Chapter 26

With the corners of his mouth spreading into a smile, Chu Tiankuo owned a unique temperament different from the coldness and arrogance of their first meeting. Tang Xia felt that Chu Tiankuo had become more alive than ever.

In the candlelight, Chu Tiankuo’s face became gentler. Although he retained the temperament of haughtiness which would never change.

“The man in front of me is truly a perfect man.”

“From his eyebrow to his eyes, his five sensory organs are just like elaborate sculptures made by God. And the radian of his thin lips presents a slight downward curve.”

“Chu Tiankuo certainly owns beauty envied by both Gods and men.”

“Don’t drool.” Chu Tiankuo said lowering his head. Although they did not get too close, Tang Xia could sense clearly that her timidity had flushed her ears.

Biting her lips, Tang Xia said with contempt in her eyes, “I did not expect you to accept the challenge.”

Wearing a bigger smile, Chu Tiankuo said, “Me neither, Miss Tang. What a coincidence that I would become your dancing partner again.”

With a tacit understanding, they danced in an orderly pace making an imperceptible sound on the wooden floor in the Hecheng hall.

The band performed so quietly and gently as if two of them would melt into the candlelight.

[Fans] Anchor Monster: Anchor, you are so beautiful! So is General Chu… (sobbing) I want to fall in love with some guy.

[Fans] Ahri Has No Idea: Chu Tiankuo is a guard… It is so sweet… Although it seems a little bit inexplicably eerie to waltz dressed in ancient costumes.

There came a long sigh at last from ‘Fleet of Time’.

[Visitor] Fleet of Time: Having seen so many live broadcasts, I have witnessed the effort the anchors make for fulfilling their tasks.

Only in here I feel vitality. In the tyrant’s mission, it was not an anchor who pursues numbers, but seeks true reactions – tears, laughter or even guilt.

This feels good. Pay attention, fans, and I hope you, the anchor, will stay true to the mission.

System Messages: Anchor, [Visitor] Fleet of Time has been conquered by your charisma.

With her eyes fixed on the messages, Tang Xia was stunned for a long time.

And she felt that her eyes were beginning to fill with tears.

A hint of fluster flickering briefly in his deep eyes, Chu Tiankuo slightly loosened his hands holding her thin waist involuntarily.

“Are you crying from my enchanting handsomeness?” Chu Tiankuo asked.

Tang Xia turned a deaf ear to his chaffing and said, “Enchanting is for describing women.”

Having adjusted the mood, Tang Xia faced Chu Tiankuo and said with a hint of touched feelings in her eyes, “Chu Tiankuo, do you find that you have changed a lot along the way?”

Chu Tiankuo raised his eyebrow and asked, “Like what?”

Tang Xia answered carefully, “When I first met you, you kept any woman a thousand miles away and bore such great hatred against the world. I think that you must have been very lonely then.”

“When we meet again today, although you are vindictive as always, I can see the twinkle in your eyes. It seems that you have found something you can fight for. I am happy for you, that you have let go of the devil inside your heart and become what you are now.”

Holding Tang Xia’s delicate hand, Chu Tiankuo followed her pace calmly.

Tang Xia felt so annoyed that she even danced several wrong steps. Luckily, Chu Tiankuo made his utmost effort to cooperate with her.

With candlelight casting over Tang Xia’s clean and bright forehead, her peach blossom eyes below shined like bright stars. Seeing this, her beauty kept haunting Chu Tiankuo’s mind.

A sincere feeling stirred up in his heart, Chu Tiankuo turned his head aside and said in a cold voice, “As an A-cup woman, you truly are too kind-hearted.”

Tang Xia smiled with tears, “What can I do? It is only because you are Chu Tiankuo.”

Having heard her words, Chu Tiankuo flushed his cheeks, and he danced several flustered steps.

Tang Xia wore such a beautiful smile that Chu Tiankuo forced her to perform a big spin in case his mind was disturbed by her smile.

Imperial concubines around them could not help make a shallow exclamation of astonishment.

The view in front of them was too gorgeous.

In the twinkle of candlelight, the colors of Tang Xia’s blue dress and Chu Tiankuo’s silver armor became more gentle, and the slight swing of their clothes brought up a breeze.

“Don’t speculate on my thoughts.” Chu Tiankuo said in a cold voice. As Tang Xia raised her eyes, what she saw was that Chu Tiankuo’s face became as haughty as before. His indifferent attitude made her unhappy.

Having seen the dislike in Tang Xia’s eyes, Chu Tiankuo sighed lightly, “You should pay more attention on how to deal with the upcoming problem rather than concern yourself with whether I bear hatred against the world or not.”

Tang Xia asked with surprise, “The upcoming problem?”

With homicidal intent in his deep eyes, Chu Tiankuo tightened his hand holding Tang Xia.

“Although it is Helian Jue who gives me the opportunity to dance with you, he is a man and holds the imperial throne. How could he let his woman get too close with another man in full view of people?”

Tang Xia was suddenly enlightened.

“Since it was the ancient times, imperial concubines should avoid contact with other men in the banquet. But I danced with Chu Tiankuo in public following Helian Jue’s impromptu thought.”

“Although waltz is a type of social dancing in modern times, in this ignorant and feudal time, if the emperor’s woman cheats on him, she will definitely be sentenced to the ten tortures of the Qing dynasty one by one.”

Thinking of that, Tang Xia wept in her heart.

“My second mission will be terminated on account of a dance.”

The more Tang Xia thought in this way, the more she was afraid to continue the dance.

Finally, this led to all her movements being supported by Chu Tiankuo.

“I have never been in love with a man, neither have I touched my male god. Why should I end up in this way?”

