CMWKSD -Chapter 193 The Beauty Trap

To be honest, Jiu Yue truly didn’t know what she should do for a moment.

That stifling, clogged-up feeling in her chest was something she had never experienced before.

Emperor Fengyuan waited for a long time without getting any reaction from Jiu Yue.

At first, he hadn’t expected her to be moved to tears or anything like that.

But now that it had come to this point—the atmosphere already here, the moment already ripe—seeing Jiu Yue standing there woodenly, completely unresponsive, the Emperor Fengyuan snorted.

Dissatisfied?

Didn’t like it?

Unwilling?

Several thoughts rushed through his mind like flowing water, leaving not the slightest trace behind.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and ask what Jiu Yue was really thinking—he saw Jiu Yue close the imperial edict, grab the Emperor Fengyuan’s sleeve, and shake it gently.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I really like it.”

Her face broke into a bright, beaming smile as she tugged on his sleeve, soft and clingy, like a fair, squishy little dumpling acting spoiled toward him.

It truly made the Emperor Fengyuan inexplicably experience the feeling of being an old father.

A commandery princess with an official title was completely different from an ordinary commandery princess.

She had rank.

She had fiefs.

All in all, since the founding of Great Qi, no commoner-born commandery princess had ever been granted a title.

One must know that aside from the Crown Prince’s daughter—who would be granted the rank of First Grade Commandery Princess—all other commandery princesses with formal titles were Second Grade from the top…

No—First Grade from below (Second Rank).

Jiu Yue clicked her tongue several times.

She had even told Ji Yiqing to work hard, yet he was still only a Sixth Rank official.

Look at her—even though she had no real authority, she had a title and a fief.

She was a First Rank Commandery Princess.

To put it bluntly, in the future she wouldn’t need to bow to anyone else.

Of course, she already had an imperial exemption from kneeling, so she never needed to bow to others anyway.

But now—it was others who had to bow to her.

The Emperor Fengyuan watched Jiu Yue look at him with sparkling eyes, bright and expectant.

His heart softened beyond reason.

“You, you! Look at you just now—if I hadn’t given it to you, it’d be like you wanted to chew me up and swallow me whole.”

Jiu Yue let out an awkward laugh.

Sure, she’d had that thought—but you couldn’t say it out loud!

“Not at all. Whether Your Majesty rewards me or not, isn’t it all something Jiu Yue should be doing anyway?”

The Emperor Fengyuan raised his tone with a long “Oh?”

“If you don’t want any reward, that’s fine too. Prince Fu’s birthday is coming up soon, and the feudal princes will be entering the capital before long. You can prepare yourself and enter the palace to detoxify them. Once you’re done, I won’t need to reward you anymore.”

Jiu Yue: “……”

No—she was rarely being tactful. Truly. Just this once!

Wasn’t it said that Chinese people were extremely reserved?

Where exactly was the reserve in this?!

Jiu Yue’s little tail that had been perking up instantly drooped down.

Seeing her listless expression, the Emperor Fengyuan raised his hand and lightly knocked her forehead.

“With you like this, not wanting these things is like wanting your life. Do you think I don’t know you?”

Jiu Yue chuckled. “So that means there are rewards, right?”

The Emperor Fengyuan snorted arrogantly.

“How could you ever be missing out on good things? Besides, you’re detoxifying them—shouldn’t they shed some blood too?”

Jiu Yue happily tucked the imperial edict under her armpit, rubbed her hands together, and grinned.

“Easy to talk about, easy to talk about.”

That utterly casual way she treated the imperial edict made Li Feng’s legs tremble on the spot—he nearly wanted to kneel and kowtow immediately.

Princess Xuyu!

What you’re holding is an imperial edict!

An imperial edict!

Ordinary commoners would open their ancestral halls just to receive one.

Yet you stuffed it under your armpit?!

Sure enough, when the Emperor Fengyuan saw Jiu Yue’s slightly… unseemly movement, his brow twitched violently.

He turned his face away, pretending he hadn’t seen anything.

As long as he didn’t see it, then Jiu Yue hadn’t put the edict under her armpit.

A perfect case of self-deception.

Li Feng: “……”

When Jiu Yue returned to the Ji residence swinging the imperial edict—the entire household experienced collective shock.

