Military Advisor and Princess

Chapter 72

"It's for your own good," Jinxuan said gently, reaching out to grasp Aojun's sword-wielding hand. In his heart, he said to Aojun: As long as I can protect you, even if I have to die by your hand, I am willing.

Ao Jun was enraged by Jin Xuan's inexplicable words. She pulled her hand away from his grasp, sheathed her sword, turned her back, and sneered, "Hmph, for my own good? Making me unconscious, preventing me from entering the palace, preventing me from seeing the Emperor and Empress, is that for my own good? Are there some kind of monster in the palace? Ouyang Jin Xuan, do you know the regret I felt when I woke up and found it was already late at night, and you had already entered the palace? Do you know the anger and sadness I felt when I found out that the reason I was unconscious was because you gave me medicine? I trusted you so much, and this is how you treat me, hmph... and now you still say it's for my own good? Do you really think I'm a three-year-old child?"

At this moment, Ao Jun felt a real pain in her heart, a pain of being betrayed by someone she trusted, and another kind of pain that she couldn't explain. Of course, there was also anger. Tonight, she had already planned how to give Xue a surprise. She had imagined countless scenarios of the two of them meeting and recognizing each other. She never expected that he would ruin it. She just couldn't understand why he would do this. Didn't he want to know about her relationship with Xue?

Jin Xuan rushed excitedly to Ao Jun's side and said with deep affection, "I know, I know, I know everything. I know you will blame me when you wake up, but please believe me, I did this really for your own good. I can't let anything happen to you because I love you, I love you, you know? I love you so much that my heart aches. Ling Ao Jun, can you hear me? I love you, I, Ouyang Jin Xuan, love you, Ling Ao Jun..." Jin Xuan emotionally embraced the stunned Ao Jun tightly, repeatedly shouting 'I love you, I love you'. For a moment, the world was so quiet that it seemed that only the two of them were embracing and the words echoing between them remained.

Ao Jun, whose face remained aloof, was so shocked by Jin Xuan's words that she almost fainted. Even as Jin Xuan held her tightly, she seemed oblivious, her mind filled only with Jin Xuan's heartfelt cry, "I love you, I, Ouyang Jin Xuan, love you, Ling Ao Jun…" Good heavens! Was he confessing his love to her? A mix of excitement and confusion washed over her: although countless boys had been by her side since childhood, none had ever confessed to her with such deep affection.

Because any boy who approached her was either scared away by the chilling aura she exuded or crippled by her. Jin Xuan told her he loved her, and something inside him seemed to leap for joy, but then he immediately thought, hadn't Jin Xuan always deeply loved Xue? Why would he suddenly say such a thing to her?

"Jun, did I scare you? Jun, can you accept me?" Seeing that Ao Jun hadn't reacted for a long time and was frozen like a wooden statue, Jin Xuan immediately distanced himself from her, but still hugged her and asked nervously. He knew that Jun must have been frightened by him. She must not have expected that he, a man, would fall in love with her!

"You..." Just as Jin Xuan was getting extremely anxious, Ao Jun finally slowly raised his head and looked at Jin Xuan with a hesitant expression.

"What do you want to say? Can you promise me?" Jinxuan's voice trembled with nervousness, as if he were waiting for the outcome of a confession. His palms were sweating, and his heart was screaming: Say it! Say you promise!

Just as Jinxuan was so nervous he was about to shout, Aojun finally spoke, but what she said almost made Jinxuan furious. Her rose-petal-pink lips parted slightly as she said, "You're not drunk, are you!"

Jin Xuan really wanted to just die. He had finally mustered up the courage to confess so sincerely, only to be mistaken by her for drunken ramblings. He gripped Ao Jun's hand tightly again, making her look at him, his deep, affectionate eyes meeting her magnetic gaze. He said with unwavering emotion and sincerity, "Listen, I'm not drunk. I'm serious. I, Ouyang Jin Xuan, have fallen in love with you, Ling Ao Jun. I've fallen deeply, irrevocably in love. I..."

I want you to stay by my side forever. Even if the world scorns me, I don't care. You're the only one I care about.

Now, Ao Jun could see and hear everything clearly. Even she, who was so oblivious to love, could see the deep affection in his eyes. Her heart was deeply shaken once again. The hand he held was so warm, and a warm current kept flowing through her heart. She was really sure that he had truly fallen in love with her, but she still had a question in her heart.

"And what about the Empress? Don't you love her deeply?"

