Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Tie Butian looked at Chu Yang. As she felt her outer robe being removed, she became more and more shy, though she surprisingly did not move at all.

She only looked tenderly at Chu Yang; at her man. She did not speak but the look in her eyes was as though she had already spoken volumes.

She wanted to offer the best side of herself to her lover; it was as simple as that.

Tie Butian had always been very sure of where she stood.

When facing court officials, she was the sovereign of a generation. No one was to question or affront the dignity of a ruler! If anyone did, he would be dealt with severely!

When facing her son, she was a mother. No other identity of hers could affect the heart of a mother.

When facing Chu Yang, she was a wife and a woman — A woman whose heart belonged to someone!

The identity of a sovereign or a position where she stood above all — None of these were necessary!

Tie Butian herself knew that although her status as a ruler might be high and mighty to a regular person, it was really not worth much to Chu Yang. However, even if he didn’t mind, Tie Butian didn’t wish to put on any airs or take on a position of power in front of the man whom she loved deeply.

Tie Butian had always been a firm believer of a certain saying —’Life is too short!’

These four words encompassed a lot.

A lot of things could be summarized in these four words.

But such cooperation from her instead made Chu Yang feel like something was wrong. He pressed on top of her and asked, “Why are you so quiet? And so docile? …It’s making me rather embarrassed instead.”

Tie Butian put her arms around Chu Yang’s head, her eyes as tender as the waters in spring. Suddenly, she raised her head and kissed Chu Yang on the cheek. She said softly, “Since we have already gone through the wedding ceremony, Chu Yang is now Tian Tian’s husband. And now that Tian Tian has a husband, a wife is to hold her husband above all. In that case… of course, I would have to listen to my husband. If my husband wants Little Tian Tian, how can Little Tian Tian disobey her husband?”

Chu Yang’s lips quirked upwards and he chuckled sneakily. “You’re the one who said that, so now you have to listen to everything I say, you know?”

Tie Butian’s silky hair was draped all over the pillow. Her graceful neck, as though that of a swan, arched slightly. She raised her head courageously and met Chu Yang’s eyes as she murmured, “Chu Yang… My husband…”

Although her voice was soft, Chu Yang could tell distinctly just how this woman underneath him felt toward him. It was a kind of wholeheartedness in handing herself over to him and a wholehearted reliance, dependence and love for him.

This murmur of hers was like a call to charge.

Chu Yang’s blood boiled and surged. He lowered his head at once, their lips meeting and merging as one. Shivers ran through Tie Butian; she could feel a wandering hand suddenly reaching into her clothes. The moment his palm came into contact with her smooth skin, she couldn’t help but tremble. His hands slowly made their way up, as though taking in some kind of feeling and as though a courageous adventurer advancing toward the peak…

She kept her lips tightly shut, trying to suppress the strange flutter in her heart which she had never experienced before. She gritted her teeth…

At last, his hands reached elevated terrain and Tie Butian couldn’t help but let out a moan from her throat, her flower-like toes suddenly stretching outward and straightening.

Chu Yang started to travel downward…

…

She felt the clothes on her slowly reducing. Gradually… her splendid body became exposed to Chu Yang’s eyes. Tie Butian shut her eyes tightly; no matter how Chu Yang coaxed her, she refused to open them. She was like a fragrant ball of dough, free for him to knead as he pleased…

But suddenly, a sense of fear rose within her heart…

She suddenly thought back to that time when she was neutralizing Chu Yang’s poison in the mountains of the Beyond the Heavens Sect…

That acute pain back then practically tore her apart! She seriously had no courage to experience that kind of pain ever again. Even after so much time had passed, everytime she recalled the experience, she suffered from lingering fear and was so embarrassed that she wanted to die!

Surely this time… wouldn’t be that painful anymore?

By right, within the palace, no matter whether it was a prince or a princess, the moment they reached a certain age, there would be a dedicated old wet nurse in charge of imparting knowledge to do with physical relationships. This was a rule in the palace, as well as undoubtedly a rule which existed in every realm.

However, although Tie Butian was female, she had been raised as a man since she was young. Everyone back then had already been executed. As Tie Butian’s power grew day by day, which of the new personnel would dare to speak to her about such things?

Besides, Tie Butian had already become the master of the entire Iron Cloud Empire back then. When the world was finally peaceful, she had also gotten married at the speed of light and even had a child…

Who would be so silly as to explain affairs between a man and a woman to a sovereign who already had offspring? Wasn’t that purely looking for death? If she wasn’t aware, then where did the child come from?

That was why up till now, Tie Butian only had a rough idea. As for how it actually felt, etc… she was completely unaware.

Her one and only memory was that one time neutralizing poison for Chu Yang, where it hurt so much that she almost wanted to die…

There was a cooling sensation on her body; her last piece of underwear had been removed…

Hasty rustling sounds echoed in the room; it was likely Chu Yang disrobing. One must say that Minister Chu’s speed at undressing was incredibly fast. With a whoosh, he was already stark naked.

Then, he dived toward her…

At this critical moment, Tie Butian recalled the indescribable pain back then and her heart was overcome with fear. All of a sudden, she bent her legs and curled up into the shape of a prawn.

“Ugh…” Minister Chu had dived toward her full of excitement, fully expecting a soft and fragrant body in his arms and that the next moment, he would be able to… Who knew that in this critical moment, the beauty underneath him, who had allowed him to do whatever he wanted, would suddenly change a position…

With a thud, his lower abdomen bumped into her knees, stunning him.

