Shengli watched Xing sleeping peacefully in his arms and he felt relieved a bit. Her pain must have been reduced,he thought and he held her gently so as to not disturb her. He was content by the fact she is fine and he went to sleep as he was so tired.All Shengli had were nightmares where Xing was looking at him with contempt because he hid about her problem and she went to sleep but didn"t wake up.
Shengli woke up and rubbed his eyes and watched Xing in a deep sleep. The night was cold so there were braziers set inside and the smell of plum blossoms dominated in the room as the room was decorated with it. The room was dimly lit with few lamps and Xu mama was waiting outside the wooden part.i.tion of the bed area.
The banquet was not over yet and the Emperor hadn"t returned yet. The Emperor was sleeping in the couch in his study because as the highest authority of the land, privacy is not the one thing he was not privy to. He didn"t want to create a mess by others accidentally finding out he is hiding another man along with the one known to others as his Consort.
-----
That morning, before Xing woke up, Shengli had shown the Emperor a paper that had the timings he had stayed with her in the past two months. Because he is the Emperor, the timings he stays with the women in the Harem will be recorded. s.h.i.+hong had shown him the records that are supposed to be secret to Shengli to make him believe that his brother had taken his woman. The news about the bloodied white cloth was informed to him too in an attempt to change his mind and he pretended to be wavering about his love for his brother and told s.h.i.+hong the information about his brother"s allergy.
" He knows everything... I wondered how too. Turns out your favourite Eunuch informed about this to s.h.i.+hong", Shengli used an accusing tone towards the Emperor.
The Emperor stood frozen knowing how much that Eunuch had done behind him to bring her down. Also, Even he forgot about the fact that the timings would be recorded. But nothing happened between them in the two times he had visited her and he was too panicked to give an explanation.
"I know nothing happened", Shengli"s deep voice rang startling the Emperor, "You"d be the last person she"ll allow to touch her", he spoke in an inaudible tone.
"What?", the Emperor raised his eyebrows in surprise. My brother was held captive not knowing what"s going on here and he still believed Mingxia?
"You are MY BROTHER! And that"s the reason I"m sure she will never fall for you", Shengli looked straight in his brother"s eyes and the Emperor felt suffocated by the dominating aura Shengli emitted. This was the first time his brother openly talking about this issue.
Shengli knew Xing. He knew she has to enter the palace for some reason and he had made up his heart for it. He also knew she won"t even consider anyone other than him as a potential suitor for her. He knew her world comprises of him and her together and the the others. Others will always be others and she"ll love them as friends and family but they"ll always stay as others in her heart. Only Haru might be the exception and a very few others but they never can reach his level. And the Emperor, he is his brother and he"ll always be his little Brother for her and nothing more. He was sure of it even though he gets jealous at times.
But Shengli knew his brother had a wavering heart towards her and he needed to openly have a talk and show his place to him. For some reason Shengli had a feeling that everything is still not solved. Shengli was the guy who allowed Haru in their gang only after making sure he won"t come in between him and her. His brother was no exception.
"I"ve thought a lot about it... Shall I tell you the truth, third brother?", the Emperor who took a deep breath sat in his chair and looked sombre. He continued after Shengli nodded,
"When I am with her, near her, looking at her, talking to her, I feel the same way I feel when I"m with you and Rijun. I feel happy when she talks about you and want both of you to be together. But when I am away from her, I feel like my heart hurts when I think her being with you. And that feeling immediately disappears the moment I see her. When I am away from her, all I feel is a longing for her but when I see her, I know she is not mine and I don"t even feel sad about it. I"m happy she is yours. It"s like my feelings for her is being forced on me. I know, my heart does not want her and my mind knows she is not mine but something else is saying that she needs to be mine", he drank a cup of tea and he looked at his brother with a lot of questions.
Shengli sighed looking at the confused look of his brother. He knew it must be something related to their fate.
If she is fated to be with my brother, how come she broke her fate and fell in love with me while my brother"s fate still has a hold on him?
