Catching the clean, warm scent radiating from Li Yi, Qi Yue tilted her head up, revealing a breathtakingly sweet smile. “Your Majesty.”
Li Yi was thoroughly convinced that there could never be another woman in this world more beautiful than Qi Yue.
A smile like hers was sweet enough to melt right into the very depths of his heart.
He had no idea what this little lady had been eating these past two years, but she had blossomed flawlessly. Her entire being exuded an ethereal, soul-stirring grace, as if a fairy had just tumbled down from the heavens.
He wasn’t exactly a lustful man. Ordinary men might be governed by their lower halves, rooting their feet to the ground at the mere sight of beauty, but not Li Yi.
From childhood to adulthood, Li Yi had been surrounded by all sorts of stunning women. These women possessed either supreme talent or peerless looks—and some, even both. They were the most exalted women in the entire empire.
Even now, the concubines at his side were all noble ladies meticulously handpicked from prestigious families; their features and figures were absolutely impeccable.
Naturally, Li Yi’s standards were exceptionally high. If Qi Yue were only averagely pretty, she would never have caught his eye. Let alone evoke his tender pity.
Watching Li Yi’s expression subtly shift, Qi Yue could easily guess exactly what he was thinking. Yet, she deliberately played the fool, pretending she knew absolutely nothing.
Resting her soft, delicate hands against Li Yi’s chest, she gazed up at him with misty, doe-like eyes. “Your Majesty, what are you doing here?”
What was he doing here? Naturally, he had been lured in by her.
By now, Li Yi was well aware that his presence here at this exact moment was entirely a trap set by Qi Yue.
He was the fierce beast that had willingly stepped right into it.
Li Yi could easily leap out of this snare, or even sharply reprimand her. But right now? He wanted to beat her at her own game and eat this little lady alive.
She was his Empress, his woman. Blooming so enchantingly, it was only right that she be devoured by him.
Li Yi’s eyes darkened ominously. One hand gripped Qi Yue’s slender waist. Her waist was so astonishingly delicate, it felt as though he could snap it with a single hand.
He could vividly imagine what a tantalizingly steamy scene it would be if he were to pin this little beauty onto the bed, gripping that very waist.
Still viewing Qi Yue as a little lady with just a bit of cunning, Li Yi pulled the cloak wrapped around her tightly together. “You are not allowed to come out dressed like this next time.”
Qi Yue gripped his clothes, her small fingers scratching lightly at the exquisite embroidery on his dragon robe. She murmured softly, “This concubine hasn’t seen Your Majesty in so long. Does Your Majesty know how long it has been?”
Sweeping her up into his arms, Li Yi secured her cloak tightly and strode toward the spring-warm Zhengyang Palace.
Qi Yue leaned her head contentedly against Li Yi’s shoulder. “It has been eight hundred and eighty-seven days. Two years, five months, and seven days. Has Your Majesty been super busy? Otherwise, why haven’t you come to see me?”
Met with a heavy silence, Li Yi offered no reply.
Sweeping aside the beaded curtains, he set Qi Yue down on the low couch. Draped across it was a snow-white tiger pelt. Nestled on the plush fur, she beamed up at him with twinkling eyes. “Your Majesty, you are exactly the same as two years ago. You don’t look old at all.”
Li Yi’s eyebrow twitched upward. “Don’t look old?”
He was only twenty-seven, at the very peak of his prime—the absolute perfect age. Yet here she was, brazenly claiming he “didn’t look old.” Didn’t that essentially mean she secretly thought he was old?!
A sudden urge gripped Li Yi. He wanted to pin this little lady against the couch and utterly bully her, just to show her whether he was in his robust, youthful prime or not.
The room was wonderfully warm. After being bundled in his cloak for a while, Qi Yue wriggled out of it. On the table sat a freshly poured cup of tea. She offered it to Li Yi. “Would Your Majesty like some tea?”
Li Yi was utterly convinced the tea was spiked.
This time, the little lady was using every trick in the book to seduce him, undoubtedly to secure her position as Empress and win back his favor.
Tonight, she would definitely slip in some sort of aphrodisiac; a night of steamy spring passion was simply inevitable.
Taking the cup, Li Yi took a discreet sniff. It was ginger and jujube tea. He knew a fair bit about pharmacology himself; judging by the tea’s color and scent, it didn’t seem tampered with. He took a cautious sip. Truly, there was nothing in it.
He downed the tea in one go and clacked the empty cup back onto the table.
