Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 132: Petals of Violet Chrysanthemum — III

[Bonus Chapter 17]

—

"Must you leave so early?" Li Xinyuan murmured, rubbing his eyes to dispel the lure of slumber. By his bedside, the Crown Prince stood tall, hands behind his back, and looked down at him with those carmine eyes.

"I am afraid so," he smiled slightly. His gaze was tender as he watched his betrothed struggle in the throes of sleep. "You needn’t awaken."

"Oh, how can I not?" Sleepily, Li Xinyuan gave him a loose smile, head tilted to look up at him. "My Liege awakens, so must I. There ought to be someone to see you leave, after all."

"Well," Liu Mingyun smiled, his head dipping slightly. "This Prince can not contradict that. Forgive me for disturbing your sleep."

Li Xinyuan waved. "I awoke when the bed became lighter." He shifted to get out of the bed. Eyes narrowed, the surgeon searched for his shoes. "How will My Liege take his leave?"

Liu Mingyun hummed, and spotted Li Xinyuan’s shoes. "I shall leave how I arrived." He knelt at Li Xinyuan’s feet and picked up the shoe. "Through the window."

The very moment Li Xinyuan saw the Crown Prince hold his shoe, all the sleep flew away in terror. "Your Highness!" He gasped.

Instantly, he prepared to stand. Liu Mingyun looked up at him, without fail, he reached and held Li Xinyuan’s foot in one hand, and his shoe in the other.

"It’s only a small matter, allow me." He insisted. Li Xinyuan stared. Perplexed.

To see the high and mighty protagonist, the Crown Prince of the nation kneeling at his feet, more than ready to help him put on his shoe.

It was something.

A warm feeling swirled in Li Xinyuan’s belly, the Crown Prince’s touch searing against his very flesh.

"Your Highness," he tried again. "You, how can I let you—?"

Liu Mingyun shook his head, rubbing his fingers around the surgeon’s ankles. "At ease," he murmured in a low voice. "This Prince already disrupted your slumber, now he must endeavour to make you comfortable enough."

Li Xinyuan blushed, his face aflame with blood. Taken by shame, he hid his face behind his hand, body trembling ever so slightly.

Damn it, Xinyuan. Now you’ve done it, dumbass. You made the Crown Prince, who never even put on his own shoes, help you put on yours!

"Forgive this lowly one, Your Highness," he whispered, voice tumultuous.

"Forgive?" Liu Mingyun looked up, amused. "What is there to forgive, hm?"

After he finished putting on both of Li Xinyuan’s shoes, the Crown Prince gently lowered his foot, and stood up.

"Now this is a farewell." Liu Mingyun proclaimed, lowered himself slightly to put his hand behind Li Xinyuan’s head. "Be safe, do not make This Prince worry more, yes?"

Likened to a chastised child, Li Xinyuan nodded slowly, his face still very warm. "I understand."

"Mn." Liu Mingyun smiled, his gaze deep as he closed the distance and gently pressed his lips against Li Xinyuan’s forehead. "At the end of your journey, This Prince will wait with a red sedan."

"Your Highness!"

With a soft, baritone laugh, Liu Mingyun turned and high-tailed out of the inn. Subsequently, he disappeared into the wind, leaving Li Xinyuan to drown into his bed in a blushing mess.

...

Li Xinyuan should have known. Peace and leisure could only last so long. Especially in a world where his soul had borrowed time.

Inside the carriage, silence reigned its terror. Bai Huiqi who’d been asleep on his lap had turned into a human, vigil and tense.

Hu Lijing had already disembarked the carriage, all his senses on high alert. He had sternly told Bai Huiqi to protect Li Xinyuan before leaving.

How did it all come to a head?

It was... Convoluted to say the least.

After Liu Mingyun left that morning, Li Xinyuan and his entourage had continued on their journey, long and tedious, but fruitful. Along the way, Li Xinyuan had treated many people who needed his aid.

As eventuality commands, they journeyed through the heart of many provinces before finally making their way to the heart of JiangHu.

That was where many martial arts clans were based, and also where Li Xinyuan’s true objective—the Female Lead—resided.

The Namgung family of Murim—better known in fiction as the Korean version of JiangHu.

Yes, indeed, the female lead of this damned Josei novel was korean. And, from an extremely high profile martial clan too.

The thought alone was the crux of Li Xinyuan’s killer headaches.

Everything appeared normal as they went. Only, after a few days, Hu Lijing noticed something amiss.

They had been embarking the wrong way. Not only that, there was no turning back from it. They simply couldn’t.

Now they were tense, anticipating danger this situation was sure to bring.

Li Xinyuan wished he could calm his heart. He trusted his own abilities, he trusted Hu Lijing’s power too. But in the entirety of Murim, no clan, this powerful, would have a reason to ensnare them in a trap of this nature.

—Except one. The Heavenly Demon Cult.

Quickly, Li Xinyuan glanced towards the white fox spirit sitting beside him. He had intervened in Bai Huiqi’s destiny intertwined with the Heavenly Demon Cheon WuHui.

It would be stranger if the world’s consciousness did not try to restore its course.

The thought of facing the Heavenly Demon chilled the surgeon to his core. With his current strength, he would be minced meat sooner than a fly dying.

No. He thought. Think optimistically. Surely, it cannot be that great of a matter.

Whatever happened, should worse come to worse, he couldn’t allow Bai Huiqi to fall into Cheon WuHui’s clutches. That would only bring destruction to this nation.

Hu Lijing may be able to take on the Heavenly Demon, but Li Xinyuan was not willing to put the former in harm’s way.

He refused to use Hu Lijing in this manner, regardless of his willingness to do it.

"Xinyuan." Hu Lijing’s voice from the distant whispering technique pulled Li Xinyuan out of his grim musings. "We have been surrounded. Slaughtering our way out may be the only choice."

No. Li Xinyuan’s eyes widened in panic. That’s a death sentence!