Chương 16: Stealing the Emperor's Male Wife

Ren Jidian felt like he was reaching his limit on this trip alone.

Perhaps it was the soft, sunny atmosphere, perhaps its all these possibilities of how to spend time together....

Or perhaps it was the fact that empress was clinging on so closely to him and shamelessly doing questionable things to him out in the open.

His face reddened several times, he should have become a tomato at this point.

"Empress Wei... Should you really be getting so close to me with the Emperor watching?" He asked, pulling at his own collar nervously.

"Hmm? Why not? He does not seem to mind it, he did not even come over to us and just kept talking with that advisor of his." Empress Wei said.

He then pointed at a stall. "Wait, Scholar Ren..... I think this looks perfect for you!"

He pointed at an expensive looking robes that was more fitting for a noble or a king. The trim was impecabble as well as the material, and Ren Jidian immediately knew he wouldn't be able to afford it in this life and the next.

"Er..... We're here to shop clothes for you, Your Majesty. Not for me." He said. "And I do not think I can really afford that..."

"But it suits you so well. And it fits your size." He smiled from ear to ear as he raised the robes to see how it would fit into the Yin scholar's figure.

"And..... It matches the color of the robes I would be wearing for the dance, don't you think?"

Ren Jidian felt like his heart would really pop any second. He's really testing his limits here now..... to say things like that....

It's messing with his brain, and he had to remind himself again and again that the Empress was most likely just teasing him.

He inhaled sharply to keep his cool, and gave an apologetic smile.

"I really do not think it would be appropriate for me to buy my own clothes when this day is for you, Your Majesty. You should just enjoy it as you will, buy whatever you may like as this may be the last time we can rely on the Palace's riches to buy things you desire."

Empress Wei frowned. "But I desire these clothes for you. I desire it very much."

He pulled out even more from the fine designs of the madame seamstress. "And this one... and this one..... Maybe this one too....."

Ren Jidian scratched his head. "A-Alright, just the first one, Empress. Only the first one."

His eyes gleamed and he wrapped his arm around Ren Jidian. "Haha, I knew you would be coerced to purchase it eventually."

"Well, it will not be me purchasing but your husband so..... Might as well." He shrugged.

Empress Wei's lips quirk up even higher, and he whispered to Ren Jidian's ear.

"And wouldn't it be wonderful if you wear these clothes that matched with mine during the assassination? That would truly be splendid for me, Scholar Ren."

The way he said it had hints of seduction yet also stone-cold heartlessness and bloodlust. Which was also somehow compelling in its own way.

Or perhaps Ren Jidian was just also sick in the head.

Why must he feel guilty of murder, though? In fact, the idea of wearing clothes that perfectly pairs with Wei Wangyi's during the time that he steals him from this evil man..... Basically running off together.....

It somehow gives him sadistic pleasure as well.

After this realization, he no longer felt as ashamed and nervous whenever the Empress would act close to him.

They passed by a stall selling fresh peaches from a poor old Yin man with many wounds all over his body. The Empress pitied him, and said that he will buy all the peaches, and handed him far too many cowries from what the peaches were actually worth.

The old merchant was baffled. He was blind, and didn't know that he was speaking to the Empress himself.

"This is far too much, dear child. This old man is satisfied with you buying all my peaches, it's enough to feed my family for this week."

"Keep it, good sir." Empress Wei smiled. "And may you teach your children to continue being good and honest like you."

The old man was in tears, and he went out to limp back to his home holding the bag of many cowries back to his house, only using a broken sword to serve as his crutch.

Ren Jidian also wished a better life for that old man, perhaps in his next one. He bit into one of the peaches, and offered it to the Empress.

"It's really sweet. The old man deserved all that and more." Ren Jidian said.

Empress Wei bit into the peach with a sigh. "I wish I can also give more, but he won't take it. He reminds me of you, Scholar Ren."

"Me? Why me?"

"I also want to give you more, but you don't want to take it. You and the old man are both too thin-skinned." Empress Wei chuckled. "Mmm, this peach is really sweet."

Ren Jidian then wiped the peach juice that trickled from the Empress' chin...

And licked it.

The Empress blinked, his eyelashes fluttering like disturbed butterflies, and Ren Jidian did not stop there.

He went closer to whisper to him in a low tone:

"Who said I don't want to take more, Empress? I am just being careful, and making sure that you are not doing it out of sympathy, like you do with the old man."

This action, along with his playful smile, sent Wei Wangyi's heart into a bit of a chaos. Its beating became erratic, and for the first time, it was him who was flustered.

So this was what it's like to have a taste of his own medicine, huh?

Well, he does not really hate it.

Scholar Ren ate peaches with him with his hand around his shoulder, glancing back to the Emperor and the others every now and then. Whenever he would catch the Emperor staring and glaring at the two of them...

He would give such a triumphant smile.

Ren Jidian really did feel triumphant once he saw the Empress' reaction from what he did just now.

He doesn't want to just have the Empress rely on him because he was his key to escaping, or to get close to him out of pity....

He wanted more than that.

He wanted to steal this empress' heart. Away from anyone else.