-----
Shengli came out of his thoughts and he didn"t know what answer he must give his brother and kissed Xing who was sleeping in his arms.
Xing was deep in sleep because of the effects of medicines and Shengli got scared as she was taking long deep breaths. Is this how she breaths when sleeping, he wondered. He still was scared she"ll leave him to be alone in this world.
"Xing", he called her gently. He didn"t want to wake her up but he wanted to make sure she was just sleeping. His heart skipped a beat when she didn"t respond.
"Xing!", he raised his voice a bit more.
Xing who was in a deep sleep heard Shengli calling her.
Is this guy that scared? Will he not let me sleep from now?
Xing wondered and Her stomach was still hurting a bit but she knew he was really worried for her and decided to not tell him. But the pain had reduced to a great degree.
She turned to face him and she still could not open her eyes completely and she smiled,
"What, scared?"
"You were sleeping like this yesterday too", he kissed her forehead. He sounded relieved to hear her voice.
"Hmm", Xing just traced her fingers through his face and she noted the short stubble in his chin and rubbed it. That tickling feeling in her palms made her giggle and Xing who was still half asleep giggled in his embrace not knowing how alluring she looked in his eyes.
Shengli looked at Xing who looked so pet.i.te in his embrace. Her little face was slightly flushed visible even in that dim lit room and her lips had that beautiful s.h.i.+mmer on them. Her voice was husky as she had just woken up and that made her giggle more alluring and Shengli forgot about other things for a while and he started to chuckle with her too.
"You like it?", he trapped her in between the bed and himself and interlocked his fingers with hers pressing her hands above her head and rubbed his chin on her face making her giggle more.
That p.r.i.c.kly feeling on her face made her entire face tingle and Xing turned her face in an attempt to get away from his chin but that only made it worse as he started rubbing his chin on her neck and she laughed non stop.
"Stop! ", she cried when she could not handle the tickles anymore and only then he stopped. Xing was flushed red entirely by laughing and Shengli let go of her hands and rubbed her neck where the finger mark of s.h.i.+hong still remained on her now exposed neck.
Xing saw Shengli"s eyes flickering in the mild lighting and he suddenly bent down and kissed her neck. He nibbled and suckled on her fair neck right where the bruise was and Xing felt the warmth spreading through her entire body and she gasped and slightly moaned making him continue further.
Xing was holding the back of his head and after he felt like he had made his mark on her he looked at her victoriously with his eyes filled with many emotions and only then Xing realised that there might be the bruise s.h.i.+hong made on her neck. She knew her prince was always gentle with her and never left any mark on her even though they had kissed plenty of times before and now he didn"t like the bruise left by s.h.i.+hong on her.
He is jealous!
"s.h.i.+hong placed his lips here and... ", Xing showed her lips and before she finished talking, his lips landed on hers and he started kissing her. His hands wandered from her neck and went lower and Xing could feel his body heating up even through the many layers of clothes they were wearing.
Eh! Isn"t he crossing the threshold?
If it was some other time , Xing wouldn"t have mind but tonight, she really was not in the mood.
Thankfully Shengli realised it and stopped himself and that"s when the New Year gong was heard followed by fireworks brightening the sky.
"Happy birthday, Xing", he placed a gentle kiss on her lips and she hugged him.
"I"m glad you are with me ", she whispered to him.
"Me too", he smiled at her like usual and laid next to her, holding her.
The sound and light from the fireworks was visible through the windows.
"I"ve never seen fireworks closely before", Xing nestled her head in his chest. She had only watched it from a distance only once and never seen it closely.
" I"ll bring you to watch soon", he kissed the top of her head.
"Okay", she said and looked around to see that she was in an unfamiliar place and dragons carved in the big canopy bed and was shocked. Till now she was only looking at Shengli and didn"t look away.
Am I in the Emperor"s courtyard? Just what happened here? Did my Prince suddenly became Emperor while I was out?