Chapter 33.2: banter

Her words caused him to chuckle lightly. He let go of her and his cold eyes stared at her. “This prince can help you to investigate, but there is a condition.” At the mention of a condition, his cold expression changed to one of a devilish smirk.

Su Xi-er raised her head and asked, “What condition?”

“If it was you who knocked this prince out, I can even sentence you to death.” His face was wreathed in a devilish and wanton smile as he spoke the cruellest words.

“Prince Hao, if there’s no evidence, please don’t malign this servant.” I definitely can’t admit to the fact that I had knocked him out.

“This prince was just sounding you out. I didn’t say that it’s you.” Pei Qianhao looked at her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Could you directly tell this servant what the condition it is?” Su Xi-er asked straightforwardly. 

She was very clear about her current strength. She wouldn’t be able to investigate Ruo Yuan’s destination just by relying on herself, but it was a different matter for the man in front of her.

Pei Qianhao coldly answered, “This condition is very simple. Take the initiative to kiss this prince and kiss until this prince is satisfied.”

This condition… Su Xi-er’s heart leapt suddenly. I have never initiated a kiss, yet he brought up such a request.

Has he really taken a fancy to a palace maid scrubbing chamber pots in the Palace Side Quarters?

“This prince will count until three. One, two…”

Su Xi-er pursed her lips. She saw Lü Liu’s shadow on Ruo Yuan. Lü Liu’s fate had always been a knot in her heart that she couldn’t untie.

When she heard that he was about to count until three, she immediately stood on her toes and used her hands to loop behind his neck. She raised her head and pressed her soft lips on his. 

The faint scent of medicinal herbs mixed with the body fragrance of a woman wafted into Pei Qianhao’s nose. The expression in his eyes started to become more profound, but he stayed completely motionless, allowing her to take the initiative.

She had experienced kissing someone before: twice in her previous lifetime, and once in this lifetime. Recalling his actions when he kissed her from the encounter that night in the woods beside the Palace Side Quarters, she opened her mouth and pushed against his jaw.

The fragrance of a woman became stronger in Pei Qianhao’s nose, prompting him to embrace her tightly.

Under the bright moonlight, the two were tightly entangled.

As soon as she finished kissing, Su Xi-er was unable to catch her breath. She patted her chest and started to calm her breathing.

Pei Qianhao found it funny as she looked at her. “Do you need more practice in the future?”

Su Xi-er raised her head to look at him. His actions were fiery just now, but he had instantly calmed down, his eyes endlessly dark. A man like this should be the most heartless, right? To him, all women are just like the 72 concubines in the Beauty Palace ー mere playthings. For what purpose were these women taken in by him?

“You have already accomplished my request. This prince will help you to investigate,” Pei Qianhao informed her coldly.

Su Xi-er bowed. “Many thanks to Prince Hao.”

“You’re actually very well-behaved and understand the rules well.” Pei Qianhao chuckled. Finally, he flung his sleeves and left.

Hidden at a secret place, Wu Ling had witnessed the whole incident from beginning to end. I am findingHis Highness’ thoughts harder and harder to understand. Outsiders all say that His Highness likes beauty very much, and that the 72 concubines in the Beauty Palace are all beauties who are the cream of the crop.

But only I, Wu Ling, know that after these beauties enter the place, they will be grass widows. Prince Hao has never stayed in the Beauty Palace. Since that’s the case, why does he want to keep those women?

Upon seeing that Prince Hao was walking towards his direction, Wu Ling immediately appeared. “Prince Hao, why don’t you take Su Xi-er into the Beauty Palace?”

“I’m not keeping her,” Pei Qianhao replied coldly.

“Prince Hao, since you don’t go to the Beauty Palace, why do you want to keep those women?”

“Shutting them in an ornate prison and watching them ripping each other apart while being full of themselves, isn’t that very interesting?”

Wu Ling jolted in shock and looked at Prince Hao’s composed expression. So it turns out that he truly thinks of the women in the Beauty Palace as little more than cage animals tearing each other to shreds, watching their conflicts like an audience enjoying a show.

“A fat palace maid from the Palace Side Quarters, Ruo Yuan, was taken away by the imperial guards. Go and check who took her away.” Pei Qianhao walked into the distance.

Wu Ling was stunned again. That fat palace maid from last night?