Han Ruifeng could no longer maintain his composure. He whipped his face around, eyes half narrowed. Before he could speak, Xiao Qi answered with great satisfaction, “Don’t think that just because only you and His Majesty were in that room, you could behave without restraint and assume no one would ever know. This is the imperial palace. Nothing inside these walls stays completely secret. If you can investigate other people, why shouldn’t other people investigate you?”
Xiao Qi was still pleased with herself for turning Han Ruifeng’s own tactics against him when a sudden wave of dizziness swept over her. Her body weakened against the chair, and she braced one hand on the corner of the table to support her heavy, muddled head.
“What’s wrong with you?” Han Ruifeng could hardly be bothered, but this was still happening inside his palace, so he asked for form’s sake. Then he noticed Xiao Qi’s face had turned flushed, her red lips slightly parted as she breathed with visible difficulty.
He frowned without showing it. “Noble Concubine Xiao?”
A strange restlessness coursed through Han Ruifeng’s body. His five fingers clamped around the armrest so tightly they almost dug into the wood before he managed to suppress the disturbance. “You should go back.”
Outside Luoxiao Palace, the empress’s procession approached at an unhurried pace. Surrounded by attendants, Nalan Xuan sat comfortably in the soft sedan chair, eyes half closed as though thoroughly enjoying himself.
“Tell the Imperial Kitchen to prepare today’s midday meal for Luoxiao Palace properly. His Majesty will be dining here.”
Nalan Xuan spoke lazily. Xiao Jiu immediately leaned closer to acknowledge the order, then hurried away toward the Imperial Kitchen.
No one was sent ahead to announce their arrival. When the empress’s procession reached the main gates of Luoxiao Palace, the servants guarding the entrance were badly startled and immediately dropped to their knees. “Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress.”
Nalan Xuan glanced down from the sedan chair in acknowledgment. The bearers were about to continue inside when a palace servant rose and blocked their way. “Her Majesty the Empress has arrived. Please allow this servant to announce your presence to Noble Lord Han first—”
The Luoxiao Palace servant had not even finished before He Xiang unleashed her full force. Her swaggering, bullying attitude was so impressive that even Nalan Xuan could not help thinking, So apparently I’m capable of inspiring this sort of behavior.
“Ridiculous. Her Majesty the Empress has personally come all the way here and is already at the gates, yet according to you she should wait here until a mere consort decides whether he wishes to receive her?” He Xiang sneered. “Her Majesty honoring Luoxiao Palace with her presence means she thinks highly of Noble Lord Han. Don’t forget your place or your manners. If you slight Her Majesty, I’m afraid none of you could bear the consequences.”
“This…” Naturally, servants understood the difference in status involved. Under ordinary circumstances, however, announcing a visitor was perfectly normal. Besides, Noble Lord Han was not the only person inside. Noble Concubine Xiao had barged in earlier in a fury, and everyone in the harem knew she was openly disrespectful toward the empress. If the two encountered each other here, no one knew what sort of disturbance might follow. Still, such concerns were hardly theirs to manage.
They lowered their heads, exchanged a glance, and stepped aside to clear the way.
The soft sedan chair traveled unobstructed into Luoxiao Palace. Nalan Xuan sat inside smiling like a fox that had stolen a taste of something forbidden. A live erotic spectacle was waiting for him. How could that possibly fail to brighten the day?
“Y-Your Majesty the Empress!” Han Ruifeng’s servants had all been dismissed to wait outside, but Tong He, as his trusted attendant, saw who was approaching and nearly lost the strength in his legs. He dropped to his knees with a thud and prostrated himself completely. He Xiang, standing beside the sedan chair, failed to hold back her laughter and burst into a giggle, shoulders shaking.
Ji Yu bent at the waist and stepped forward to help Nalan Xuan down from the sedan. Once he stepped over the footstool, four servants hurriedly carried the chair away, while another line of attendants closed in behind him. Their imposing formation plainly looked as though they had come to demand an accounting. Nalan Xuan merely raised one hand and ordered, “All of you stay outside. I’ll go in alone and have a little chat with Noble Lord Han.”
Although he had said “alone,” he made no objection when Ji Yu and He Xiang followed him.
“Your Majesty, this…” Tong He was sweating heavily with anxiety. “This would not be appropriate. Please allow this servant to announce you first.”
“What is appropriate or inappropriate about it? Where Her Majesty the Empress chooses to go is hardly something lowly servants like you have the right to decide.” He Xiang stepped forward without hesitation and kicked Tong He out of the way, clearing Nalan Xuan’s path.
Nalan Xuan walked directly toward the tightly shut doors. Ji Yu was about to step forward and push them open when Nalan Xuan stopped him.
“…Mm… ngh…”
From behind the tightly closed doors came faint, intermittent gasps, partly suppressed and partly strained. Ji Yu’s hand, already resting on the door, trembled. Both he and He Xiang changed color dramatically and looked at one another in shock. When they lifted their heads, however, they found Nalan Xuan’s lips curved upward in a wicked smile, listening as though the sounds were heavenly music. Cold sweat immediately broke out over both servants.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Nalan Xuan strolled leisurely toward the window on the right. Amused, he addressed the two people still frozen in place. “Why are you standing there in a daze? A show this good may not come around again in your entire lives. Watch carefully and learn from your masters. This is real skill. If His Majesty ever takes a liking to either of you someday, consider it a free lesson.”
He poked a hole through the paper covering the window with one finger, revealing part of the scene inside. Raw desire, ragged breathing, strained moans, intertwined bodies—everything challenged the limits of propriety and struck the eye with shocking force. Luxurious, obscene, and wanton. Ji Yu and He Xiang had heard such activities through windows plenty of times before, but this was the first time either had actually watched. Both stared in stunned silence.
Inside the main hall, no one could have said who had kissed whom first, or whether there had been any struggle or resistance. Somehow the two had ended up embracing, frantically seeking the other’s warmth. A woman’s body differed from a man’s, slender and soft, with a narrow waist and full hips. As her chest heaved with each breath, her pale breasts rose and trembled.
Her carefully arranged coiffure had fallen apart. Long black hair spilled freely around her like a waterfall, making her naked body appear even paler and more inviting.
“…Ah… hah… so good… more… I want more… mm…”
Her legs were spread wide and locked tightly around the man’s comparatively slender waist. Starved for relief, she writhed her narrow waist and matched the rhythm of his thrusts. Both hands tangled in his thick hair as she shook her head wildly, looking almost unable to endure it, her expression filled with agonized pleasure.
The man had originally braced both hands on either side of her to support his body. As the rhythm accelerated, however, he finally lowered his head, burying his face against the pale temptation no ordinary person could easily resist and kissing it repeatedly.
“…Ah… yes, like that… ngh… again… hah…”
Obscene words filled the room alongside the collisions driven by raw desire, while the table and chairs shook with repeated creak, creak sounds.
Outside, He Xiang and Ji Yu had already gone completely rigid with shock, staring blankly at the bodies tangled together in desperate passion.
“Go tell His Majesty that I invite him to take the midday meal at Luoxiao Palace.” Nalan Xuan narrowed his eyes, extremely satisfied with the passion unfolding inside. He leaned comfortably against one of the corridor pillars, speaking with complete serenity.
“This…” Ji Yu could not immediately grasp what exactly was happening. He glanced toward the room in astonishment before finally bowing and withdrawing. “Yes…”
Nalan Xuan idly played with a lock of hair hanging over his chest, his mood excellent. Han Ruifeng, the favor of a beauty can be difficult to endure. I wonder whether you’re pleased with the gift I sent you.
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