Circ.u.mventing Fate - Volume 2 Chapter 283 Prime Utterances

Lei Xing did not at all share the Emperor’s humor at the moment. She had spent all this time planning this to celebrate his birthday and had happily gotten dressed for him and now he was laughing at her?

Seeing Lei Xing glaring daggers at him, the Emperor promptly reined in his laughter and wrapped an arm around her, “You look as beautiful as a dream~” He said as he brought up the other to her face as he happily leaned in for a kiss.

{…Really cute~…}

Lei Xing swiftly swat his hand away and narrowed her eyes at him, “A hilarious dream I suppose -”

“I’m sorry…” The Emperor apologized with a smile, “It was just the face yo-”

“You have a problem with my face now?” Lei Xing interjected with a glare, “Great! Then you and your reflection will have a great time tonight…alone.” Lei Xing finished with a disgruntled pout as she tapped on his arms, demanding to be released.

The Emperor obviously did not budge, instead, he hugged her, “Not possible…last night was already too much…” He said resting his head on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck.

“I had a great night…” Lei Xing said rolling her eyes, although she did not reject his hold.

{…This player, “sweet” words don’t work here…Laugh and kiss, I’ll kick you! _ )…}

The Emperor lightly chuckled, he knew she did not mean that. After all, she was the same person he had found here blankly staring into space in the middle of the night the day before. He really liked this outfit but as he held her like this and the coldness of her shoulder, he could not help asking, “Aren’t you cold?”

“Tch, like you care…” Lei Xing mumbled in response and he could hear the pout in her voice.

The Emperor snorted, her making snide comments like this meant that she was really not angry. The Emperor straightened up, looked down at her with a smile, and sweetly said, “I obviously care about you the most~…”

Lei Xing scoffed and rolled her eyes, still pouting off to the side, not looking at him.

The Emperor sighed and pulled at her cheek, “Xing er’…don’t be angry. I was just happy…It was a laughter of joy and happiness. No one has ever gone through such an effort for my birthday before…I myself usually forgot the day, it was nothing to celebrate…”

Lei Xing sent him a skeptical glance and he smiled at her.

{…Tch, guilt trip but…It’s okay~…}

She had asked Ming Shu about it and been told that his birthday had never been celebrated in the palace before, apparently the late Emperor did not “pamper” his children. This was one of the main reasons she was so excited about it.

But she could not make it too easy for him, how dare he laugh at her? So she cleared her throat, “Laugh of joy?”

The Emperor swiftly nodded, “Immense joy…”

Lei Xing skeptically looked him over, “And what was that about the face?”

“Most beautiful as always…” He sweetly responded, caressing her cheek.

Lei Xing cleared her throat again and tried to stamp down her smile, “Fine…I’ll let myself be deceived…this once~”

The Emperor smiled and then asked again, “Aren’t you cold?” As he ran his arms up and down hers to warm them.

“I’m fine…It’s warm enough.” Lei Xing said stopping his arms with a smile, “Anyway~ back to the schedule, come with me…” She said as she linked her arm through his and walked him over to the pavilion, which like the rest of the garden was decorated with blue flower lanterns and blue silk hangings.

Lei Xing walked the Emperor over to a table filled snacks, fruits, and three jars of wine. She sat him down on one of the soft plush cushions and sat next to him, and then went to fill two cups of wine. She then handed one over to the Emperor and then raised the other with a smile to him and said, “Congratulations on your happy 21st…correct?”

The Emperor nodded and she continued, “I wish you a long, fruitful, brilliant, fulfilled rule and life~” She finished and then linked their cups.

“With you…” The Emperor added with a smile. Lei Xing paused and blinked at him, then she said, “Together~”

The Emperor’s smile brightened and he drained his cup along with her. He looked at his necklace on her neck and her “together” reverberated in his head. She might know it, but she had just given him a lifetime promise and he will do his utmost to ensure that it is kept.

After they gulped down the wine, the Emperor promptly enveloped Lei Xing’s in his arms and got the kiss he had been longing for all day.

After a deep, long happy kiss, they parted lips. The Emperor caressed her cheek and looked down at her blushing face with a doting smile. She truly seemed very nervous tonight, it was very adorable, “I love you…” The Emperor softly said, feeling immense joy for having this precious moment with her.

At one point today, he had feared he would never spend another night with her yet here they were celebrating his birthday together. He was truly grateful to have this moment.

Lei Xing blinked at him and then shyly glanced to the side and quietly said, “Me too…”

“You too what?” The Emperor asked with a raised eyebrow as he gently turned her face back to him.

Lei Xing slightly knit her brows and kept her eyes fixed on his chest and awkwardly went, “W-well… you know.”

The Emperor looked at her blushing face and smiled. He definitely knew what she meant or at least he thought he did…After all, even if she rarely expressed her feelings in words, her actions always spoke on her behalf.

