Chapter 183: With regards to romance Original and most updated translations are from volare. If read elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.
Lou Zigui carried Ning Xiaoyao all the way back to Supreme Splendor Hall. He knew that both Shadowgale and the Dragon Guards as well as the various imperial guards stationed around the palace would only act as accomplices if Ning Xiaoyao tried to slip away. The guards at the gate wouldn’t be able to stop her either, so he decided to sit in her room and refuse to leave.
“You said it yourself, men and women shouldn’t be so intimate,” Ning Xiaoyao yelled as Lou Zigui tucked her into the Dragon bed.
Lou Zigui had been sitting on the chair in front of the bed, but at her words he simply climbed to sit on the edge of the bed. “Since we’ve already had intimate relations, Xiaoyao, why can’t we get closer?”
Ning Xiaoyao was rendered speechless by his shamelessness. You can say things like that too?
“Hurry and sleep,” Lou Zigui rested his hand over Ning Xiaoyao’s eyes, before dropping his voice. “I’ll keep you company.”
Keep me company? Ning Xiaoyao rolled her eyes. Supreme Commander’s getting better with his sweet talk. He’s obviously keeping watch on me so I can’t go to the Lord Protector’s manor!
Seeing that Ning Xiaoyao had finally stopped talking, Lou Zigui removed his hands, only to see her eyes wide open. He changed to stroking her head instead. “There’s a lot of important things to do tomorrow, so what if you tire yourself out by not resting well?”
“How could I tire myself out?” Ning Xiaoyao pursed her lips. “Even if elephants topple over from exhaustion, I’ll still be fine.”
“………” said Lou Zigui. What does this have to do with elephants?
“Forget it, I’ll just sleep then,” Ning Xiaoyao said. “How about you? You’re just going to sit there?”
Lou Zigui gave a start, before giving her a sly smile. “You want me to lie down too?”
“Ah?” Ning Xiaoyao replied. Tonight’s Supreme Commander Lou seemed bolder than usual. It was extremely unusual of him. This room was bordered by two more wings on each side, but both those rooms and the front and back gardens were all empty. There was no worry of anyone seeing them. Lou Zigui didn’t just have ordinary guts. As a man of the army, plenty of them knew how to play the hooligan. The only difference lay in whether they acted on those impulses.
“Lie down,” Ning Xiaoyao rolled across the bed to make room for him, then patted the sheets. If Supreme Commander Lou didn’t care, then Miss Ning definitely minded even less. Lou Zigui really did end up lying next to Ning Xiaoyao, though with all his clothes on.
“Will you close your eyes and go to sleep now?” he asked.
Ning Xiaoyao was buried beneath the covers, leaving only her head exposed. She pressed against Lou Zigui’s body like a giant silkworm and stared at his face. “With a beauty like this by Zhen’s side, Zhen has to admire you thoroughly!”
Lou Zigui’s anger turned into amus.e.m.e.nt. “You finally remembered to use ‘Zhen?’”
“Be more serious,” Ning Xiaoyao kept a straight face. “Zhen is flirting with you.”
He was already lying down on the bed. Getting up now was simply admitting defeat and fleeing, so Lou Zigui could only stay there stiffly as he asked, “Then what does Zhen want this subject to do?”
Ning Xiaoyao licked her lips with her tongue, before peering closely at Lou Zigui’s face. “Just how did you get a face like that?”
Lou Zigui asked, “Your Majesty is unsatisfied with this subject’s face?”
“I’m satisfied, alright,” Ning Xiaoyao said, “But you’re actually more handsome than me. That’s unforgivable.”
“……” said Lou Zigui.
“Beauty,” Ning Xiaoyao widened her eyes as her tone turned flippant. “Come, give Zhen a smile, one from the bottom of your heart.”
Lou Zigui sighed. Am I really keeping this girl company with roleplay?
Seeing him sigh, Ning Xiaoyao puffed up her cheeks in displeasure. Is romance all that hard? Seriously, give me a break. How did all my old companions used to do it? When Ning Xiaoyao recalled her past life, she couldn’t help but droop and spit to herself. All those pairs had just hooked up and gotten wild as soon as they met. There wasn’t any time spared for romance at all!
