This had to be luck!

Hua Chun pressed a hand to her chest and, forcing a smile, had someone retrieve the ball and hand it back to Yuwen Jie.

“That line by Your Majesty’s feet is called the three-point line. Shoot from outside it and it’s worth three points; from inside, only two.”

Yuwen Jie looked down at the white line, nodded, and picked up the ball again. The curve of his jaw left Hua Chun a little dazed, and with a flick of his wrist, the ball dropped through the hoop once more.

Hua Chun laughed weakly. “Has Your Majesty played this before?”

“No.” the emperor said flatly. “But this isn’t so different from pitch-pot — it’s mostly about luck.”

With that, he took another shot. It went straight in again.

Hua Chun stood there dumbfounded, watching Yuwen Jie make nine out of ten shots in a row.

And this was supposed to be luck? She wanted to slap herself silly! People with long arms and long legs really did have it easy. She’d practiced for so long and still hadn’t achieved that kind of accuracy — was Yuwen Jie cheating or something?

“Do you really like playing this?” the emperor asked.

“Heh heh.” Hua Chun shook her head. “Suddenly I don’t anymore.”

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, the emperor studied her for a while before finally saying, “Women really are fickle.”

Hua Chun: “…”

Qing Niao chuckled softly off to the side. Hua Chun huffed and moved closer to her. “You’re laughing too!”

“Don’t you think His Majesty looks handsome?” Qing Niao said in a low voice. “Just like that upperclassman you had a crush on in your third year of college.”

Hua Chun paused and glanced over — it really was true. Yuwen Jie was wearing a narrow-sleeved dragon robe today, looking clean and sharp, without the usual paunch most emperors seemed to have. Instead, his waist was narrow, and he had abs — she’d felt them before. He looked solid and powerful too.

Jumping in the sunlight like that, leaning slightly back, not a hint of expression on his face, then flicking his wrist to send the ball arcing beautifully through the air — and the accuracy was just as good, every shot going in. It was exactly like that basketball player upperclassman she’d met in her third year.

And he was even better-looking than that upperclassman, too.

Her indignant expression instantly melted into a besotted grin, and Hua Chun nodded. “Your Majesty really is a master of both the pen and the sword.”

Yuwen Jie heard her, took one last shot, then turned and walked over. “I didn’t come find you to put on a shooting show.”

Hua Chun blinked, looking up at him ingratiatingly. “Do you have other orders?”

Glancing at Qing Niao beside her, the emperor said, “Come back to the hall with me.”

“Alright.”

Qing Niao bowed and followed behind, seeing the two of them into the Hall of Mental Cultivation before closing the door and standing outside with Eunuch Qin.

“About the matter with Consort Hui.” the emperor said. “She hasn’t made any real mistakes in the palace so far, so demoting her rank would be difficult.”

Hua Chun understood at once. “Is Your Majesty going after Li Zhongtang?”

“I have no choice — he’s practically climbing onto my head at this point.” With a cold laugh, he reached out and pulled her into his arms. “I’ve never much cared for harem affairs — you women and your scheming against each other, only you can really untangle it. So the matter of how to bring her down, I’ll leave to you.”

Sitting on his lap, Hua Chun nodded obediently, suddenly feeling a rush of excitement. “Aren’t we basically like a pair of villains scheming together?”

“What?”

“You know, that evil power couple type!” Hua Chun said, gesturing excitedly. “The kind that secretly plots how to hurt people.”

His face darkening on one side, the emperor glared at her. “You can insult yourself all you want, just don’t drag me down with you!”

“…But I can’t be an evil power couple all by myself.” Hua Chun pouted. “Besides, deliberately looking for an excuse to demote someone — isn’t that basically doing something bad?”

Glancing at her, Yuwen Jie said disdainfully, “You think there’s a single person in this palace who’s never done anything wrong?”

“There isn’t?”

