Chapter 656: What a Crappy Suggestion (2)

After fighting a cold war for so long, all that was He Sanlang’s head was the desire to soothe his longing for Chu Lian. He continued pressing her down with his kisses.

He used his tongue to explore her mouth, teasing her and entwining with her soft tongue.

Her hot breath on his face, her light pants, they only fanned the flames in his heart.

Just as he was immersed in her warmth, he suddenly tasted something strangely bitter.

The hands teasing and roving over Chu Lian’s body sensed a different kind of tension.

He finally opened his eyes, only to be met with Chu Lian’s tear-streaked face.

The excitement and desire in He Changdi’s eyes slowly ebbed away. He hadn’t expected Chu Lian to react this way.

He quickly let go of the soft and boneless figure in his arms. His voice carried some huskiness and heartache as he asked, “Lian’er, what’s wrong?”

Chu Lian was feeling especially wronged right now. Her almond-shaped eyes reflected both rage and grievance as she glared right at him.

He Changdi felt completely helpless in the face of this.

He tried to wipe away Chu Lian’s tears with one hand.

“It’s all my fault, Lian’er. Please don’t cry?”

The usually cool He Sanlang was terrible at comforting women. As much as he tried, all he could come up with was those two phrases.

How could the fires raging in Chu Lian’s heart be put out by those simple and thoughtless words?

Disappointment radiated from her gaze and she pushed He Changdi away from her body.

Of course, He Sanlang wasn’t willing to let her go just yet.

Chu Lian struggled even harder. In her extreme rage, she landed a slap on He Changdi’s face.

The crisp sound of that blow echoed in the wide halls of the bath.

Chu Lian had put enough strength into her slap that a bright red mark in the shape of her palm quickly surfaced on one half of He Changdi’s handsome face.

Taking advantage of He Changdi’s momentary daze, Chu Lian slipped out of his arms.

She quickly climbed out of the pool, snatched up her nightgown off the privacy screen and pulled it on, and ran out of the bathing area barefoot.

Leaving behind a stunned He Changdi alone in the steaming hot spring pool.

After a long moment, He Sanlang broke out of his statue-like pose to look after where Chu Lian had disappeared. He let out a long sigh and let his body crumple against the wall of the pool.

He shut his eyes again. In his mind, the image of Chu Lian’s angry, aggrieved, tearful and pitiful expression haunted him.

Damn it! He really was a scoundrel!

He deserved this slap.

He Changdi covered his eyes and thought carefully back to all that had happened the past few days.

If He Sanlang refused to reflect even at this point, then he would really be brainless.

Xiao Bojian’s plans, Imperial Princess Leyao’s little plot, Feudal Princess Anmin pushing things alone, as well as Sixth Prince, who was likely to be the mastermind behind this all...

All these were easy enough to figure out, but it was only the emperor’s abnormal attention and caring for Chu Lian that left him befuddled.

The expression on He Sanlang’s face turned even more grave. He had a feeling that there were some secrets he hadn’t been able to find out in his previous life, and that those very secrets would somehow implicate him in some way in this life.

The moment He Changdi had straightened out his thoughts, the haze over his mind cleared up.

When he recalled his earlier actions, He Changdi scrubbed furiously at his face.

Damn Captain Guo and Zhang Mai! Their advice wasn’t helpful at all! He had to find a chance to take revenge on them!

Chu Lian had already left in a fury, so He Changdi didn’t have any more desire to soak in the hot springs. He left the pool and changed into a dry set of clothes before leaving the hall.

He looked out into the hall, where Chu Lian was nowhere to be found.

He Changdi: ...

His icy gaze swept over to the maidservant standing guard nearby, who couldn’t help but tremble under his watch, “Re... Replying to Third Young Master, Third Young Madam took Wenqing and Wenlan over to Royal Princess Duanjia’s. Third Young Madam has informed this servant that she will be staying with Royal Princess Duanjia tonight. Third Young Master doesn’t have to wait for her. She asked Third Young Master to sleep earlier.”

Faced with He Changdi’s dangerous gaze, the maidservant finished her report while stuttering.

He Changdi didn’t say anything in reply. The storm on his face simply turned even darker.

He changed into another set of clothes and headed for Prince Wei’s hall. However, he was stopped by Prince Wei’s manservant at the entrance.

The manservant smiled kindly, “Marquis Anyuan, this servant apologises greatly for the inconvenience. Their Highnesses have already settled down for the night. If milord has any business at hand, please wait for the next morning!”

There were other guards at the entrance and Prince Wei’s status was special. He Changdi couldn’t enter by force.

He could only stay at the entrance.

When the manservant saw that He Changdi still stood there silently with a cold expression, he tried to persuade him, “Marquis Anyuan, please rest assured. Her Highness treats Honoured Lady Jinyi as her own daughter. How could Honoured Lady suffer any bit of mistreatment here with Her Highness? Honoured Lady will return to you without a single hair missing. It’s getting late, Marquis Anyuan should head back to rest!”

He Changdi continued standing there with his hands behind his back in his black robes, as if the manservant hadn’t spoken at all.

The manservant had no other way to deal with this stubborn marquis, “Well, if that’s what you want. This servant won’t bother with you.”

After saying so, the manservant waved at the guards. The crimson gates of the courtyard were quickly shut, leaving He Changdi outside.

The remaining two guards outside didn’t even glance at He Changdi and stood at their posts with ramrod-straight backs, looking like a pair of statues.

After a moment, the gates didn’t open again and the inside was as quiet as could be.

Laiyue couldn’t bear seeing the situation like this and tried to coax his master, “Third Young Master, why don’t we head back? Nothing will happen to Third Young Madam here. We still have a long journey to the capital tomorrow, and you still have to accompany the emperor!”

He Changdi turned his head slightly to look at Laiyue. Following that, he pressed his thin lips together and waved his hand at Laiyue, clearly ordering him to return to their hall first.

Laiyue knew that he hadn’t succeeded at all. His Third Young Master was a stubborn one. There was no swaying him at this point.

However, as He Changdi’s manservant, he couldn’t really just head back by himself. He couldn’t sit back and relax while his master was suffering.

Thus, he resigned himself to his fate and stood in front of Prince Wei’s dwelling with He Changdi.

They had only been standing there for an hour, when a sudden bolt of lightning and roll of thunder announced the start of a thunderstorm.

Heavy rain started pouring in the darkness of the night.