Ji Shan and Hu Chunhua, the oldest ones—elderly people who had been enslaved by imperial authority their whole lives—nearly melted on the spot when they saw the edict Jiu Yue brought back.

This was the first imperial edict the Ji family had ever received!

The first!!!

Shao Qing quickly ordered people to tidy up an ancestral hall.

They set up an incense table, burned incense, set off firecrackers…and formally welcomed the imperial edict.

Jiu Yue frowned as she watched the Ji family kneeling all over the ancestral hall.

It gave her a strange sense of this is how it should be.

When the Emperor Fengyuan had casually let Li Feng show her the edict earlier,

Jiu Yue had genuinely felt like she wasn’t holding an edict at all—but a handful of sunflower seeds.

Like she and the Emperor Fengyuan were sitting head to head, cracking seeds together.

Ji Shan knelt at the very front.

Only at moments like this, kneeling in the first position of the first row, did he feel even a little like the head of the household.

Even if that authority was rather illusory.

No one dared to make Jiu Yue kneel—after all, she had an imperial exemption from kneeling.

It could be said that aside from the Emperor Fengyuan himself, even in Great Qi where imperial power reigned supreme, no one could make Jiu Yue kneel.

……

The Jiang family’s matters had mostly been dealt with.

The embezzled silver from Peach Blossom Village also needed to be excavated.

Ji Chaomian and his brother had contributed greatly to this matter.

So naturally, this assignment fell to the two brothers.

It was said to be several million taels of silver—but exactly how many millions, no one knew.

Still, it was a task that guaranteed merit just by making the trip.

As a result, there were plenty of sour remarks, both openly and covertly.

But Ji Chaomian and Ji Yiqing turned a deaf ear.

What’s more, Jiu Yue being named Princess Xuyu had already been announced to the world.

Who didn’t know that the Ji brothers were now favorites before the Emperor?

Even if there were sour words, no one dared say them to their faces.

Hadn’t Jiu Yue already become First Rank?

Though she had no real authority, even flattering the brothers wouldn’t let one catch up to Jiu Yue’s pace.

Fortunately, Jiu Yue had no desire to fight for power or enter the court as an official.

Otherwise, with her momentum—within three years, Great Qi’s officialdom would probably be turned upside down.

Jiu Yue herself didn’t want to go to Peach Blossom Village.

After all, just the round trip would take eleven or twelve days.

But at this time of year—clear autumn skies, heavy fruit—the scenery along the way was exceptionally beautiful.

By the time they returned, it would almost be snowing.

Truly breathtaking.

Ji Yiqing lay on the couch, robe loosely open, reading from a travelogue for the fifth time, droning on endlessly.

Jiu Yue, the little lecher, hadn’t moved her eyes away from Ji Yiqing’s strong chest even once.

This man was simply too unfair.

Ji Yiqing casually flipped a page.

The book was so light—so light!

Where did that wind come from?

Just flipping a page actually caused wind!

It blew open Ji Yiqing’s already barely-covered chest.

Jiu Yue’s eyes darkened slightly.

Ji Yiqing cleared his throat and adjusted his posture.

Long legs, slim waist, broad shoulders, exquisite collarbones…

One leg slightly bent, body turned slightly to the side, fingertips propping at his temple.

About three-quarters of his face was revealed.

He had deliberately checked—that angle was when he looked best.

Sure enough, Jiu Yue swallowed.

She jumped off the bed without even putting on her shoes—

thump, thump, thump—

running straight over.

The corner of Ji Yiqing’s lips curved upward.

His arm muscles tensed slightly, his body following suit.

Sure enough, the next instant—

Jiu Yue leapt onto him with a whoosh.

Pa—the travelogue fell to the floor.

Ji Yiqing pulled a soft cushion from the couch and placed it beneath Jiu Yue to keep her from being pressed painfully.

Jiu Yue’s voice lowered, her breathing unsteady.

“I want to go to Peach Blossom Village too.”

As she spoke, her fingertip hooked and tugged—the sash of Ji Yiqing’s already loosely tied robe was pulled open completely.

Trembling sounds filled the air, the room drenched in ambiguity, decadent and intimate enough to make one blush.

And it proclaimed, once again—someone’s beauty trap, undefeated in every battle, never having known defeat.