Chapter 67 - 67: Untitled
Chapter 67: Untitled
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
On the other side…
After the empress dowager’s drawing of the handsome man was seen by Ye Jingtang, she had been feeling uneasy and asked Hongyu to ask around. In the end, she heard that the Prince of Jing and the empress hadn’t gone to bed yet and were preparing to take a bath at the Bright Yang Pool.
Hearing this, the empress dowager brought her palace maids to the Bright Yang Pool, only to see the Prince of Jing’s maids waiting outside. There was no sign of the empress’s honor guard.
Seeing that the empress hadn’t come yet, the empress dowager had a chance to be alone with the Prince of Jing, so she hurriedly entered the hall.
The hot spring pool was only lit by a few dim lanterns. The light was very dim, and other than the flowing of the spring water, there was no sound.
The empress dowager, who was wearing a dark red dress, moved past the screens and saw the fair Dongfang Liren floating in the middle of the pool. She was stirring the water with her hands. Perhaps it was because she was soaking in the hot spring, but her face was red and very beautiful.
“Empress Dowager, why are you here?”
“I couldn’t sleep at night. 1 heard you were here, so I came to take a look. You don’t have to get up.”
At the edge of the pool, the empress dowager raised her hands and wanted to pull open her belt and jump into the hot spring with her.
But how could Dongfang Liren agree?!
Ye Jingtang was still in the pool. If the empress dowager also stripped naked and jumped in, it wouldn’t be as simple as a ‘couple’s bath’, but…
It would be a very disgraceful and immoral thing!
Seeing that the empress dowager was about to undress, Dongfang Liren hurriedly stopped her. “Wait!”
“Hmm?” The empress dowager blinked her big eyes and looked slightly confused with her hands on her belt. “What’s wrong?”
“Hmm… The water is a little hot tonight. I’m afraid you won’t be used to it…”
“Is it hot?” The empress dowager bent down and squatted at the edge of the pool, wanting to test the temperature of the water with her hand.
But Ye Jingtang’s back was facing the door, and the empress dowager was standing directly above him. If she lowered her head, it was very likely that she would discover the figure underwater through the mist.
Dongfang Li’s heart was in her throat. In a moment of desperation, she could only let go of her chest and swim forward. In the blink of an eye, she rushed to the empress dowager.
Whoosh!
Water splashed.
Dongfang Liren lay both hands on the edge of the pool while suppressing the shame and anger in her eyes. She looked at the empress dowager and asked calmly, “Empress Dowager, you can’t sleep at night. Is there something on your mind?”
The empress dowager had almost been splashed by Dongfang Liren. She moved back a little. “1 don’t have anything on my mind. 1 just came over to take a look… Oh, yes, you were in danger yesterday. It’s been on my mind. You have to bring guards with you in the palace…”
Dongfang Liren’s expression remained unchanged as she gritted her teeth. “Don’t worry, Empress Dowager. I’ll bring them with me at all times.”
“Did you bring Young Master Ye, who protected you yesterday?”
Dongfang Liren felt like she was stepping on this person! “Yes, he’s patrolling the palace.”
The empress dowager nodded slightly, sat on the edge of the pool, and brushed the hair by her ear. “How’s the patrol going? Did they find anything unusual?”
“No, everything is as usual…”
“That’s good…”
Meanwhile, underwater…
Ye Jingtang was hiding with his back against the edge of the pool, so he couldn’t hear the words on the surface of the water. In order not to offend the Prince of Jing again, even though he was at the bottom of the pool, he closed his eyes and waited for her to send the empress dowager away.
But not long after he closed his eyes, he felt a water wave approach. He opened his eyes slightly to look at it…
Two long legs swung back and forth as she swam toward him.
The extremely oppressive objects appeared without the slightest concealment. It generously arrived directly on top of his head and pressed against the white jade wall of the pool…
?!
Facing the magnificent so close at hand, Ye Jingtang was shocked, but what was even more shocking was not this.
In order to block him, the Prince of Jing lay on the edge of the pool, which was shoulder deep.
He was leaning against the wall of the pool, with the Prince of Jing directly above him, and in front of him was naturally…
In order not to come into contact with him, Ye Jingtang could feel Dumdum’s long legs swaying in the water, causing some ripples in the water.
Ye Jingtang tilted his head and closed his eyes without looking. His heart was beating like a drum as he kept reminding himself to abide by his mind and not submit to his desires.
