Chapter 38 Love and Deliberate Actions
The palace was completely silent. Wen Miao sat on a soft couch, facing the emperor, who was tall but sat hunched over on an embroidered stool, holding a bowl of "sweet soup".
In just a few breaths, Wen Miao lowered her eyes, her voice soft and gentle, "Your Majesty already knows, doesn't he?"
Emperor Qianyuan held the bowl of soup, looking at Wen Miao without saying a word immediately.
They had just gotten married the day before.
They had consummated their marriage the night before.
They should have had the closest relationship in the world... even though it was something he forced upon them using his imperial power and prestige.
However, on the second day after their marriage, his empress, his beloved wife, secretly prepared a cooling medicine to prevent the woman from getting pregnant.
Wen Miao doesn't trust him, or rather, she hasn't fully trusted him yet.
It's not the Empress's fault, it's his fault for not doing enough... If he had done enough, the Empress would naturally have believed him.
"I cannot bear to see the Empress burdened with the burden of bearing children. This will always stand and will not change because of her status or the passage of time."
As he spoke, Emperor Qian Yuan slowly opened the lid. Inside the porcelain bowl was a dark brown medicinal liquid, which vaguely reflected his smooth, hard jawline, and on the other side, the overly beautiful face of the Empress of Great Chu.
It looks good no matter how you look at it.
Even the reflection in the medicinal juice is endearing.
The herbal decoction smells bitter and astringent, and its ingredients are medicinal herbs used to treat illnesses and save lives. However, when these herbs are combined in a different way, they can also have cold properties. Although they can hinder a woman's ability to conceive, long-term consumption will inevitably have an impact on a woman's health.
After all, even medicine has a degree of toxicity that is difficult to neutralize.
"But similarly—"
The emperor put down his bowl, then suddenly reached out and pulled his new empress, whose back and abdomen ached, into his arms. Face to face, his chin rested on her shoulder, his voice slow and hoarse, yet containing an undeniable force and aggression, completing the sentence—
"Similarly, I do not wish for the Empress to drink these harmful medicines."
Besides keeping Wen Miao by his side, this was another bottom line in Emperor Qian Yuan's mind.
At this moment, Emperor Qian Yuan's kiss landed on Wen Miao's earlobe. It was warm at first, but quickly became hot. The fine, dense kisses landed on it, leaving Wen Miao with nowhere to retreat.
She was almost breathless in the emperor's arms; the lingering warmth of their wedding night seemed to have been reignited, burning brightly in clusters.
Wen Miao's face was flushed from the fever, and her eyes were filled with tears.
The burning flames made her hibiscus-like face glow with a radiant, decadent beauty, fully blossoming to its zenith.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
Wen Miao's voice trembled, her fingers gripping Emperor Qian Yuan's clothes tightly. She pursed her lips, trying to escape, but someone held her soft waist and abdomen firmly, rubbing her sore lower back with the heel of their palm.
"The Empress made two mistakes today."
Emperor Qianyuan opened his lips and very lightly bit the earlobe of the beautiful woman in his arms, and saw her tremble in his arms.
Her snow-white earlobes immediately flushed red.
So cute.
I like it so much.
The emperor's nostrils twitched slightly as he inhaled the fragrance emanating from Wen Miao. While massaging her lower back and abdomen, he asked slowly and deliberately—
"Does the Empress know which two they are?"
Wen Miao's waist and abdomen trembled. Sitting in the emperor's lap, her feet could not touch the ground. Her embroidered shoes were half hooked on her toes, swaying back and forth.
The skirt, blooming like a peony, trembled and flowed, and silently, a large, rough hand reached out gently and carefully from behind.
He pressed against her.
Then he gently moved his fingertips, which were calloused from years of martial arts practice and penmanship.
Wen Miao's breathing became rapid, and she suddenly lost her senses, her body completely collapsing into Emperor Qian Yuan's arms.
Emperor Qianyuan knew that Wen Miao had brought in cooling medicine from outside the palace—the emperor knew from the moment the prescription was written.
