Chapter 123

123 Now I’m sure Part II

“Please...pay no heed to this lowly woman.”

It was quite a strange scene. A beauty was kowtowing, begging a prince not to marry her, even though they both had just acted indecently in a private room.

Without love, she would not use the tradition to bind him to her. He had already been unwillingly given many concubines. She did not want to become one of them. Bai Yu was well aware that his palace was full of women, and at the same time, she was told of the background of those women by the Emperor, the person who had bestowed those marriages on Ouyang Feilong.

She was born and raised in a society where monogamy was the norm. She might not like the tradition here, but she had to accept it. If she decided to be with Ouyang Feilong and marry him, then she would have to accept that he would not have her as ‘the only one’. With her status, she could proudly stand beside him as his first consort. Still, she knew that she was an intruder in this world, and so she had made peace with it ever since she came here. She would not be his only wife, but if she really had to marry him, she wanted it to be the result of Ouyang Feilong’s choice.

“You don’t want to marry benwang?” Ouyang Feilong’s eyes were calm when he looked at her. “Or is it because benwang isn’t Qin Wang?”

“It is not so, Your Highness...”

“And yet you ask benwang to look past this?”

“It’s...”

“Forget it.”

.....

He cut her off, suddenly denying her an opportunity to clarify. Bai Yu lifted her face to look at him, feeling as if her chest was going to burst. She wanted to shout. She was not unwilling to marry him...she only wanted the reason to be that he loved her.

Thump Thump Thump

The sound of footsteps heading toward them cut the conversation short, completely eliminating any chance for an explanation. The footsteps stopped in front of the room, then the door was slowly opened.

“You’re here as I thought...” The newcomer paused when he saw the person beside his friend. “Blessings to Wangye.”

Fwip!

Ouyang Feilong said nothing, only swiftly putting the same cloak over Bai Yu’s head again. Bai Yu sat still, and her heart started racing.

“Did you take care of the surroundings?”

“Everything is in order, Your Highness.”

The anonymous master’s shop was not far from Zhaocaijinbao. Furthermore, it had many empty rooms that could be used to hide in them. It did not take long before Ouyang Feilong brought Bai Yu to another room that seemed to be Xu Luanle’s.

His shadow guards had dealt with the pursuers, but not all of them, so he had to confirm with Xu Luanle, checking his skill in chasing away unwanted guests stalking his shop.

Those pursuers did not know his identity. They were capable enough, and so they were aiming to steal Bai Yu away and make her theirs. Her hair might not have been fully down when she was on the stage, but they could still rely on their words as evidence. Fortunately, he had used his cloak to cover her in time and had picked up the hairpin before escaping before commotion could worsen. Being whisked away without regard to the victory; if it was not her, who could it be?

“I’ve brought this, Your Highness.” The prince’s identification jade was handed to him with a face full of smiles.

Ouyang Feilong accepted it, then waved his hand once. Xu Luanle bowed, excused himself, and left quietly. The door was firmly closed behind him.

His large hand gently pulled the cloak away. The black jade was handed to Bai Yu, even though it was his. “Use this to store your magic. You still can’t control it, right?”

She did not tell him anything, but it was obvious that the magic explosion back there happened because she could not control her magic well enough. She had progressed too quickly, and so she did not have much opportunity to get used to it. Furthermore, her magic was stimulated by a method from Da Chu. As a Da Yang woman, it was even harder for her to control.

She obediently extended her hand. Ouyang Feilong put the black jade on the center of her palm; its dark color beautifully contrasted with her white skin. Shortly, silver light filled the room, then it was absorbed into the pitch-black jade.

This jade was his. Surely, its secret was only known to him and others in the royal family. Her discovering that fact and making use of it was extremely rude, but there was no sign of him being angry with her.

The black light replaced the former silver. He did not have to worry much now that she could control black-level magic in such a short time.

“Thank you, Your Highness. I will return this as soon as I can control my silver magic.”

“Keep it.”

“But this jade...” He was its true owner, yet he did not hesitate to give it to her. Did he forget that this was his identification jade? The jade identifies the person. Ouyang Feilong trusted her too much.

“It’s yours.” The familiar dark eyes looked at him with perplexity. He did not add anything else, only came closer to her, who was still kneeling. It seemed that he did not quite like it when she did this.

Her jet black hair was suddenly touched. Bai Yu tensed up. Hair was so highly precious in this era that it must not have been touched by anyone other than a woman’s father or husband. Ouyang Feilong could sense her stiffness. He was pleased to see that while she did not struggle, she was not too comfortable with such intimacy with men.

A gentle smile touched his lips before he could realize it. His two hands lightly gathered her hair up. He would sometimes tie his own hair, though he had never done it for a woman before. His skill might not be good, but at least it was better than letting these fragrant strands be seen by someone other than him. The white butterfly hairpin held the simple knot.

“Black suits you.” Because her white skin contrasted well with the black of her hair and the dark blue of her clothes. Especially when she blushed, he could look at her forever. Silver would make her stand out too much. He did not want any more headaches.

“Thank...thank you, Your Highness.” Bai Yu did not know what to think or what to say about this action of his. For an actress like her, having her hair touched was a typical thing since she always had to do her hair and make-up when acting. Hair was important to people in this world, true, but she was not familiar with it. It was normal for her not to feel anything at all.

But for a man who was born and raised in this tradition... He stared at her hair that was not tied up, touched it, and put a hairpin in it with his own hands. Did he think this through?

“Benwang will do as you asked. But you have to be careful and not let something like this happen again. Do not let anyone see your hair.” His golden eyes gazed at her hair that he had caressed.

“Do not let anyone touch your hair.” His hand moved to adjust the hairpin that he himself had pinned for her.

“Understood?” His eyes peered into hers as if he was casting a spell on her with his gaze. “Do you understand what I said?”

She did not understand his words or his actions. No matter how much she thought, she could not understand. If she did not try to use her head and just go with the flow, she might find that some things did not need much thought...maybe...

“Little fool.”

“Yes.”

“Promise benwang. Only benwang can do this to you.” His hand lightly stroked her cheek. Bai Yu nodded. Ouyang Feilong revealed a smile. The warmth from his fingertips brushed against her lips in a gentle touch.

“Good girl.”