"You know?" Jinxuan was initially surprised, but then, thinking of her 'relationship' with the Empress, she calmly revealed her innermost thoughts: "Yes, I deeply love Yuqing. She was the first woman I ever loved, but we were destined to be apart. Since she chose my brother, I fled to the border to escape. I could avoid seeing her, but I couldn't avoid my own heart. Before I met you, I was just a heartless walking corpse. It was you who made my heart flutter again. Perhaps at our first meeting, I was deeply attracted by your stunning beauty and aloof demeanor. Later, in our interactions, your wisdom, your talent, and your erudition made me fall in love with you without realizing it. But at that time, I couldn't see my own heart clearly, nor could I admit that I had fallen in love with a man, and you and Yuqing..."

Qing looks a bit like me, so I kept telling myself that my feelings for you were just because I saw you as Yuqing. But later, I couldn't even fool myself anymore; I had truly fallen in love with you, a fellow man. I didn't want you to look down on me, so I chose to run away again, but I still couldn't escape. Every time I closed my eyes, your stunningly beautiful figure would appear in my mind, accompanying me to sleep every night.

It was really painful; I kept struggling.

Ao Jun saw the pain flashing in Jin Xuan's eyes and knew that he must have remembered the struggle he had gone through. Just as she was about to say something, Jin Xuan looked at her affectionately again and said, "Tonight, my sister-in-law's words have made me realize that I was just too attached to things."

"What did you say?" Ao Jun asked curiously. "Sister-in-law? You mean Xue? How did she suddenly change from Yu Qing to 'sister-in-law'? What earth-shattering 'truth' did Xue say to him?"

"Actually, long before I fell in love with you, I had already slowly let go of Yuqing from my heart. I always thought that I would have a hard time facing Yuqing again after returning to the play, but tonight's meeting not only allowed me to face her calmly, but also made me happy for her and my brother's happiness and love. Yuqing said that this shows that I have let go of her. Indeed, I have let go of her. Now, the only one I love in my heart is you!"

Jin Xuan gazed at Ao Jun with deep emotion, looking at her dressed as a man, his eyes flashing with determination. He said, "Although I know I love you, I still dare not tell you, because I know you love women. You certainly wouldn't approve of a distorted love between men. But Yu Qing said, 'True love can transcend gender.' Jun, let's be together! Let's love each other across genders, okay?" His words at the end sounded almost pleading. He, usually so taciturn, probably hadn't spoken more in years than he had tonight!

Ao Jun listened quietly to Jin Xuan's heartfelt confession, her expression remaining unchanged, but her heart was in turmoil: Heavens! Jin Xuan had truly fallen in love with her. Back at the border, she had always known she harbored feelings for him. Though oblivious, she could still sense the occasional displays of affection he showed, but she had always mistaken them for Xue's, so she had hidden her true feelings.

She realized that his deep affection was truly for her, and a wave of joy and elation washed over her. They were in love. She wanted to shout to him, "We don't need to cross gender lines, because I am a woman, and the 'fairy under the moon' you met by the pond is me!"

But the words that reached her lips turned into silence. At that moment, her mind drifted to Yelü Ying, the man with the ever-present wicked smile, a cruel and ruthless figure to others, yet incredibly forgiving and deeply affectionate towards her; the man who broke her heart, the man she hurt time and time again, yet forgave her time and time again. She remembered the night before he left, when he said to her with utmost seriousness: 'My lady, after I return home and complete my punishment, I will come to find you. Promise me, wait for me. Before I return, do not accept anyone else. I know that in your heart there is Ouyang Jinxuan, and also me. I don't know who holds more weight in your heart, but please promise me, wait for me.' And she promised him. He was right; in her heart, there were indeed both of them.

“Jun…” Jin Xuan saw that Ao Jun seemed to be lost in thought. His usual composure was completely gone, and he only looked nervous, like a naive young man.

After waiting for a long time, Ao Jun slowly turned around, took a deep look at the handsome man in front of her, and said softly, "I'm sorry." She withdrew her hand, turned resolutely under Jin Xuan's pained gaze, and slowly walked forward. Jin Xuan, I'm sorry, I can't agree to your request right now, even though you're in my heart.

Just as Ao Jun hurriedly walked out of the backyard, Jin Xuan's voice, filled with unwavering determination, pierced through the air: "Jun, I will not give up." A jolt ran through her heart, but she didn't stop for a second, leaving only her resolute silhouette for Jin Xuan.

The Advisor and the Princess

Chapter 56 First Encounter with Dongfang Junhao

Ouyang Jinxuan truly lives up to his name; once he doesn't give up, he really does. Oh my god! Someone save Xue! It's all your fault! Always spouting those 'grand principles,' making the 'Cold-Faced War God' completely shameless, and making the usually aloof Xue want to kill people all the time.

Here we go again, can I pretend to be dead? The answer is no.

"My lord, get up. I've had your favorite pork rib congee made. Get up and eat, don't sleep anymore." Jin Xuan, holding a bowl of congee, sat by Ao Jun's bedside and called out gently. Clearly, Yue Ying's gentleness had now all fallen on our poor Prince Jin. However, both of them were the same, treating this task, which Xue described as being even more difficult than building the Three Gorges Dam, as one of life's greatest pleasures, and never tiring of it.