But other than on two questionable occasions, she had never mentioned “loving” him. The first he now knew was thanks to her explanation about the bracelet was simply fueled by urgent excitement at being freed from an “oppressor”.

And the other was the recent “I think” situation after she had told him the truth about herself. This one he honestly could simply have been due to feelings of gratitude for him being so understanding and open-minded in accepting her.

Therefore, he truly could not be confidently sure she meant what he thought she did. But while he would like to hear her say those words, it was not too important. The Emperor lightly sighed and moved on from the topic, “Are you sure you aren’t cold?” he asked again frowning at her bare shoulders.

“No, I’m really fine…” Lei Xing responded with a smile as she moved to refill their cups.

{…I’m too warm actually…Your eyes are basically an oven these days ()…}

The Emperor slightly knit his brows and then stood up and quickly removed his outer robe and crouched down and dr.a.p.ed it over her, “Still…wear this. I don’t want you to get sick.”

Lei Xing blankly stared at him as he adjusted the robe over her and then sighed, “You know…I don’t think even my own parents doted on me as much as you do…”

“It is what I should do…” The Emperor responded patting her face, “So do you have any request for tonight?”

“Request? It’s your birthday, you should be the one making the requests.” Lei Xing responded with a little laugh. She had taken pains to look beautiful for him but he apparently did not care much about it and now he was asking her what she wanted?

{…Be a bit selfish, won’t you?…}

The Emperor blinked at her and then said, “I have no requests…”

“Are you sure?” Lei Xing asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Emperor took her hand, looked down at it, and caressed it, “I have all I need…So tell me, what do you want me to play for you?” He asked smiling up at her.

Lei Xing blinked at him in confusion and then he motioned to the qin placed on a table across from them and Lei Xing glanced remembered what she was doing and went, “Oh!…Sit down.” She quickly said pulling him down on the cushions.

She then removed his robe and put it in his lap and said, “It disrupts the scenery…just for now.”She quickly added before the Emperor could protest. ” Today, I’m the one who will be playing for you~” She happily announced with a smug smile.

“Oh?” The Emperor went slightly knitting his brows in surprise. Till today, he had still never heard her play. She always turned down his requests, so he was pleasantly surprised to hear this.

This was again not the reaction she was expecting, Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him, “I will have you know that I have been training very hard for this event and while I may not be a master YET…I am most certainly no longer a noob.” She finished, proudly raising her head high.

The Emperor knit his brows, “Is this why you’ve been so busy recently?”

“Partly…” Lei Xing responded knitting her brows as well, another unexpected response.

The Emperor sighed and then hugged her, “Thank you…but you shouldn’t have stressed yourself so much ove-”

“Why are you picking at everything today? Can’t you just be happy and enjoy it…?” Lei Xing interjected. He kept focusing on weird points today, it was confusing.

The Emperor chuckled and then released her and held her hands, “I’m sorry…It’s just…I can’t help it when it comes to you. You make me worry…I’ve never worried about anyone like this before…”

Lei Xing scoffed and sarcastically said, “Guess you’ll make a great father then…”

The Emperor froze and Lei Xing also froze as she realized she just brought up the taboo topic. She glanced at the Emperor to see him calmly looking at her with an odd look in his eyes. She gulped as her heart jumped.

Lei Xing promptly got to her feet, “Um…I’ll go play now.”

With that said, Lei Xing quickly scurried over to the qin table while stifling the feelings of wanting to bang her head on a wall somewhere for her insensitive remark just now.

Since their cold war, they had both intentionally been avoiding talking about anything related to children and she just had to go and “praise” his parenting skills.

{…Prime example of mouth moving before brain! Way to ruin the atmosphere! Crazy stupid mouth! >_<‘)…}

Lei Xing sat down, took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart. She glanced at the Emperor to see him calmly smiling at her, looking completely unaffected by her remark just now. This made Lei Xing relax a bit and she smiled back at him and tentatively went, “Um…I composed this for you…It’s my first so, um…I hope you like it.”

“Naturally will~” The Emperor said as he picked up his cup and raised it to her with a smirk.

Lei Xing’s face twitched a bit but she maintained her smile and then looked down at the qin and inwardly sighed. It would be a lie if she said she had no clue what he wanted, not only was it a want, it was an actual need yet he said he needed nothing.

This sort of selfless love he offered her was sometimes disconcerting…Sometimes, she felt horrible for giving him so little in return, times like now.

Lei Xing glanced up at the Emperor again and he playfully asked, “Nervous?”

Lei Xing blinked and swiftly went, “No, just making you’re ready to receive this…magnificence.” She awkwardly finished, raising her head high.

The Emperor snorted and she narrowed her eyes at him. He quickly adjusted his expression and motioned for her to go ahead. Lei Xing cleared her throat and then announced, “I’ll start now.”

She looked down at the qin, took a deep breath, and began to play the song she had memorized with laser-like focus.

{…I feel a bit foolish…sometimes…}