Qi Yue picked up the empty cup, pouting slightly. “There was only one cup of tea here, yet you so kindly drank it all without letting me have even a single taste.”
Li Yi stared at her, an unwavering, burning intensity in his gaze. “The Empress wishes to taste it?”
Qi Yue gave an innocent nod.
His hand snapped to the back of her head, pulling her firmly against him as he dipped his head and captured her lips.
The Empress’s taste was far sweeter than he had ever imagined. Her response was endearingly clumsy; though she forced a facade of absolute calm, a fierce blush painted her cheeks, spreading fiercely all the way to the tips of her ears.
Li Yi’s large hand slipped beneath Qi Yue’s collar. The young girl’s skin was cool and exceptionally delicate, just like flawless jade. It felt dangerously good against his fingertips.
She looked so incredibly fragile, yet she was bountiful in all the right places, making it entirely impossible for him to let go.
In an instant, a scorching heat roared through Li Yi’s veins. Biting down gently on her lips, his burning kisses trailed downwards, lingering hungrily at the crook of her neck. With a forceful tug, Qi Yue’s upper garments were torn open, the fabric practically shredding beneath his grip.
She looked as though she was about to cry. “Your… Your Majesty, these are my new clothes…”
Li Yi showered kisses across her tender face, kissing away her tears. “Tomorrow, Zhen will reward you with new ones. I’ll reward you with ten sets, alright?”
Her smooth, rounded shoulders were entirely exposed to the cool air, intricately sculpted from white jade. All that remained on her upper body was a moon-white silk bodice. Li Yi’s eyes gradually blazed crimson; he pressed her firmly into the couch and lightly bit her shoulder.
Qi Yue’s fingers desperately clenched his robes. “Your Majesty, it hurts…”
Nibbling against her skin, Li Yi mumbled thickly, “It will hurt even more later. Endure it…”
He finally stripped away the very last of Qi Yue’s clothes.
Her body was breathtakingly perfect—far more beautiful than any woman he had ever laid eyes on. Li Yi wanted nothing more than to hold her in his mouth and swallow her whole.
Only after pushing her fully onto the bed did Li Yi make a devastating discovery: Qi Yue’s monthly visitor had arrived.
He was wound so tightly below that it physically ached, yet the exquisite delicacy in his arms was strictly for display only.
Qi Yue gave Li Yi’s chin an apologetic little nip. “Ah… sorry. This concubine forgot about this…”
Looking the very picture of innocence, her watery eyes blinked up at him helplessly. Snatching her clothes, she casually threw them over herself, decisively cutting off his access completely.
Li Yi didn’t dare spare her even half a glance more. Roughly yanking his own robes back into order, he stormed out with an iron-green face.
If he truly wanted to, there were naturally a thousand ways to make Qi Yue serve him, and force her into perfect, trembling submission.
But he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to in the slightest.
Braving the biting chill of the winter wind all the way back to Hanyuan Hall, every last shred of Li Yi’s scorching lust had successfully dissipated.
Head Eunuch Fang Lu bowed deeply as he approached. “Your Majesty…”
“Prepare hot water. Zhen needs a bath.”
Submerged in the wooden bathing tub, the mere thought of Qi Yue filled Li Yi with equal parts fury and… He ground his teeth fiercely together.
How could he possibly not guess it? The Empress was deliberately dangling the carrot, intentionally leaving him starving. Only then would he be hopelessly haunted, thinking of her enticing body every waking hour.
Li Yi’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the rim of the tub.
That scheming, unfathomable little woman. His self-control was practically legendary. Fixating on her endlessly? Impossible!
He snapped his eyes shut. Immediately, the bewitching image of Qi Yue, utterly disheveled and impossibly seductive, drifted back into his mind.
In a mere instant, Li Yi’s traitorous body reacted yet again.
From the very day he understood the affairs between men and women, he had been served by countless beautiful women. Even now, if he simply wished it, he could order Fang Lu to summon any concubine from the inner palace at a moment’s notice.
Yet, he didn’t want any other woman. Tracing Qi Yue’s face in his mind, the dark flames of desire in Li Yi’s eyes only grew heavier.
Once he finally had her, he swore he would strangle her alive, ensuring she would never ruthlessly seduce a man like this again.
…
When Aunt Yun and Xun Xue entered the chamber, Qi Yue had already properly dressed herself and was sitting calmly off to the side.
