Manly Lady ✓

37.

That night.

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FROM a distance, Zhu Deming caught sight of a slender figure in white. Not knowing why, he feels a deep sense of familiarity in just one glance when he swept the crowd with his cold dark eyes. There are clearly so many people yet this one caught his attention the most. Although she's wearing a veiled white hat, his heart jolted a bit. He was almost certain that it was her.

Aye, that girl who shamelessly kissed him until he was senseless was this girl. They had almost done it in his own estate and on his very own bed where no one had ever laid on to except for him. Without doubt, he had slept with countless women before. However, being in the battlefield makes him wary of anyone he doesn't know well for they can be spies sent by his enemies on the battlefield or his enemies in the imperial court. Either way, he has to be very careful, especially around women who were sent to his tent to warm his bed.

Being a man that he is with needs, how could he refuse? The women sent to him were inspected for weapons or anything that can brought harm to him before sending them to his tent and after sleeping with them, he'll kill them right away before dawn breaks. They were just used and discarded by him afterwards.

Probably because of his wariness, his inner court remains empty for years. A powerful figure like him should also take in a lot of consideration when taking his first and legal wife. It was not a matter of heart but a matter of political power. He can't marry a woman from a powerful clan like the Li, Wei, and Zhao or that will raise a suspicion from the emperor and the opposing faction, he can't marry a woman that can't support him to ascend the dragon throne either. There were many beautiful women surrounding him but they were not clever enough to assist him in his own ambition.

As handsome, dangerous, and powerful that he is, it was the first time that he was simply discarded by a woman after taking advantage of him. If it weren't for the fact that the woman has an unknown background and that she had fallen asleep in the middle of doing it, he would have ravished her until she couldn't stand anymore. But it wasn't in his nature to force a woman, much less sleep with a woman who was knocked out in her sleep, he'd rather make the woman beg for him.

This past few days, he wasn't sleeping quite well. He keep having dreams about that girl disguised in a man's clothes or more precisely, he fantasize about her every night, leaving his body in a feverish heat. Her glowing bright eyes, delectable red lips, and charming reddish cheeks. Her very image seems to be imprinted in his mind, unable to get rid of it. He can still recall the taste of her mouth, sweet and intoxicating, her supple and smooth skin against his muscular body, her fragrant scent like an aphrodisiac.

Zhu Deming feels like he was about to lose his mind from thinking of her all the time. He was losing himself by acting like a teenage boy who doesn't know the taste of a woman, they didn't even do the deed for heaven's sake. That day when he woke up alone on his bed, he was furious. How could that woman run away just like that?

As he started to order his men to look for her, it dawned on him that he doesn't even know her name. It was the first time that they met each other and yet he was already acting like this. Perhaps it was just a temporary lust. He convinced himself that it was probably like that. She keeps on running in his mind that he has this need to see her and feel her against his body again.

Zhu Deming tried any means to get rid of his temporary lust for her by sleeping around with other women. Alas! He was completely wrong. It proved to be ineffective for as soon as they would get on it, the fire in his body would get extinguished upon realizing that it wasn't the same. It doesn't give him the same feeling when he's kissing that unknown girl. Even if it was Qiu Yue who didn't fell short from her, he would lose his carnal desire immediately. They were not the same.

Now Zhu Deming encountered a problem in his sex life for the first time in his twenty fourth year of living. For the past few days, he's been relieving himself on his own while trying to recall her melodious moan and gasp against his ears. He really couldn't get rid of her.

Being a prince and a general at the same time, he was occupied with work and whenever he relaxed for a moment, his mind would travel back to that night. Zhu Deming lost count how many times he had cursed that demon fox¹ who bewitched him.

His search for her was futile and now he's blaming Bohai for it. Blaming him for not knowing that girl's name and blaming him for bringing that girl to his estate. He could have killed her right away and he wouldn't have to deal with this psychological problem.

Now that unknown girl appeared before his eyes while he was about to meet one of his loyal servants that has a high position in court. She has appeared in his mind countless of times that he had memorized her figure and her face despite the crowd and the veil she's wearing. She emits a melancholic aura, pure and desolate as she stood alone at the side of the street, behind a shop and under the lantern.

His heart was filled with excitement. He stride to her. Impatient, he stride faster with his long legs, Zhu Deming was almost running to her. Hating that he couldn't reached her in a lightening speed in this crowded place.

"Your highness!" Another one of his servants that was closely serving him run after him and reminded "Minister Heng is still waiting for you" Zhu Deming was annoyed, almost suddenly, he stopped in his track. His servant also stopped and observed his master's frosty expression, his eyes are murderous.

Mao received a chill, he also looked at the direction where his master is looking. Years of serving his master taught him how horrible and frightening his master's anger can be, he must find out what is causing his bad mood.

Young Master Wei who is approximately eight steps away from them, was holding a breathtaking girl in his arms, he's obviously coaxing her as he run his fingers through her silky long hair while patting her back with his other arms, whispering something in her small white ear. The girl's shoulders shook and she cried even more.

"Who's the girl he's holding?" His master asked in a cold tone, Mao swallowed and told him in a slightly trembling voice "That must be Zhilan of the Wei house, a cousin to the heir of Wei household"

"You do know that I've been looking for her this past few days and yet you didn't even tell me, are you trying to make a fool out of myself?"

Mao breaks in a cold sweat upon hearing his master's grim voice. How the hell would he know? Bohai and his master are the only ones who have seen that girl's appearance that night. Both of them doesn't even know her name. Furthermore, they weren't really good at describing people's appearance, especially when it comes to women. He was merely instructed to look for a very beautiful woman in the capital, and there are many very beautiful women in the capital. How the hell would he know what kind of girl he's looking for?

"I wouldn't dare, your highness..."

As they stood there, those two didn't noticed their presence. They were too immersed in their own pink little world to noticed other people. Zhu Deming's face blacken while watching them.

¹Demon fox- this is what people usually called a woman who bewitched a man or men at that.

You might get confuse with this chapter because of Qiu Yue who was previously mentioned in the past chapter as Zhu Deming's concubine since he has taken her from the brothel and into his estate but that isn't the case. There's more to it ppl.

Votes and Comments are highly appreciated :)

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