Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Chun Sheng slowly straightened up, his expression unchanged, only staring fixedly at the youth. "What do you mean, Young Marquis? If this humble one is not Chun Sheng, then who could I be?"

Luo Qianyu did not answer him. "Where's Chun Sheng? What have you done to him?"

Chun Sheng's face showed innocence. "Master, you flatter this unworthy servant. I am clearly Chun Sheng. Look closely, Young Master. What part doesn't resemble him?"

The Young Marquis wasted no more words. He drew the folding fan from his sleeve and snapped it open with a "swish," the fan ribs tapping crisply against his palm. "Liu Cixue, there's no need to keep pretending."

...

As his words fell, silence enveloped the surroundings like a deep valley.

"Chun Sheng" fell silent for a long moment before suddenly letting out a soft laugh.

"How did you see through me? Did I not play the part well enough?" He clasped his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over himself, a cryptic smile curling at the corner of his lips. "Strange. I'm wearing his clothes, wearing his likeness, even my build and voice are identical. Where exactly did the Young Marquis spot the flaw?"

"Doesn't Chun Sheng serve you by undressing you like this? Do you only allow Wen Yu to touch you so closely?"

"...The powder fragrance on you is too heavy, even the rabbit couldn't stand it." Luo Qianyu felt a surge of anger, as if thrown back to their confrontation on the painted boat. He gave him a cold glance. "And Chun Sheng would never call my Jade Ball a 'beast' like you did."

Liu Cixue looked directly at him and suddenly laughed. "What a contradiction. The Young Marquis pities the life of a mere animal so much, yet treats human life as dirt. What logic is that?"

The Young Marquis didn't understand these words, nor did he have the mind to ask. He only said, "Where is Chun Sheng, really? Did you kill him?"

Liu Cixue casually brushed rabbit fur from his robe and raised an eyebrow. "I merely tied his hands and feet, gagged him, stripped off his clothes, and tossed him into the Marquis's estate storeroom. I reckon someone will find him at first light."

Seeing his disdain for lying, Luo Qianyu felt slightly relieved and couldn't help but scrutinize the person before him who looked exactly like Chun Sheng.

Was he wearing a mask?

But as his gaze swept over the other's eyebrows, eyes, and jawline, he couldn't find even a hint of a seam. Could ancient face-changing techniques really exist? So convincing that even those close couldn't tell the difference, with no flaw to be seen?

Forget it... If miraculous medicines like the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus exist, what's so strange about Disguise Art?

Luo Qianyu returned to the main point. "Liu Cixue, what's your game, infiltrating the Imperial Academy? Are you after Wen Yu?"

Liu Cixue paused for a beat, then suddenly burst out laughing, covering his mouth, his face flushed with suppressed mirth. "Like what the Young Marquis just did?"

Luo Qianyu was taken aback.

"Of course not. This humble one is not so innocent." That person's eyes curved into smiles, making his gaze ripple like spring water. Perhaps having played the role of a woman for too long, every smile and frown still carried a charming, gentle allure. "If it were me, what I'd want to do would be a lot more daring than a little ear nibble."

So an outsider saw it all! Luo Qianyu inwardly cursed the damn voyeur, the tips of his ears turning red. He tightened his grip on the folding fan, understanding dawning on him. Liu Cixue was indeed still fixated on Wen Yu.

"Young Marquis, you're so cruel-hearted, tearing up and discarding this humble one's deed of sale." Liu Cixue's tone shifted, his gaze turning resentful as he looked over. "Throwing it away is one thing, but then you replaced your Personal Guard with Wen Yu?"

Luo Qianyu was utterly speechless. "You damn pervert, I never agreed to it. You acted on your own."

Being scolded didn't anger Liu Cixue. "Wen Yu has no charm. He holds his tongue but despises you in his heart. How can such a blockhead serve you well? In what way is he better than me?"

The Young Marquis was already seething because this imposter Chun Sheng had disrupted his plans, and now he finally found an outlet for his anger. He immediately retorted, "And you could serve me well? Wen Yu is a hundred, a thousand times better than you. Even if he detests and hates me, I would never choose you. Stop your delusional fantasies!"

Seeing his fiercely protective attitude, Liu Cixue felt a hidden surge of anger instead and sneered coldly. "How many days has he been with you? And you're already protecting him like a treasured sweet. If I hadn't seen with my own eyes how attentively you cared for Liu Er, I'd truly think the Young Marquis was a devoted lover."

The Young Marquis scooped up Jade Ball and turned to leave, but suddenly something wrapped around his wrist. Looking down, it was a length of pink silk ribbon.