“Fine, I’ll smile,” Lou Zigui said as he tilted Ning Xiaoyao’s head back straight. He gave a pinch to Ning Xiaoyao’s petty, puffed cheeks and flashed a smile at her.
Ning Xiaoyao took a while to recover from his smile before she muttered with a sigh, “Well dang, flowers are blooming again.”
Lou Zigui had no concept of his attractiveness Military men took interest in women’s looks, but who would ever make frivolous remarks about a man’s face? At the very least, no one in the army did. Moreover, everyone knew he had a bad luck aura and brought ruin to everyone he met, leaving him more isolated than ever. Who would spare the time to pay attention to such a star of disaster?
His feelings unclear, Lou Zigui still raised his hands to pull Ning Xiaoyao close. “Come, now you smile and let me see.”
“Take a look,” Ning Xiaoyao grinned from ear to ear, looking absolutely foolish. Lou Zigui ended up pinching Ning Xiaoyao’s chubby cheeks.
“Are you kneading dough!?” Ning Xiaoyao said unhappily. She felt like Lou Zigui was pinching her face out of shape! She quickly warned him, “Careful that I don’t bite you, ah!”
Lou Zigui said, “Your Majesty would eat human flesh?”
Dang it, he leaves me no choice. Ning Xiaoyao opened her mouth and bit down on Lou Zigui’s nose. That’s what you get for having a better-looking nose than me. I’ll bite it!
Lou Zigui hadn’t expected Ning Xiaoyao to really fulfill her promise and he gave a hiss in reponse. Then he turned over with her still in his arms, pressing her body beneath him. He pinched her own nose to force her to let go. She did and looked at the red teeth marks left on his nose with satisfaction. Lou Zigui rubbed the stray saliva off his face and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“You actually bit me!?” Lou Zigui was incredulous.
Ning Xiaoyao was completely serious. “The next time you treat my face like dough to be kneaded, or a meatbun, I’ll bite you all the same.”
“That cruel?”
“I’ll bite you to death,” Ning Xiaoyao’s expression suddenly turned ferocious, before it faded back to her usual look. “Now that’s what I call cruel.”
Lou Zigui’s face drew even closer to Ning Xiaoyao’s. “So I should be thanking Your Majesty instead?”
“No need to thank me for my grace,” Ning Xiaoyao replied, straight faced. “Beauty, you just have to remember Your Majesty’s generosity to you.” For example, maybe you can s.h.i.+ft targets away from me when seeking revenge for your family?
Lou Zigui’s voice turned a little hoa.r.s.e. “How does Your Majesty want this subject to express his grat.i.tude?”
“Urk.” Ning Xiaoyao didn’t have the guts to voice her thoughts out loud. Lou Zigui lowered his head and kissed her face. Big Boss Black quietly squeezed out of the room through a crack in the window. He couldn’t keep watching them flirt anymore.
“Big Boss,” the fat yellow cat and the long haired white cat scampered to his side.
Big Boss Black told his younger brothers-in-arms, “Looks like Supreme Commander’s not leaving that ninny at any point in this lifetime.”
“Ah?” Little White replied. “Then Big Boss, are you happy or unhappy?”
“Little White Fatty!” Big Boss Black ignored Little White’s question to call for the snow wolf pup, who was rolling around the gra.s.s gnawing on his tail. “Let’s go, we’ll find another place to sleep. We can’t use the rooms now.”
“Aroo?” Little White Fatty stopped and called out foolishly.
Big Boss Black ran to the wolf pup and scratched him with his paw. “Miaow, go!”
The three cats used their heads to nudge the snow wolf pup’s b.u.t.t out of the gardens.
—
Ning Xiaoyao opened her eyes slightly to focus on the shaking bed curtains above her head. Actually, my old pals were right. Romance isn’t all that hard, it’s just a glance and then a tryst. The reality now was that she wanted to chat with Supreme Commander, but he preemptively took action on his own. (Author: Why is it that the closer we get to heart-pounding, face-flus.h.i.+ng moments, the more you think all sorts of things? o(╯□╰)o )
Ning Xiaoyao and Supreme Commander Lou ended up making love all night.