Ao Jun had actually woken up long ago, but didn't want to get up. She turned over and pretended to be asleep, but in her heart, she was furious: ever since that night, Jin Xuan had been like... well, to put it bluntly, glued to her wherever he went. He'd lost all his former aloof prince demeanor and become a shameless little follower. And every night he was in her room, but he never said a word, just gazed at her with deep, tender, and affectionate eyes. When she couldn't take it anymore, she had to give him a cold, dismissive look, and he even said to her with a plaintive, "Jun, I want to watch you sleep before I leave." Ugh, she felt like a husband kicking his wife out, and in the end, she had to admit defeat and pretend to be asleep to "invite" him away. The worst part was that he'd taken over Ying'er's job, coming to wake her up every day, and so gently at that, scaring her half to death first thing in the morning. Was he deliberately trying to make her life miserable?

"Jun, I know you've been awake for a while. Don't stay in bed, get up and have some porridge!" Jin Xuan pulled back Ao Jun's blanket, lowered his head, and whispered in her ear. Jun's body was truly beautiful, and it wasn't easy to get aroused in the morning, especially since it was his beloved beneath him. But he couldn't hurt her, so he had to restrain himself. Sigh, he was afraid that one day he wouldn't be able to hold back anymore. However, this was the only way to get her, who was so sleepy, out of bed.

Sure enough, Ao Jun shuddered, her face darkened, and she forcefully pushed Jin Xuan off her. She then grabbed the blanket and wrapped herself up, coldly saying, "Ouyang Jin Xuan, is that enough?" She really thinks she's a pushover! But clearly, even a tiger in its rage is no match for a master like Jin Xuan.

"I know you're afraid of the cold, come on, have a bowl of porridge to warm yourself up." Jin Xuan handed the porridge to Ao Jun and said in a flattering tone, completely ignoring the source of the cold energy in front of him who was freezing to death. Because compared to Ao Jun, he was no weaker in cold skills. He himself was also a cold storage.

"Since you know I'm afraid of the cold, don't come and pull off my blankets so early every morning," Ao Jun said, rubbing her forehead with a slight headache. She really didn't know whether to say these ancient people were incredibly skilled or just slow to react. Her 'freezing-to-death' technique, which she had mastered to its peak, was completely useless against them. It had been half a month since that night, and they had been repeating these conversations almost every day for months. He wasn't tired of it, but she was getting incredibly annoyed. Now, it sounded like they were reciting lines.

"It's getting late, almost noon. Come on, finish this bowl of porridge. I have a gift for you." Jinxuan patted her head affectionately and smiled. He didn't like seeing her lying there helplessly with her head in her hands (didn't she even consider who she was doing this for?).

"Huh?" Ao Jun looked up at Jin Xuan in confusion. A gift? Were the lines changed? (You really think you're just reciting lines?)

"Hehe... Eat your porridge first, then I'll take out the gift." Jinxuan thought Aojun's expression was because she was interested in the gift, so he laughed happily and didn't forget to coax her to eat the porridge.

Three black lines immediately appeared on Ao Jun's forehead. They were definitely not on the same wavelength; it was like talking to a brick wall! However, after he said that, she became a little curious about the gift. In the past two weeks, although he had been very caring and considerate towards her, he had not given her any gifts. She was really curious about what he would give her, and why he would give her a gift for no reason.

Filled with curiosity and doubt, and with the steaming bowl of porridge so tempting, Ao Jun reached out from under the covers, took the porridge from Jin Xuan's hand, and started drinking. Mmm, it's delicious. The chefs in the Prince's mansion are indeed very skilled.

Jinxuan looked at Aojun, who was enjoying her drink with great relish, with a happy expression. His heart was overflowing with joy, and he really wanted to spoil her like this and let the rest of his life pass by like this.

Ao Jun reluctantly returned the empty bowl to Jin Xuan. In the blink of an eye, a crystal-clear jade flute appeared in Jin Xuan's hand, emitting a soft light that didn't give off a strong feeling. Ao Jun liked it very much at first sight.

"This is a gift for you, do you like it?" Ao Jun's bright eyes were completely captured by Jin Xuan, who had been watching her. Jin Xuan asked happily, and took Ao Jun's hand, placing the jade flute in her hand, expecting her surprised expression.

This time, Ao Jun did not disappoint him. As soon as she touched the jade flute, she held it in her hands with a look of amazement, turning it over and over to examine it. How magical! Why did she feel so warm as soon as she held this jade flute, without feeling cold at all, as if she were in a warm spring? How comfortable!

"What's going on?" After studying it for a long time without finding anything, Ao Jun had no choice but to ask.