Chapter 53
Imperial Concubine Wei
Wei Li Lian
Hougong
Mistress Ki once said there are different phases a person goes through emotionally when they are faced with devastating news. The first one was denial, which Li Lian experienced in the first few minutes of finding out. Then there was anger, which Li Lian made a good show of a few hours ago.
And next?
Li Lian was awoken by her own snoring. She was not sleeping well with her leg right over Yuwen Hong's torso and her hand over his neck. He was still and slept on his back, his body rigid. Unlike her, he was quiet and you would not know he was there if it was not for the feel of him.
She was already aware that she was not in her room due to the plush bed. Hers was not that comfortable or did the chamber have the smell of exotic flowers.
She groaned and yawned, and just like that, the memory of the banquet immersed her mind, bringing back the heartache and helplessness.
With such a night, she needed to wake up and find herself back at the quarters and hear Dao's thoughts concerning Qi becoming the empress. Dao would rant, curse, and make fun of the matter, making Li Lian laugh. Her maid was always mean and Li Lian regularly had to chastise her, but on some days she played a part in making Li Lian let go of things.
She then sat up and stretched her body tiredly. It was quite dark, therefore the sun was nowhere near rising. She got out of bed and began feeling the floor for a lamp and the flammable sticks to light it up.
It did not take time for her to find them and get the lamp on. As a female attendant, one of her duties was to always leave the lamp on the floor by the bed because apparently the emperor sometimes woke up during the night to study.
She placed the lamp on the bedside small table.
Yuwen Hong was sensitive to movements, probably due to him having versed martial arts. He obviously heard her already.
"What's wrong?" He mewled tiredly, still half asleep.
She didn't say anything back as she watched his large foam so at peace. His head rested on his hand, face staring at the roof and his other hand on his bare stomach. It was his preference to sleep with his torso naked and only wearing his black silk trousers that hung low on his hips.
Yuwen Hong easily got hot and sweating, so the blanket was always hers. He once said he got immune to the cold when he practised martial arts and would get severe punishments from his master. However, his mother told her a different story. Yu'er was also prone to severe attacks of the cold disease during winters, and every winter of his life he had battled one.
"Are you feeling cold?" she asked.
"No," he muttered lazily.
"Your mother said you easily get cold. I will warm you up." She pushed away from her blankets and tossed off the nightwear dress that Court Lady Nam put on her earlier. She was then left with her underneath padding wraps that she effortlessly got out of.
Her long hair fell all over her bare skin as she went on top of him, seating herself on his pelvis.
This disturbed his sleep and his eyes drastically opened to see her on top of him. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing." She shyly said.
"Li Lian..."
She put her finger on his lips to shut him up.
Her body fell on him with her hands caressing his biceps, breasts crushing on his chest. "Is... is it because we haven't had sex that you chose her?"
He exhaled tiredly. "It has nothing to do with you."
Li Lian did not respond but slid on his body, leaving soft kisses on his neck. She made a trail of them and the last one was more of a playful bite. Licking him was now a new pleasure of hers. She tongued on the beat of his pulse, obsessed with the rhythmic ticking it made.
She was curious to see how much he would refuse before he went on his knees for her. His body was already stiff, alongside with his part between her legs.
"I want to be empress, Yuwen Hong. I really want it."
His hands went on her waist and stilled her.
"My love, I had to choose what is right for the nation. This decision did not concern my relationship with you. This was about the nation and what it needs. As an emperor, I can not be emotional and make personal decisions."
"So I am not right for you as the emperor? I am just right for your lustful desires and nothing else?"
"That is twisted, Li Lian."
She shrugged and ran her hands on his chest. He winced at that, and that is when she realised she had found his weakness.
His chest was sensitive.
"Noble Consort Qi was always a candidate before you came. She came before you and has many achievements to deserve this position. I couldn't be unfair and give it to you, or wait for you to mature when the empire has long needed a phoenix since the royal dragon fell."