“What’s wrong?” Chu Yang felt like his entire body was about to explode. How could he do an emergency brake at such a critical moment?

“I, I… I’m scared…” Tie Butian covered her face with her hands pitifully. At this moment, there was no trace of the usual glory of a female sovereign descending upon the world.

“What are you scared of?” Chu Yang was perplexed.

“Pain…” Tie Butian mumbled softly.

“Pain?!” Chu Yang staggered.

“I…” Tie Butian buried her head into the pillow and her voice was as soft as the buzz of a mosquito. “That time… Your poison… It really hurt…”

Realization dawned upon Chu Yang. Coaxing, he said, “I promise, it won’t hurt at all this time!”

“I don’t believe you!” The head buried into the pillow shook wildly.

“You’ll know if you give it a try.” He continued to coax her.

“I’m scared…”

“Come on…”

“No…”

Tie Butian huddled up into a ball stubbornly, like a quail that had shrunk itself into a ball. Though Chu Yang was in a state of need, there was nothing he could do.

As time passed, he finally couldn’t stand it anymore. Getting on top of her, he could no longer care about doing things in order and started to grope her everywhere. He flipped her around forcefully and his mouth sealed her red lips tightly, preventing Tie Butian from making any sound of protest…

Rather than sweet love-making, it looked more like he was actually violating a woman.

Both of them panted heavily. It was only when he really couldn’t take it anymore that Chu Yang finally separated his lips from hers. After a short break, he captured her lips again…

As that pair of ill-behaved hands wandered all about her body, Tie Butian felt like she was slowly burning up. A peculiar feeling slowly came over her; gradually, her taut body also started to relax…

After a long time…

…

Tie Butian let out a muffled grunt…

It was truly an indescribable night…

In the far, far future when Tie Butian’s closest friend, Wu Qianqian, asked how that day felt, Tie Butian remained filled with so much embarrassment that she wished she could bury herself into a hole.

Because she didn’t know anything, she naturally assumed that whatever Chu Yang said was right and that she needed only to follow his instructions…

Therefore, Minister Chu was practically the man of the night. All kinds of weird and strange stuff and things that were hard to accept… were all part of his very enjoyable experience…

Before they had even gone half-way, the Emperor was already pleading for mercy, only to discover the other party becoming even more passionate…

In addition, from that night onward, as long as the two of them were together, that night’s happenings would repeat… It happened again and again, continuing for the next several years to come…

It was only after many years had passed, when everyone had already become familiar with each other, and she was talking about these embarrassing things with the sisters that Tie Butian finally realized that all those things which this damned scoundrel had inflicted upon her all these years… All those various ways and methods… were actually such… unmentionables… In any case, they were all very much a taboo.

After she was tricked into revealing the details by Wu Qianqian and the others after a drinking session, the women teased her for a really long time, causing Sword Master Chu to fall out of favor with the embarrassed Emperor for a long time…

But that would be many, many years later…

The night finally passed…

The night of a rendezvous was always too short; the Emperor stopped attending morning court assembly from then on.

The court officials waiting for morning court assembly had already been there for very long. However, no matter how long they waited, the Emperor did not appear. Everyone was speculating about it.

The Emperor had always been very conscientious toward state affairs. Ever since she ascended to the throne, such a situation had never ever occurred. Even when she was down with a high fever, she still pushed herself to attend morning court assembly and only went back to rest upon persistent persuasion by the court officials.

But today was certainly strange.

The Emperor didn’t even give them any notice…

The sun had already risen yet there was no news from the Emperor.

As such, all the court officials pleaded with Lord Feng, the Chief Supervisor of Internal Affairs, to check out the situation. It was a well-known fact that the emperor’s sleeping quarters strictly prohibited trespassers. The strictness of the security there practically outdid every other sovereign.

Other than palace maids, even the guards were all female. And even eunuchs were not allowed to step into the sleeping quarters at all.

Feng Qiliang, the Chief Supervisor, was also put in a difficult position when it came to such a request. Standing outside the sleeping quarters, he asked a palace maid to go in and ask for instructions while he waited. After a long while, the palace maid finally came out and told him that morning court assembly had been canceled.

When the news came, everyone was relieved. Even though they were still rather puzzled, they had ultimately received clear instructions after all. As such, the crowd dispersed.

In the bedchamber.

Chu Yang rested comfortably, a look of relaxation on his face and a body as though fine white jade within his arms.

“I said it wouldn’t hurt, right?” Someone was incredibly smug.

“Mm~~” Her response was like a cat’s mew.

“Go and sleep, it’s late.” They didn’t get any rest at all the entire night.

“Late? Ah! I need to go for morning court assembly, oh no…” Tie Butian hastily tried to sit up, but the moment she moved, she let out a soft cry and fell back onto the bed. Only then did she discover that her whole body felt soft and weak, with no strength whatsoever.

“I’ve canceled morning court assembly for you long ago, during that time when we were… you know, so you didn’t hear it. Didn’t you realize that I had covered your mouth at that time?” Someone gave her a naughty smile.

“You… you’re terrible!”

“Have a rest. You’ll realize that I’m even more terrible…”

…

Over here, the storm had only just abated but outside, another huge storm was brewing…