Chapter 85 Bowing my head was my mistake, let's take it slow, okay?
Zhao Liangxu frowned and retorted to An He, "Is Eunuch An so domineering? Why won't I speak? If I don't speak to you, who else can I talk to? Do you expect me to just grab someone off the street and discuss this with them?"
She pushed herself away from Anhe's embrace by pressing her hand against Anhe's chest, so that she could see the expression on Anhe's face more clearly.
An He listened to Zhao Liangxu's nonsense, and his face showed even more shame and anger.
He felt the pressure of Zhao Liangxu pressing on his chest, and knew that once again he had failed to say anything that would make Zhao Liangxu happy or satisfied.
But she can't say that.
Even though he knew Zhao Liangxu was just saying it out of anger, he still felt uncomfortable hearing the scenario she casually imagined.
"You absolutely mustn't tell anyone else about these things!"
He blurted out those words without thinking.
An He climbed up Zhao Liangxu's slightly forceful arm with one hand, completely covering Zhao Liangxu's hand that was pressed against his chest, and pressed it down hard.
It felt like it was pressing into my chest, gripping my bewildered, pounding heart.
"Tell us, did someone say something to you?" he asked.
Zhao Liangxu hadn't yet understood An He's meaning and asked, "What?"
"Was it in the palace that you met Wang Laide, and he said something unpleasant to you? Or did you run into some ignorant palace servants who gossiped behind your back, which made you think of this matter? Are you worried that if you don't do this, our family won't treat you sincerely?"
Anhe found many reasons for Zhao Liangxu's bold behavior. Although she had liked to be close to him before, she had never shown any intention to take things further.
Was it because he met Wang Laide?
He heard from Zhang Sheng that Wang Laide went to Zhao Liangxu to try and get close to her.
Although this man is somewhat shrewd and flatters Zhao Liangxu like a princess, he is extremely two-faced. If he said something that caused Zhao Liangxu to act this way, he would not let her off easily.
After all, he was also a eunuch, and he had quite a bit of lust for Fang Shi.
Zhao Liangxu overheard a few unclear words, which prompted her to take such a humiliating and burdensome action.
But looking into Zhao Liangxu's eyes, the phrase "enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens" seemed utterly ridiculous.
She always loved and was close to him so much. In his more than twenty years of life, he had never seen any woman take such initiative towards a man, as if she loved him from the bottom of her heart and expressed it so passionately.
Even if he had seen palace concubines serving the emperor, shaking his arm to plead for things for their maternal families or their own favor, it was still within the bounds of propriety.
Occasionally, some singers and dancers would pose more boldly, but those people didn't genuinely like the late emperor, that frail old man.
Their eyes held a hint of forbearance, for the sake of life and themselves.
Zhao Liangxu, however, was different. In her eyes, when she looked at this eunuch, there was sometimes mischievousness and sometimes expectation.
But there was no hidden resentment or disgust.
In particular, Zhao Liangxu was never very enthusiastic or flamboyant towards others, but she was unreservedly passionate towards him.
How could he not be overjoyed?
She didn't need to do anything further.
What she showed was enough for him to give her everything.
The thought lingered in his mind, and a sense of sadness permeated his being: "You don't need to do these things."
Zhao Liangxu finally understood what An He was thinking.
She felt quite helpless. She had already acted so well, yet Anhe was still keeping her under control.
I felt a little powerless, but mostly angry.
Zhao Liangxu's other hand, which was not restrained, emerged from under the covers and grabbed An He's face, causing his expression to change from shame and indignation to surprise.
Instead of trying to break free with her other hand, which was pressed under Anhe's palm, she grabbed his clothes and pulled herself a little closer to Anhe.
Zhao Liangxu exhaled and then bit An He's cheek.
It was neither too hard nor too soft, leaving no teeth marks, but it did give Anhe a slight stinging sensation.
An He was so startled that he didn't know how to react. He loosened his grip, allowing Zhao Liangxu to slip through with her other hand.
Zhao Liangxu propped herself up on the soft mattress with one elbow, while her other hand, which had been holding him, poked at the bite mark on An He's face.
She half-pressed down on Anhe, her face directly showing Anhe's anger.
"Could you please stop relying on speculation to get along with me? At least look at what I said and what I did. What kind of nonsense is it to make wild guesses about such a trivial matter? Go ask Zhang Sheng. That Wang Laide just said a few words and left. Where did I get the information from him to treat you like this?"
Zhao Liangxu was somewhat angry, but she didn't actually show it; she just made sure An He took it seriously.
An He was still recovering from Zhao Liangxu's actions, his eyes filled with lingering astonishment.
That bite left his mind blank.
This was different from Zhao Liangxu's kiss. Although she was angry and wanted to teach An a lesson, the slight pain didn't feel like a lesson at all; instead, it felt more like...
flirt.
Zhao Liangxu's fingers were still poking Anhe's cheeks hard, occasionally landing on the area where she had been bitten. Her teeth were always moist in her mouth, so the saliva left a very faint ring on Anhe's face.
The soft lips and hard teeth brushed against each other, initially feeling slightly cool from the contact of saliva with the air, then making Anhe feel a faint heat.
"Did you hear that? I'm speaking purely from the bottom of my heart. Even Eunuch An sometimes considers that I get shy too. What's the point of always telling me to speak first about these things?"
