Emboldened by his words, Li Meirong kissed Zhu Qingyue.

She didn't have much time to think about what she had just done because she had kissed him without any reasoning, a blur of pure temptation and emotional outburst.

She kissed him because she wanted to, because his beautiful lips were taunting her timid heart.

She kissed him because the way he looked at her made her feel as if she was the most important person in the world.

Alas, her lips plastered themselves onto a solid, immovable wall. Even though it wasn't her first kiss, Li Meirong remained in place, unsure how to proceed or interpret the situation, since Zhu Qingyue kept his own mouth shut.

With her eyes still closed, a rush of deja vu flooded Li Meirong's heart when she couldn't detect any sort of response from Zhu Qingyue. She ended up being reminded of that night when he had disappeared all those months ago.

Back then, his reaction had been no different than it was now.

Li Meirong's heart plummeted into her stomach. Her hands and feet began to tingle. She started wondering if perhaps she had made the wrong decision by kissing him.

Was she once again being too impulsive? She had kissed him already, and had even initiated the move, so she knew that he wasn't the type of man who wanted their woman to be docile and submissive.

It couldn't have been that he had grown shocked into speechlessness and inaction again just because of a small kiss, right?

Li Meirong's mind raced with troubling thoughts, and she had to force herself to lean back and squint one eye open to observe Zhu Qingyue's reaction.

She anxiously, yet carefully regarded Zhu Qingyue, hoping that her own nervousness wouldn't show.

His silvery eyebrows shot high up on his forehead, and the whites in his eyes showed a tad too much. He stood still against her like a perfectly crafted statue of mutton jade, without so much as a single pale strand of hair out of place.

There was no revulsion, no apprehensiveness, nor any anger. His handsome, startled visage filled her with an overwhelming sense of relief.

At once, all of her sadness, all of her anxiety vanished like so much empty air.

A surge of sly satisfaction welled up inside of Li Meirong as she stared at his somewhat stupefied expression, knowing that she was the one who managed to crack his unreadable mask of arrogance. She was the one who made him look like that.

Zhu Qingyue's large, warm palms were still on her cheeks, and as he slowly regained his senses, she felt his lithe fingers gently wipe away the tears from her face.

"I think I believe you now. You do look like a simpleton." Li Meirong's eyes curved into beguiling crescent moons and she couldn't help but let out a mischievous giggle.

She heard Zhu Qingyue inhale deeply, as if he was struggling to contain himself. The sharp intake of breath rushed by her lips, tickling them. His narrowing pupils sharpened as his irises darkened to an intense amber colour. The potent gaze he directed at her managed to thrill and strike fear in her at the same time.

"You are a cruel girl. Do you know that?" said Zhu Qingyue with a voice that came out thicker than usual.

"I'm not cruel!" Li Meirong huffed. "How am I supposed to know you'll grow as still as a dead fish every time I kiss you?" she retorted, tracing one finger slowly over the flushed surface of his lower lip.

Zhu Qingyue nipped her finger hard enough for it to sting. The sudden reaction nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Ouch! You big bully!" Li Meirong jerked her hand away from Zhu Qingyue and pushed at his chest with enough spiritual force to make him stumble backwards. However, to her great surprise, he stood as unmoving as a mountain.

She grew troubled, knowing she had invoked the same amount of profound qi that had caused Shu Qianqian to cower and tremble, yet when the same amount of power had been applied against Zhu Qingyue, he acted as though he hadn't felt a damn thing!

This morning, she found out that Zhu Qingyue was no longer ill, but in spite of his recovery, she had also grown a lot stronger in the past few days, and her impact should have at least caused him to move, even if just a little!

Just how much of a difference was there between their levels of cultivation for him to not yield at all from the force of her spirit powers?

The tree trunk stump serving as a table between them rattled as Zhu Qingyue nonchalantly shoved it aside with his palm.

With inhuman grace, he proceeded to inch forward on all fours until he leaned directly over Li Meirong, forcing her to practically lay flat beneath him.

Zhu Qingyue's body transformed into a natural prison, restraining her every move as his heat surged throughout every fibre of her being.

"Wife becomes quite daring and a little too mouthy after a few drinks. This Husband does not allow you to consume wine without his presence anymore." Zhu Qingyue haughtily announced.

"You can't tell me what to do, even if you end up marrying me. If you mistreat me, I-I can still divorce you!"

Li Meirong stammered as she held herself by the back of her elbows from lying completely down on the wooden floor.