Chapter 36

Yun Pianpian was sulking with her head lowered.
Suddenly, she heard Xiao Changyuan’s cool, deep voice beside her ear.
“Wife, who made you angry?”
Yun Pianpian looked up and saw Xiao Changyuan, her small face momentarily stunned.
“Husband, why are you back so early?”
Xiao Changyuan lied without changing his expression, “Halfway there, I suddenly felt a bit unwell, so I came straight back.”
He knew that the ugly creature had been secretly looking for opportunities to get close to his wife recently, so he deliberately went up the mountain alone, leaving the ugly creature a chance to be alone with his wife. That way, he would have a reason to beat the ugly creature…
But what he didn’t expect was that his wife would actually drive the ugly creature away.
The way the young woman raised the broom high and swept the ugly creature out the door was both imposing and adorable.
Xiao Changyuan recalled Yun Pianpian’s fierce yet cute demeanor just moments ago.
A glimmer of amusement flashed in his phoenix eyes.
Hearing Xiao Changyuan’s words, Yun Pianpian immediately stood up in concern.
“Where are you feeling unwell, husband? Should we see a doctor?”
Xiao Changyuan replied calmly, “It’s nothing serious. I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Oh, I see…”
Yun Pianpian breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiao Changyuan asked, “Why were you sulking just now, wife? Who bullied you?”
Yun Pianpian remembered the shameless words the little beauty had spoken earlier, and her anger flared up again: “In all my years, I’ve never seen such a self, righteous and morally upright mistress! Do you know what that Yinyin girl just said? She actually said she wanted to…”
Yun Pianpian lifted her face and met Xiao Changyuan’s dark, cold eyes, then abruptly swallowed her words.
She suddenly remembered what the little beauty had said.
In ancient times, it was normal for men to have multiple wives and concubines.
Moreover, Xiao Changyuan was the Emperor.
What might be an unforgivable sin in Yun Pianpian’s heart could be nothing more than a trivial matter in the minds of people from ancient times.
Xiao Changyuan lowered his head and asked, “What’s wrong, wife? Why did you stop talking?”
Yun Pianpian turned her face away and said, “In any case, my husband must not go to see Miss Yinyin in the future.”
“Alright.”
Xiao Changyuan's thin lips curved almost imperceptibly. How could he possibly go see that ugly creature? If it weren't for his wife's sake, he would have long since crushed that eyesore to death, why would he have let her live until now?
Hearing the disgust in Yun Pianpian's tone toward the ugly creature, Xiao Changyuan's dark, profound gaze grew even more pleased.
“Then, my wife must not see her again either.”
He didn't like his wife directing her attention toward anyone else. His wife should only look at him.
Yun Pianpian said indignantly, “I would never go see that green tea homewrecker.”
Xiao Changyuan narrowed his phoenix eyes in satisfaction upon hearing her words.
Yun Pianpian had no idea what Xiao Changyuan was thinking. Her mind was filled with the words the little beauty had spoken earlier. For the entire afternoon, she had been absent, minded, unable to imagine Xiao Changyuan developing feelings for another woman.
By evening, after washing up, Yun Pianpian climbed onto the bed.
As usual, Xiao Changyuan gently pulled her into his embrace.
He carried a faint, cool fragrance, like the scent of frost and dew in a misty winter forest at dawn.
Yun Pianpian was a normal woman.
Being held by a tall, handsome man, her heart could not remain calm.
She lifted her lashes and looked at Xiao Changyuan.
She noticed his gaze was dark and unfathomable, fixed intently on her red lips.
Yun Pianpian's heart raced wildly, like a frantic deer crashing about.
Suddenly, she recalled what the little beauty had said that morning.
Xiao Changyuan would have many women in the future.
The great tyrant she had tamed would eventually be enjoyed effortlessly by other women.
He would kiss other women.
A surge of unwillingness rose in Yun Pianpian's heart.
Rather than letting other women reap the rewards, why not she be the one to take the great tyrant's innocence first.
She was startled by this sudden thought.
The long, dormant little angel and devil in her mind abruptly sprang to life.
The white, righteous Pian said: How can a righteous transmigrated girl like us harbor such licentious thoughts?!