Luo Qianyu struggled, but the ribbon only tightened further, causing some pain.

He flicked his wrist, swinging the folding fan. The fan ribs were made of metal, spreading open like a sharp blade. In an instant, the silk ribbon snapped, freeing him from the restraint.

The young man stopped, frowning slightly. "Liu Cixue, behave yourself. This is the Imperial Academy, the former residence of the Crown Prince. I am not poisoned now, and I have a Personal Guard for protection. Do you truly think you can act as recklessly as you did on the painted boat that night?"

Liu Cixue curled his lips into a smile. "Is that so? I just wonder where that precious guard of yours is right now?"

Struck in a sore spot, the Young Marquis was momentarily speechless. He immediately turned to leave, but from the corner of his eye, he noticed the figure dogging his steps. Luo Qianyu ultimately couldn't restrain himself and directly turned to attack.

Liu Cixue, sharp-eyed and perceptive, dodged the assault. Seeming to sense something, he suddenly let out a soft laugh. The Young Marquis's moves appeared impatient and forceful, but in reality, he was step by step moving away from the hot spring pool, clearly unwilling to get close. Liu Cixue's smile deepened. "Young Marquis, why are you deliberately avoiding the bathing pool? What flood or fierce beast is in this water?"

Luo Qianyu bit his lower lip tightly, remaining silent, but his moves grew increasingly fierce.

After just a few exchanges, Liu Cixue's expression shifted slightly. The Young Marquis did not quickly fall and surrender as expected. Instead, the moment Liu Cixue was slightly distracted, the young man took advantage of the opening and knocked him into the water.

"Your martial arts have improved so quickly. Did someone teach you?" Liu Cixue stood up from the water, wet hair clinging to his cheeks, a trace of surprise in his eyes. In an instant, his face turned as cold as frost. He sneered and asked, "It wasn't Wen Yu who taught you, was it? Whose Personal Guard even teaches that... What are you learning these for?"

Over the past month or so, besides practicing swordplay with Wen Yu, Luo Qianyu had also learned some short-blade techniques and close-quarters combat skills. Though he had no weapon in hand now, this folding fan came in handy.

Strangely, it felt unexpectedly natural to use, as if it were one with his wrist bone. With each spin, point, and flick, the wind whistled, as if it were his innate weapon.

Luo Qianyu stood on the bank, looking at his drenched, disheveled state. With his black hair now loose, he looked as cold and elegant as a lotus flower. "You lost, Liu Cixue."

"..."

Just as he finished speaking and was about to leave, he suddenly felt a tightness around his waist. The soft silk ribbon, like a spirit snake, had somehow already wrapped around his waist. With a powerful tug, before he could break free, he was pulled into the water, stirring up layers of ripples.

Luo Qianyu choked on a mouthful of water, and now his clothes were soaked through too. "Liu Cixue!"

"That fragrance I blended is almost colorless and odorless, yet you detected it twice." Liu Cixue's arm encircled his waist, holding him firmly in his embrace. His low, hoarse laughter mixed with warm breath brushed past his ear. "I'm afraid Wen Yu hasn't taught you yet that the martial world is treacherous. Never underestimate your opponent, no matter when."

Luo Qianyu immediately sensed something was wrong. Just as he suspected, as the warm pool water soaked through his clothes, a feeling of weakness quietly crept from his limbs throughout his entire body, like a venomous snake gnawing at his bones.

A soft, powerless sensation spread upward from the areas in contact with the water.

It felt like being back at Cold Mountain Temple then.

"What else does the Young Marquis wish to learn? Whatever he hasn't taught you, this humble one will teach."

The Young Marquis trembled with anger. "I don't need you to teach me! Liu Cixue, it's precisely because you always use these underhanded tricks that Wen Yu looks down on you."

"...He may look down on me, but there are others who don't." Liu Cixue sneered. Luo Qianyu felt a chill run down his spine under the man's gaze, and then heard him say, "But as for the Young Marquis, the Crown Prince is dead. Why are you still clinging to his old residence? Could it be that short-lived ghost, before he died... how far did you two go? Did he kiss you? Touch you? Did he play with you thoroughly long ago?" The man's voice paused only for a moment before relentlessly pressing on.

The words grew increasingly vulgar. Luo Qianyu couldn't bear to listen and reached for the folding fan floating nearby on the water's surface. But the man noticed, and with a wave of his hand, sent the fan sinking to the bottom of the pool. Then he grasped his wrist again.