“There isn’t.” he answered flatly. “Anyone who’s managed to survive this long, avoid being framed, avoid getting dragged into scandal, and still hold a high position — they’ve certainly done something they should be ashamed of. I’m not asking you to frame anyone. I’m just using the convenience of your position to dig up evidence, so I have an excuse.”

Hua Chun nodded, able to understand the emperor’s reasoning. Still, hearing him put it that way made her feel a little uneasy.

“Everyone in the harem has done something shameful — so when Your Majesty sleeps with them, aren’t you ever afraid?”

He shot her a sideways glance and said coldly, “You’d do well not to think about such useless things.”

He rarely stayed with anyone past midnight, always having whoever attended him sent away before he fell asleep — unless that person had already fallen fast asleep — because he generally didn’t like losing all his guard and drifting off in front of others.

How could he possibly know what she’d been thinking? Hua Chun pouted and said quietly, “Got it. But if I accidentally cause some kind of trouble, you’ll have to cover for me, alright?”

“Don’t worry.” Yuwen Jie said. “Keeping you safe in the harem isn’t that difficult.”

With that promise, Hua Chun relaxed and leaned comfortably against him, stretching lazily — but halfway through the stretch, he caught her wrist, pulled her in by the neck, and kissed her deeply and heatedly.

At first, she’d felt rather shy about it, but Yuwen Jie’s kisses really did feel wonderful — full of possessiveness, yes, but also full of genuine feeling, nothing like the cold, deadpan mask he usually wore.

Truthfully, a woman never feels quite secure until she’s heard a man say “I love you” out loud — especially when the man in question was someone who always kept a stony face yet had been with countless women. Hua Chun had even, on occasion, imagined that the emperor was simply playing around with her.

But once he held her in his arms, all those doubts flew away. She smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back with equal fervor.

Once that response came, there was no stopping it — sparks flying, the two of them stumbled from the outer hall straight into the inner chamber, tumbling into the curtained bed in broad daylight.

“Between me and He Chang’an, who do you think is better?” Between gasps, the emperor hesitated a long while before finally asking, somewhat sullenly.

Hua Chun paused, raising an eyebrow. “Your Majesty and Second Brother are two completely different types of people — how could there be any comparison? You’re a noble and peerless emperor, while he’s more like someone who’s given himself over to nature, free and easy like the wind.”

“Which type do you prefer?”

Huh? Hua Chun hesitated for just a second. But that brief moment of hesitation was enough — she felt his grip tighten beneath her, and then she saw the darkness settle into his eyes.

Gasping, she quickly began pleading. “It’s definitely Your Majesty’s type, of course — did that even need asking?”

“You hesitated.”

“No, no, no, I just didn’t quite catch what you were asking… ah!”

“It’s too late to explain now.” Reaching out to grip her waist, Yuwen Jie felt a flare of anger inside him, yet still restrained himself, careful with how much force he used. “No matter who you truly prefer in your heart, you’re destined to belong to me and only me. If you ever betray me, I will make sure you never recover.”

Her body was burning hot, yet his words sent a chill through her all the same. Hua Chun frowned, feeling a flicker of real irritation — nothing had even happened yet, and he was already issuing warnings and threats. If she ever grew close with He Chang’an in the future, wouldn’t he just have her whole family wiped out on the spot?

He’d said he would protect her — but apparently there would also be times when he’d want to kill her instead?

Brow furrowed slightly, Hua Chun didn’t bother explaining further. She kept her mouth shut and turned her head away.

Yuwen Jie narrowed his eyes, and as he caressed her sensitive places, his movements suddenly turned gentle, his gaze watching her reactions calmly.

“Mm…” Gritting her teeth and biting her lip, she tried her best to hold out, refusing to give in — but it seemed he’d seen right through which spots she couldn’t withstand, and he focused relentlessly on them.

She lasted less than five minutes before she gave in, her body trembling in waves, clutching at his arm and saying through tears, “I was wrong, is that not enough?!”