“Life is so hard!”

“Foolish woman, calm down.” Chu Tiankuo’s calm voice came from above Tang Xia’s head then to her ears.

“How can I calm down? I am deemed to have cheated on him by Helian Jue.”

“It is a ‘pleasure’ to think that I will be the first one to be kicked out of the broadcast room because of cheating on the emperor.”

Tang Xia started talking nonsense and turned a deaf ear to Chu Tiankuo’s words persuading her to calm down several times. So Chu Tiankuo had no choice but to pinch her waist hard.

“Ouch!” Tang Xia shouted, looking at Chu Tiankuo with resentment.

Seeing that Tang Xia finally restored her sanity, Chu Tiankuo whispered to her ears slowly, “Stay calm, we must cooperate with each other later to play the scene according to your script.”

“…My script?” Tang Xia asked.

“What I intended to do was just to play a trick on Chu Tiankuo who laughed at me!”

“Stupid!” Chu Tiankuo frowned and said, “According to what you said, performing the waltz was to please Helian Jue. ”

“Helian Jue, as a tyrant, likes it best when his woman is beautiful and will do anything for his sake. Remember to say that and act a bit later.”

Tang Xia remained silent for a while then said, “…Chu Tiankuo, it seems that you are more suitable than me to capture Helian Jue’s heart.”

With his hand holding Tang Xia’s thin waist, Chu Tiankuo said, “Here we go.”

The music played by the band happened to stop at this point, then Tang Xia and Chu Tiankuo separated immediately.

“Emperor, did you enjoy my dance?” Tang Xia asked raising her eyebrow with expectation in her eyes.

Everyone remained silent.

In fact, everyone enjoyed the dance in which beautiful Tang Xia was like a fairy and handsome Chu Tiankuo was like a male fairy.

Also, they had a tacit understanding and danced together well. But no one dared to say such words in front of the emperor.

Tang Xia pretended to ask innocently, “I, Yue Ji, plan to dance with you, the emperor. You own such an outstanding stature that Guard Chu cannot compare.”

“If I could have the opportunity to dance with you, my efforts for practicing waltz lasting several months would not be wasted.”

Directly she uttered these words, Tang Xia looked at Helian Jue expectedly.

Helian Jue’s eyes were deep at first. But he could not help soothing his mind in the view of Tang Xia’s eyes full of hopefulness.

“Maybe I misunderstood her.” Helian Jue thought.

“I surely enjoy your waltz which you have been practicing for months.”

Hearing Helian Jue’s words, Tang Xia’s eyebrows raised happily right away.

“Do you really like my dance? I’m so pleased. Despite my painstaking efforts, making you happy is enough for me.”

Tang Xia said, looking at Helian Jue with a sidelong glance. The emotion contained in her peach blossom eyes was so sincere that Helian Jue heart skipped a beat.

However, as he noticed Chu Tiankuo standing aside, his nerve got high-strung again, “My beloved imperial concubine, tell me why you whispered to Guard Chu in the waltz.”

Then Tang Xia froze directly with her delicate fingers curling tightly.

“…I should not have told Chu Tiankuo that it was happy to see what he has become with tears in my eyes!”

“Ugh! It is like lifting a rock only to drop it on my own feet to talk in such an intimate way.” Tang Xia thought.

Tang Xia opened her lips but could not utter a word with a stiff body.

“It was prompts.” A cold voice came from behind Tang Xia’s back.

Along the direction of the voice, what Tang Xia saw was Chu Tiankuo’s arrogant and calm face. Then he said, “It is my first time dancing the waltz. Your Grace taught me to follow her pace according to her prompts before the dance.”

“It is true that Your Grace takes pains to please you, the emperor. Her sincere feeling for you is indeed enviable.”

What Chu Tiankuo had said put off Helian Jue’s doubts successfully.

Glancing at Chu Tiankuo, Tang Xia felt that she had never seen this side of him.

“He is always unruly, when did he offer help to others?”

“I am hurry-scurry myself. He is only an innocent man involved in this problem, but he solved the crisis easily with his eloquence.” Tang Xia thought.

Then Helian Jue watched the banquet with a smile flickering in his eyes.

With his eyes fixed on other imperial concubines, Helian Jue found that there were several other women with charismatic dancing skills.

At the end of the banquet, Lyuyou whispered to Tang Xia’s ears, “Your Grace, you truly performed an intoxicating dance in the banquet. If it weren’t for Beauty from Southland whom the emperor must welcome, you could see the emperor in the bedroom palace tonight.”

However, Tang Xia was not interested in which bedroom palace Helian Jue would enter.

“Beauty from Southland?” Tang Xia asked. “Why does it sound so familiar?”

“She is the beauty dedicated for the emperor from Southland – Yi Jiazi who truly owns startling beauty, but still cannot match your charm.” Lyuyou replied.

Enlightened by Lyuyou, Tang Xia began to check the bamboo scripts that Helian Jue had asked her to read.

Beauty from Southland – Yi Jiazi.

“How could I not notice this woman who owns such an eye-catching name in the banquet?”

“It is quite natural that Your Grace did not notice her. Although the banquet is held partly as a welcome party for Yi Jiazi, the emperor is just being polite as he does not like her much.”

“I think that there is a higher chance that Your Grace will capture the emperor’s heart.” Lyuyou said.

Hearing Lyuyou’s words, Tang Xia could not help smiling and asked, “Did you think my waltz today was fascinating, too?”

Lyuyou made a compliment immediately, “It is indeed fascinating.”

With a bigger smile, Tang Xia thought of Chu Tiankuo’s handsome face involuntarily.