The Emperor's Obsession

Chapter Twenty-Nine || New Plan

The Great Palace, Xiang Empire, 1479
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"But my lady, th-the emperor spends his nights with Miss Hae Won! I don't mean disrespect, but I-I cannot possibly tell him that his wife wants to visit his bed! That's very indecent, and.." the eunuch argued weakly, stuttering multiple times. He was beyond embarrassed and kept his voice as low as possible so nobody could hear him, other than the girl in front of him. "I'll be severely punished if I do as you say, and I truly do not wish to disobey you, but I'm afraid I have to.." He looked down at his polished black boots, as though feeling bad, fiddling nervously with his fingers. He could feel her eyes on him, but he couldn't tell whether she was angry or not. Lihua stared at him for a good minute, processing his words, before her face turned red when she realized how much he'd misunderstood her. That was not what she said! She never mentioned anything about doing that with the emperor, so where on earth did he get that idea from?
Men. Always twisting other people's words and coming up with stuff on their own. She almost rolled her eyes at that. But I can't exactly blame him. I'm His Majesty's wife, after all. Of course he's going to.. get the wrong idea. She bit her lip and shook her head quickly, blushing and stammering as she spoke, "that is absurd! I have absolutely no intentions of.." She trailed off, pausing as another thought crossed her mind. If she didn't have a good enough reason, the emperor would refuse to see her. Especially after what happened between two days ago. Yes, it's been two days, and the entire time she's been thinking about her plan and waiting for the right time to do it. She couldn't wait anymore, since she knew she had to do it as soon as possible, before it was too late.
War was coming. The rebellion was slowly getting out of control. More and more people had joined the Red Turbans, and they were growing stronger and more bloodthirsty.
The emperor would be going into battle soon.
Lihua wanted to figure everything out before that happens, but the problem was, she didn't have enough time. She was determined to see the emperor tonight, and silently prayed to the deities that nothing would get in her way. But how was she going to get him to meet with her? She could go in without permission like last time, but what if he orders the guards to kick her out the moment she does? She frowned, before suddenly groaning in frustration and messing up her hair. "Aish! I feel like my head is going to explode!" She muttered, causing the eunuch to stare at her in confusion.
"Erm.. my lady.." He said hesitantly.
She looked at him and decided to say whatever first came into mind, hoping it would be good enough. She cleared her throat and mumbled, "inform my dear husband that I would like to spend the night with him." After the words were out of her mouth, she slowly started to regret it. But she was going to think about how much of an idiot she was later. Right now, she very much believed that she was a genius. The emperor would definitely be extremely shocked, and would want to see her to know what was going on. Ignoring her hot cheeks and the eunuch's embarrassed stare, she fixed her hair and bowed her head.
"I.. uh.." He let out a heavy sigh, "I will do as you say, my lady."
Lihua held back a smile and bowed gratefully.
Night arrived sooner than she'd wanted. She was nervous as hell, and a little scared, but she knew she had to do this. Maids surrounded her, preparing her. They'd bathed her first, dressed her in the finest silk hanfu she had, and were now doing her makeup and hair. She didn't want it to be too much or too heavy, so she only allowed them to paint her lips a faint red and apply a thin layer of rouge on her pale cheeks to add some color to them. Her dark hair was pulled up in a beautiful updo, held together with a silver ornament. Long strands fell at each side of her face. They slid precious bracelets over her wrists and tied Jade anklets around her ankles.
Lihua didn't like dressing this way. She'd wanted to wear a plain dress and her hair to be in a simple braid. No makeup, no jewelry, nothing.
After ordering a maid to bring an ewer of wine and two goblets, she headed to the emperor's private chambers with several court ladies following behind, the anxiety in her stomach growing with each step she took. The guards allowed her inside the marble hallway, everyone else staying out except for Eun Soo, who was carrying the wine.
I'm doing this for the empire.
I'm doing this so he'll stop his horrible ways.
I'm doing this so he'll stop being cruel.
Those thoughts sent a fire of determination through her, and thanks to that, she gained a little bit of confidence. "Are you sure you want to do this, my lady?" She heard Eun Soo asked hesitantly. Lihua pressed her lips together in a thin line before simply saying, "I have to."
"But my lady, why are you doing this when you do not truly wish to? Is His Majesty forcing you?"
"I'll be fine, do not worry. And no, he's not forcing me. I'm doing this willingly." She sent the court lady a small, forced smile to assure her. Eun Soo said nothing and only bowed her head slightly as she walked, holding the silver salver firmly.
They stopped in front of the emperor's chamber's doors.
Lihua took a deep breath as the guard announced her presence.
I can do this.
"Enter."

