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For a moment, the room was so quiet that the rustling of leaves blown by the wind outside the window could be heard.

Along with the accelerating "thump thump" of Concubine Xu’s heartbeat.

She never expected that, in a twist of fate, she would do something she had always wanted to do.

Under the black mask, beneath the shadow of long, thick eyelashes, there were a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes, a high nose bridge, and the corners of the lips carried a faint, almost there smile, that had a hint of unrestrained cheekiness.

The skin was as pale and clear as jade, with sharp and defined features—almost perfect.

Concubine Xu was dumbfounded for a moment; he really was so handsome!

Last year, the man in black had promised to show her, but he never kept his word, which annoyed her for a long time, until he disappeared altogether.

She thought she would never have the chance to meet him again in her lifetime, but surprisingly, not only did she meet him, she also got to see his true face at Mount Lu.

This certainly was not a loss!

Everything happened too quickly, and the man in black didn’t have time to stop her from seeing his appearance.

The man in black was taken aback at first, then he came to terms with it, thinking of it as fulfilling his promise on the spot.

In the four months he was away, he had actually gone elsewhere to look for Xiao Jiu, though without any news.

On his way through Daxia, he stopped by the Imperial Palace for a visit, and then he ended up in Yixiang Hall.

He calmly looked at Concubine Xu, who was sizing him up, "How much longer do you plan to look?"

Concubine Xu came back to her senses, feeling both embarrassed and shy, "I didn’t mean to." Then she asserted confidently, "You promised last year to let me see, and now that I have seen it, consider your promise kept."

Having been seen, the man in black faced it openheartedly: "Hmm."

Seeing that the man in black was not angry, Concubine Xu became bolder. She stared at that handsome face for quite a while, which really was very different from what she had imagined.

She had thought the man in black would be rough-looking with average features, even rugged, but it turned out to be the exact opposite.

The man in black looked down at the woman sitting on his lap, a flash of an almost imperceptible smile appeared in his eyes, "How much longer do you wish to sit on me?"

Concubine Xu looked down and only then realized the straddling pose she had on top of the man in black. Men and women should not be so close; she blushed and stood up straight.

"I am not the kind of woman who throws herself at a handsome man. You took my book, I tried to take it back, and I accidentally fell into your arms," Concubine Xu tried to explain that her actions were unintentional.

The man in black raised the book in his hand, looking at Concubine Xu with a deep gaze, "Is this a book you should be reading?"

"It’s just a romance, they are a married couple... isn’t it normal?" Concubine Xu argued vigorously, though feeling a bit guilty.

"Such a salacious text, you think that’s normal?" The man in black was close to directly telling her that such a simple girl could easily be led astray by reading such material.

Concubine Xu tried to justify herself, "I’m looking at the plot, and besides, the descriptions are not detailed, as soon as the clothes come off, the light goes out."

The man in black asked, "The light goes out? What does that mean?"

Concubine Xu looked at the booklet in his hand, "If you read it yourself, you’ll know what happens. It ends before the clothes are even fully removed."

The man in black continued to read the unfinished story in the book with curiosity, and after finishing it, he realized that indeed, it ended as soon as the outer garments were removed.

"Even so, such books are not suitable for a girl to read. Don’t look at them anymore in the future." The man in black stuffed the book into his chest.

Seeing this, Concubine Xu became anxious. She had promised Lady Liangyuan to let her see it after she was done, it would be such a pity to burn it.

She moved forward two steps, and taking advantage of the man in black eating cherries, she suddenly pounced with the intention of grabbing the book from his chest.

The man in black didn’t expect her to launch a surprise attack; they were too close, and it was impossible to avoid her.

When Concubine Xu’s hand reached his chest, the man in black grabbed her wrist in one move.

Caught off guard, Concubine Xu fell into the man in black’s arms again, and before she could react, a teasing voice came from above her head.