Chapter 66: Using All My Charm to Seduce King Xuan

Xue Qingyin couldn’t help but turn her head to look at King Xuan ‘s expression.

It was still cold and icy.

It was impossible to discern any emotion.

He sat there impassively, as if he wanted to hear what kind of nonsense King Wei would spew out today.

Separated by a curtain.

King Wei had been talking for a while, and seeing that Xue Qingyin remained silent, he couldn’t help but frown.

Was it because there were others in the carriage? Was she not able to speak?

But besides her maid, who else could it be?

King Wei glanced sideways at the coachman in the other carriage.

The coachman, however, was fearless and met King Wei ‘s gaze directly.

King Wei finally realized something was amiss.

Why was this coachman so calm?

He didn’t bow to him even though he called himself “This King.”

“Qingyin,” King Wei lowered his voice, “Are you in the carriage?”

King Xuan put his hand on Xue Qingyin’s shoulder.

Xue Qingyin didn’t speak.

She didn’t know whether it was more embarrassing to be caught by King Wei with King Xuan or for King Wei to have said so much in vain outside.

“Qingyin,” King Wei ‘s tone turned slightly cold, “You really make it hard to find you. The Xue family said you went back to your mother’s house, and I thought you were heartbroken over the arranged marriage. Now you won’t say a word, so I’ll just take the token of our love and go ask the Emperor for your hand.”

As he spoke, he reached out to lift the curtain.

He didn’t believe that this wouldn’t get a reaction from Xue Qingyin.

The indigo curtain slowly rose.

But instead of Xue Qingyin’s beautiful face, what was revealed was a face that was both familiar and terrifying to King Wei … a cold face!

How could it be King Xuan?!

King Wei stumbled backward in shock.

As he fell, he accidentally pulled down the curtain of his own carriage.

“Why are you so afraid to see me, King Wei?” King Xuan looked down at him.

King Wei regained his senses and immediately sat up, his face stiff as he said, “How could it be you, brother?”

“Why couldn’t it be me?” King Xuan asked coldly.

King Wei ‘s scalp tingled. He felt like he had lost all face and dignity in front of King Xuan.

How would King Xuan mock and ridicule him in his heart?

“The servant of the Xu family said that the young lady of the Xue family was in the carriage,” King Wei managed to force out the words.

“So that’s what made you do such a reckless thing: confessing your feelings in front of your brother, even daring to criticize the Emperor?” King Xuan raised an eyebrow.

King Wei ‘s face changed upon hearing this: “Brother, don’t talk nonsense! How could I dare to criticize the Emperor?”

“Then what did you mean by what you said? Are you dissatisfied with the Qiao and Liu girls?”

“Brother, I have no such intention!” King Wei gritted his teeth.

When did King Xuan start putting words in people’s mouths like this?

“You want to marry the Xue family girl?” King Xuan asked again.

King Wei hadn’t noticed that with each question and answer, he was being belittled by King Xuan.

He instinctively responded, “What’s wrong with that? Any King can have two concubines, equivalent to the rank of a fifth-grade official.”

Of course, he wanted Xue Qingyin to be his main wife. He didn’t like the Liu girl at all. Compared to Xue Qingyin, she was like a plain woman!

But he couldn’t say these things in front of King Xuan, lest they reach the Emperor’s ears tomorrow!

“I remember you already have a concubine in your household, surname Jiang.”

“I’ll find an excuse to demote her back to a lesser concubine,” he thought. After all, her family wasn’t influential.

“Then she will resent the Xue family girl in the future.”

“So what? I’ll just shower Xue Qingyin with affection. Would anyone dare to touch her?”

“Your main wife would.”

King Wei frowned: “Then I’ll reprimand the Liu girl.”

“The Emperor will question you. A concubine cannot overstep the main wife, that’s the rule,” King Xuan said coldly.

King Wei was speechless.

But at this moment, he finally realized: “Why are you so concerned about how Xue Qingyin will fare in my household in the future, brother?”

King Xuan didn’t answer, only asking, “What do you think?”

King Wei ‘s expression tightened.

He stared at King Xuan, and although the suspicion that was rising in his heart was impossible, it seemed to be the only explanation he could come up with.

“Brother… you also want to marry Xue Qingyin?” King Wei struggled to suppress the anger in his heart as he squeezed out the words.

King Xuan was doing this on purpose!

He must be doing this on purpose!

King Xuan wanted to compete with him for Xue Qingyin!

“Wen’an, tell me again, what was the token of your love that you mentioned earlier? What is it exactly?” King Xuan said calmly, but his eyes were cold.