And the Prince of Jing seemed to know where his gaze might fall.
This wait was much longer than he had imagined…
“That Young Master Ye has such high martial arts skills at such a young age. He’s really not simple. How is his character?”
“Hmm… He’s okay. It’s just that he’s inexperienced in Jianghu and easily deceived.”
“Is that so…”
At the edge of the pool, the empress dowager sat elegantly on her side. After chatting for a long time and seeing that Ye Jingtang didn’t look like he was going to report about her, she relaxed a little.
The empress dowager pulled down half of her clothes, revealing her fair shoulders and voluptuous figure. She wanted to bathe with Dongfang Liren.
But just as she made this move, Dongfang Liren’s expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly helped the empress dowager pull up her collar to prevent the empress dowager’s naked body from being exposed. “Don’t.”
The empress dowager was baffled. “Why? I want to come in and have a bath, but you won’t let me?”
n ii
Dongfang Liren didn’t know how to explain. Her mind raced as she changed the topic. “No, 1 just thought of a poem. You will probably like it. Could you help me get a brush and paper?”
The empress dowager was born in Jiang Province, where literature was at its peak. She had dabbled in poetry, but she was not very interested.
But since Dongfang Liren said this, she naturally had to listen. She turned around and instructed outside the hall, “Hongyu, get me a brush and paper.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Soon, the palace maid Hongyu ran in with a tray with a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
The empress dowager helped to grind the ink. Dongfang Liren lay at the edge of the pool, holding a small brush in her hand, writing on the white paper.
In order to stall for time so that her unscrupulous sister would discover her predicament and send the empress dowager away, Dongfang Liren wrote very slowly. Every stroke had to be considered, and after writing a sentence, she had to think carefully.
“Wait till the Double Ninth Day in fall comes around… I’ll bloom when other flowers’re to be withered and gone.”
The empress dowager read each sentence, and her casual expression gradually turned solemn. She picked up the paper and carefully appraised it. “This poem is really… fierce. Who wrote it?”
“From what Her Majesty said, it was written by a scholar. Empress Dowager, if you are interested, you can ask Her Majesty.”
The empress dowager seriously looked at the poem on the paper and said helplessly, “As the empress dowager, what’s the point of asking about a talented scholar… Sigh, you like martial arts and can meet a man with extraordinary martial arts skills like Ye Jingtang. Her Majesty loves poetry and songs and can meet such a talented and ambitious man…”
Dongfang Liren knew that the empress dowager was starting to feel sorry for herself again. Just as she was considering her words to comfort her, she suddenly felt someone touching her calf.
?!
Dongfang Liren’s heart skipped a beat. She thought that Ye Jingtang finally couldn’t keep maintaining the way of a gentleman, but she quickly felt that it didn’t seem like it. He was patting her to remind her.
Remind me of what…
Dongfang Liren thought to herself and suddenly came to a realization. She and the empress dowager had been talking nonsense for a long time without realizing it.
Martial artists had long inner breaths. Some tyrannical Grandmasters who were good at the Turtle Breathing Technique could be full of vigor after staying in the water for a few months. It wasn’t strange for ordinary martial artists to hold their breath for two hours, but this kind of internal martial arts needed to be practiced.
Ye Jingtang seemed very skilled in martial arts, but Madam Wang had said that his qi meridians were messy. It was obvious that he had never practiced this kind of martial arts. He had been holding his breath in the water for so long and had likely reached his limit. If he couldn’t show his head, he might faint!
Dongfang Liren was anxious. It was already very abrupt not to let the empress dowager enter the water. She couldn’t chase the empress dowager out again.
This wretched sister, do you not notice that the empress dowager is here, or do you deiiberateiy want to expose the matter so that I will embarrass myself in front of her?
If the empress dowager saw her taking a bath with Ye Jingtang, she would have no choice but to marry Ye Jingtang. She might even be bestowed with a marriage tomorrow.
Dongfang Liren reckoned that her sister hadn’t shown up until now, likely because she had the idea of letting the empress dowager discover her embarrassing situation and force her to get married quickly.
It wasn’t that Dongfang Liren didn’t want to get married, but how could she end her single life in such an embarrassing way?
Moreover, Ye Jingtang had someone he liked and seemed to be in love with.. How could she be a bad woman who relied on power to snatch her love…