The White-Haired Imperial Concubine

She froze and wiped away the water on her face, opening her eyes to see that Fu Chou had disappeared, the flower petals covered the entire pool of water, not even a shadow of him could be seen. She was completely naked, and he was underwater, so didn’t that mean that he would’ve seen her body? This Fu Chou, no idea if he purposely fell into the water or was he really accidentally pushed by her? She was a little frustrated, the best way to escape from him right now was to immediately leave the bath!

She rushed to step out of the water and right as her foot stepped onto the side of the pool, a large hand suddenly grabbed it, fiercely pulling it into the water. She cried out in surprise and her body fell in, causing waves of flower petals to hit the water.

Man Yao who sank into the water was enveloped in Fu Chou’s embrace, she frantically tried to breathe and choked on water.

Fu Chou carried her out of the water and she violently coughed as if she was about to cough up a lung.

His hand softly patted her back, his thin clothes, wet with water, stuck closely to his body, revealing his muscles. His face was covered in droplets of water, and when the gentle expression on his handsome face faded away, the wrinkles from his frown added a bit of coldness, making him look even more heroic. But the gaze he held towards her was extremely tender and loving.

She finally calmed down after coughing for a round, her throat felt like it was on fire. Her chest felt extremely stuffy and her eyes slowly turned cold.

Fu Chou held her in his embrace, seeing her wet, long hair tangled and scattered all over, blocking the ray of spring light from the water. Her delicate and moist lips were tightly pursed, the corners of her mouth hanging with hints of anger, her ink-black eyes stubborn. A drop of water hung at the corner of her fan-like eyelashes, lightly shaking but not falling, like a teardrop burrowing into the heart of people, causing one unable to help but feel pity. This type of her, so beautiful it could stir one’s soul, tugging at the heartstrings and the weaknesses of people’s hearts, making people tremble from their bones, tempting them to willingly abandon the mortal world for her.

Fu Chou’s heart shook and his eyes changed. As though he encountered a venomous snake or ferocious beast, he immediately let go of her and stepped out of the pool. With his back facing her, his chest was heaving up and down, his breathing unsteady, “It’s unhealthy to soak for too long, I will wait for you by the door.”

Man Yao struggled to calm her inner turmoil, and although she couldn’t understand his sudden departure, she felt relieved. She wiped down her body and grabbed a clean robe to wear. How was she going to pass tonight? If she could avoid it this time, what will she do next time?

Outside the door, Fu Chou’s hands were clasped behind his back as he looked out to the neverending black sky. Neither his body nor his heart had calmed down even after a long time. The moonlight gave his body a thin silver glow, illuminating his loneliness.

When Man Yao came out, he did not turn around. He gave a sidelong glance and spoke in a soft voice, “Let’s go.” He walked with light steps ahead of her. Man Yao blinked and didn’t say anything, falling in step behind him. On this short journey of only a hundred meters, their minds were whirling with thoughts.

Returning to the bedroom, Fu Chou waved his hand for the servants to leave and took off his wet clothes in front of her, changing into a clean inner robe. His face resumed his normal gentle and elegant expression and waved at her, “Rong Le, come here.”

Man Yao resumed her usual indifference and looked at him without moving, only speaking in a calm voice, “General, we…can we talk?”

Fu Chou raised an eyebrow and seemed delighted, “What does Rong Le want to talk about?”

Man Yao casually walked a few steps, speaking, “Our marriage is based on political reasons, and although I brought you unerasable humiliation, I also gave you things that you wanted.”

A light flashed through Fu Chou’s eyes, “Such as?”

Man Yao turned back and spoke resolutely, “More power.” Even though she was scolded by many people, she was still a princess, and the princess that was most favored by the Emperor of Qiyun at that, which meant that he had the backing of an entire nation. This past year, the borders were peaceful, and after they married, Qiyun’s troops had great relations with neighboring countries. One can imagine that when two great nations formed an alliance, who would dare to offend them? The court official became more and more incensed, and during this year, he steadily built up his own power base to where now, even the Emperor of Lingtian had to think thrice.

Fu Chou’s eyes sharpened, a hint of coldness flashing through. She smiled mirthlessly, “You don’t need to worry, I’m not asking for anything, I just want to continue living peacefully like now. We…should just keep this status quo, alright?” Her voice was very calm and steady, without any fluctuations in her emotions.

Fu Chou stared at her, not saying anything for a long time. After a while, he suddenly rushed towards her and spoke hoarsely, “What if I said no? I’m a greedy person, I want your body…your heart.” Finished, his hands had already grabbed her shoulders, and faced with the thin lips that were always formed into an indifferent smile, he really wanted to fiercely smother them with his own.

Man Yao didn’t struggle, she was aware that his martial arts skills were much stronger than her own, she wouldn’t be able to overpower him even if she tried. She could only turn her head away, “Does General not care that I am not chaste?”

Fu Chou was stunned and raised his head, his smile slowly disappearing as his eyes instantly darkened. His hands gripped her harder almost as if wanting to tear her arms off. As he stared into her clear and indifferent eyes, he frowned as seeds of anger were sprouting within him, “Do you hate me that much? In order to reject me, you’re willing to reopen your own wounds?”

Man Yao bit her lips, averting her eyes to look at the cold hard stones on the ground, “Not hate. You’re very good! It’s just, only by acting as an emotionless pawn can lessen the pain of being sacrificed. As for the person who held the pawn, they would not have feelings either, unless…when sacrificing this chesspiece, they felt it was a pity.” This was how she protected herself. It was not easy to come to terms with being used as a pawn by other people. Since she could not control her own destiny, then she can only control her own heart, however cold this world was however cold her heart would become.

Her apathetic voice seemed to shatter all the desolation in this world. Fu Chou’s heart trembled violently and his gaze immediately changed. He suddenly felt that a knife slashed through his heart, leaving behind a wound that would never heal. He let go of her and stepped back, looking at her with a complicated gaze. His voice was not as gentle as before, “Why are you so intelligent? If you were just a little more foolish, you would lead a much happier life, and the people around you would also not worry as much.”

She shuddered, suddenly remembering that once there was a person who also said the same thing, if she were just a little more foolish, she would not encounter so many hurtful situations. It was not that she didn’t want to, instead, too many things were out of her control.

Fu Chou reached out to hold her hand, turning around to walk towards the bed. He sighed, “It’s late, let’s go to sleep.”