Zhao Liangxu said she was shy, but she hasn't shown it yet.
Anhe blinked, revealing a rare less gloomy expression.
"I......"
He doesn't even refer to himself as "our family" anymore.
Zhao Liangxu urged An He to speak, but after An He uttered only one word, she interrupted him and continued to threaten, "If you say something unpleasant to me before anyone else does, I'll really get angry."
Then she tilted her head and brought her ear close to Anhe's face, waiting for his response.
"Yes...it was my fault," he apologized first.
Zhao Liangxu nodded with slight satisfaction.
"Eunuch An, please think carefully about what you want to say?"
Anhe could only say, "I'll change in the future, okay? Let's take it slow."
He didn't dodge Zhao Liangxu's teasing, and slowly blinked his eyes.
Zhao Liangxu said, "We must change now. We can't make such random guesses in the future. There can't be a next time, or I will really be disappointed."
Zhao Liangxu said seriously to An He.
Zhao Liangxu was also a domineering person, not giving Anhe any chance to escape.
In the dim light, Anhe felt both nervous and excited.
His hand gently stroked Zhao Liangxu's hair, pressed her head down, and pulled her close to him.
Anhe moved closer and pressed his lips against Zhao Liangxu's.
His lips and tongue didn't move much, just lightly touching and rubbing.
However, the warmth and softness on her lips were undeniable, enough for Anhe to savor quietly.
Then Anhe pulled away from Zhao Liangxu's lips and whispered, "Is this a good change?"
Zhao Liangxu pursed her lips, which were trying to smile, and said, "It's acceptable, but it urgently needs improvement."
Anhe looked away, clearly not satisfied with the answer.
Zhao Liangxu chuckled softly, her eyes crinkling into crescents, her smile growing wider until she finally let out a soft laugh.
She finally managed to get Anhe to respond to her a little; the feigned annoyance she had shown earlier had now turned into a genuine smile.
Anhe frowned as he looked at her.
Zhao Liangxu found it amusing and momentarily forgot that the daybed wasn't big enough for her to roll around on. She tried to turn over but missed.
An He was pondering the meaning behind Zhao Liangxu's smile when she couldn't grab Zhao Liangxu in time, and she tumbled down.
"Hey!"
Zhao Liangxu cried out in surprise and fell to the ground.
An He quickly sat up and got off the bed, helping Zhao Liangxu to her feet: "Where did you fall? Are you hurt?"
"Why did you suddenly turn over? It makes you so happy. You've forgotten how cramped this place is, and you're making such big movements."
As he spoke, he quickly checked Zhao Liangxu for any injuries or bruises from the fall.
Fortunately, the daybed wasn't too high, so Zhao Liangxu wasn't in too much pain, but seeing An He's tense expression, she found it quite novel.
"Grandpa An, I hurt my back, it hurts a lot."
Anhe gently placed his hand on her waist and pressed it lightly.
"Where does it hurt?"
Zhao Liangxu stood up, taking An He's arm, and said, "It hurts a little, but I don't think I've broken any bones. Could you please massage it for me, Eunuch An?"
Anhe felt the texture under his hand, paused for a moment, and nodded, saying, "Okay."
After saying that, he tried to help Zhao Liangxu to the couch, but Zhao Liangxu said, "Eunuch An, let's go to the bed. The couch is too small."
"After all, you said you wanted to change, so sleeping together normally isn't such a big deal, right?"
An He couldn't refuse Zhao Liangxu's request, and didn't show much refusal, so he carefully helped Zhao Liangxu into the inner room.
Zhao Liangxu lay on the bed and said, "It was my waist that hit the ground."
Anhe placed his hand on Zhao Liangxu's waist, pressing his thumb against Zhao Liangxu's lower back and gently massaging it.
His hands were larger than Zhao Liangxu's, and with them resting on her waist, Anhe could better feel Zhao Liangxu's slender body and waist.
It reminded him of that idiom.
It fits perfectly in your hand.
"Are you feeling better?" Anhe asked patiently, which was quite rare for her.
Or rather, he was only this patient and even-tempered when dealing with Zhao Liangxu.
Zhao Liangxu half-closed her eyes and said, "It's not better yet, it still hurts."
Anhe then assumed that Zhao Liangxu had hurt herself from the fall, so he gently rubbed her wounds again.
Zhao Liangxu suddenly said, "Eunuch An seems to have a lot of skill. Did you learn this in the palace?"
"...Yes, why are you curious about this?"
They certainly don't specialize in learning massage techniques, but people these days always need to have some skills to rely on, because you never know when you might need them.
And so, Zhao Liangxu experienced it today.
"Has Eunuch An performed this massage on other concubines or the late Emperor?"
Anhe understood after hearing this, and was speechless for a moment: "What kind of jealousy are you? How could our family have massaged the late emperor?" Her mind was always filled with inexplicable thoughts.
"What about the other concubines?"
"No! This is all I know how to do. I went to the Emperor's court at a very young age and have never massaged anyone else. You are the first one. Are you satisfied with that?"
Zhao Liangxu sat up abruptly, startling An He.
"Satisfied." Zhao Liangxu's eyes curved into a smile.
Anhe suddenly realized: "You don't have a backache, so you're trying to trick us, aren't you?"
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Author's Note: Thank you everyone for the free tickets and nutrient solutions! I feel like there's still so much interaction between the two characters to write [covering face and peeking]
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