In the guest room, Yan Zhen ruffled Long Ying’s hair with a helpless sigh.
“Stop pouting already. If you’re here, you might as well make yourself at home.”
Long Ying crossed her arms over her chest and huffed in an adorably precocious tone.
“This Great One will never forgive them! And I certainly won’t touch their food!”
“They haven’t done anything to you.”
“Who says they haven’t… Anyway, this Great One is a dragon of principle!”
Yan Zhen didn’t know what else to say. After all, this loli dragon girl was very likely a reincarnator herself, nursing grudges from her past life. Just as the script predicted, she clearly had bad blood with Huangfu Wenqing.
She didn’t seem to hold the same grudge against Yun Xiu, though—probably because she knew Yan Zhen liked her. Love me, love my dog, as they say.
Once Sister Ji Ya arrived in the Royal Capital, he could have Long Ying stay with her. The little dragon seemed to like her well enough.
Tap, tap, tap.
Someone knocked on the door. Yan Zhen went over and opened it to find his fiancée standing there.
After returning to her room, Huangfu Wenqing had changed into a casual long dress that accentuated her air of refined elegance. She exuded nobility and poise, her hair now loose instead of in a ponytail, with a few strands framing her face and a lifelike flower tucked into her temple.
“Yan Zhen, let me show you around the back garden.”
The mention of the back garden immediately brought two years’ worth of memories flooding back—Huangfu Wenqing stuffing him with honey jujube cakes in his family’s garden and forcing kiss after kiss on him.
So when exactly had she fallen for him?
Logically speaking, her visit back then should have been to assess whether he was worth marrying—not to throw herself at him right away.
Had she fallen head over heels just because he was so handsome?
“Sure, let’s take a stroll.” He glanced back at Long Ying. “You want to come along?”
“This Great One wouldn’t play with a bad woman! This Great One is going to sleep!”
“Suit yourself, then. Here’s a bottle of flavored fasting pills—eat one if you get hungry.”
Yan Zhen gave her hair another affectionate ruffle before stepping out with Huangfu Wenqing. They headed toward the back garden of the Huangfu Duke’s Mansion.
As one of the Royal Capital’s three great families, the Huangfu estate dwarfed even the Martial Tang City Lord’s residence in grandeur. The back garden was exquisitely landscaped, but that wasn’t the point. What mattered was that Huangfu Wenqing had dismissed all the servants, leaving just the two of them alone in the waterside pavilion.
They settled side by side on the reclining chairs in the pavilion.
“The scenery here is beautiful.”
“Mm.”
Huangfu Wenqing took a box of pastries from her storage ring and lifted the lid, presenting it to Yan Zhen.
“Look, Yan Zhen.”
The familiar, cloyingly sweet aroma wafted out—just as he’d expected, honey jujube cakes.
“Nice, honey jujube cakes. Let me have one—huh?”
Yan Zhen reached for a piece, but Huangfu Wenqing playfully pulled her hand back.
“Don’t use your hands. Let me feed you.”
“…”
Was she planning to recreate that forceful kissing scene from two years ago?
Back then, as a mere Mystic Disciple at the Third Stage, he hadn’t stood a chance against his domineering fiancée. But things were different now—they were both Mystic Generals!
He hoped he was just overthinking it.
Huangfu Wenqing picked up a piece of honey jujube cake and brought it to his lips. Her pale, slender fingers contrasted sharply with the dark brown treat, stirring an oddly tempting urge to lick them clean afterward.
“Yan Zhen, ahh.”
With no other choice, Yan Zhen obediently opened his mouth and gently took the sweet morsel from between her fingers. He savored it with evident delight.
He’d always had a sweet tooth—high in calories, good for brainpower.
“How does it taste?”
“Delicious. You should try some.”
“I like feeding you.”
“Uh…”
Her gaze grew increasingly heated, making Yan Zhen shift uncomfortably. He turned his head away, pretending nonchalance as he polished off the cake in two or three bites and licked his lips clean of any remnants.
But Huangfu Wenqing just smiled and said, “You’ve got some sugar on your lip. Let me clean it up for you.”
Yan Zhen was speechless. How could she lie with a straight face? He’d already licked all around his lips—what sugar?
“There’s none left. I can handle it myself.”
She set the pastry box aside and leaned in close, pointing at his mouth.
“Right here.”
Yan Zhen hurriedly licked around his lips again, feeling like a total fool. Dignity? Who needed it!
“There’s still some,” she insisted. “Lots more.”
He licked again, protesting, “There can’t be any left. How much could there possibly be?”
Lying makes your nose grow—were her sights set on becoming a sniper?
“No more sugar, but there’s lip gloss.” Her voice turned soft and wistful. “Looks like Sister Ji Ya’s.”
Damn!
Yan Zhen jolted in surprise, a bead of cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
“W-What did you say, Wenqing?”
Huangfu Wenqing extended her elegant finger, gently wiping at the corner of his mouth with her fingertip.
“Don’t play dumb. I could tell at a glance—that vixen isn’t just your big sister. Hmph~”
“No, Wenqing, you’re overthinking it.”
“Did you sleep with her?”
“Wenqing…”
“Enough. I get it.”
Huangfu Wenqing’s expression turned aggrieved. She twisted around and plopped right onto his lap, her arms looping around his neck as her modest B+ assets pressed firmly against his chest.
“You bad man. I’m supposed to be your fiancée, but you won’t touch me. Instead, you’re always fooling around with other women… Do you dislike me? Because my chest is small, or my butt isn’t round enough? I know you like the big-chest-big-butt type.”
“N-No, it’s not like that! Have you been drinking, Wenqing?”
The pressure was immense. Yan Zhen averted his gaze, unable to meet his fiancée’s eyes.
“I told you I have potential—my mother’s aren’t small at all. If you… if you play with mine more, they’ll grow.” Huangfu Wenqing turned his face back toward her, cheeks puffed in annoyance. “Hurry up and stick out your tongue like a good puppy.”
“Don’t, Wenqing. Someone might see.”
She snapped her fingers, and a breeze swirled around them, enveloping the pavilion in a barrier.
“I’ve set up a wind barrier. No one can see inside clearly… Stick out your tongue, or I’ll tell Grandpa and Grandpa Yan Lie that you’re tangled up with the vixen chief manager from the Golden Jade Chamber of Commerce, that you’re hooking up with Mentor Yu Xuan from Holy Land Academy, and that you even knocked up the Heavenly God Clan’s goddess.”
Yan Zhen went numb. His fiancée wasn’t indifferent to his multi-tracking—she’d been quietly enduring, gathering leverage to keep him wrapped around her finger.
What a disaster!
He meekly stuck out his tongue, looking every bit the eager puppy desperate to please its owner.
Huangfu Wenqing let out a haughty sniff, her cheeks flushing with an almost feverish tint. Her lips parted slightly as she latched onto the tip of his tongue, savoring it like a tasty treat.
A quarter-hour later, Yan Zhen slumped bonelessly in the reclining chair, his tongue numb and his mind foggy, as if she’d thoroughly worn him out.
Huangfu Wenqing licked her own slightly swollen lips, thinking that once they reached Cloud Heaven Palace, she’d team up with her master to drain this scoundrel dry—leaving him no energy for other women!
Hmph! That’s what you get for bullying me, you idiot Yan Zhen!
