Free Web NovelChapter 172: Chapter 172: Is He That Good? You Are Forbidden to Marry
Ji Qingwu slowly turned her head to look.
Under the bright moonlight, the man’s figure was almost completely cloaked in the heavy shadows of the trees. She couldn’t see his face clearly.
But she knew who it was.
The cool wind stirred her hair, and the figure before her stirred her heart.
The darkness heightened every sense. Ji Qingwu stood frozen in place, listening to the rustle of leaves in the wind and the ceaseless thumping of her own heart.
She stared at him, unblinking.
The crescent moon hung forlornly in the dark sky, a solitary light. He, too, seemed to melt into the night, standing there in silence, exuding a sense of desolation.
She wondered if it was just her imagination, but she suddenly felt he was a pitiful soul, abandoned in this place.
Ji Qingwu was startled by her own thought.
’Who in the world would ever think an Emperor was pitiful?’
The night was late. Standing several paces away, Ji Qingwu didn’t know if he was looking at her, much less what she was about to face.
Based on her past few experiences, Emperor Wu Su was very dangerous at a time like this.
’Don’t go over there,’ she warned herself inwardly. ’Get farther away. It would be best to run right now.’
But her feet refused to obey her mind. As if with a will of their own, they carried her toward him against her better judgment.
Ji Qingwu walked up to him and looked up into Emperor Wu Su’s eyes, which were even colder than the moon hanging in the night sky.
She didn’t know how long he had been standing there. His clothes were damp with the late-night chill, and a wutong leaf rested on his shoulder.
Ji Qingwu stared at the leaf on his moon-white brocade robe for a moment. Then, taking a breath, she asked carefully, "Your Majesty, why don’t you go inside?"
The last two times, he had entered her room without any ceremony. But today, he remained outside.
"You weren’t in the room."
His gaze was heavy as he looked at her, his voice hoarse.
Yet his tone held a gentleness she had never heard from him before.
There was no interrogation, no furious expression as she had expected.
It felt as if someone was fluffing cotton in Ji Qingwu’s chest, sending downy tufts flying everywhere. His simple, soft-spoken words—"You weren’t in the room"—were almost enough to suffocate her.
His face was hidden in shadow as he asked, "Where did you go? You were gone for so long."
Without thinking, Ji Qingwu began to recount her whereabouts, completely forgetting that with the Hidden Guards, there was no way he wouldn’t know where she had been.
"I had dinner with Jiu Jiu, and then I went to my mother’s Anju Garden to chat with her. Oh, right, Jiu Jiu ate two braised lion’s head meatballs, half a steamed sea bass, and three osmanthus rice cakes."
The words tumbled out illogically.
The account was as dry and uninteresting as a ledger.
Ji Qingwu paused. Perhaps the unexpected gentleness in his expression gave her some encouragement.
She composed herself and added softly, "Jiu Jiu was a bit upset today because she wasn’t called on to recite her lessons. But she only sulked for a little while, and she felt better after eating some of her favorite foods. She’s already asleep now."
After speaking, she realized she had been rambling on and her mouth was a bit dry.
She sought the Emperor’s opinion. "Why don’t we go inside to talk?"
Ji Qingwu waited quietly for a moment, but the Emperor didn’t move.
She only heard him say, "I am extremely displeased today."
’Just as I thought, here it comes,’ she thought. ’The velvet-glove-over-an-iron-fist approach.’
When the Emperor was unhappy, someone was bound to suffer. Since he had come here specifically, who else could that person be but her?
Ji Qingwu’s heart sank. She clenched her fingers nervously and suggested, "Perhaps Your Majesty could be like Jiu Jiu and eat something tasty to feel better?"
Emperor Wu Su was unmoved. "Wei Ting came to see you."
His tone wasn’t a question, but a calm statement of fact.
Ji Qingwu didn’t hesitate to nod and admit it.
"He came by this afternoon. I didn’t know he was coming, nor did I know he would say what he did at the morning court session today."
Emperor Wu Su raised his head, his gaze like a deep pool as he looked into her eyes, which were still bright in the darkness.
"Are you happy now?"
Ji Qingwu’s intuition told her she needed to answer this question carefully. She hesitated. "I... I suppose so."
She was, in fact, in a fairly good mood.
To be precise, she had felt a flicker of joy the moment she saw him appear in Wutong Garden. If he hadn’t brought up Wei Ting, her mood would have been even better.
Hearing her answer, the last glimmer of light in Emperor Wu Su’s eyes died out.
The desolation that had clung to him just moments ago vanished completely, like a speck of dust blown away by the wind.
He seized her wrist and dragged her under the tree.
Ji Qingwu’s back hit the rough bark of the tree. He pressed against her, trapping her so she could neither advance nor retreat.
She gave a wry smile, trying to find some humor in her plight. ’I really was mistaken. How could Emperor Wu Su possibly have a vulnerable side? This kind of domineering behavior is the real him.’
Seeing the mocking smile on her lips, he no longer hid the possessiveness that had already reached its peak.
His gaze was so intense it felt as if it could tear the flesh from her bones.
Ji Qingwu stared into his purely black pupils, so captivating they seemed to want to pull her in.
Although her wrist ached from his grip and her back hurt from being slammed against the tree, leaving her completely at a disadvantage, she still said defiantly, "Does Your Majesty hate seeing others in a good mood?"
The next moment, Emperor Wu Su slammed his palm against the tree trunk right beside her ear, instantly shaking down a shower of wutong leaves and many unopened flower buds.
His hand, veins bulging, was right next to Ji Qingwu’s ear.
If his aim had been off, her head would have met the same fate as the flower buds on the ground.
She had never seen such a violent side of him. Her face paled, and her lips trembled, too frightened to speak.
Emperor Wu Su ripped away his false composure and said viciously, "Is he really that wonderful, that you’ve been pining for him all this time!"
Ji Qingwu’s brow furrowed, still in a state of shock.
"He has so many of your letters, all filled with tender affection, pouring out your heart. Such a deeply infatuated woman."
"For his birthday, you went into the desert to find an Exotic Thousand-year-old Orchid, wishing him a thousand years without sorrow."
"He loves the sound of string and bamboo instruments, so you practiced the Konghou until your fingers were raw, all just to win his favor."
...
Ji Qingwu’s head was ringing so loudly that she couldn’t clearly hear whatever else he said after that.
When she finally managed to come to her senses, she heard him say with utter ferocity into her ear, "You are forbidden to marry him!"
Ji Qingwu’s lips parted, about to say something, but he captured them with his own.
His scent poured into her, fierce and domineering, devouring what little rationality she had left.
The fallen flower buds on the ground released a faintly sweet fragrance. Forced open before their time, their scent carried a trace of unripe greenness. freewёbnoνel.com
Ji Qingwu’s hand unconsciously clutched at his robes, coincidentally grabbing the wutong leaf that had fallen on his shoulder and crushing it in her palm.
Just when she thought she was about to become fertilizer for the wutong tree, he finally released her slightly.
His lips were still pressed against hers, and the intense darkness in the depths of his eyes terrified her.
Just as Emperor Wu Su was about to press down again, Ji Qingwu covered his lips with her hand.
"I never agreed to marry Wei Ting."
