Free Web NovelChapter 75: Chapter 75: Discovered? An Emotional Breakdown
When Emperor Wu Su pushed the door open, the room was already empty.
The cool night wind blew in from the open window, making the oiled paper panes rustle.
His gaze shifted. He walked to the window and looked down.
A peach-pink bedsheet, twisted into a rope, hung from the windowsill, swaying in the wind.
Beneath the great ship, the river churned with violent waves. The current, swirling with silt and sand, was turbulent and treacherous.
He stared for a long while, then tapped the lattice with a long finger. For the sake of appearance, the frame was made of a light wood.
Emperor Wu Su turned and surveyed the room. Despite the open window, a cheap, tacky perfume still hung in the air. He walked to the far side of the bed.
He saw a quilt bunched into a messy lump, and the porcelain pillow had been kicked to the foot of the bed.
A glint flashed in Emperor Wu Su’s eyes as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
He pressed a hand to the corner of his mouth and coughed softly.
The lump of peach-pink bedding trembled slightly in response.
Emperor Wu Su rested his hand on the edge of the covers and slowly slipped it inside.
Just moments before, in a flash, Ji Qingwu had decided to create the illusion that she had jumped into the river.
’As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest.’
She’d run back to the bed, curled into a ball, and hidden herself under the covers.
’The person who entered... judging by the steady footsteps, he’s heading for the window. Just as I’d hoped, the bedsheet-rope has misled him.’
’But it wasn’t long before he walked over to the bed.’
’Prince Yong couldn’t be back this soon. Who is this man?’ ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
The mattress sank slightly. He had sat down just inches away from her.
Ji Qingwu held her breath, frantic. ’Why won’t he leave? What’s so great about this bed? Doesn’t he have one at home?’
Suddenly, her entire body went rigid.
’He saw through my ruse!’
A large hand had somehow slipped under the brocade covers and taken hold of her foot.
In an instant, the fine hairs on Ji Qingwu’s body stood on end.
Completely covered by the quilt, she was already struggling to breathe, and now she had to stifle a gasp as he touched her foot.
The hand then brushed lightly across the sole of her foot.
Ji Qingwu was ticklish and couldn’t feign sleep any longer. She kicked out and threw off the covers...
Her plan was to first throw the covers over the man’s head, then use the hairpin clutched in her right hand to stab him viciously in the neck.
Two moves. That should be enough to neutralize the threat.
Coincidentally, however, the man had the same idea and moved at the exact same moment.
As she flung the covers up, he yanked her by the foot, pulling her whole body toward him.
Ji Qingwu quickly adjusted her aim. The quilt successfully covered his head, but it ended up trapping them both beneath it.
Beneath the peach-pink brocade, a few slivers of light filtered through the gaps.
Ji Qingwu’s eyes flew open. She tried to make out his features and identify him, but the blurriness in her vision hadn’t completely subsided.
’But knowing his general location is enough.’
She tightened her grip on the hairpin and, with all her remaining strength, lunged for his chest.
The man didn’t seem to move at all. His hand was still holding her smooth, delicate foot, stroking it leisurely.
But the White Jade Green Plum Pearl Hairpin in Ji Qingwu’s hand was instantly knocked away, and the force of the impact left the web of her thumb numb.
At the same time, a low chuckle echoed around them.
Ji Qingwu froze. That deep, cold voice sounded incredibly familiar.
’How could he be here? Is it really him...?’
The cloying scent of perfume in the room was too strong, masking his own.
To confirm her suspicion, Ji Qingwu tilted her head up, bringing her elegant nose close to the side of his neck to catch his scent. For a moment, his body tensed.
Recognizing the unique, deep, crisp scent, the tension immediately drained from her back.
"It’s you, it’s really you."
In the past, seeing Emperor Wu Su had always filled her with either terror or trepidation. Never before had his presence felt so reassuring.
’Thank goodness it was him.’
’As long as it was him, everything was all right.’
The relief of surviving the ordeal was overwhelming. Ji Qingwu gasped for breath, grateful she was on the bed; otherwise, she would have surely collapsed to the floor.
The brocade covers were pulled away.
Her vision brightened, but everything remained a blur.
The man before her had broad shoulders, a wide back, and a sharp profile. With his calm, steady posture, who could it be but His Majesty the Emperor?
Under the covers, she had felt a sense of security. But now, suddenly exposed to the light, the memory of where she was and what she had just endured came flooding back.
An indescribable fear welled up in Ji Qingwu’s heart once more. She shuffled away, curling up in the corner of the bed.
Seeing her reaction, Emperor Wu Su’s gaze darkened. "What’s wrong with your eyes?" he asked.
Her eyes, normally brighter than the stars at night, were now vacant and unfocused.
Ji Qingwu hugged her knees and lowered her head, burying her face between her legs as she tried to quell the overwhelming tide of sorrow.
She was like a wounded rabbit, wanting only to hide and lick her wounds in private.
The next moment, an arm scooped her up from under her knees and behind her back, lifting her into a warm, solid embrace.
She rested in the crook of his arm as he pressed her head to his chest. He smoothed her disheveled hair and began to gently rub her slender back.
It was the same way one might comfort a child.
Listening to his steady, powerful heartbeat.
The whirlwind of thoughts in her mind was washed away by a single, overwhelming feeling: she had been wronged.
Her eyes grew red-rimmed. She didn’t sob, but silent tears began to fall, one crystalline drop after another.
Since returning from Nanchu Town to the Ji Mansion in Lin’an City, her mother’s loving kindness and her elder siblings’ doting affection had made her forget the world’s many hardships.
But who could have predicted that disaster would strike her even at home?
’When Ji Changyan came to find her at Wutong Garden, he had already decided to give her to Prince Yong, regardless of her consent.’
’He’d even used such a potent drug on her, completely disregarding her life or death. So much for familial bonds.’
’That lecher, Prince Yong... he touched my face, squeezed my hand... If he’d had his way tonight, I would have had no future, no hope of the freedom I desire.’
A hand rose and gently wiped the tears from her face.
Treated with such tenderness, Ji Qingwu’s vision blurred with tears, and she began to whimper. Her cries weren’t loud, but they were filled with a plaintive sorrow.
Emperor Wu Su closed his eyes for a moment.
’He knew what she had been through today. To have remained calm enough in such a desperate situation to mislead her enemy and protect herself...’
His voice was hoarse as he said, "You did very well."
No sooner had Emperor Wu Su’s finger wiped away one tear than several more rolled down to take its place. The tears were like pearls—impossible to catch, too numerous to count, and showing no signs of stopping.
At that moment, her warm tears felt like drops of flame, searing his heart.
Emperor Wu Su held her trembling shoulders and asked softly, "Besides your eyes, are you hurt anywhere else?"
The more he tried to soothe her, the more intense her emotions became. Tears streamed down her cheeks like morning dew.
Seeing she was unwilling to speak, he continued to rub her back with slow, firm strokes, allowing her to release her pent-up emotions.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Ji Qingwu realized that at some point, her hands had wrapped around his lean waist.
Her face was pressed intimately against his chest, her tears soaking the front of his dark blue, gold-embroidered brocade robe.
The large, damp patch was conspicuous on the dark fabric.
’Wait a minute.’
’Dark blue, embroidered with gold thread...’
