Chapter 03 [3]
【3】
"I sleep with you?!"
In the bathtub, Lu Zhiwan stood up in shock.
Xia He blushed when she saw the snow-white body suddenly exposed.
The master was born with a charming appearance, with fair and tender skin like milky cream, delicate texture, and well-proportioned body. Not to mention His Majesty, a man full of vigor and vitality, even she, a woman, could not take her eyes off her.
With such looks and figure, she will surely capture His Majesty's heart tonight, and there is hope for the future of Liuxiaxuan!
"Didn't Master always say that fortune often follows misfortune, and vice versa? Our Liuxiaxuan's fortunes have finally turned!" Xia He looked at the person in the tub expectantly. "Master, please change your clothes quickly. I will help you dress and make you look stunning, so that His Majesty will never forget you."
Lu Zhiwan curled the corners of his mouth. Why did he need to dress up? It would be hard for him to forget the concubine who pushed him into the river when they first met.
But what was this man up to? He had acted like he was done with this matter during the day, and now, just a few hours later, he suddenly summoned her to his bed?
Besides, isn't he averse to women? When she wanted to help him before, he looked disgusted, so how could he ask her to serve him in bed now?
Could it be that after he returned, he became more and more angry and wanted to settle the score with her again? She said, there are no good people in this cannibalistic palace!
On this side, Lu Zhiwan was anxious and worried about the upcoming emperor's bedchamber.
On the other hand, the news that the emperor summoned Lu, a talented woman from Liuxiaxuan, spread like wildfire throughout the six palaces in the east and west.
Concubine Hu and Concubine Zhao lived together in Changchun Palace. Upon hearing the news, they both thought there was something wrong with their ears.
"Your Majesty summoned Lu Zhiwan? The Lu Zhiwan from Liuxiaxuan?" Concubine Hu was incredulous: "How could Your Majesty even know about her?"
"She's just a foxy woman who's always pretending to be pitiful! Maybe she caught His Majesty's attention by pretending to be sick after falling into the water!"
Concubine Zhao clutched the armrests of the red-lacquered, gilded elm rattan chair, her finely trimmed nails leaving deep marks. "Sister Hu, you said she suddenly left the house this afternoon. Could it be that she was trying to seduce His Majesty?"
Concubine Hu frowned and murmured softly, "No wonder she wasn't as respectful as before when she spoke to us. It turns out she was trying to seduce His Majesty..."
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that something must have happened this afternoon that they were unaware of.
After pondering for a moment, she ordered the palace servants: "Go and find out where Lu Zhiwan went during the day."
Meanwhile, inside the brightly lit Yonghe Palace, Consort Gu, the highest-ranking imperial concubine, wore a sullen expression and summoned her trusted eunuchs, "Go to the Yangxin Palace and find out where His Majesty has been during the day."
The trusted eunuch withdrew in response. A senior palace maid, Su Yi, stepped forward to massage Concubine Gu's shoulders. "Your Majesty, calm down. That Lu is just a talented woman who has just entered the palace. Her father is only a small county magistrate in Yuezhou Prefecture. She will never amount to anything."
"She's a talented young woman now, but after tonight, that may not be the case anymore."
Concubine Gu, dressed in a lake blue satin gown embroidered with peacocks, sat back on the beauty couch, her slender fingers tightly clasping a string of bright red coral beads. A frost covered her beautiful face. "This Lu is really capable! She fell into the water a few days ago and hasn't even fully recovered yet, yet she caught the eye of my cousin, the Emperor, without even saying a word... If I had known last time, I shouldn't have meddled in her business and let her drown, once and for all."
"Your Majesty is too kind-hearted." Su Yi continued to pinch her shoulders: "Your Majesty should have kicked her out of the palace on the day of the palace selection."
"Do you think I don't want to?" Concubine Gu snorted, "But my aunt was right beside me that day, praising Lu's beauty and kindness. If I send her away, wouldn't that be contradicting my aunt and making me appear narrow-minded and intolerant?"
Moreover, she had never imagined that her cousin the emperor, who had never been close to others, would one day summon his concubines!
