Disgraced Consort Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The Banquet (8)

A burst of pain can suddenly be felt in Xi Yan's stomach.  It is a kind of pain that she has never felt before.

She unconsciously touches her stomach.  The dizziness that she felt from spinning gradually disappears and it is then that she realizes that the person hugging her is actually Xuan Yuan Yu.

Unlike how other concubines would have react, Xi Yan does not appear overwhelmed by his grace at all.  She does not seem embarra.s.sed too.

To her, Xuan Yuan Yu is just the ruler and she is just one of his concubines.

To her, he is only the pillar she needs to lean on to in order to protect her family's manor.

Other than that, he does not have any other meaning to her.

She knows that the reason Mu Yan committed that mistake just now was because of Xuan Yuan Yu.  Because of that, even though she is his concubine, she is not willing to be hugged by him in front of Mu Yan.

She slowly shrinks her body.  Thanks to her flexibility and nimble movement as a dancer, she easily retracts herself from Xuan Yuan Yu's body.  She softly sighs in relief.  Just as she is about to bow to acknowledge her errors, her toes leaves the ground as Xuan Yuan Yu lifts her up.

His hand is very hot. She can feel his warmth penetrating her skin through her dress.

Xuan Yuan Yu holds her tight, smiling apologetically at Bai Li Nan, "Zui Fei has only recovered from an illness.  She is barely strong enough to dance, hope Ah Nan does not mind."

Bai Li Nan smiles, "Zui Fei's dance is very exquisite, she has opened zhen's eyes."

"Excuse us for a moment." Xuan Yuan Yu holds her tight and brings her directly to a pavilion behind the folding screen.

He walks hastily; so hasty that he does not give other people even a glance.

Those 'other people' includes Mu Yan.  One of the strings of her pipa is soaked with droplets of blood.

When that sound of flute accompanied her pipa, that string was already broken.  It was all due to her talent that she was able to finish that song despite the broken string.  Unfortunately, that sound of flute only managed to unravel the knot within her song and not the one in her heart.

Yes, knot.

She was not happy at all when Xi Yan volunteered to dance to her song.

In the past, she would always be filled with joy whenever Xi Yan danced to her song, but that is not the case today.

She saw it with her own eyes, how Xuan Yuan Yu's eyes were trained intensely on the dancing Xi Yan.  That was the first time she ever felt jealous towards her.

She did not believe in love at first sight, and because of that, she did not believe the promises said on the night of the lantern festival.

But then, when she met him again, she realized that she was wrong.

Her heart feels very bitter.  Turns out, her love life has been destined to be doomed, just like her song, 'Feng Huai Xin'.

Irresolution will only hurt one's heart.

Her fingertips hurt.

Her heart has been filled with pain from the moment Xuan Yuan Yu lifts Xi Yan up and disappears beyond the folding screen.  That pain made her unaware of Bai Li Nan slowly settling next to her.

She only realizes his presence when she hears his magnetic voice from beside her, "The song is very good, but judging from your state of mind, I don't think you should continue playing."

He saw right through her.

Right.  She put her emotion on display with that song, how can anyone not notice?

Her messy play was tamed by the sound of that flute.  However, for someone like him, with higher musical attainment than her, her blunder was naturally detected.

She retrieves her fingers that are still holding the strings of her pipa.  Just as she is about to speak, she hears the delicate voice of a woman along with the heavy breathing of a man from the pavilion from behind the folding screen.