Meanwhile, the old madame and Lord Protector were standing outside Second Young Master Pei Yan’s rooms, listening keenly to the heavy breathing sounds inside the room. The pants of the two people inside grew more and more frantic even as the female tried her best to stifle her cries.
“It’s done,” the old madame said with red eyes before clasping her hands in prayer. “Thanks to the Bodhisattva, my little son is cured!”
The Lord Protector heard his little brother reach climax and exhaled as the heavy weight on his heart disappeared. But after he heard yet more noises coming from inside the room, he began to feel embarra.s.sed. What am I doing standing outside my brother’s room and eavesdropping?
The old madame stood beneath the covered walkway chanting Buddhist sutras, wis.h.i.+ng dearly that she could give thanks to a Buddha statue right this moment. The Lord Protector ended up supporting her into the courtyard before he murmured, “Mother, Ol’ Second’s cured, but will that fellow end up burning down the house first thing tomorrow morning?”
The old madame’s joyous expression suddenly stiffened. For the sake of testing Second Young Master Pei’s virility, mother and son had coaxed him to drink a bowl of hot soup laced with aphrodisiac. When they thought back to Pei Yan’s years of eccentric tempers and irritable, irascible moods, the pair felt that they would no doubt have a difficult time tomorrow.
“What do we do?” the Lord Protector fretted and paced.
The old madame felt her head turn numb. But after a flash of anxiety, she calmed down again and turned to look at the darkened bedroom hallway behind them. “I was the one who incited this. Do you think Ol’ Second has the gall to hit an old lady? This matter has nothing to do with you, Old Master, so you just go over to the palace tomorrow.”
“What does this son need to go to the palace for?” the Lord Protector asked.
The old madame whacked her son with her walking stick. “His Majesty saved your life by not letting you face off with Xie Wenyuan!”
The Lord Protector was already a grown man, but he still didn’t dare to make a peep in the face of the old madame’s thwack. The old madame then continued, “His Majesty cured Ol’ Second’s illness, aren’t you going to the palace to thank him for his grace?”
Lord Protector wanted to say that it should be Pei Yan doing the thanking instead, but when he recalled his brother’s personality, he kept quiet in the end.
The old madame said, “Tell His Majesty that if he still wants Ol’ Second to be the Nine Gates Infantry Commander, our Lord Protector’s estate will accept the honor.”
The Lord Protector had a fright from her words. “Mother, what if we agree and Ol’ Second doesn’t? Who could force that stubborn brat against his will?”
The old madame gave a cold snort. “If he disagrees, then we Lord Protector’s estate are simply deceiving the sovereign. This time, no one framed us, so we can all go die.”
The Lord Protector fell silent. Using the lives of the entire family to pressure Ol’ Second? Old mother, you’re truly ruthless.
The old madame used her walking stick to leave the courtyard, with the Lord Protector hurrying over to support her. He said in a low voice, “Mother, are we really going to have to face off against Xie Wenyuan?”
“His Majesty won’t lose,” the old madame was convinced on this point.
The Lord Protector replied, “Mother, don’t just look at how Lou Zigui is helping His Majesty now. His Black Frost Calvary is all the way in Anyuan, but all of the capital’s soldiers belong to Xie Wenyuan.”
“Three sons,” the old madame broke free of the Lord Protector’s hands and stuck three fingers in his face. “Xie Wenyuan had three sons by the first wife, but two of them are ruined now. The only one left is an idiot, so he has no more roots to support him. Son, just how do you think Xie Wenyuan can face off against His Majesty?”
The Lord Protector gave a start.
“Leaving the useless one for last,” the old madame said. “His Majesty is simply playing around with Xie Wenyuan like one would with a dog or a cat. A fast sword won’t destroy the garbage that’s his Grand Preceptor faction, so a small knife slicing away bits of flesh will do. Has Xie Wenyuan had any good days lately?” When she came to this point, the old madame lowered her voice even further with gritted teeth.
“I just know a man like Xie Wenyuan won’t meet with an easy death!”