Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]

Budding Anemone - II

On the way to Hangzhou, Li Xinyuan became so restless that he couldn't stop himself from pulling out his seven-stringed guqin and playing it, mostly for his own amusement.

Aside from Hu Lijing, he preferred to not have any other attendants. So in the absence of the said male, he was alone, left to stew in his thoughts as a mindless melody spilled out of his guqin as he strummed the chords.

His sword laid by his side, ignored but carefully left, as he sat with the guqin on his lap.

The musical instrument was beautiful, made of pure white jade with swirls of grey around it, slender and lightweight, easy enough to carry and store away when not needed.

Calming music filled with healing Qi poured out as the man sat, head slightly bowed and eyes half-lidded whilst the rays of sun peeked through the window and fell on the side of his breathtaking face as if to steal a glance at his ethereal beauty.

Pale porcelain white skin, elegant and refined brows, stunning phoenix eyes and beautiful black-rimmed irises in the colour of molten gold with long lashes, a high bridged nose and a defined sharp jawline paired with plump, reddish pink lips.

A face beautiful enough to fell countries and gaze like an aloof phoenix soaring in the vast sky, a single glance from him was more than enough to hook the recipient's very soul and leave them yearning for more.

Long, silky hair, black like the deepest and darkest of moonless nights, falling just below his waist, half pulled into a simple bun secured by an elaborate jade crown on his head.

All in all, Li Xinyuan had to describe his appearance himself, with a single glance at the mirror, he would give a simple evaluation:

‘Any fujoshi’s — with a thing for the historical genre — wet dream condensed into one single man destined to be pushed down.’

Nothing else.

Even for Li Xinyuan himself — who had the same exact face in his life prior to transmigration — this face was too beautiful.

Back in his days, he had exercised a lot and learned a lot of martial arts, one, to defend himself against kidnappers and two, to not feel way too feminine.

But the latter was until he had his sexual awakening which ultimately led him to carry his appearance — androgyny — with elegance and some pride.

Did he want to be pushed down? By the male lead?

Hm, he didn't mind. Not at all, really. While he did prefer being on top… Who said he couldn't do that from the bottom?

Wait, hold up, he was starting to get carried away. Again.

Hurriedly shaking off unnecessary thoughts about the male lead while berating himself for even thinking about these kinds of things, Li Xinyuan coughed to himself, feeling a little embarrassed as he put away the guqin and adjusted his posture to start meditating.

Unnecessary thoughts? Shake them off by cultivating, easy.

If he could break through the realms of cultivation, he wouldn't need to worry about his martial arts. To some extent, that is.

Why was his martial arts shitty when he had been training even in his last life? That was because the clan's martial arts were fundamentally different from the martial arts he practised outside the novel.

With a sigh, Li Xinyuan calmed his mind and started focusing on his cultivation, circulating the Qi in the atmosphere into his body and dantian as he did so.

As such, hours passed and their entourage drew closer to Hangzhou.

…

“Hm? A strange book that people cannot seem to read, even scholars?” Li Xinyuan asked, cocking his head to the side as he stared at his attendant who had just returned from Hangzhou. “And its cover has a strange illustration?”