Chapter 29 [29]
【29】/First release
As the words fell, the curtain fell into an eerie silence.
Lu Zhiwan: “???”
"What is he talking about?"
"Didn't you just say seriously that you didn't mean that? Now you're suddenly saying this? And you're asking me to take the initiative?"
"You seem to understand a lot about love and relationships."
Xiao Jingting turned over, the rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other particularly clear in the darkness. "So, since you and I have done this, holding hands, hugging, and sleeping together, shouldn't you kiss me next?"
"...What's with that self-righteous tone? And what do you mean by saying I understand relationships? Did I ever reveal my true nature as a slut in front of him? That shouldn't be the case..."
Lu Zhiwan was just wondering when she felt a pinch on her waist. She snapped out of her thoughts, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, do you really want me to... kiss you?"
The soft voice revealed a hint of uneasiness.
Compared to her nervousness, the man said seriously and confidently: "Yeah."
When Lu Zhiwan heard this, he knew he couldn't escape.
Although I don't know why he suddenly came up with this idea, it's not difficult to kiss him.
Thinking of this, she propped up half of her body, and with the light coming through the curtain, she could roughly see the man's facial features. She lifted the loose hair by her ears with one hand and slowly leaned down.
In the quiet night, the distance between the two people gradually narrowed, the aroma of ambergris became stronger, and the heartbeats became louder.
His mouth... should be here, right?
Lu Zhiwan held her breath and pecked him quickly - her lips touched the man's nose.
She was startled, and Xiao Jingting seemed to be startled as well.
"No." He said, "Come again."
"...Mistake, mistake." Lu Zhiwan smiled awkwardly, but his cheeks were burning uncontrollably.
Trying again, she pressed her lips against the left side of his cheek.
"It's still not right."
Even though it was pitch black all around, Lu Zhiwan could still hear a question in his voice: "Can you do it?"
"You still despise me? Ha, what a joke!"
He held his breath, but spoke softly, "Your Majesty, it's too dark in here. Please open the curtains a little."
The dragon bed was too big, and Lu Zhiwan was sleeping inside. If he wanted to lift the curtain, he had to roll over Xiao Jingting and then roll twice.
Hearing her request, Xiao Jingting cooperated and pulled the drapery to the side a little, allowing the candlelight outside to leak in.
Although it is not bright, it is bright enough to see each other clearly.
Lu Zhiwan lowered his eyes and looked at Xiao Jingting who was lying quietly beside him. In the dim candlelight, his eyebrows were deep, his thin lips were lightly closed, and his thick and long eyelashes cast a small shadow under his eyes.
For a moment, Lu Zhiwan felt like the Sleeping Beauty in the fairy tale waiting for the prince's kiss to save her.
Although Sleeping Beauty would not give him the same impatient look as if to say, "Can you please keep dilly-dallying?"
After calming down a little, Lu Zhiwan leaned towards this handsome and annoying face again.
With the light, she found the right position this time and pecked the two beautifully shaped light pink lips lightly and accurately.
When she raised her head and met the man's dark narrow eyes, her heart suddenly beat rapidly: "Okay...Okay."
Xiao Jingting frowned slightly: "Your face is very red."
Lu Zhiwan: “…”
"Your Majesty, you are disgusting."
"Shut up, you bastard."
Xiao Jingting pursed his thin lips. The warmth left by the quick contact just now was so short that he had no time to react.
Seeing that Lu Zhiwan was about to stand up, he placed his big hand on that slender waist and pressed down.
Lu Zhiwan: "Your Majesty?"
Xiao Jingting's dark eyes looked at her intently: "You are just trying to fool me."
"I am wronged. Even if Your Majesty gave me a hundred courages, I would not dare to be perfunctory with you..."
"Then come again."
“???”
"Good fellow, it turns out that stopping just enough isn't enough for a newbie like him, and he even wants a French kiss?"
"The problem is, I don't even know how to French kiss... Never mind, let's just shut him up first and figure out the rest later."
Taking a deep breath, Lu Zhiwan supported himself on Xiao Jingting with one hand and kissed him again.
His nose was too high, so she could only kiss him with her face tilted. This time, after her rosy lips touched his, she did not move away immediately, but stayed there deliberately.
Lu Zhiwan counted silently in her heart, she thought that with lips pressed together, twenty seconds should be enough.
However, at this moment, time seemed to be extremely long.
Her attention was gradually drawn to the touch of her lips. It turned out that the lips that usually uttered cold words were soft and warm when kissed, like kissing soft rose petals.
The heat on the lips spread silently, making the cheeks hotter and the heartbeat faster. The sound of "dong dong dong" hitting the eardrums was particularly obvious.