The black, evil Pian grinned with a classic villainous smile: But isn't this world inherently evil?!
The two little figures argued fiercely in her mind, neither willing to back down.
Yun Pianpian raised her long, thick lashes and let her gaze fall upon Xiao Changyuan's peerlessly handsome face.
His distant, mountain, like brows, his deep, cold, pool, dark eyes, his tall, jade, like nose bridge.
Every feature tempted her.
Her gaze finally settled on his pale, thin lips.
His lips looked so enticing, so soft, continuously calling to her, luring her. ‘Come and kiss me.’
Yun Pianpian's heart pounded like a frantic deer, growing wilder and fiercer.
Suddenly, that ferocious little deer charged straight at the white, righteous Pian, sending it flying with a bang.
The evil Pian sprouted two red demon horns and flashed a villainous smile: Pianpian, go claim him! Go take him!
Yun Pianpian's heart hammered violently, as if about to leap out of her chest.
She stared intently at Xiao Changyuan's pale lips, her voice slightly hoarse.
“Husband, do you want to kiss me?”
Xiao Changyuan's eyelashes fluttered, his handsome face seeming momentarily stunned.
His jade, like ears quickly tinged with a faint blush.
He awkwardly turned his face away, his voice low and hoarse as he said, “I didn't.”
Yun Pianpian lifted her lashes, leaning in closer, her voice as lingering as spring water.
“Husband is lying.”
Xiao Changyuan didn't dare to look at Yun Pianpian, his eyes darting away, his tall body slightly tense.
“I didn't.”
The more nervous he became, the bolder Yun Pianpian grew.
Yun Pianpian tugged at the front of Xiao Changyuan's robe, tilted her head back, and curved her enticing red lips as she leaned close to his ear, whispering in a husky voice, “A lying husband deserves to be severely punished by his wife.”
“I'm not lying.”
Xiao Changyuan's body suddenly stiffened.
His wife had actually bitten his ear!
The abyss was boiling!
Xiao Changyuan swiftly tapped two acupoints on Yun Pianpian's shoulders.
Yun Pianpian: ???
He had actually sealed her acupoints?
Yun Pianpian widened her clear, sparkling eyes in disbelief.
Xiao Changyuan, flustered, clutched his robe tightly, his handsome face slightly flushed as he covered Yun Pianpian's body with a quilt.
His dark, profound eyes gazed at her with lingering fear.
“Wife, you must calm down. Do not let yourself fall into demonic possession.”
Hearing this, the fiercely rampaging little deer in Yun Pianpian's heart thudded to an abrupt death.
She blinked, staring blankly at Xiao Changyuan.
“What are you talking about?”
Xiao Changyuan's face flushed slightly, not daring to look into Yun Pianpian's moist, alluring almond, shaped eyes. He turned his face away in embarrassment and said resolutely, “Though demonic arts are powerful, you are delicate and frail, unable to endure the agony of being consumed by flames. It is not suitable for you to continue practicing.”
He would bear this torment of being consumed by flames alone.
He didn't want his wife to suffer such pain.
Yun Pianpian never expected that Xiao Changyuan would reject her for such a ridiculous reason.
The wicked Pian in her mind was dumbfounded.
The demon horns sprouting from its head instantly drooped like frostbitten eggplants.
They went completely limp.
Yun Pianpian bit her red lip and struggled to speak, “Actually, it's not.”
She wanted to tell Xiao Changyuan the truth.
But he didn’t give her the chance.
Xiao Changyuan extended his pale, slender, and well, defined hand, swiftly tapping two acupoints on Yun Pianpian’s shoulders.
Yun Pianpian’s words caught in her throat, not a single syllable could escape.
Her delicate face slowly flushed red.
He had actually sealed her mute acupoint.
Yun Pianpian was so furious she couldn’t speak.
She could only glare angrily at Xiao Changyuan.
The weather was a bit chilly. Xiao Changyuan carefully tucked the quilt around Yun Pianpian, got out of bed, put on his shoes, retrieved a scripture book from the chest behind the wooden bed frame, walked back to the bedside, took off his shoes, and climbed back onto the bed.
