Chapter 104: Chapter 104: Your Majesty, Care for a Taste?

The pure black horse saw that Ji Qingwu was sitting on the saddle blanket that belonged to it. It flared its nostrils and snorted at her in defiance.

Ji Qingwu, having recovered her senses, saw its displeasure and provocatively arched a dark eyebrow at it.

Her fair hand even patted the animal pelt beneath her.

If Ji Qingwu had a tail, it would have been sticking straight up in the air.

Seeing the human and horse communicate so effortlessly, Emperor Wu Su, who stood to the side, stifled a laugh and shook his head.

The black horse stared at her for a long time with its large, glistening, moist eyes. Seeing she had no intention of giving the pelt back, it finally turned around to present its backside to her, flicked its tail a few times, pawed the ground with a hind hoof, and bolted away.

Ji Qingwu’s eyes widened. "Why did it leave?" she asked.

"Don’t worry about Ta Yun," Emperor Wu Su said. "It’s just off for a stroll on its own."

’So the horse is named Ta Yun.’ It was a fitting name; when it ran, it truly seemed to be treading on clouds. It was also so intelligent that it knew how to take itself for a walk.

Ji Qingwu comfortably lay back down, with the earth as her mat and the sky as her blanket. Gazing at the scattered stars in the night sky, she realized she had never experienced such a carefree and pleasant moment.

Once she had gazed her fill, she propped her head up and looked over at Emperor Wu Su, who was sitting nearby. He had given the entire leopard pelt to her, seating himself directly on the grass.

Her conscience finally pricked her, and she sat up straight. "There’s still room, Your Majesty. Come sit over here. The ground is cold."

"Only now do you remember to ask me to join you?"

’This really isn’t my fault.’ She had been dizzy when she first dismounted, not even realizing what she was lying on.

The young woman’s skin was as luminous as jade, and the twilight cast a soft halo upon her face.

Her dark brows were reminiscent of distant mountains, her eyes bright and teeth pearly like a clear stream. Her gaze could shift from delight to pique in an instant. Though her clothes were perfectly proper as she lay on the white animal pelt, her languid posture gave her an enchanting and seductive air.

Emperor Wu Su had to sit farther away to suppress the primal urge to pounce on her and devour her whole.

He said, "Just stay lying down. When I was campaigning in the Northern Border, I’ve slept on snowfields."

These days, Ji Qingwu had grown so used to thinking of him as an Emperor that she had almost forgotten he was once the Great General Dingbei of the Northern Border.

The borderlands were harsh and bitterly cold, and Xijin Country had invaded time and again. He had led his troops into battle at least a hundred times. Forget sitting on grass—in times of true peril, he had even eaten sod to survive.

Emperor Wu Su gazed into the distance, his expression profound, at the twinkling lights down the slope. Ji Qingwu followed his gaze and saw the myriad lights of Lin’an City.

The two watched in silence for a long time. Then, Ji Qingwu spoke softly, "Your Majesty, Beili will surely build a foundation of lasting peace and achieve an era of stable rule." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He gave her a deep look. "Have you learned to read your Emperor’s mind already?"

"I wouldn’t dare."

"Is there anything you wouldn’t dare? I permit you to try. What am I thinking?"

Since the Emperor himself had permitted her to guess, Ji Qingwu adopted a serious expression. "Your Majesty is peerless in this generation, having built your legacy from the saddle. A founding ruler must face a thousand hardships and make difficult choices to establish the new. You must be pondering matters of the court."

Emperor Wu Su was silent for a long moment before he lowered his head and chuckled softly. "Ah Wu, you’re wrong."

Ji Qingwu looked at him as he took her hand, enveloping it in his own.

"I was wondering... of these thousands of lights, is there a single one that shines for me?"

Not a matter of state, but an affair of the heart.

His palm was searing, but Ji Qingwu’s was beginning to sweat.

She understood the deeper meaning behind his words.

