Since His Majesty was willing to come, there was still a chance for their master to regain his footing. Everyone in Moon-Embracing Palace rejoiced at the emperor’s arrival and was even happier that their master had been promoted to Imperial Noble Lord.
“We respectfully welcome Your Majesty and Virtuous Imperial Noble Lord. May Your Majesty and Imperial Noble Lord enjoy boundless peace and good fortune.”
“Your news travels quickly enough. All right, rise.” Feng Xuanyi seemed delighted by the respect shown throughout the palace and, on the grounds that everyone in Moon-Embracing Palace had served their master well, rewarded every servant with an additional half year’s salary.
He dismissed the palace attendants who still wanted to follow them inside. Nalan Xuan had barely stepped into the hall—before the doors could even be closed—when the world spun around him. He was flipped onto the bed, completely unable to move, pinned beneath Feng Xuanyi so tightly that not even a breath of air could escape between them.
One hand slid slowly, unhurriedly, down from the side of Nalan Xuan’s neck along the open collar, circling his waist, tugging and toying with the sash without any haste to untie it. Those ink-black eyes were deep as a vortex that invited one to sink into them, and the dark heat at their depths was a look of desire Nalan Xuan knew all too well.
“Only a few days apart, and you’ve already forgotten every word We said?” One hand bound Nalan Xuan’s wrists and pinned them above his head. Their eyes met; their breaths mingled so closely it felt as if they could see straight through each other. “We told you that from now on you are absolutely forbidden to wear red when you go out. Did you take Our words as nothing more than wind past your ears?”
“Answer Us.” After a long silence with no reply, Feng Xuanyi could no longer maintain his calm composure.
“What does Your Majesty wish this subject to say?” Nalan Xuan’s eyes were as still as a pool of dead water, calm and undisturbed. He gazed back steadily—not in provocation, but with genuine seriousness, as if sincerely asking, “What exactly do you want me to do to satisfy you?”
A long silence followed as their eyes remained locked. A fleeting surge of turbulent waves flashed through Feng Xuanyi’s gaze—complex, unreadable, laced with a trace of elusive bitterness and pain. In the end he only sighed, yet the desire in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest; instead it burned even more fiercely.
He leaned down, tilting his head slightly, rubbing the tip of his nose against Nalan Xuan’s cheek like a large dog seeking affection from its master. His lips brushed lightly against the pale, fine skin now and then. Warm breath spilled over Nalan Xuan’s neck. Satisfied at the involuntary tremor that ran through him, Feng Xuanyi lowered his voice until it curled around Nalan Xuan’s ear like a spell, disrupting the detachment Nalan Xuan was trying so hard to maintain.
The light, dragonfly-like brushes gradually lost control. Warm, lingering kisses fell thick and fast, like iron filings drawn irresistibly to a magnet, refusing to leave.
“Your Majesty… this subject is with child,” Nalan Xuan reminded him in a calm, even voice.
The pure-white sash embroidered with crimson snow was pulled away. The scarlet outer robe was crumpled into a ball and carelessly tossed aside. The hairpin slipped free; a cascade of glossy black hair spilled down. The front of his garments fell open, revealing a pale yet not overly slender chest that appeared and disappeared amid the scarlet fabric, set off by disordered ink-dark strands—somehow both intoxicatingly disordered and startlingly alluring.
Feng Xuanyi’s fingers seemed bewitched, unable to leave the skin. They wandered and caressed. The rough texture of calluses from martial training made Nalan Xuan tremble helplessly. Lips trailed from cheek to neck, slid over collarbones, and lingered upon the chest, leaving a glistening trail of wanton moisture in the candlelight. Feng Xuanyi did not bother to lift his head; between his lips and teeth he murmured indistinctly, “We will be careful.”
There was no resistance, no struggle—as if mind and body had separated. Whether from true longing for Feng Xuanyi or because this body had already grown wanton beyond restraint, the more Nalan Xuan gasped and moaned under the deliberate caresses and provocations, the calmer—even colder—he remained. He could feel the surging desire inside him like a caged beast on the verge of breaking free, roaring, howling, craving: not enough, never enough, never enough to be satisfied.
It had been he who first spoke the reminder, he who first refused. Yet the moment Feng Xuanyi entered him, breath unsteady, it was Nalan Xuan who broke into soft, broken sobs—half pleasure, half overwhelming intensity—yet refused to let go.
“Nngh… ah… no… ah…”
Ambiguous moans continued without end. He shook his head; black hair scattered in wild disarray, lost and helpless. Yet even as he said “no,” even as he refused, his breathing grew hotter and more desperate. His arms crossed behind Feng Xuanyi’s neck, holding him tightly so he could not leave even an inch. His legs actively wrapped around Feng Xuanyi’s waist and clamped tight; the feet crossed behind the other’s back, toes curling and trembling under the storm-like onslaught. Whether those tightly locked legs were refusing or sweetly urging for more was impossible to say. His entire body arched like a drawn bow, chest thrusting up to meet the invasion, eagerly offering the slightly swollen, glistening peaks to the mouth of the very man who had caused their state—seeking that sweet torment.
Feng Xuanyi had originally been mindful that Nalan Xuan was pregnant and, even in coupling, had dared enter only halfway, merely quenching his thirst. How could he withstand such enthusiastic invitation? His dark, deep eyes grew darker still. “You tormenting little demon!”
“Ah!”
He could no longer hold back. Nalan Xuan’s ardent welcome erased the last shred of restraint and reason. Desire crashed forth like a flood through a broken dike, like a roaring beast. Feng Xuanyi snatched a brocade quilt and shoved it beneath Nalan Xuan’s hips, raising his waist and abdomen to make the thrusting easier. With a low growl, his powerful waist snapped forward without warning, and the thick, aching length that had been straining for so long finally sank fully into the warm, tight passage it had yearned for.
Feng Xuanyi exhaled in profound relief, as if every pore of his body shuddered with excitement, simultaneously roaring for further conquest. Nalan Xuan let out a sharp gasp—startled, yet deeply satisfied by the sudden fullness and scorching heat.
The pause lasted only a heartbeat. It was Nalan Xuan who first grew dissatisfied. Eyes glistening, he tightened his legs and, still deeply joined, gave a small twist of his hips. Feng Xuanyi, already locked in a life-or-death struggle between reason and lust, could not endure it.
“Damn it!” With a low curse he abandoned all restraint. Slick, wet sounds rose abruptly; the sharp slap of thighs against buttocks rang out like urgent drumbeats in a downpour, weaving a symphony of desire beneath the moonlight.
The thick, deep-red length plunged in and out between those private thighs in near frenzy. The relentless thrusting left Nalan Xuan gasping helplessly. Pink inner walls, reluctant to release their prize, were dragged outward with each withdrawal, clinging, contracting, massaging the weapon that gave them such sweet possession.
Tears mingled with sweat; gasps intertwined with the rhythm of thrusting. The heavy musk that filled the hall was dizzying, almost suffocating.
If a person could either surrender completely to desire without awareness, or remain wholly clear-headed and untouched by emotion, it might almost be a blessing. The true torment was to know it was wrong and still sink into it. The clarity that followed indulgence always left one at a loss. Yet the night of pleasure was short, and spring passion fleeting. Like a drowning fish, like a man in desperate straits clutching at the only straw, Nalan Xuan frantically matched every movement, twisting his body, again and again actively urging Feng Xuanyi to take him and caress him once more.