In keeping with the occasion?
Su Tuan’er rolled her eyes at his back. If he truly wanted to match the occasion, white would have suited him better.
Who knew what sinister scheme he was brewing, plotting to kill her without a trace? White would be just right for her funeral.
A cool breeze slipped through the gap in the door and filled the room. Su Tuan’er pulled the quilt tighter around herself.
Gu Yanbei lifted his cup, took a shallow sip, then raised his eyes slightly toward the window.
A faint black shadow flickered there…
He narrowed his eyes, set down the cup with deliberate calm, and rose to his feet.
Su Tuan’er was still bundling herself in the quilt when, without warning, Gu Yanbei pressed her down beneath him.
“Your Majesty, I can’t breathe…”
Her chest rose and fell rapidly—this body could hardly bear his weight.
Gu Yanbei seemed not to hear her, instead applying more force. Su Tuan’er reached out to push him away, but he seized her wrists and pinned them down.
“Mm… Your Majesty, please be gentler, it hurts…”
The bruises he’d left last time had yet to fade, and with this fresh grip, a piercing pain shot through her again.
Gu Yanbei’s peripheral gaze swept toward the window.
“Your Majesty, can you let me go first…”
The brocade quilt wrapped around Su Tuan’er had slipped down to her chest when he’d tackled her. Her damp hair lay in disarray across her shoulders, and beneath her long lashes, her apricot-shaped eyes glistened with a layer of mist as she gazed up at him pleadingly—a picture of delicate vulnerability that stirred one’s pity.
“Did Jiangjun Fu not hire a Jiaoxiu Momo to teach you the rules of serving the emperor’s bed?”
Gu Yanbei’s tone was devoid of warmth, his deep pupils filled with crushed shards of ice.
Serving the bed? Had he lost his mind?
Even if it were that, who comes at you trying to crush you to death right off the bat?
Seeing the man’s darkening expression, Su Tuan’er pressed her lips together and said, “I wasn’t ready just now. How about… we start over?”
Gu Yanbei stared at her for a long moment, his peripheral gaze casually sweeping the window once more, then roughly cast her aside and rose, straightening his robes.
He drew a dagger from his waist, sliced his own finger, and leaned down to smear the fresh blood onto a square of pristine white silk.
“I don’t care whether you climbed into my bed that night intentionally or not. But if you want to live a few more days, keep your mouth shut.”
He tossed the cloth beside Su Tuan’er.
She looked at the streak of crimson on the silk, pressed her lips together, and silently rolled her eyes at him in her heart.
Thinking about his unusual behavior, realization suddenly dawned on her. She leaned closer to Gu Yanbei and whispered, “Your Majesty, was there someone outside the door just now? Is that why you—”
“Do you want to live?” Gu Yanbei gave her a cold look.
“Yes…” Su Tuan’er nodded vigorously without hesitation.
Gu Yanbei said coldly, “Then keep your words few. You’re too noisy!”
Su Tuan’er: “…”
If she could beat him, she’d punch him to his knees and make him sing surrender to her right now.
Gu Yanbei turned and went to the outer chamber, then unhurriedly lay down on the soft couch, fully clothed, and slept.
Su Tuan’er looked at the blood-stained cloth beside her, his words echoing in her ears, her thoughts tangled like a knot of hemp.
Everything he’d done was simply to make others see that she had truly served the emperor tonight.
And if that were the case, she would become the first woman in the palace to share the emperor’s bed—wouldn’t she become the living target for all three thousand beauties to aim at? How could that possibly help her live longer?
She didn’t want to die, but his actions would only hasten her death.