Ji Qingwu took a moment to compose herself before saying with complicated feelings, "The lights of Lin’an City all shine this brightly because of you, Your Majesty."

His scorching gaze landed on her face.

Ji Qingwu continued in a soft whisper, "Throughout the entire Phoenix Palace, wherever Your Majesty wishes to go, a light will be lit for you there."

’Enter the palace? Become a canary in a gilded cage, an object for others’ amusement?’ Ji Qingwu thought to herself. For the person she was now, freedom and a life without constraints were far more important.

As her words faded, the light in Emperor Wu Su’s eyes dimmed, and a clear disappointment settled in their depths.

’Why the repeated rejections? Who is that lamp of hers meant to shine for?’ The Emperor already had an answer in his heart. ’Who else but Wei Ting, far away in the Northern Border Camp.’

Ji Qingwu pursed her lips, about to speak.

Emperor Wu Su abruptly stood and walked away. She didn’t need to see his face; she could feel the man’s blatant anger just from his retreating back.

She quietly followed behind the grim-faced Emperor, returning to the camp they had seen upon their arrival.

A dozen or so Black Armor Guards from the Imperial City Department were on patrol, while the others were roasting meat over a bonfire. The aroma of meat and the scent of wine reached her nose.

Upon seeing Emperor Wu Su, the Black Armor Guards immediately stood and knelt in a well-drilled salute. The department’s commissioner, Duan Mingfeng, hurried forward, a flicker of clear surprise on his face when he saw Ji Qingwu.

The Emperor had never brought a woman here before, not even the favored Princess Consort Wei.

Duan Mingfeng bowed. "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Emperor Wu Su waved a hand. "As you were." The Emperor’s discipline was strict, but he knew when to be lenient. He then asked, "Has Wei Chi Lianping returned?"

Duan Mingfeng replied, "The Great General has not yet returned."

Emperor Wu Su gave an expressionless nod, then walked into the main tent in the center without another glance at Ji Qingwu.

Ji Qingwu’s mind, however, wasn’t on the Emperor at all.

As soon as she drew near, her gaze was fixed on the red meat sizzling over the charcoal, its fat dripping into the flames.

Her nose twitched slightly. "It’s about to burn," she said.

Duan Mingfeng didn’t immediately understand what she was referring to.

After the Emperor had entered his tent, the Black Armor Guards had all been curiously sizing up the woman trailing His Majesty. She wasn’t one of the palace concubines, and in their distraction, they had forgotten about the meat on the fire.

Ji Qingwu hurried forward and deftly flipped the meat on the iron grill.

"Any longer and it would have burned," she said.

Emperor Wu Su had been seated at the large desk inside the tent for some time before Ji Qingwu finally came in.

She was holding a metal tray laden with freshly roasted meat. Its skin was golden brown, cooked to perfection, and steam rose from its scorching surface.

Ji Qingwu had asked Duan Mingfeng and learned that it was wild boar they had hunted in the forest.

She had long heard that wild boar meat was delicious—firm yet juicy—but she’d never had the good fortune to try it.

Ji Qingwu secretly gulped. ’It’s not that I’m a glutton,’ she told herself, ’it’s just that this aroma insists on assaulting my senses.’

Especially since it was fresh off the fire, the skin would be crispy. Thinking about the taste and texture, she licked her lips.

Ji Qingwu was the first to break the silence that had fallen between them since their return from the meadows. She proactively approached him and asked, "Your Majesty, would you like to have a taste?"

Seeing her obviously self-serving expression, Emperor Wu Su felt a throb in his temple. "Just have it yourself," he said irritably.

That was exactly what Ji Qingwu had been waiting to hear. With no intention of persuading him further, she immediately picked up the chopsticks on the plate, popped a piece into her mouth, and felt the juices burst across her tongue as she bit down.

But before she could even begin to savor the delicious taste, her expression froze.

Emperor Wu Su had just picked up a military treatise when he heard her hiss in pain.