He Wen’an was King Wei ‘s name.

King Xuan addressing him like this wasn’t meant to be friendly.

King Wei trembled, instantly recalling the fear he had felt towards King Xuan in his youth.

Back then, King Xuan would often address him by his name.

King Wei suppressed that fear and resolved to fight King Xuan to the end.

He said coldly: “You’ll know tomorrow, brother.”

King Xuan didn’t show any anger.

He said indifferently: “We’ll see.”

King Wei no longer wanted to see Xue Qingyin. He barked at the coachman: “Go! Return to the palace!”

The coachman, trembling, pulled on the reins, turned the carriage around, and sped back towards King Wei ‘s palace.

He had no idea that Xue Qingyin was hiding behind King Xuan, listening to their conversation.

After a while.

King Xuan lowered the curtain and turned to say, “King Wei is not a good match. Miss Xue is wise to dislike him.”

Xue Qingyin couldn’t help but say, “Just now, Your Highness said that if I became King Wei ‘s concubine, I would be bullied by the main wife. What about Your Highness? Wouldn’t your main wife bully me?”

King Xuan said, “No.”

How could he be so certain? Xue Qingyin thought.

“Because there is no main wife,” King Xuan continued.

Xue Qingyin’s eyes widened: “Huh?”

“Would Miss Xue like to be a concubine in King Xuan ‘s mansion?” King Xuan repeated his previous question.

Xue Qingyin’s “yes” was about to come out when she heard King Xuan say, “If you can’t decide right away, you can take a few more days to think about it.”

Xue Qingyin waved her hand: “No need to think. Yes.”

She said it straightforwardly: “I was thinking about marrying Your Highness from the beginning, but I thought I wouldn’t have such good fortune.”

King Xuan thought to himself that he knew.

He knew she liked him.

But today, she didn’t hesitate at all, agreeing too quickly, which made King Xuan suspect whether she had ulterior motives.

What was it about him that she liked?

King Xuan lowered his eyes, waited for a moment, then raised them again, looking at Xue Qingyin and asking, “You liked me from the beginning?”

As if he had never known that Xue Qingyin liked him.

Xue Qingyin nodded.

King Xuan asked, “What do you like about me?”

Xue Qingyin was taken aback for a moment.

Did she have to answer that?

She started racking her brains.

How should she answer?

After much thought.

Forget it.

She didn’t have much brainpower to spare.

Xue Qingyin chose to be honest: “I don’t like King Wei , I really don’t. But if he keeps pestering me, even though my father is the Minister of the Household, what can we do? My family and I can’t defy a King. At that time, I thought, if I had to marry, it would be better to marry Your Highness.”

That’s right.

This was the logical and normal thing for someone to think.

King Xuan  wasn’t exactly disappointed.

On the contrary, he no longer had to think about whether her liking for him was too sudden, so sudden that it made him suspicious of her motives.

“King Xuan  is better than him in every way,” Xue Qingyin continued.

It wasn’t exactly flattery, she thought. It was the truth!

“How is he better?” King Xuan  asked abruptly, his tone serious.

Xue Qingyin was stunned for a moment, then started listing: “Well… Your Highness is more handsome than him.”

King Xuan ‘s eyes changed for a moment.

Xue Qingyin continued: “Well, his personality is also better.”

This was the first time someone had said he had a good personality. King Xuan  thought silently.

“His character is needless to say, and I’ve always admired those who have achieved great military feats on the battlefield.”

Xue Qingyin thought to herself, in her wilder days, she used to secretly read spicy uniform stories under the covers.

Unfortunately, uniforms in this era were out of the question.

Armor was uncomfortable.

Ugh, what was she thinking about?

“In short, he’s better in every way,” Xue Qingyin said, concluding with a statement she considered perfect, also burying those thoughts in her head.

King Xuan  remained silent for a while.

Xue Qingyin’s heart started to sink.

Was it because I was too straightforward, making King Xuan  think I’m a very calculating person? So he’s decided not to marry me?

“If you didn’t know me at all, how would you have dealt with King Xuan  of Wei’s situation?” King Xuan ‘s voice rang out again.

“It’s fine, I’ll find a way to get to know Your Highness. I thought about it before, if Your Highness didn’t like me, I’d have to use all my charm to seduce Your Highness. Luckily, Your Highness is like a towering tree with no branches, holding jade and pearls, so you solved my big problem.”

… Use all her charm to seduce him?

For a moment, King Xuan  felt like he had missed something.