However, he never explicitly stated it. He loved the Empress dearly and naturally hoped that she could trust him even more. So, in order to ensure that this trust could be subtly and gradually solidified, Emperor Qian Yuan put some thought into it.
Therefore, everything that is happening today is the result of the emperor's deliberate actions.
He needed an opportunity that would make Wen Miao feel even a tiny bit of guilt.
It can be said that the entire palace, and even the entire capital, was under the control of Emperor Qianyuan; nothing could be hidden from him.
So, after the wedding, Emperor Qianyuan waited quietly for the medicine to be prepared and brought into the Phoenix Palace by a loyal servant.
Now, he has finally gotten this opportunity—an opportunity to gain the Empress's greater reliance and trust.
With a soft, fragrant body in his arms, the emperor's expression remained unchanged, though his eyes were clouded and unclear. He tapped his fingertips lightly, his voice as gentle as a teacher instructing his students, and asked again with great patience, "Does the Empress know?"
Wen Miao barely managed to grasp a few strands of thought, her fingertips gripping the emperor's arm tightly, her voice as soft as a feather, "...I...I don't know."
Right now, she can hardly connect her thoughts; she feels that her mind is being manipulated and attracted by the emperor's hand.
"Then I will inform the Empress."
Emperor Qianyuan tilted his head and kissed Wen Miao's neck, then gently rubbed her warm, damp hand. In contrast to the trembling of the person in his arms, he appeared completely unhurried.
"The Empress intends to drink cooling medicine, which shows she doesn't take good care of her health; this is one reason."
"The Empress did not believe my promise from that day and tried to hide this from me, that is the second reason."
Emperor Qianyuan paused, then kissed Wen Miao's chin little by little, his fingertips gently caressing it, as if he were holding a naturally shy pearl oyster that had hidden itself away, but was now trembling and revealing its softness.
"but……"
"As far as I am concerned, the Empress will never make a mistake, so the one who should be wrong is me."
The slightly clenched palm increased the force.
Wen Miao clutched Emperor Qian Yuan's sleeve, her breathing disordered. The jade ring on her ring finger shone with a warm, lustrous light, perfectly echoing the small key around her neck.
The emperor's voice was right beside her ear, but Wen Miao had no time to distinguish it. Her thoughts, her body, and her reason were all scattered, as if shrouded in a fog. If she opened her mouth even slightly, an uncontrollable, rapid sob would escape.
"It is because I have not done a good enough job."
Almost as soon as he said this, Emperor Qianyuan's hand, which had been used to draw a bow and hold a sword in his earlier years, began to exert force against him.
Wen Miao's pupils dilated for a moment, but the sound that escaped from her lips was completely swallowed by the emperor, who kissed her all the way from her earlobe, neck, and chin to her lips.
Her calves were trembling, but Emperor Qian Yuan held her tightly around the waist and abdomen, making it impossible to breathe.
After the kiss ended, the incomparably handsome emperor did not leave, but instead carefully pecked at Wen Miao's reddened lips again and again.
He stroked the other person's back with one hand, and with the other hand he withdrew from under the skirt that bloomed like peony petals, carefully smoothing out the wrinkles on the skirt inch by inch.
However, the jade ring worn on his ring finger seemed to be shrouded in moisture, making the veins on the back of his hand reflect a faint light.
"I had already taken cooling medicine before the Heqin ceremony."
—That was a prescription he had Physician Fang write specifically for men.
“After it ended last night, the Empress was also carefully cleaned up.”
—Not a single inch was overlooked.
"I guarantee that there will be absolutely no accidents."
"so……"
He kissed Wen Miao again.
Emperor Qianyuan asked, "Would you like to have more faith in me?"
At this moment, Emperor Qian Yuan was not like an emperor who ruled the country. He was excessively gentle, kissing and comforting Wen Miao, who had just been there, and patiently waiting for her breathing to gradually become steady.