Aunt Yun hurried over holding a bowl of nourishing tonic. “Standing in the freezing snow and ice so thinly dressed… letting the wind blow at you for a full quarter of an hour. This servant’s heart positively ached watching it.”
Qi Yue took a delicate sip of the tonic and smiled warmly. “Bengong is perfectly fine.”
Xun Xue, however, looked intensely anxious. “Your Ladyship, when His Majesty left, his expression was so horrifying…”
“It’s only natural for him to be angry.” Qi Yue was in wonderfully high spirits. Sipping a bit more of the broth, she narrowed her eyes like a contented fox.
Men. The more utterly unattainable something was, the more desperately they wanted to chase it.
She knew with absolute certainty that even if Li Yi marched out the doors of Zhengyang Palace with an iron-green face today, he would undoubtedly come right back tomorrow.
Having caught a chill in the evening and with her time of the month in full swing, Qi Yue spent the middle of the night in excruciating, rolling pain. Xun Xue stood vigil by her side; whenever Qi Yue cried out in agony, she would immediately get up to spoon-feed her medicine.
Tossing and turning for most of the night, when Qi Yue finally forced her eyes open the next day, the sun was already high up in the sky.
Lounging stubbornly in bed, entirely unwilling to get up, Xia Lian took over Xun Xue’s shift. She gently wiped Qi Yue’s face and coaxed her into swallowing a few mouthfuls of the medicinal brew.
Qi Yue’s brows knotted together tightly. “It’s dreadfully bitter. Bengong refuses to drink it.”
Xia Lian coaxed her in a soft, soothing hum: “Be a good girl, Your Ladyship. If you don’t drink your medicine, it will keep hurting. Here, have a piece of candy first.”
After finally downing the bitter concoction, Qi Yue popped a piece of candy into her mouth and flopped back onto the bed.
Not long after Xia Lian stepped out, she scrambled right back in. “Your Ladyship, Your Ladyship! His Majesty is here!”
Qi Yue casually yanked her blanket up higher. “Make him wait outside. Just tell him Bengong went out for a stroll and will be back in a bit.”
“You dare deceive the Emperor?” A man’s low, chilling baritone suddenly sliced into the room. The moment it hit her ears, Qi Yue’s eyes snapped wide open.
Clutching the quilt tightly around herself, she bolted upright. “Your Majesty…”
Xia Lian had immediately dropped to her knees, burying her head against the floorboards, not daring to breathe a single word.
Li Yi settled casually onto the edge of Qi Yue’s bed. He swept her up, blanket and all, right into his embrace. “Empress, your courage is truly vast.”
Squirming slightly, Qi Yue shrank back just a fraction. “Your Majesty, how could you just barge straight in?”
Li Yi stroked her bare cheek, his voice a low purr. “Why did you want to trick Zhen?”
Qi Yue dipped her head bashfully. “This concubine didn’t want you to see me without my makeup and finery.”
Li Yi cupped her face. He had dreamed of her all night. In his dreams, he could do absolutely anything he wished to this stunning vixen.
He knew that every single one of her expressions, every single word that tumbled from her lips was calculated manipulation, an utter lie. And yet, he simply couldn’t stop himself from coming over to take a look.
This impossibly cunning, ill-intentioned Empress… with just a single glance, she ruthlessly siphoned away his soul and shredded his renowned composure.
“You look beautiful like this, too.” He leaned in closer, brushing a soft kiss against her lips.
It was sweet. Impossibly sweet.
Li Yi pulled back a fraction. “You haven’t even gotten out of bed yet, and you’re already eating candy?”
“I only had one piece!” Qi Yue defended softly. “The candy is just too delicious.”
Li Yi adopted an incredibly stern, chillingly serious tone: “Eating something so sweet and greasy on an empty stomach is bad for your health.”
And yet, thoroughly addicted to the sweet taste of his Qi Yue, he tilted his head and dived right back in to kiss her again—kissing her so deeply and so thoroughly that her face flared a brilliant crimson, leaving her entirely breathless.
Author’s Note:
Qi Yue: Seduce you, tease you, and then… reject you.
Li Yi: ……
Translator’s Anecdote: The Emperor really walked in fully believing he was the apex predator, completely unaware he was just a pawn in his wife’s 4D chess game! A moment of absolute silence for his midnight cold bath. 🧊 P.S. Bold of him to sternly lecture her about morning sugar intake right before attempting to eat her for breakfast—sir, the hypocrisy is as sweet as the candy! 🍬