She and her cousin had been childhood sweethearts, and even after being in the palace for two years, she had never had the chance to sleep with him. How could Lu Zhiwan, who had only been in the palace for three months, have the chance?
**
Lu Zhiwan also wanted to know how this rare opportunity fell into her hands.
When the spacious sedan stopped in front of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the sky was already completely dark. A bright moon enveloped the Forbidden City. This towering imperial city looked even more majestic in the silent night.
"Lu Cairen, please come this way."
The eunuch chief Yu Mingjiang led the way in front. He was nearly forty years old and had been taking care of and accompanying the emperor since he was still an infant. Although he and the emperor were master and servant, their relationship was better than that of master and servant. The emperor affectionately called him "big companion", so he was very respected in the inner court.
Now he personally welcomed Lu Zhiwan and led the way respectfully, which attracted the attention of the guards and palace maids in front of the Yangxin Palace.
Lu Zhiwan felt uncomfortable being stared at from all directions. He pinched the corner of his pink outer shirt with a grape pattern on it with his long fingers, pretending to be calm as he followed Manager Yu into the hall.
She was so confused that she didn't dare look around. She didn't know how long she had walked when she heard the slightly soft voice of Yu Zongguan from the front: "Ms. Lu, please wait here for a moment. His Majesty will be here when he finishes his work."
Only then did Lu Zhiwan raise his eyes and look forward.
The bedroom in front of her was magnificent, with brocade embroidered curtains and bright lights. Directly in front was a dragon bed draped with thick bright yellow curtains. Its length and width were even larger than her bedroom in Liuxiaxuan.
The emperor's residence is indeed extraordinary.
As she was sighing, she felt a scrutinizing gaze on her face. She calmed herself down and saw the white-bearded Yu, the steward, looking at her with a half-smile. "If you have no other instructions, I will withdraw first."
Lu Zhiwan was stunned for a moment, then forced a polite smile: "Thank you, General Manager Yu, for leading the way."
Yu Mingjiang smiled and said, "Mr. Lu is too polite."
Just as he took a step, Lu Zhiwan suddenly spoke again: "Manager Yu, wait a minute."
"Lu Cairen?" Yu Mingjiang stopped and looked at her in surprise.
Lu Zhiwan pursed her lips, unable to hide her nervousness: "Does Chief Steward Yu know why His Majesty suddenly summoned me?"
Yu Mingjiang was slightly startled, then smiled and said, "Talented, what you said is true. How can we servants guess which concubine His Majesty summons for favors?"
"But isn't he..." Not interested in women?
Yu Mingjiang was a shrewd man. He guessed what Lu Zhiwan hadn't said yet, and he still wore that friendly smile. "You are so lucky, my lady. You are the first of all the concubines in the harem to be summoned to the Yangxin Palace. Don't be nervous. Just wait for His Majesty and serve him well."
After he finished speaking, he didn't stay any longer and bowed and left.
The two doors of the bedroom were closed, and Lu Zhiwan stood alone in this completely unfamiliar and magnificent palace, feeling as if his body was covered with thorns and feeling uncomfortable everywhere.
Looking at the huge huanghuali ten-post dragon bed behind him, his heart was pounding. Could it be that the outrageous encounter in the afternoon made the emperor feel like "Oh, woman, you have aroused my interest" and the domineering CEO effect, so he brought her to sleep with him?
If that was the case, then she would soon be making love to a man she had only met once? Even though she was a modern person, meeting him during the day and having sex at night was a bit too fast!
I don't know how long I was thinking about it, but I heard rustling noises outside the closed palace door.
Lu Zhiwan's heart tightened, and his thin back was like a stretched string, stretched straight and stiff. He stood by the table as if facing a great enemy, waiting for the door to be pushed open.
Finally, with a creaky sound, the palace door opened.
Under the bright warm yellow candlelight, a handsome man in a loose smoky black robe walked slowly inside with one hand behind his back.
As he approached, Lu Zhiwan's heartbeat became faster and faster, and his brain went blank due to extreme tension.
