The Emperor Chases His Wife

Chapter XIII

CHAPTER XIII: Late Night Visits

Nian was thinking that she had fallen asleep lifted her hand to rub the sleep from her eyes but instead a smooth, slender hand grabbed hold of her delicate one. Liuyun's stormy eyes twinkled in amusement. "What, do you not recognize this king?"

"Prince Li?"

"The one and only?" Liuyun gave her silly smile. "Don't call this king 'Prince Li'. This king's name is Liuyun."

Nian didn't blink as she observed him. "I heard that Zhang Liuyun is a cold, arrogant, blood thirsty man who has a taboo of being touched. If anyone touches his hand, no matter who it is, he will cut off their hand. Are you really that Prince Li?"

Liuyun cocked his head to the side slightly, his lips displaying a relaxed smile. Nian gazed at the fair hands holding onto hers. His hands were as smooth as jade, without a single blemish or spot. They were almost as dainty as a woman's but the masculine power in them was hard to conceal. "I think you should let me go."

Her voice was calm. Liuyun ignored her and continued staring into her eyes, a wicked thought in his mind. The tranquility in her eyes...wouldn't it be fun to disrupt the calmness and cause chaos?

Since he set eyes on her in the palace, he'd been one hundred percent interested in her. When he looked at her, she had looked back at him without a single trace of fear on her face.

If Mount Tai collapsed on top of her, would she still be this calm?

He'd grown curious about this rumored good for nothing miss. He'd heard quite a bit from the servant's gossip but he had never gone out of his way to inquire about her. But, after laying eyes on her, he didn't want to let her go.

At the court, he decided to work in her favor to annul the engagement. After all, if she wasn't engaged to the Crown Prince, didn't that mean she was free to marry him instead?

He was pleased with the thought of her standing at his side as his wife. But he knew it wasn't easy. The calmness in her eyes did nothing to hide the defiance and strong will which was buried in the depths of them. When provoked, she could surely turn into a fierce tigress but she lacked the power to defend herself and fight back.

He was going to change that. He was going to help her get a voice of her own and while doing so he was going to chase after her. He wanted the challenge. He'd chase her to the ends of the earth and if chasing didn't work, he'd use deception, if deceiving her didn't work, he'd chase her some more.

No matter what...she was going to end up beside him in his bed.

Like a kitten with sharp claws. Nian grew annoyed when Liuyun ignored her and continued holding onto her hand. She knew she was weaker than him and her sickly body was still suffering from exhaustion but it didn't stop her from struggling to break his hold.

"Girl, you are currently no match for this king. What, do you still want to continue?" Liuyan's rich and low voice carried a trace of wicked charm and amusement that was extremely pleasant to hear.

"Let me go!" Nian hissed angrily at him but kept her voice low.

The guards were patrolling the grounds frequently since there was a large gathering at the manor that night and she had no idea where Qing was. If someone was to see her in such a compromising position, how would that do her any good?

She had just terminated the engagement with the Crown Prince. Someone might think she cancelled the engagement because she had another lover and that would invite trouble for herself.

"Do you need a friendly reminder?" The corners of Nian's mouth curled with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "You don't like being touched."

At the end of her sentence, Liuyun let out a laugh, the sound was as gentle as the breeze without a trace of maliciousness and Nian found the sound pleasing hear. Liuyun shook his head at her and used another slender hand to pin both of her hands on either side of her head with his own, leaning forward so that he was hovering over her body.

"Wrong!" He smiled and exposed his white teeth. "This king hates being touched by anyone other than my future princess consort."

Nian frowned. She'd just gotten out of one marriage and here was another unreasonable prince trying to capture her.

Would this family die if she didn't marry into it? Why were they trying to take advantage of her?

She really did not want to be married. She was only sixteen and did not wish to be tied to any man. She was already seen as a good for nothing and the most she could do is live like a normal person till she aged and died naturally.

Her eyes hardened in defiance and she looked like she was about to slap him across the face for being unreasonable.

"Why would I want to marry you?" Nian shapely eyebrows wrinkled slightly.

"Why won't you want to marry this king?" Liuyun countered back while running his pink tongue over his red lips slowly. "This king knows it's every girl's dream to be married to me. This king is willing to marry you. Why aren't you agreeing?"

"I don't wish to be married." Nian bluntly stated without a care in the world.

In the current era, it was socially acceptable for girls to be married at the age of fifteen or to form an engagement of some sort. Usually by seventeen, most girls were already married.

It was unheard of for a girl to say she didn't want get married. Even the lowest ranked servant girl and the most profound women in martial arts had some type of union with a man.

This little girl was the first of her kind to say such a thing.

A dark chuckled left Liuyun and he licked his lips slowly before leaning down closer to her. The smell of pine and orange was intoxicating to her sense and she almost titled her head up to smell more of him – almost. "This king isn't going to give you much of a choice. This king is the best hope you've got for the future and apart from this king, who else would protect you?"

Protect? What did she need protection for? She was planning to run away anyways.

Who did this arrogant prince think he was?

"Who said I needed your help?" Nian scrunched up her browns in annoyance. "I can look after myself just fine. Now move out of my way or I'll no longer be nice to you."

Liuyun leisurely continued to look down at Nian. Her feistiness was refreshing to him and at the moment his eyes were a piercing grey that glowed like the eyes of a wild wolf; frigid and searing. He was unlike the lazy laidback person from that morning.

Now, he seemed more serious and vigilant.

"Girl, do you really think you're useless?" Nian gave him a quizzical look. Wasn't she useless and good for nothing? She had failed the spiritual test and her results were zero. What was Prince Li talking about?

"Stop sprouting nonsense. I failed the test before. Everyone knows that."

"Girl, this king doesn't know who has been lying to you all these years but you're one of the most valuable people in this world. Your talents have been wasted for years, and this king isn't pleased about it."

What?

Nian's gorgeous green eyes glazed over and looked slightly confused but overall she was curious. A small glimmer of hope flickered in her chest and for a short while, she actually felt like he knew something she didn't...he was actually telling her the truth.

All this was happening on the inside. On the outside, she was staring at him coldly with a hard look in her eyes. She parted her pale pink lips and lightly spoke. "You're sprouting nonsense. Why are you really here?"

Liuyun's lips curled up into a devilishly handsome smile. "Two reasons actually."

"Go on." Nian eyes him warily.

"I'm here to collect a 'thank you' fromearlier."