Never mind. I can't do this.
As the guard opened the door, all she wanted to do at that moment was run away. Or maybe the ground could split open and swallow her up. She gently grabbed the salver from Eun Soo and gave her a weak smile, before stepping inside.
The doors shut behind her, and she gulped.
The chamber was dim-lit, as always. But there were fewer candles, and some parts like far corners were completely swallowed by the dark. That made her heart race. Not for a good reason. It started racing out of fear. Why were there a small amount of candles? What was the emperor planning? Was he going to try something with her? Images of him with his lips on hers and the way he kissed her flashed in her mind, and she shuddered. What she hated more than the kiss was the harshness and how brutal he was. She liked gentleness and going slowly.
What if he forced himself on her?
You're overreacting. They're just candles. He probably just doesn't like it when it's too bright.
Maybe she was. She needed to calm down. Inhaling, Lihua's gaze fell on the bed, which was surrounded by the curtains. She could see his figure lying on there. Did he not hear her coming in? Why was he not saying anything? Was he waiting for her to speak? Swallowing, she held back the urge to lick her red lips and opened her mouth, "your.. your majesty," she began timidly.
Her breath hitched when she saw him get up. He stepped out from behind the curtain, his dark gaze landing on the beauty standing there.
And she took his breath away.
His eyes, which were slightly wide, scanned her from head to toe. When the eunuch had informed him of his wife's request, he couldn't believe his ears. But seeing her now, looking like this, was she trying to seduce him? Could it be that she finally accepted him? The way she made his heart skip a beat and filled his stomach with butterflies.. It was like he was falling more and more in love with her.
And surprisingly, he didn't mind.
But right now, the thing he felt other than love was lust.
He wanted her. Her heart, her body, everything. He wanted her all to himself.
Lihua forced a small smile, "erm, I brought wine.. I-I take it it's your favorite drink, right?" She bit her lower lip.
She grew nervous when he didn't say anything. He just stared at her. Lihua opened her mouth again, "uh, I wanted to spend some time with you. I hope that's alright." She forced another smile and walked over to the table, before placing the salver on it. With her hand shaking, she slowly reached for the ewer's handle.
But then he suddenly grabbed her arm, and shoved her against the wall. She gasped.
"What are you trying to do?" He growled, his face inches away from hers.
"I'm-I'm not trying—"
"Yes you are! I didn't even wish to see you. Didn't I make that clear few weeks ago? The only reason I agreed to meet with you was to find out why, out of nowhere, you suddenly wanted to spend the night with me."
Lihua mentally swore. Of course he would be suspicious. Of course he was going to ask her questions. He wasn't stupid. Why didn't she think of that before stupidly putting her plan into action? I'm such an idiot, she thought. What was she going to do now? She opened her mouth slightly, but no words came out. She didn't meet his eyes. She couldn't. She looked at anything but him. "There.. there's no reason at all," she mumbled, "I just.. thought it would be nice to have a few drinks with you—"
"Lies." Emperor Hyeon snapped. He stepped even closer to her, and she stiffened. Pressing his body against hers, he smirked when he saw her eyes widen. "This is what you wanted, right?"
Lihua froze for a moment, but said nothing. His hand reached up and he slowly pulled the ornament from her hair, allowing her hair to cascade down her back like a waterfall.
"I like it more when it's down," he whispered in her ear, his hand loosening her hanfu.
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