And when the man opened his mouth and gently bit her lip, her heartbeat soared to the highest point like a rocket. Lu Zhiwan's breath was choked and her brain became blank. She only kept repeating one voice: How could he...
How can you open your mouth?
How could he pinch her waist tightly, but his tongue was like a little snake that had just broken out of its shell, clumsily and rashly prying open her teeth?
How did he get in? It was like he was knocking on her, a little snake that was still bluffing but had not yet hatched. He probed lightly, and then hooked her tongue and entangled it, wantonly and boldly, easily robbing her of her air.
The scent of a man's ambergris drifted into her nose. All the worries about being blocked for ten or twenty seconds were forgotten at this moment. She seemed to be pulled into a cloud of rose-flavored marshmallows. Her body became soft and her head became dizzy. An indescribable feeling of being tipsy surrounded her. She sank into it and closed her eyes unconsciously.
I don’t know how long it took, but this long kiss finally ended.
When he opened his eyes again, Lu Zhiwan's cheeks were already flushed.
Her breathing was a little hurried, and she was panting lightly. Her clear black eyes were covered with a layer of wetness, adding a bit of charm.
Xiao Jingting's situation was not much better than hers. His solid chest was heaving violently, and the narrow eyes looking at her were dark and sullen, yet bright and shining.
Like a wolf glowing green in the dark night, greedily aiming at his food.
Lu Zhiwan felt uneasy at the sight of that look. The deep kiss just now had a huge impact on her. She hadn't recovered either mentally or physically. She subconsciously begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, it's getting late... Ugh!"
Her waist was pinched by the big hand again, and the man covered the back of her head with his other hand and pressed it down without saying a word.
Their lips were blocked again, and even though she was on top and he was on the bottom, she couldn't break free at all.
Another deep kiss.
Like a wild wolf eating meat for the first time, he grabbed Lu Zhiwan and kissed her again and again. Each time was a deep kiss that was so reckless that it suffocated him, and it was extremely intimate.
Later in the kiss, Lu Zhiwan cried for help in his heart.
"No one told me that kissing is more tiring than running 800 meters! I can't stand it anymore, my lips feel like they're going to break from kissing..."
When the man's lips loosened slightly, Lu Zhiwan quickly raised her hand to press against his chest and turned her face away: "Your Majesty, no more..."
When she heard the gentle and hoarse "Your Majesty", she was shocked. It was too coquettish and charming.
It's even more seductive than the clip-shaped voice she usually pretends to make. If she were to do a live broadcast like this, she could trick all the men into losing everything.
"He won't think I'm playing hard to get here, will he?"
Before Lu Zhiwan could explain, the man's lips covered hers again.
This time there was no deep kiss, but he touched her lips and licked and bit them gently, silently expressing closeness. Lu Zhiwan even wanted to reach out and stroke his head and say, "Okay, okay, be obedient and stop making trouble."
This is so weird.
She frowned and thought, but she didn't hate it.
The man lingered on her lips for a long time, until his breathing became heavy again, then he let her go and pushed her aside.
Lu Zhiwan: “…”
"What kind of ruthless, ruthless move is that? Just now he was hugging me and licking me like a big cat, and now he's pushing me away? A split personality is confirmed."
She was about to ask when the man beside her spoke first: "How... do you feel?"
“.......”
After two breaths of silence, she covered her face shyly and said, "Your Majesty is so annoying. How can I, a concubine, speak up about this?"
"Besides, we're not doing it. Do we need user feedback for a kiss?"
"Love alone?" What weird things is she saying again?
Xiao Jingting took a deep breath, and after the heat in his body had subsided, he pulled down the curtain again, grabbed Lu Zhiwan's waist, and held her in his arms.
"It's the first time anyway. If there are any shortcomings, try again another day and make corrections."
A hoarse voice slowly came from above her head, and the extremely hot breath made Lu Zhiwan tense up all over. If she had some prejudice in her heart before, after what happened just now, she could be sure that Xiao Jingting was not incompetent, but very capable.
If the kiss went any further, she was afraid he would tear her apart and eat her whole.
Thinking of this, she quietly swallowed her saliva, moved her waist a little further away, and lowered her voice: "Your Majesty, I will obey you. It's just that it's too late today. Your Majesty still has to attend court tomorrow morning. You should rest early..."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingting didn't say much, just nodded softly, then hugged the soft body in his arms tighter, closed his eyes and fell asleep.
***
Lu Zhiwan slept very uneasily that night, probably because of the kisses again and again. She had a long and indescribable dream.
