Feng Jiu’er sat in the chair, not daring to look at the silhouette behind the screen, her mind drifting she knew not where — vaguely unsettled.
She did not know how much time passed. Then, suddenly, there was a sound of movement from behind the screen — the Ninth Imperial Uncle had come out!
She had not intentionally looked. It was only that when she heard the sound, she instinctively glanced up.
Only one glance — truly only one glance — and the silhouette of the Ninth Imperial Uncle without his clothes was already imprinted clearly before her eyes!
Through the screen it was impossible to see clearly, yet the outline was so distinct!
Those long legs, that firm waist, the broad and powerful chest, and that… ahhh! Her nose was heating up and tingling again — was something out there determined to torture her to death?
Ninth Imperial Uncle, you are so devastatingly handsome — please stop flaunting yourself in front of her!
Feng Jiu’er hurriedly turned away, averting her face and refusing to look.
There were things that had to be made clear with the Ninth Imperial Uncle tonight. If they went unaddressed, the two of them would surely descend into a relationship of hopeless, tangled confusion from here on out.
He came out from behind the screen, carrying with him a faint warmth of steam, which mingled together with the cold aura that was innately his — and produced from that mingling a kind of damp, ambiguous warmth that drifted slowly through the air.
“That…” Feng Jiu’er hesitated for a long time. She still had her back to him, not daring to turn around.
Although she knew the Ninth Imperial Uncle must certainly have dressed by now, the image of the handsome man fresh from his bath was still etched deep in her mind. Even clothed, it was all too easy to imagine him without clothing… cough, cough — what was she thinking?! Oh, that brain of hers!
Jiu’er could not resist giving her own head a smack, then gave a small, light cough and continued: “Ninth Imperial Uncle, it is so late — what did you actually call me here to discuss? I am a little tired. If it is nothing too important, perhaps we could wait and talk tomorrow?”
At any rate, she was absolutely not spending the night here no matter what tonight. If she slept in his bed again, the misunderstanding would only grow more impossible to untangle.
The Ninth Imperial Uncle said nothing. There was not a single sound of movement from him either. Feng Jiu’er had no idea whatsoever what he was doing.
“Ninth Imperial Uncle…”
Hmm! It seemed he had turned and walked toward his bed — was he about to rest? If so, could she leave now?
“Ninth Imperial Uncle, you have been busy all day — you must be tired as well. Why don’t we wait until tomorrow…”
From behind, a wave of cold swept suddenly in.
Feng Jiu’er jolted with a start and immediately spun around, channeling her inner defensive energy to protect herself.
But this palm strike of the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s had no intention of injuring her at all. It only made her realize once again how profound the depths of the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s cultivation were — nothing her level of ability could begin to fathom.
With one palm’s worth of power, he swept her body off the ground. The force of his palm was like a whip, pulling her directly to him.
With a thud, the girl tumbled onto the bed. She was not careful enough, and her head struck the mattress first — it hurt!
Feng Jiu’er was in enough pain that tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Zhan Qingcheng had obviously not anticipated it either — that one careless moment, he had used too much force and caused her to knock her head.
“Are you alright?” His large hand reached out and scooped her to him, tossing her onto the pillow. He rubbed at her head with his hand, and there was, in his expression, the faintest trace of remorse.
“Sorry.”
Feng Jiu’er was in too much pain to even speak. But after the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s large hand rubbed at it several times, somehow it did not feel quite so bad.
“Ninth Imperial Uncle,” she murmured, her little mouth puckered in a pout, the corners of her eyes faintly glimmering with tears of pain — yet her eyes held a peculiarly bright and eager light.
She shot upright to sit on his lap, her face animated with excitement: “Ninth Imperial Uncle, was that the legendary Star-Absorbing Technique? Can you teach me? I want to learn too!”
Her inner energy was now reasonably formidable, but before the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s Star-Absorbing Technique, she had found no way to escape.
He had only casually pulled, and she had been dragged toward him through the air. That pulling force was genuinely powerful — powerful enough that it had been completely impossible to break free.
If she learned it too, pursuing criminals in the future would be thrillingly easy! One palm strike to pull them back — no need for rope at all!
Zhan Qingcheng, however, upon hearing her words, gave a slight furrow of his brows: “What is the Star-Absorbing Technique?”
Jiu’er blinked. Did this era not have the Star-Absorbing Technique? But what the Ninth Imperial Uncle had just demonstrated was truly very similar to it!
“The Star-Absorbing Technique is like what you just did — your palm force pulled me directly to you, as though your palm had absorbed me. That…”
Before she could finish — she felt something.
Feng Jiu’er’s eyes flew wide open. The distance was too close — she could not make out the face before her clearly at all.
She only knew that he had lowered his head and pressed downward, and her lips were sealed, every unspoken word pressed completely back inside of her.
“Mmm…” She raised her hands on instinct, wanting to push him away — but both her hands were caught and held by him.
Zhan Qingcheng turned over in one motion, pressing her flat beneath him. Both her hands were pinned above her head, and Jiu’er was completely unable to resist.
How vast the difference in strength between a man and a woman! She considered herself no weakling — yet before the Ninth Imperial Uncle, what little strength she had was not even enough to scratch him.
She twisted and struggled, only to find that every small movement her body made caused her to press even more tightly against his powerful, solid frame.
It was so warm!
What had come over the Ninth Imperial Uncle — why had he suddenly… suddenly kissed her, and without any sign of letting go!
“Mmm…” No matter how she fought, it was nothing but futile struggle. But she could not make sense of what was happening now — why had he suddenly become like this?
Zhan Qingcheng offered no explanation whatsoever. He was not the sort who needed to explain his actions.
The gloom that had weighed on his heart through an entire day finally found, in this moment, just the faintest measure of release.
After what felt like an age, he finally lifted his lips slightly and released her.
It was equally an age before Feng Jiu’er drew a deep breath and felt that breathing could at last proceed normally.
But he remained on top of her, those eyes — deep and fathomless as a bottomless abyss — fixed on her without once looking away.
If this were some common libertine, daring to forcibly kiss her like this, Feng Jiu’er would have used every last ounce of her strength to deliver a slap that would flatten him.
But he was the Ninth Imperial Uncle! The Ninth Imperial Uncle was sacred and untainted. The Ninth Imperial Uncle was exalted and extraordinary. The Ninth Imperial Uncle was someone whom she… could not bear to harm even by a single fraction.
Her hand had already been raised. Yet that palm could never bring itself to push out. It was as though no matter what the Ninth Imperial Uncle did to her, she could resist — but she could never bring herself to hate him.
Why would such a feeling exist in her?
“Ninth Imperial Uncle…” He was in a better mood now, wasn’t he? Jiu’er had known from the very beginning that the Ninth Imperial Uncle was unhappy. But now, having kissed her… his mood had improved? At the very least, the bone-deep, life-threatening chill of his presence had faded somewhat.
“Has anyone else been this close to you?” Zhan Qingcheng’s eyes darkened as he fixed them on her lips, now faintly swollen from the thorough kissing he had given her.
His long fingers could not resist rising, and the pad of his fingertip pressed gently onto her lips, tracing softly along the curve of them: “Has there?”