"'White jade interlinked rings, color equal to snow. Placed on my lover's wrist, indistinguishable which is whiter.'" Liu Cixue recited softly under his breath, then let out a light, low chuckle. "You criticize others, but aren't you yourself a better fit?"

He seized the young man's arm, his thumb brushing over the prominent wrist bone, and bit down on the snow-white skin.

Luo Qianyu drew in a sharp breath.

He instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but the other gripped it even tighter.

Liu Cixue looked at the tooth marks, like specks of red plum blossoms blooming on white snow, glistening with moisture. His Adam's apple bobbed, his breathing grew heavy, and his exhales against Luo Qianyu's cheek carried a slight tremor.

After being bitten the first time, Luo Qianyu had a bad premonition. Sure enough, the second bite came toward his ear. That person actually took his earlobe into his mouth, lips and teeth grinding against the sensitive cartilage.

His eyelashes trembled violently.

It was exactly the spot where he had bitten Wen Yu earlier.

When Liu Cixue released his bite, he licked his lip as if savoring a newfound advantage, his voice turning cloyingly sweet, almost reverting to the Liu Er he remembered, wheedling coyly toward him, "Who would have thought the dorms at the Imperial College had such a bathing pool? Let's do it right here in the water. Tell me, wouldn't it feel so good it's to die for?"

Luo Qianyu was aghast. "Do what?"

"Your little brother can't come to the Imperial College, and you just made advances on your own guard. He likely resents you too much to come save you."

"You've offended everyone around you, Young Marquis. With no one to turn to now, how utterly pathetic." Liu Cixue's expression darkened, a fanatical fervor churning in his eyes like smoldering fire. His fingers trailed down the soaked collar of Luo Qianyu's robe. "Why not beg me? Maybe Liu Er will take pity and go easier on fucking you, young master."

A sense of crisis surged through Luo Qianyu. Liu Cixue wasn't joking or trying to scare him—he genuinely intended to have him. Luo Qianyu had no mind for games anymore; a chill shot up his spine from the base of his tailbone. He urgently protested, "Liu Cixue, this won't do. I'm not into this. If you dare lay a hand on me, I swear I'll take your life, even if I have to drag you down to hell with me..."

"Take it if you want, my life." Liu Er closed his eyes, resting his forehead against Luo Qianyu's shoulder, his voice low and hoarse. "You're so soft, so fragrant... so docile."

Seeing the situation turn dire, alarm bells rang in Luo Qianyu's mind, leaving only one thought.

This is bad. If this continues, his backdoor is in jeopardy.

Who would have thought that after transmigrating into this book, before he could even experience Wen Yu's steamy chapters, he'd be the one to go first? So Liu Cixue really had his eyes on his backside all along? But how can a gong be topped by another gong? This absolutely cannot happen!!

The young man glanced sideways, spotting the jade hairpin in Liu Cixue's hair. His wrist still rested on the man's shoulder. Summoning his strength, he raised his hand, trembling as he grasped the hairpin.

Just as he pulled it free and tightened his grip on one end, he thrust it toward the man's throat.

In the next moment, the hairpin was wrested from Luo Qianyu's hand. A silk ribbon, hard yet pliant, slithered across his cheek like a serpent's tongue. In the struggle, Luo Qianyu felt a sudden sharp pain on his face, and warm blood seeped out.

Luo Qianyu pressed his lips together. When his gaze refocused, not only Liu Cixue's expression but even his voice had turned icy. "You really do want me dead."

Before Luo Qianyu could speak, the jade hairpin shot from the man's hand, striking unerringly and pinning the dazed little rabbit against the wall.

Jade Ball fluttered twice, then slowly went still.

Its limbs hung limp, motionless.

...

Luo Qianyu's pupils constricted sharply.

He watched as a lively, bouncing life vanished in an instant.

"Jade Ball!" the Young Marquis cried out, then fell silent, his eyes gradually reddening.

He hated Liu Cixue to death! How could there be such a sinister and ruthless person in this world? Devoid of any compassion or kindness, how could someone with no redeeming qualities be a wildly popular stock gong in the book? Who in the world likes such a heartless monster?!

The young man's palms trembled, rage churning in his chest, almost bursting from his throat. He wished he could immediately pierce Liu Cixue with ten thousand arrows to vent his hatred.

But before he could act, a cold gleam had already struck.

Liu Cixue, unable to dodge in time, furrowed his brows and caught a flash of the Jade Spirit Sword's light. The next moment, a metallic sweetness filled his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Looking up, he saw a man standing with a sword in hand.

The man looked down at him, his gaze cold as frost.

...

It was Wen Yu!