The Slender Waist-Chapter 356 - 250 Opportunistic Moment

Cuiyu.

The night was deep, yet the lamp in Li Sangruo’s room still shone brightly.

She sat at the edge of the bed, her fingertips gently caressing her belly, then slowly lifting to brush through her cascading long hair.

The strands entwined around her fingertips, congealing into thick, dark blood in her eyes...

She wanted to kill.

She had never wanted to kill someone as much as she did now.

"Such great humiliation I suffered today, tomorrow I must repay it a thousand times, a hundred times over."

She gritted her teeth, her words venomous.

"Your Highness speaks amiss,"

A soft sigh, and the man standing beside her said calmly, "The game of chess hasn’t even begun, and Your Highness has already revealed your hand. If Your Highness doesn’t lose, who will?"

His words pierced to the marrow, and Li Sangruo lifted her eyes, a sudden chill spreading across her face.

"I just loved him, is that wrong? I just loved him. It’s you who refuse to fulfill my wish. If you had let me marry Pei Jue earlier, none of this would have happened..."

Her eyes were red with blood vessels, pitiful and frail.

But the man seemed to have no sympathy, his tone still cold.

"Had Your Highness married Pei Jue earlier, indeed there wouldn’t be today. Perhaps it would be your sister, the Third Young Lady, who would be regent now... one below the heavens yet above tens of thousands..."

The Third Young Lady was her sister.

Now, she had to kneel when she saw her.

Li Sangruo was choked by his words, locking gazes with him for a moment.

She seemed on the brink of death, her hands falling powerlessly.

"Uncle Shaogong, what should I do?"

"Your Highness should listen well to the Prime Minister," Tang Shaogong’s downcast eyes held deep coldness, "Without these romantic entanglements, you are the true regent. Otherwise, you will always just be the girl from the Li Family, foolishly waiting for Pei Jue to glance back at you during the winter solstice hunt."

Li Sangruo’s hands fell powerlessly.

Tears flowed like a breached dam, looking at the man before her.

"If romantic feelings are a stumbling block, then Pei Wangzhi is not far from death."

She suddenly burst into wild laughter, laughing without any inhibition.

"He has fallen in love with that cheap woman, he has fallen for her!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Li Sangruo’s laughter was manic.

She had shut out everyone from the entire courtyard.

No one would hear.

She laughed desolately, and then, all of a sudden, she collapsed onto the bed, arms wrapped around herself, silently shedding tears.

"Did father anticipate this long ago? Predicting that I would be utterly defeated, was that why he sent you to watch me make a fool of myself, to mock his disobedient daughter?"

Tang Shaogong was silent, saying nothing.

He was General Li Zongxun’s most capable strategist, had watched Li Sangruo grow up, and knew her temperament as if it were his own.

Without letting her tire herself out with her outbursts, it was impossible to have a calm and collected conversation.

"Father was right..." Li Sangruo sobbed.

Tired of cursing, tired of shouting, she calmed down.

"I don’t understand him... My beloved of many years, I know nothing of him. Uncle Shaogong, kill him, let father kill him. I never want to see him again, never want to see him showing affection with Feng Shi Er Niang..."

Only then did Tang Shaogong ask her, "Does Your Highness know why the late emperor chose you?"

Li Sangruo looked up, letting the tears flow freely.

Tang Shaogong said, "It is precisely because you and Pei Jue had feelings for each other. The late emperor entrusted Your Highness and the child to Pei Jue, and because of this bond, he would devote himself to military affairs. Although he holds great power, he would not act rebelliously."

Li Sangruo: "Nonsense."

She did not believe that the late emperor took her into the palace, gave her a noble position, simply because she loved Pei Jue...

Besides, Pei Jue was not even human.

He was not a man of deep feelings and loyalty.

"Such absurdity, does father believe it?"

"The Prime Minister naturally believes it, because it was precisely his arrangement," Tang Shaogong’s voice was grave, mysterious and indefinable in both expression and tone, speaking in a hushed voice.

"I have come to Xinzhou and the Prime Minister has a message to convey to Your Highness."

Li Sangruo stared with her eyes wide, looking at him as if she were on her last breath, "Speak..."

Tang Shaogong said, "It’s not only Your Highness who has feelings for Pei Jue. Pei Jue also has feelings for Your Highness. The Prime Minister asks Your Highness to be at ease. Even if the sky falls, Pei Jue will not harm Your Highness..."

Li Sangruo’s mouth twitched, then twitched again, as if she had heard an enormous joke.

"That nanmu bead bracelet, it was arranged by father to console me, wasn’t it?"

Thinking of the embarrassment she had shown in front of Pei Jue, Li Sangruo’s face twisted slightly more.

"Father treats me like a three-year-old child. Does he think I would still believe these words?"

"The Prime Minister is not deceiving you," Tang Shaogong said, "Your Highness might not believe me, but please do trust the Prime Minister. Even if General Pei has no feelings for Your Highness, the Prime Minister will make sure that he does."

"Where does Father get such confidence?"

Tang Shaogong smiled but did not answer.