That ticklish, shivering sensation seemed to still linger in her bones. Wen Miao's body went limp. She opened her lips, and it took her a while to find her voice, which contained a hint of softness and guilt towards Emperor Qian Yuan.
"Last night...I have no recollection of it."
She initially had some ability, but compared to Emperor Qian Yuan, who was having his first grand wedding and eating meat for the first time, Wen Miao's consciousness and physical strength were simply not enough.
In less than half an hour, the elegant and beautiful Empress was thrown into disarray. In the latter half of the night, she was naturally drowsy and confused, and had no idea that she had been held in a bathtub by Emperor Qianyuan and had gone through a shameful "cleaning" process.
Hearing the emperor's reply, Wen Miao felt a slight throbbing in her heart. She turned her head to look at Emperor Qian Yuan and saw only indulgence and pampering in his eyes.
He seemed able to accept everything about Wen Miao, even some of his ideas and intentions that were considered shocking by the Great Chu.
Wen Miao let out a soft breath, "Your Majesty, I'm so sorry..."
She wasn't honest enough.
But before he could finish speaking, Emperor Qian Yuan kissed him.
He hugged the person even tighter.
At the same time, the hidden smile on his lips became more and more obvious, but Wen Miao never saw it.
...The kind and gentle empress walked into the trap willingly, how could he let such a good opportunity pass by?
"Miaomiao, you will never have to say these words to me."
The broad-shouldered emperor, like a crouching beast, held the plump, fair-skinned woman tightly in his arms, saying, "...just trust me a little more."
Trust him, get used to him, depend on him, and then... you can't live without him.
It has to be to the point where even if her memories are restored, she can still tolerate him being by her side.
Wen Miao completely relaxed and leaned slowly into the emperor's arms, feeling that she should try to give Emperor Qian Yuan more trust and closeness.
...After all, they are husband and wife.
In the end, the bowl of medicine that could prevent women from conceiving was completely cooled down, and Emperor Qian Yuan ordered it to be collected and thrown away.
The Phoenix Palace in the afternoon was not affected by the increasingly heavy autumn outside, but was filled with a warm and gentle atmosphere. Wen Miao was tired after a night of work and after the morning's worship by the ladies of the court, she was so sleepy after lunch that she went to bed to rest.
Emperor Qianyuan was in excellent spirits. He had Xu Sheng bring over the remaining official documents and quietly sat down not far from his bed, picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and began to write his replies.
Every time he wrote for a while, he would look up and peek through the half-drawn gauze bed curtains at the person sleeping soundly on the couch. After watching for a few breaths, he would lower his head with satisfaction and continue writing, placing his brush on the memorials of his ministers.
As the sun began to set slightly westward outside the Phoenix Palace, Emperor Qianyuan finished reviewing the last memorial in his hand. He put down his brush, stood up, and went forward. He sat quietly by the couch for a moment, then dismissed the palace servants who were attending to him. He took off his boots and clothes, lifted the soft quilt, and crawled inside.
The Empress's warm fragrance permeated the bedding, a natural scent emanating from her smooth, snow-white skin, as well as the incense from her clothes stored in chests. Regardless of the type, just a whiff of it was enough to make Emperor Qianyuan feel dizzy and disoriented.
“…Vast.”
He called out softly.
Wen Miao, fast asleep, let out a soft hum, as if responding to the emperor's call, utterly exhausted.
Emperor Qian Yuan smiled slightly. He pulled the person to rest their head on his arm, and only then was he satisfied, and finally pulled the bed curtains down completely.
Outside the Phoenix Palace, it was still daytime, the autumn air was crisp and clear, and the clouds were thin. The servants and guards inside the palace stood quietly outside the hall.
Inside the Phoenix Palace, gauze curtains hung down, creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere. On the second day of their wedding, the emperor embraced his beloved empress with satisfaction, enjoying this precious moment that he had been counting down to every day.
...He stole it.
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Author's Note: His Majesty did it on purpose; he just wanted Miaomiao to dote on him. [Please!]
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