She didn't remember much of what had happened before, but she remembered that Xiao Jingting had built her an extravagant terrace. On a beautiful night with a gentle breeze and a bright moon, he took her up there to admire the moon. Music played, and wine was fragrant. Just as the moon reached full height, Xiao Jingting suddenly transformed into an orc and pounced on her...
"don't want--!"
She woke up from a nightmare and met Xiao Jingting's puzzled gaze: "Huh?"
Lu Zhiwan looked at the indifferent and handsome face in front of her, and thought of the tall and strong orc in her dream. An inexplicable strong shame made her want to dig a hole on the spot.
"This is crazy, this is really crazy. How could I have such a dream? How can I look him in the face in the future?"
After taking in the wonderful expressions on her face, Xiao Jingting rolled up his sleeves and looked at her leisurely: "What strange dream did you have again?"
Lu Zhiwan's expression froze. She quickly looked up at Xiao Jingting, then quickly lowered her head again: "They were all unreliable dreams. I can't remember them clearly..."
"Well," Xiao Jingting was skeptical and didn't ask any more questions. He looked at Lu Zhiwan's blushing face and suddenly said, "Since you woke up so early today, then accompany me to court."
These words were like a bucket of ice water, instantly washing away the ambiguous shame brought about by the erotic dream and dragging Lu Zhiwan back to the cold and cruel world of reality. Her mind also calmed down, and she looked at the person in front of her in disbelief: "But not long ago, I accompanied you to the morning court."
"You really don't take my last words seriously, and you're determined to become a tyrant?"
"Going to court is so boring. I'm tired of the daily routine. When I think of myself sitting there listening to those old men arguing while you're sound asleep in bed, I feel unhappy."
Xiao Jingting smiled at her: "Accompany me to the morning court, or I will sleep with you."
Lu Zhiwan: “……?”
People doing things?
In her heart, she refused, but when she thought about the possibility that the man in front of her might actually take off his robe and lie back on the bed to sleep with her, she gritted her teeth and forced a smile: "Since Your Majesty wants me to accompany you, then I will respectfully obey your command."
Xiao Jingting then curled his lips in satisfaction, turned around and asked Yu Mingjiang to bring the eunuch robe he had worn before.
Looking at the tall back of the man leaving, Lu Zhiwan cursed in his heart, "You idiot dog! If we weren't in the same boat, I wouldn't care whether you lived or died!"
***
The first time is unfamiliar, and this time when Lu Zhiwan went to court, he was no longer nervous as before.
She was wearing a green eunuch's robe and stood with her head bowed beside a tall vermilion pillar, yawning secretly and feeling regretful and listless. It was a pity that Gu Rongyu had gone to Jiangnan, otherwise she could have looked at handsome men to kill time.
Just as this thought was about to come to mind, I felt an inexplicable chill on my head.
Could it be that he's bald from lack of sleep? She silently raised her head, her dark eyes darting around, finally identifying the source of that sinister gaze—the living ancestor sitting on the dragon throne.
"Why is he looking at me like that? Did he catch me yawning? The court officials are reporting on state affairs, but he's not paying attention. Why is he staring at a mere eunuch like me? What a tyrant!"
Although she was complaining in her heart, she didn't dare to look up for long. She took a look and then quickly looked away.
In the main hall, after the Ministry of Revenue officials finished their report on the spring tax collection, the Jinyiwei commander, Xing Zhou, raised his tablet and stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I have a report. After investigations by the Jinyiwei, we have identified six key players involved in the Guan Lü Si and Zhang Zhaoqian cases, and arrested 381 people for spreading the rumors..."
The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was a burly man with dark skin and a broad face, someone who looked like someone not to be trifled with. He was now eloquently reporting on the case of Zhang Shaoqing. His words were sharp and resonant, and even the drowsy Lu Zhiwan perked up and listened intently, not to mention the court officials standing at attention.
When Lu Zhiwan heard that some of the main criminals arrested had close contacts with foreign princes and deliberately made a big fuss about the Zhang Zhaoqian case to incite people, his face turned grim.
"From what I hear, it seems like more than one vassal king has ulterior motives? That's right, who doesn't love their country, especially when the one sitting on it is so unreliable. If I were a vassal king, with soldiers, money, and ambition, I'd also want to take a chance. Fortune and wealth are sought in danger."
"From the current perspective, for the sake of long-term stability, reducing the power of the feudal lords must be put on the agenda. The Prince of Yuzhang should be attacked, and the Princes of Jianye and Hexi should also be dealt with."
She was thinking secretly, completely unaware of the complicated look from the person above her.
In the main hall, the court officials discussed how to deal with these criminals.