"Mature?"
"She is older than both of us."
So what if she is? Is maturity based on the number of years you live on earth?
"Then why did you call me empress? Why did you lead me on and give me the hope I shouldn't have?"
He muttered some curse words. "Li Lian, it's just the position of an empress, what is the fuss about? This is childish! I feel like I am arguing with Cai Wenjin on what she can and cannot have."
That was a slap on her face for him to say that. Did he not sense it that there was a big reason why she needed to be empress?
Her life depended on it.
But again, it was her own fault. She was not being honest with him in the first place.
She thrashed herself forward and pulled him for a deep kiss.
She missed him so much. All these weeks and they had been separated by misunderstanding. Yet, her heart missed him all along. Inside her were all the feelings. Love, hurt, and hate.
She was eating his mouth like a hungry animal, and he was rawly kissing her. It was like a habit they formed over the years because the beat they moved to and the passion between them was like a practised duo dance. He squeezed her breasts, his palms letting go and teasing her nipples. To her, he felt the same way she saw him as, hard, unyielding, and controlling.
Yu'er. Why is our love so painful? You keep hurting me. Can't you see it? I've bled dry. Can't you see I'm breaking?
He was below her, which gave her the reigns. But still, through her he was setting the pace they should go at and to what extent they were doing what they were doing.
He pushed her away, breathless and sweat forming on him. "And who said we can't use sex to reconcile?"
She giggled. "This is not sex."
She pushed back her bottoms to his pelvis, where she could feel him strain against his trousers. She was intoxicated by his panting, masculine heavy breathing, and his lips sexy and parted because of his lack of control. The sad reality was, this was the only place she could have a sense of leadership, not being the puppet under his will. He said the same thing too. Only there was she an equal, while everywhere else, what she thought or said did not count. Wasn't that a sad and futile ending for a woman? Because she had so much more to give than her body.
She carelessly pushed her long hair to the back and thrust onto him. There was only silk separating their bare bodies.
Filled with need, she started riding him, her weak body falling back onto him as they continued their frantic kissing.
It was messy and all dry humping, need not fully satisfied, the same way she would never have him to herself. He would always be unreachable, standing in all his glory above her. Another man's wife, yet herself a measly concubine.
She increased her thrashing, her bare lady part wet and rubbing off onto him. He groaned as his hands sought to slide between her legs.
She stopped him, still kissing him. "Make me empress, Yuwen Hong."
He didn't say anything to her. He rather assisted her to pump onto him, clearly hoping that would make her let go of her resolve.
Well, he had met his match. Li Lian stopped kissing him and slowed down the thrusting against his will. She made sure they kept their eye contact as she casually slid her hands into his trousers.
She bit onto her gasp and quickly tried not to look affected and surprised as she rolled her hands around his hard-on.
This was her first time touching a man intimately and she was not sure she was doing the right thing. Being taught what do was not the same as the practical side.
He was heavy in her hand and quite the size. Her hand was wet with what they called... pre-ejaculation?
That had her hand easily glide the length of him. When she found a rhythm she was comfortable with, she went back to kiss him with her hand still moving.
"Please, have me as empress," she whined.
He wasn't listening.
It was like the more she glided her hand, the more he seemed to be out of breath. He was going to climax at any moment. She could feel he was at the tip as he tightened his grip on her back.
This was it.
She quickly stopped, having his closed eyes flash at her.
"Make me empress," she begged.
"Playing me won't work." He replied seriously.
This annoyed her, thus she tapped out. She rolled from him and went back to her side.
Another curse from him. "You are going to stop now?"
"Go and wash your mouth." Too many mean words.
A grunting noise as he got out of bed. He went to the window and opened it widely, letting the cold crisp air in. He took deep breaths. Probably, he was relying on the cold air to cool him down.
But that did not seem to work as he rained more curses thereafter. His third time in one night.
Let him mewl over it. Get Qi, if that will help. She was over him.