He didn’t slip under the warm quilt to lie beside Yun Pianpian. Instead, he leaned against the bedpost, leaving his feverish body exposed to the cold air. He lowered his head, opened the scripture, and began reciting it to Yun Pianpian in a deep, cool voice.
“The Great Tao has no form; it gives birth to heaven and earth. The Great Tao has no emotion; it moves the sun and moon. The Great Tao has no name; it nurtures all things. I do not know its name, so I call it the Tao. The Tao: it has clarity and turbidity, movement and stillness. Heaven is clear, earth is turbid; heaven moves, earth is still…”
Yun Pianpian stared in disbelief.
Was he actually reciting the scripture to her?
Was she some kind of demon? Did she need the scripture to suppress her demonic nature?
And when had this brat secretly bought the scripture behind her back?
How could she have had no idea…
Xiao Changyuan’s voice was cool and deep, and the Qingjing Jing he recited did indeed have a purifying effect on the mind. As Yun Pianpian listened, her emotions shifted from initial disbelief to later shame, turned, anger, and finally to a state of desolate calmness…
The entire process took less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
After reciting it once, Xiao Changyuan lowered his long, thick, dark eyelashes and gazed down at Yun Pianpian’s face.
“Has my wife calmed down now?”
Yun Pianpian: “…” Calm? I’m not just calm, I’m so serene I could become a nun and renounce the world!
Xiao Changyuan noticed the faint trace of resentment in Yun Pianpian’s eyes and immediately said, “It seems my wife needs to hear it again.”
With that, he lowered his head, opened the scripture, and continued reciting in his cool, deep voice.
Yun Pianpian: “…” If you keep reciting, I’ll ascend on the spot and become a female Bodhisattva!
Do you even realize you’re about to lose your wife…
Yun Pianpian stared blankly and lifelessly at the canopy above.
Her fair, delicate face gradually lost all vitality.
And so, what should have been a tender and enchanting night…
Yun Pianpian lay motionless under the warm quilt, forced to listen to the great tyrant Xiao Changyuan recite scriptures the entire night.
Her ears were nearly calloused from it.
A bloodthirsty tyrant who slaughtered without mercy had actually spent the whole night reciting scriptures…
No one would believe it if word got out.
Yun Pianpian slowly closed her eyes, vowing silently in her heart that even if the great tyrant knelt on the ground, eyes red and voice hoarse, begging to share a bed with her, she wouldn’t let him lay a finger on her…
Just you wait, you brat!
Holding onto this vengeful thought, Yun Pianpian listened to the deep, cool voice reciting scriptures beside her ear and gradually drifted into a deep slumber.
Xiao Changyuan waited until Yun Pianpian's breathing gradually steadied before setting down the scripture in his hand. He reached out and tapped her shoulder three times, releasing her acupoints. Getting out of bed and slipping on his shoes, he placed the scripture back into the treasure chest and closed its lid.
Yun Pianpian stretched her hand out from under the quilt, waving it wildly as she mumbled incoherently in her sleep.
“Beg me.”
Xiao Changyuan, expressionless, took her hand and tucked it back under the quilt. Leaning over, he carefully smoothed the quilt around her. Straightening up, he stood by the bed, his dark eyes fixed intently on her for a long moment before slowly stepping out of the room.
Crossing the threshold, he turned back to close the door for Yun Pianpian.
Xiao Changyuan opened the door to the kitchen, bent down, and filled a wooden bucket with water from the water vat. He walked into the courtyard, pouring bucket after bucket of water over himself.
Soaked to the bone, his skin turned icy cold. Yet the blood coursing beneath still burned with a scalding heat, as if it could consume him entirely at any moment.
The scripture could calm his wife, but it could not extinguish the raging fire burning within him. Ever since the day he had deceived his wife into sleeping in his embrace, he had endured this torment of scorching flames day and night.
Was this heaven’s punishment for his descent into demonic ways? Because he had harbored demonic thoughts toward his wife, he was condemned to suffer this fiery agony.
Xiao Changyuan’s gaze turned cold and distant. This suffering, he would bear it alone. He absolutely could not allow his wife to endure such pain.