Xiao Che spent the entire day "working" in Kunning Palace.
He believed that his noble image of being "physically in Cao's camp but mentally in Han's" (physically in Kunning Palace but mentally in court affairs) and "still not forgetting to accompany his beloved wife in his busy schedule" would surely deeply move the Empress.
However, he was disappointed.
Lin Wanwan was like an emotionless wooden doll all day long.
She held the bunch of foxtail grass and sat by the window all day, not speaking, not looking at him, and barely even changing her posture.
Xiao Che was very frustrated.
He discovered that the tricks in "The Domineering Young Master Falls in Love with Me" didn't seem to work that well...
So that night, he studied hard again, skipping the boring lovey-dovey chapters and turning to the advanced "advanced techniques" section.
"Advanced Technique, First Step: The Joy of Eyebrow Drawing"
The storybook says: "Drawing eyebrows for one's beloved is a joy in the boudoir, the ultimate expression of intimacy. A man holds a snail-shell ink stick and draws his love between a woman's eyebrows. This act can melt even the most icy beauty in the spring breeze."
thrush?
Xiao Che stared at the short line of text and fell into deep thought.
This... seems to be a bit technically difficult.
His hands were accustomed to holding heavy imperial brushes and even heavier imperial swords. To ask him to pick up that tiny eyebrow pencil…
He was a little weak.
but!
To win back his wife's heart, what's so difficult about just drawing eyebrows!
It's just drawing two lines, right? Can it be more difficult than reviewing memorials or governing a country?
So, the next morning, an unprecedented scene appeared in the sleeping quarters of Kunning Palace.
As Lin Wanwan sat expressionlessly in front of her dressing table, like a walking corpse, preparing to begin the most boring part of her day—her grooming routine—a tall figure appeared behind her without warning.
It's Xiao Che.
Instead of going to the morning court as usual, he stood straight behind her, his eyes fixed on the eyebrow pencil reflected in the bronze mirror in front of her.
Lin Wanwan's heart skipped a beat.
What...what does he want to do?
The palace maid who was combing her hair was so frightened that her hand trembled and she almost dropped the comb.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty?" The palace maid's voice trembled.
"Get down." Xiao Che's voice sounded a little... tense?
"Yes!" The palace maid felt as if she had been granted a pardon and immediately led the other servants out, scrambling and crawling away.
Inside the bedchamber, only the two of them remained.
Looking at the unusually serious-looking man behind her in the bronze mirror, Lin Wanwan felt an increasingly strong sense of foreboding.
Then she saw him... reach out his hand.
He reached out and picked up the eyebrow pencil from her dressing table.
Lin Wan-wan: "..."
Her body froze instantly.
What is he doing with the eyebrow pencil?
Could it be... that her "silent treatment" yesterday finally enraged him? Is he... planning to poke her eyes out with an eyebrow pencil?!
Just as Lin Wanwan's mind was already conjuring up a full-blown fight, Xiao Che spoke up.
His voice had an extremely deliberate, stiff quality, as if he were reciting lines.
"I……"
He paused, as if trying to encourage himself.
"...Today, I will draw your eyebrows."
"boom--!"
In Lin Wanwan's mind, it felt as if a hundred thousand thunderbolts were exploding at the same time!
Draw...draw eyebrows?!
Did she hear that right?!
He's going to draw her eyebrows?!
She stared blankly at the man in the bronze mirror, holding an eyebrow pencil and with a serious expression as if he were about to be executed. For a moment, she forgot how to react.
Meanwhile, His Majesty the Emperor is so nervous that his palms are sweating.
He held the eyebrow pencil, which was thinner than an embroidery needle, and felt that it was hotter than the Imperial Seal of the State.
He took a deep breath, recalling the graceful movements described in the storybook, and then bent down.
A unique, refreshing scent of ambergris instantly enveloped Lin Wanwan.
His face was very close to hers.
She was so close that she could even see his slightly trembling eyelashes in the bronze mirror.
Lin Wanwan's heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.
Then, that eyebrow pencil, still warm from his fingertips, simply... landed on her eyebrows.
An epic "disaster" was about to begin.
Xiao Che's hands trembled like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.
In his entire life, he had held a sword, a pen, and an imperial seal, but he had never held this thing!
He held his breath, and with all the strength he had learned in his life to control his wrists, he began... to trace.
He imagined himself wielding a brush and splashing ink, sketching a magnificent landscape painting.
However, reality is cruel.
One stroke... and it went astray.
The second stroke... was too thick.
The third stroke... went right outside the eyebrows!
Lin Wan-wan watched helplessly as her eyebrows in the bronze mirror gradually transformed from delicate willow-leaf eyebrows into a... black, thick, twisted... caterpillar under her husband's "skillful hands."
Moreover, it was the kind that was wriggling.
Lin Wan-wan: "..."
She felt like dying.
Xiao Che, the instigator, was clearly aware of just how appalling his "masterpiece" was.
His expression became even more serious.
It was a complex emotion that mixed "nervousness," "embarrassment," and "I'm doomed, I've messed up."
He was sweating profusely as he painted, and his hands were shaking even more violently.
To cover up his guilty conscience, he coughed lightly.
That soft cough, to Lin Wanwan, became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Feeling guilty!
He was definitely feeling guilty!
If yesterday's flower delivery and companionship only made her "suspicious," then today's unprecedented and extremely unusual act of "painting eyebrows," coupled with his nervous and guilty appearance, became "ironclad evidence" of his infidelity!
This is definitely not a trick he could have come up with on his own!
What normal man would suddenly think of drawing his wife's eyebrows?!
This must have been taught to him by that talented woman from Jiangnan!
It was that vixen who told him that women all enjoy this so-called "bedroom pleasure"!
That's why he was so nervous and guilty! Because he was "acting"! He was using the methods others had taught him to appease and comfort her!
This realization, like a poisoned dagger, pierced Lin Wan-wan's heart.
Looking in the mirror at her two ridiculous eyebrows that had completely transformed into the style of "Crayon Shin-chan," she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, her whole body turning ice cold.
Finally, Xiao Che, trembling, finished the last stroke.
He let out a long sigh of relief, as if he had just finished a fierce battle.
He looked at his "masterpiece," and although he felt it was a bit... indescribable, the thought was what mattered! Yes, the thought was the most important thing!
He straightened up, looked at Lin Wan-wan in the bronze mirror, and waited for her "touched" reaction.
Lin Wan-wan slowly raised her head.
She looked in the mirror at herself, with her two comical caterpillar eyebrows and pale face, then looked outside the mirror at the man with a serious expression but with a hint of "praise me" in his eyes.
A tremendous sorrow overwhelmed her.
Sure enough, he felt guilty!
He really is having an affair!
He's... "acting"!
She slowly tugged at the corners of her mouth, revealing a smile that was even uglier than crying.
Her voice was calm and undisturbed.
"His Majesty……"
"...It's really well drawn."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com