He turned and stared at her coldly. There was lust in his eyes that he couldn't hide. But what he did next, she didn't see it coming.
He pushed down his trousers a little and pulled his member out of his trousers. From where she was, it was still big, more than what she had imagined as she touched him earlier. His stare never left her, and his eyes glittered with pride and a hint of arrogance, pleased to watch her chest rise and fall rapidly, her body uncomfortably fidgeting.
What was happening?
He smirked, which did not make sense until he started to slowly stroke himself.
It was obscene.
Her mouth widened, as she stared at him, transfixed and unsure what to do.
It was unbelievable.
As if it was not enough, he strode to the bed as he quickened his jerking. His muscles were taut and flexing, and he was letting himself have it hard. Each movement seemed to show off the power that lay beneath the man before her. He was shameless, daring, and challenging her.
He abruptly stopped and tucked himself back into the trousers.
Yuwen Hong knelt his one leg on the bed, which sunk to his weight. Casually taking her into him, he pulled her for a kiss, whilst his hand lazily skimmed the length of her bare legs.
She could tell he was weary with many questions, but rather he chose to hide it.
She pushed him away. "I'm not a glass that easily shatters. Ask what you wish to know."
"Even if it consists of the truth about you?"
She paused. She shouldn't have said that.
"Who are you really, Li Lian?"
She really shouldn't have said that.
"I have already told you."
"But I can't get over the instinct that there is more to you."
She backed away to the headboard but he was quick to bring her back to the centre of the bed.
He was desperate. "Tell me anything. Just tell me and I will fix it for us. You don't have to be afraid."
"Yuwen Hong..."
"Come on, Li Lian. I'm a man of my word."
Like he was. "When it suits you."
He frowned, not having expected her to say that. "Is this still about being empress?"
Clearly, to him, this topic was not a big deal. "Why won't you make me empress?"
"Not again." He rolled over to his side of the bed.
"Just tell me!"
He sighed. "Stop putting the blame on me. I am not the one who lies here."
"What did I lie about now?"
His next words were chilly but said quietly. "Why did you beat up your maid?"
"You have your maids in my quarters watching me too?"
"Is it because she snuck the buckwheat into your chambers?"
Such a smart man. Was there anything he didn't know?
That you are King Tobba's daughter.
Li Lian did not know what to say back. Did he know it was Dao?
"You don't trust me. You lie. You have so many secrets." He raised the three fingers of his. "And you want to be phoenix?"
A tear slid on her cheek. She looked away not wanting to be weak before him.
"And it is not just about that. You also don't trust my judgement. Which means every decision I make you will be against me."
"No, Yuwen Hong," her voice was hollow.
"Then why didn't you tell me that it was not you who owned the buckwheat?"
"Because you would kill her," she whispered.
"Damn right I would." He slid down to sleep. "And whether you like it or not you will have to agree with me."
But she could not have her Dao dead. She loved her.
"You are lucky I don't know who you beat."
Otherwise, he would have killed Dao.
Li Lian wiped her tears and pulled out her nightwear, sliding it on. She was so pitiful, she begged for something she would not get. What a miserable person she was.
She blew the lamp off and got in bed, making sure there was space between them, with her back toward him.
He did not want that however, he pulled her to him and cuddled her. This had her tense and more tears washed on her cheeks.
It was so hard to constrain herself not to sniff. She did not want him to know she was crying, so all she could do was wipe them.
He kissed her neck. And she hated the touch of him on her for the first time.
Yuwen Hong.
He also, once her escape plan had become the steel cage around her.
After begging, the depression phase had come. And it had just started clawing on her.
It was the devil's gyrate.
Li Lian tried to take charge of her heart and come out of the relationship unscathed, but Yuwen Hong ruled them.
Indeed, she was a broken horse stripped of all will and willingness to live. She could clearly see the shade of light that once sparkled in her darkness disappear and dissipate into nothingness.
S.V