She actually had a lot of curses in her head, some of which she had read in books and some she had heard from other people, but she always felt they were too vulgar to say out loud. So she only used a few phrases to curse Li Shangxuan over and over again, alternating between "shameless" and "thick-skinned".

At first, Li Shangxuan was a little surprised, but he quickly got used to it.

This time, when he was called shameless, he didn't get angry but laughed instead, "You already knew I was shameless, didn't you?"

Yang Qing said, "Let me go first!"

Although Liu Ye'er already knew, there were other maids, and she didn't want the whole thing to become public knowledge.

Li Shangxuan said, "You must first promise me that you will only love me in this life and only want to marry me as your wife, then I will let you go."

Yang Qing stared at him, and Li Shangxuan pinched her cheek and kissed her lips, urging, "Speak quickly."

Yang Qing was still unwilling, and the two remained deadlocked for a long time. Li Shangxuan said helplessly, "I've promised you so many times, won't you even say it once to make me happy?"

He whispered these words in Yang Qing's ear, making her feel incredibly itchy. She wanted to pull away, but he showed no sign of letting go. Fine, she thought, discretion is the better part of valor, so she reluctantly swore, "If you don't have anyone else, I won't have anyone else either. Is that alright?"

Li Shangxuan gave her a kiss on the lips as a reward, "Good girl."

As soon as she was free, Yang Qing immediately took a few steps back to create distance, her eyes still wary. "What are you doing here?"

Li Shangxuan stopped talking nonsense and went straight to the point: "Why did you let Xiaoman leave? What did she do wrong that made you unhappy?"

Yang Qing said, "Hua Ying here also knows martial arts. She can protect me, so there's no need for you to send anyone else."

Li Shangxuan said, "One more wouldn't make a difference. Although Xiaoman isn't very clever, she's very skilled in martial arts; even Huo Lu is no match for her."

This surprised Yang Qing. Xiao Man was not considered tall among women, only of medium height. Huo Lu, who looked tall and strong, was no match for Xiao Man.

She was stunned for a moment, unsure whether Xiaoman was too strong or Huo Lu was all show and no substance.

Li Shangxuan then said, "Let her stay, otherwise I'll always worry about you."

Yang Qing snapped out of her daze, thought for a moment, and still refused, "I don't want to."

Li Shangxuan asked curiously, "Why?"

Yang Qing said, "Are you still pretending? She's already admitted it. You want me to follow you around and report everything to you? I don't want that."

Li Shangxuan hadn't expected Xiaoman to reveal everything he had told her. He coughed twice to cover his embarrassment, "That's secondary. The main thing is your safety."

Yang Qing said, "I feel quite safe."

Li Shangxuan said, "It's better to be safe than sorry. If I hadn't been there for that incident last time... I still feel scared when I think about it now."

The worry on his face seemed genuine and not feigned, and Yang Qing's attitude softened considerably. "Alright then, but you're not allowed to let her spy on me anymore."

Li Shangxuan's lips curved slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Are you free tomorrow? I'll have someone pick you up and bring you to the East Palace."

Yang Qing said, "Are you crazy?"

If it were somewhere else, it would be fine, but if it were the Eastern Palace, there was a high chance it would end up in bed. She knew all too well how audacious this man was, and she would never agree to it.

Li Shangxuan said, "What's wrong with that? We're engaged now, isn't it normal for us to get to know each other better?"

Yang Qing firmly refused: "Don't even think about it."

Li Shangxuan held her hand and kissed it, whispering softly, sounding almost like he was being affectionate, "It's been so long, don't you miss me at all?"

Yang Qing said, "Haven't we met again?"

Li Shangxuan: "It's quite inconvenient for me to be here with you."

Now Yang Qing knew exactly what he meant. She immediately pulled her hand back and wiped it vigorously on her clothes. "You wish! This is the capital city. Don't even think about taking advantage of me again."

Li Shangxuan stared intently at her: "But weren't you happy too?"

He always has this ability to annoy people with just a few words.

Yang Qing was both ashamed and angry. It was true that she felt very comfortable, but who wouldn't feel comfortable doing this? What was there to talk about?

Besides, his technique was terrible. All he did was lick and kiss her randomly, without touching any of her favorite spots. How could he have the nerve to bring it up?

Yang Qing turned hostile and tried to kick him out, saying, "Get out of here right now, and don't ever come back again!"

Li Shangxuan was stunned for a moment, and carefully recalled what he had said wrong. But before he could figure it out, Yang Qing started to chase him away.

She was truly angry, quite different from her earlier petulance. Li Shangxuan could only say, "Fine, if you don't want to go, then don't. It's late, let's go earlier..."

Before she could finish speaking, Yang Qing slammed the window shut.

After a while, there was no more movement inside the room. Liu Ye'er's voice rang out from the outer room, "Miss, may I come in?"

Yang Qing said sullenly, "Come in."

Liu Ye'er just came in, carrying a cup of milk.

The imperial court issued an order prohibiting the slaughter of cattle, making beef a scarce commodity, while milk was much more common and affordable for ordinary people.

Yangqing lifted the lid; the temperature was just right. It was sprinkled with osmanthus flowers as a garnish and contained sugar, making it a delightfully sweet drink.

Willow Leaf wasn't in the room just now; she must have been fiddling with this thing.

After watching Yang Qing finish her drink, she spoke, "Miss wasn't even willing to open the window before."

Faced with this teasing remark, Yang Qing wanted to get angry, but she was too embarrassed to say so.

Liu Ye'er also knew that Yang Qing had been saved by Li Shangxuan. She hadn't thought much of it before, but after stumbling upon their secret meeting today, she began to understand the implications.

Something must have happened between the two on the way. It makes sense, considering they were childhood sweethearts, so it was almost inevitable that their relationship would progress further.

"But Miss, you shouldn't do that again. If others see it, it might not sound good."

Yang Qing said, "Do you think I wanted to? He insisted on coming, and I couldn't stop him."

Liu Ye'er said, "Miss, are you mistaken? I'm not asking you two to cut off your relationship in private, but rather that you need to be more careful in your actions. Luckily, I was on night duty tonight. If it were Xiao Tao or the other girls who can't keep secrets, they might have already made a fuss about it."

Yang Qing said, "...If you hadn't grown up with me, I would really suspect that you were also his spy planted next to me."

Liu Ye'er said, "Miss, you really know how to wrong people. I was clearly doing it all for your own good."

Yang Qing covered herself with the blanket, pretending that she was going to sleep, silently urging Liu Ye'er to leave.

Liu Ye'er hurriedly said, "Miss, don't rush to sleep. I just came in because Miss Xu from the Duke's Mansion has something to tell you urgently."