The results of the discussion fell into three categories. Some people felt that benevolent policies should be implemented, and those suspected of having close contacts with the princes should be sentenced more severely. As for those who spread rumors, there were too many of them. If they were all killed, it would inevitably cause panic among the people. Therefore, benevolent policies should be implemented, and light punishments should be given as a warning.
Some felt that the incident had gone too far and that if it wasn't dealt with swiftly and severely, it would continue to affect the dignity of the imperial family and the emperor's reputation. Others were more moderate, favoring killing some and releasing others.
Lu Zhiwan listened to their arguments and felt like a fence-sitter. Sometimes she thought this person was right, and sometimes she thought that person made sense. In the end, she even suffered from choice-indecision syndrome, hesitating and not knowing which side to stand on.
"Fortunately, I'm not the emperor. This is too hard to choose! It's a hundred times harder than ordering takeout at noon!"
"I don't know what Xiao Jingting will do?"
As she thought this, she subconsciously looked up.
On the tall dragon throne, the man in the scarlet-gold dragon robe sat upright. Behind the crown, his cold, pale face was indifferent, showing no emotion.
And when she looked over, she didn't know if it was her illusion, but he seemed to glance at her as well.
Lu Zhiwan was stunned for a moment, then quickly lowered his head, muttering to himself, "First, we have to eliminate one wrong answer. Killing them all is definitely not an option. After all, with nearly 400 lives at stake, I'm sure I'll be branded a tyrant... What that minister just said is quite right. It's harder to stop the people from speaking than to stop the river from flowing. It's better to open it than to block it... It's always better to kill fewer people."
“You must not kill everyone, and you must not abuse punishment.”
The emperor's voice, as clear as gold, suddenly rang out in the hall. All the ministers held their breath and looked upwards in unison.
Lu Zhiwan was no exception, and was surprised: "He actually thinks the same as me?"
"As the old saying goes, 'It's harder to guard against the people's mouths than against a river; when a river is blocked and bursts, many people will be injured. The same is true for the people." Xiao Jingting spoke slowly, his gaze calmly fixed on the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. "The two scholars who spoke out for Zhang Zhaoqian will have their official titles stripped and their names expelled from the capital. As for the four who had close ties with the princes, they will be temporarily detained. You will investigate them carefully. Once the evidence is complete, you will join the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court for a joint trial, publicly interrogating them. As for the hundreds of rumormongers..."
He tapped the dragon-carved armrest twice with his long fingers and said, "Pick eight..."
Just as he said eight, he glanced at the inconspicuous, petite figure beside the pillar and changed his words: "Six. Pick the six who jump the most vigorously, take them to the West Market Gate, cut off their tongues and display them to the public. After the punishment is completed, they will be fined 20 taels of silver along with the others and expelled from the capital."
All the ministers were stunned when they heard such specific instructions.
Since His Majesty ascended the throne, aside from his intense focus on the construction of Jinli Garden, he has been indifferent to all other matters. Even when making decisions, he leaves it to the court officials to debate on their own, and then the Cabinet weighs the most appropriate plan and submits it to His Majesty for review and approval.
Like today, the sun really does rise from the west.
Since the emperor had given the order, and the order was relatively normal and safe, the court officials naturally obeyed it respectfully.
After the court meeting was over, the civil and military officials walked out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and gathered in groups of three or four. They couldn't help but mention the emperor's strange behavior today.
"Your Majesty is actually paying attention to government affairs today. This is truly rare."
"Perhaps this case involves too many people, and also involves the princes and the harem, so we have to pay more attention to it."
"If Your Majesty could continue to be so diligent in his work, then Zhang Zhaoqian's death would not be too unjust..."
"You are asking for your life, how dare you say such nonsense."
Several green-robed officials lowered their voices in frustration, deciding not to mention it any further.
Not far from them, Vice Minister Zou Demin and Chief Minister Gu walked side by side. After stating the emperor's decree, they casually sighed, "That young eunuch on the left side of the hall today seems familiar. Did you notice him, Lord Gu?"
Chief Minister Gu's face became more serious, and he pursed his lips. He looked at the Second Minister again and said calmly, "He's just a little eunuch."
The second assistant's eyebrows twitched slightly, his face relaxed and he said with a smile: "It must be my eyes playing tricks on me."
When they reached the East Corner Gate, they both got into their sedan chairs.
Looking at the sun half-obscured by clouds in the sky, Prime Minister Gu narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then beckoned to the eunuch beside him, "Please go to the Cining Palace and inform them that I would like to see the Empress Dowager this afternoon. I have something important to discuss."
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