Volume 1 Chapter 26 Freedom of Choice

  "Are you awake?" Xu Wuyan struggled to wake up from the endless dizziness, and what he heard was a familiar voice with a few hints of familiarity; Xu Wuyan closed his eyes again, gathering his scattered consciousness; looking at the person in front of him,

  "Chu Hanchen, how are you here?" Xu Wuyan asked with some incredulity. Clearly, he was drinking with Zi Yaqi just now, but when he woke up, what he saw was Chu Hanchen's refreshing and transparent, handsome and elegant appearance.

  "This is the Wangfu residence, shouldn't I be here?" Chu Hanche looked at Xu Wuyan with some helplessness. During his days of fighting in Lingzhou, Zhu Mo had been reporting to him about Xu Wuyan's every move, and adding to that was Shao Qian's description; each piece of news about Xu Wuyan made his heart skip a beat, and no matter what, he couldn't have imagined that Xu Wuyan, who had never been willing to get involved in any disputes since childhood, could do so many things that were hard for him to imagine.

  "Jing Wang Fu?" Xu Wuyan instinctively looked at the furnishings in his room, including a corner ivory square table, a colorful painted mandarin duck gold-inlaid bookcase, a auspicious beast gold-lacquered sandalwood armchair, and a landscape Suzhou embroidery full-length snowflake-patterned silk screen. These items were not comparable to the furnishings in Xu Wuyan's room, forcing him to believe Chu Hanche's words that he was indeed in Jing Wang Fu.

  "How did I end up here?" Xu Wuyan suddenly felt like he was trapped in an invisible net; Chu Hanche wasn't in Lingzhou, was he? How could he have appeared right before his eyes? And what about Zi Yaqi, who had been drinking with him? Why did Chu Hanche seem to know Xu Wuyan's every move, and why did he get the feeling that he was a clown making a fool of himself on stage?

  Chu Han Che didn't speak, but instead looked at Xu Wu Yan's slightly awkward expression, and couldn't help but lean in close to her as she sat on the bed with her head bowed, seemingly deep in thought. "What are you thinking about?" Chu Han Che asked, holding Xu Wu Yan's face in his hands, making her look up at him, wanting to find the answer he sought from those enigmatic eyes that he couldn't see through.

  Xu Wuyan's calm and peaceful expression gazed at Chu Hanchen, a nearly perfect face, now using such deep and sentimental eyes to look deeply at himself. Yes! This is an irresistible temptation, but Chu Hanchen may need to use such enchanting eyes to treat many women in his lifetime! The queen, concubines, maids, and countless nameless women will surround him, competing for every bit of his love, and they will exhaust their minds and means to get it, the terrifying degree is probably not even comparable to ten Chu Jieyu!

  Xu Wuyan had seen many dramas about palace and mansion struggles for favor, and would feel sad and worthless for the women in them, but that was just entertainment, Xu Wuyan never thought of putting himself in their shoes to participate in that kind of soul-wearing struggle.

  Two years later, Xu Wuyan will become the queen of Chu Hanchen and another woman competing with other women for the so-called favor of King Jing; Xu Wuyan needs love, but that love must be complete and not a leftover from someone's fingers.

  "Your Highness! Men and women should not be so intimate!" Xu Wuyan held out his arm, maintaining a distance between himself and Chu Hanchen that made him feel safe.

  Chu Hanchen really wanted to know what Xu Wuyan was thinking about in the long silence just now, and his body subconsciously leaned closer to Xu Wuyan until he could hear Xu Wuyan's heartbeat. "Wuyan, you are my queen, and I don't think it's wrong for me to care about my own queen!" Chu Hanchen said slowly, looking at Xu Wuyan's eyelashes trembling with his own breath, and couldn't help but feel excited.

  A strong and intense masculine aura, mixed with a faintly intoxicating dragon's breath fragrance, heavily enveloped Xu Wuyan; the overwhelming pressure generated by Chu Hanche's powerful aura gave Xu Wuyan a suffocating feeling of drowning.

  "Your Highness! We haven't even exchanged the three bows and six courtesies, our tea ceremony is not yet complete; if such a thing were to get out, wouldn't it be detrimental to the imperial family's reputation? The unspoken honor would also be utterly destroyed! I implore Your Highness to reconsider!" Xu Wuyan suppressed the panic in his heart and struggled to maintain his composure.

  "Oh? So that's what you're implying, that I'm a reckless and arrogant person?" Chu Han's mouth curled up into an inexplicable smile as he casually leaned back and lay down beside Xu Wuyan on the bed, his breathing slightly heavy with a hint of dissatisfaction. "Xu Wuyan, as someone who is knowledgeable about books and etiquette, shouldn't you also know that a princess-to-be should not be so reckless and drink excessively with others?"

  Xu Wuyan looked sideways, her eyes slightly narrowed, as she slowly spoke these words. Chu Hanchen's expression was calm and peaceful, without any ripples or signs of annoyance or blame towards Xu Wuyan. What Chu Hanchen said was right, a woman like Xu Wuyan who was already engaged and soon to be married should not go out drinking and courting trouble in the Tianhe Dynasty.

  "Silent, you know you're wrong!" As for Chu Han Che, apart from his noble identity and powerful position, Xu Wu Yan really knew very little about him; if he wanted to wait calmly for himself to come up with a countermeasure, temporarily yielding was inevitable; Xu Wu Yan wanted to get out of bed and apologize to Chu Han Che, but was caught by Chu Han Che's long arm, scooped into his arms, and held tightly.

  "Wait, don't go! I'm so tired, stay with me and rest for a while!" Chu Han buried his head in Xu Wuyan's thick black hair, saying in an extremely exhausted low voice, as if he had grasped the last straw.

  Xu Wuyan's breathing paused, his body immediately stiffened, and he didn't know what to do. "Wang... Wang Ye..." Xu Wuyan stuttered, not knowing how to change the awkward situation he was in at this moment.

  "Don't worry! I just want you to accompany me in a quiet sleep!" Chu Han felt the tension and stiffness in Xu Wuyan's body, and with great restraint, he reached out to gently pat Xu Wuyan's back, explaining softly.

  Xu Wuyan lay there like a wooden stick, letting Chu Hanchen hold him until he heard his steady breathing, and only then did Xu Wuyan's heart slowly calm down. Looking at the arms tightly wrapped around him, Xu Wuyan suddenly felt a strong sense of tenderness towards Chu Hanchen, and carefully stretched out his hand to pull the man holding him into his own embrace.

  Chu Han Che moved suddenly, and Xu Wu Yan thought that Chu Han Che had discovered his own movements, so he quickly withdrew his hand. Hearing Chu Han Che's breathing was still even and calm, looking at Chu Han Che's harmless and pitiful sleeping face, couldn't help but laugh at his own behavior just now. Xu Wu Yan! Do you know what you're doing? This is just a man you've met a few times, how can you have such strange thoughts?

  If you can't give me complete love, I'd rather not have any of it! No matter which era she lives in, Xu Wuyan can always freely choose her own life and love, even if it's a dead end, Xu Wuyan will make herself turn defeat into victory!