Li Sangruo looked at his expression and suddenly laughed strangely.

"I understand. Father has changed his mind. He no longer wants to kill Pei Jue, and now wants to coax me into winning him over?"

Tang Shaogong sighed deeply.

"Before the Bingzhou incident, the Prime Minister was determined to eliminate him. Only by removing the roots can problems be prevented forever. But now things are very different..."

His gaze darkened, "Your Highness has seen it, Pei Jue’s prestige in the military has increased since the battle, more than ever before. He is widely respected by both the court and the people, and the Beiyong Army is more spirited than ever. We failed to kill him in Bingzhou, missing the best opportunity. Currently, other than winning him over and showing kindness, there are no better strategies..."

A big stick can’t kill him.

Then one must show him kindness and offer him sweets.

Li Sangruo began to laugh, "Father’s schemes run deep. Am I the Empress Dowager presiding over court? Am I a clown, a chess piece in Father’s hands?"

Tang Shaogong pondered for a moment, "It’s all Deng Guang’s fault, that incompetent fool disrupted the Prime Minister’s plans."

Li Sangruo sneered, "Why don’t you say that it’s all Feng Twelve’s fault? If it weren’t for Deng Guang’s lust for her beauty, he wouldn’t have been thrown into disarray and died in Bingzhou..."

Tang Shaogong sighed heavily, "Hence the saying, ’Beauty brings disasters.’ Pei Jue falling into her hands might not lead to a good end..."

Li Sangruo considered his words and nodded unknowingly.

"They won’t have a good end. From now on, I will listen to Father."

Tang Shaogong glanced at her, "Your Highness has done so many things against the Prime Minister’s wishes, yet the Prime Minister has never blamed Your Highness... The Prime Minister only wants Your Highness to understand one thing. In this world, only the Prime Minister truly loves Your Highness, and Your Highness should always prioritize the Prime Minister above all else..."

Li Sangruo chuckled softly.

"Have I not prioritized him? If I didn’t, why would I have entered the palace all those years ago..."

Tang Shaogong frowned at her clichéd response.

Li Sangruo looked up again.

"Since Uncle Shaogong is here, please do me another favor."

Tang Shaogong clasped his hands together, "Please speak, Your Highness."

"Get Fang Fucai out of there," Li Sangruo paused, her lips curving slightly, "or let him die inside, and never open his mouth again."

Tang Shaogong was about to nod.

Then he heard her say, "Wei Zheng hates him intensely and will surely torture him severely. Fang Fucai, the old man, though tight-lipped, won’t withstand harsh torture. I cannot let him blab about my pregnancy."

"What?" Tang Shaogong gasped in shock, "What did Your Highness say?"

"I’m pregnant. It’s Song Shou’an’s."

Li Sangruo, unable to get rid of the child in her womb and unafraid of letting Li Zongxun know, revealed everything to Tang Shaogong and smiled wretchedly.

"By the way, send Song Shou’an away too. I don’t want to see that lowly servant again, not even a glimpse. Every breath he takes is a blasphemy against me."

-

Feng Yun was sleeping curled up with the otter pup.

The bed was warm and the otter pup, not wanting to leave as dawn approached, clung to her side, lazily exposing its belly and playing all alone for some time.

The otter pup had grown quite big, but just like when it was smaller, it enjoyed nuzzling her with its fluffy head, almost trying to wedge itself entirely into her embrace.

"Stop it." Feng Yun, who had not slept well the night before, kept her eyes closed, not wanting to get up, her hand stroking the otter pup’s back fur, too lazy to even open her eyes, "Let Sister sleep a little longer."

The otter pup licked her hand.

She smiled at the corner of her mouth, turned over, and continued to sleep.

The couch suddenly sank.

By the time Feng Yun realized that the otter pup was not by her side, Pei Jue’s hand had already come to rest on her shoulder.

No!

He wasn’t caressing her.

He was just pulling the quilt over her.

Feng Yun half-awake, turned her head and yawned.

"General?"

Pei Jue responded with a hum.

Feng Yun, "I gave orders yesterday for Xiao Rong to get ready. Did you come to take her to the council hall?"

Pei Jue said, "I thought you would insist on going together."

Feng Yun, "I told my brother last night that I would accompany him today."

Pei Jue paused slightly, a chill from his fingertips brushed across her cheek. Feng Yun reflexively shuddered, and before she knew it, she was pulled into a solid embrace.

The gauzy curtains swayed lightly, and Feng Yun’s loose clothing, already disheveled, slipped off her shoulders as a cascade of black hair tumbled down, exposing her slender snowy neck, round delicate shoulders, and porcelain-like tender skin to Pei Jue’s view...

The young woman lying in the embroidered bed was soft as though she had no bones.

Even a modest gentleman would be tempted into a ravenous wolf, much less Pei Jue who was not one.

His firm arms supported him on either side of her, his tall figure nearly encompassing her whole body below him, the impending danger and pressure was thrilling.

Feng Yun did not push him away, did not speak, only smiled.

Slowly, she wrapped her slender, pale legs around his waist.