Until the young emperor walked up to her, frowned and glanced at her: "Did you really learn the rules before entering the palace?"
Lu Zhiwan finally realized what was happening and quickly bowed, "Your Majesty, may your Majesty be blessed with good health."
After the slightly trembling ending sound, the hall fell into silence, and no more shouting was heard.
Lu Zhiwan kept his knees bent, not daring to move.
She could feel the gaze of the person in front of her on her, from her delicately tied bun along the back of her neck, slowly moving down, across her back, arms, and finally from her toes back to her forehead.
This silent and scrutinizing gaze made Lu Zhiwan more and more nervous, as if he was a hunter and she was the lamb he had just caught, and he was wondering which piece to cut better.
Just when Lu Zhiwan was shaking slightly and about to collapse, a man's deep voice finally came from above his head: "Get up."
Lu Zhiwan felt as if he heard heavenly music. He endured the numbness in his calves, straightened up, and shouted the three words "Thank you, Your Majesty" with true emotion.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man in front of her walking towards the large dragon bed, and her heart, which had just relaxed, suddenly rose to her throat again.
No way, you're jumping straight into the point after just one sentence? Let's not even have a few drinks to liven up the atmosphere, but maybe just say a few more words to get to know each other better.
Xiao Jingting walked to the bed and sat down. He looked up and saw the woman still standing there, stunned like a fool, and raised his eyebrows slightly.
In the dim candlelight, the woman had her hair combed into a fairy bun, and wore an ivory-colored orchid-patterned skirt, and a pink embroidered gown made of gauze, which covered her young and graceful figure. Her silver-red waist and snow-white arms were faintly visible under the gauze, like a handful of snow on a holy mountain shrouded in mist, pure and flawless, yet revealing a bit of fragrance.
This appearance is completely different from the female water ghost by the river in the afternoon.
His long fingers unconsciously rubbed his fingertips, and Xiao Jingting's eyes flickered slightly. He didn't expect that this crazy woman would look so beautiful when she dressed up seriously?
If Lu Zhiwan knew that her "beautiful as a fairy" look in her gorgeous attire was only described as "pretty" by Xiao Jingting, she would definitely complain that he was blind and had no taste.
But now she stood there holding her breath, feeling uneasy, like a prisoner waiting for the judge to throw down the token.
The invisible intimidating gaze above his head stayed for a long time before slowly moving away.
Then the emperor beside the couch tapped the edge of the bed and said calmly: "Are you nervous?"
It was more than just nervousness. Lu Zhiwan felt like he was almost out of breath and fainted.
She lowered her head, her voice tense, "Your Majesty's majesty is so great, I am truly terrified to see you..."
"When you flirted with me by the river during the day, I didn't see you panic."
Flirtatious? Lu Zhiwan was stunned. When she met the man's serious face, she couldn't help but cry out in injustice: "Your Majesty, please understand. All my actions during the day were to help Your Majesty wake up. I never meant to take advantage of your misfortune to be frivolous! If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, I can swear to heaven to prove my sincerity."
The long fingers that were tapping on the edge of the bed stopped, and Xiao Jingting looked at her: "From what you said, you are being frivolous to me, and you feel wronged?"
Lu Zhiwan quickly shook his head: "No, no, no."
Xiao Jingting: "Then you admit that you flirted with me."
Lu Zhiwan: “???”
"I didn't!" She had already said that it was not frivolous, so why was this man so stubborn?
Just as she was about to explain the first aid principles of artificial respiration and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the man beside the couch straightened up and his deep gaze fell on her face again.
The emperor's majestic aura was too strong. When Lu Zhiwan was stared at by him like this, he felt as if he was under a spell, his brain turned into a paste and he couldn't think.
The two looked at each other from a distance, no one spoke, and the hall became quiet again.
Outside the window, bamboo shadows were dim, and the evening breeze came in through the window cracks, blowing the candlelight to sway.
After a long time, the emperor beside the couch withdrew his ambiguous gaze.
Just as Lu Zhiwan was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard the man's hoarse voice slowly coming over: "Come to the bed."
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