Chapter 225: I Want To Do It Too
"Sect Master, thank you so much for having us," Wang Jian spoke with deeply cupped fists. The other sect masters followed his lead, each offering their own respectful bows.
"It’s no problem at all," Li Yao replied with a bright smile, waving her hand dismissively.
[What are you doing? He’s getting away!] The Empress’s voice suddenly cut through Li Yao’s thoughts. Her spiritual awareness immediately zeroed in on Xiang Yu, who was quietly slipping away from the group. The Empress had been meticulously tracking how Xiang Yu’s various professions improved through the quality of materials he consistently provided, and she was almost ninety-nine point nine percent certain his cooking had finally entered first grade. There was no way she was going to miss out on such high level spirit food.
"What’s the matter? Won’t he just go cook dinner for all of us in the kitchen?" Li Yao asked in confusion.
[No, he won’t. He’s clearly heading back to the spirit vein,] the Empress explained in exasperation.
"Why not?" Li Yao pressed, genuinely puzzled by this.
[Well, your master and martial aunt will be having their wedding night, and you’ll be busy entertaining these sect masters, so there’s really no need to cook for the group,] she explained.
"I guess that’s true," Li Yao acknowledged.
She then turned back to the waiting sect masters, offering them a slight but respectful bow. "I’m a little busy, so I won’t be able to escort the sect masters. I hope you don’t take it to heart," she spoke, though her eyes kept drifting toward Xiang Yu’s retreating figure.
The sect masters seemed to immediately notice where her attention kept wandering. They nodded with understanding smiles, clearly reading between the lines.
"No problem at all, we’ll see ourselves out," Wang Jian spoke.
The moment those words left his lips, Li Yao disappeared from sight in a blur of movement.
"Well, the Sect Master is still young, unlike old bones like us, so it’s perfectly understandable," Wang Jian commented with a chuckle. The other sect masters nodded in agreement, each lost in their own thoughts.
Meanwhile, Li Yao materialized silently behind Xiang Yu just as he was beginning to open the formation protecting his spirit vein. "Senior brother looks quite cute when he’s serious like that," she thought to herself, watching his focused concentration in affection. "It really makes me want to..."
She began stepping stealthily closer...
"Yao Yao?" Xiang Yu called out suddenly.
The unexpected call startled her so completely that she instinctively took several hasty steps backward. Her heel caught on a protruding stone, and she tumbled backward, landing flat on her butt.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he turned around completely, extending his hand toward her.
"N-n-nothing," she stammered nervously, her cheeks flushing as she raised her hand, which he caught firmly and used to pull her back to her feet.
Xiang Yu smiled to himself, thinking that it seemed his precognition ability could also be used this way. Still, this girl was absolutely crazy—why would she randomly attempt to do that?
"Come in. Did you bring the meat?" he asked casually.
She looked confused for a moment, blinking as her mind caught up with the question. "Yes," she finally answered. She wondered how he knew what she was here for.
"Are you wondering how I knew?" he asked, his tone playfully mysterious.
She nodded eagerly.
"Well, I’ll tell you," he spoke, beginning to lean in closer to her. As he moved nearer and nearer, Li Yao found herself wondering frantically what he was trying to do. Was he really going to...? Her heart began racing with anticipation, and she instinctively closed her eyes, preparing for whatever was coming.
She then heard Xiang Yu’s voice speaking directly into her ear, his warm breath tickling her skin and sending shivers down her spine. "It’s a secret," he whispered teasingly before abruptly turning around and entering the spirit vein, leaving her standing there alone.
Li Yao remained frozen in place, her face burning with a deep blush that spread all the way to her ears.
Xiang Yu thought to himself with smug satisfaction that this was payback for her earlier attempt to sneak up on him.
...
Li Yao sat perched on a smooth boulder, her chin resting in her palm as she watched Xiang Yu move around the small cooking area. She found herself completely mesmerized—though not by the aromatic spirit food he was preparing.
Her eyes traced the subtle definition of his shoulders as he reached for ingredients, the way his muscles shifted beneath his robes when he stirred the pot, the confident grace in every movement. She thought to herself that his body looked absolutely perfect, each line and curve exactly as she had imagined when her mind wandered. She really wanted to feel those muscles beneath her fingers.
She wondered if her senior brother would find it strange if she simply asked.
Suddenly, her expression shifted to something far more serious. Her eyes narrowed slightly as a much bolder thought took hold. Should she just take what she wanted by force?
"Here," Xiang Yu’s voice cut through her thoughts.
She startled violently, blinking in confusion as she found him standing directly in front of her, holding out a steaming plate of food. The rich aroma hitting her senses.
"When did he get here?" she wondered.
Xiang Yu immediately took notice of her startled reaction. "This girl, was she thinking something weird again?" he thought with concern. To be completely honest, he never felt entirely safe when she was around anymore. It always felt as if he was being watched by a dangerous predator, and this feeling didn’t go down as he got stronger, in fact, it grew even more. What bothered him the most was that this unsettling feeling didn’t disappear even with the help of his Abyssal Void Flame, unlike other intimidation effects he’d encountered.
He thought to himself with genuine worry that he really needed to get much stronger, and soon. Otherwise...
The two of them settled down to eat together, their conversation flowing naturally as they shared the meal. They chatted about various light topics, their voices mixing with the gentle sounds of the evening around them.
When they finished eating, Li Yao suddenly turned her attention inward, addressing the Empress. "I got you the food. Now it’s your turn to help me," she said.
[If you really want it that badly, you can always take it by force,] the Empress spoke.
"Really?" Li Yao’s eyes immediately sparkled in excitement.
[Of course not!] the Empress shouted in alarm, causing Li Yao’s mood to plummet just as quickly as it had risen.
The Empress sighed heavily. This girl wasn’t actually seriously considering such a thing, was she? Then again, given Li Yao’s character, maybe it wasn’t really that surprising after all. She reflected that before, such a direct approach might have been possible, but now the situation had become much more complicated. She was getting the distinct feeling that Xiang Yu might not necessarily be weaker than Li Yao anymore, though she couldn’t understand how that was possible. She still sensed no golden core within his body, which made his apparent strength completely puzzling. Was he pursuing a different cultivation path?
Well, she couldn’t fully understand either of these two anymore.
[Just do as I say,] the Empress finally instructed, thinking to herself that doing this kind of thing was completely unbecoming of the Human Empress, but it was all necessary for her recovery.
Li Yao suddenly stood up from where she’d been sitting.
"Are you okay?" Xiang Yu asked with concern, setting down his own plate. "Is something wrong?"
But she didn’t respond. Instead, she walked over to where he was sitting. Without hesitation, she settled herself directly between his legs, forcing him to adjust his position to accommodate her sudden proximity.
Xiang Yu automatically made room for her when he noticed her intention, though he couldn’t help but wonder what had suddenly gotten into her.
She then turned around to face him, their faces now only inches apart. "Senior brother, why didn’t master and martial aunt come out for dinner?" she asked innocently.
Xiang Yu wondered where exactly she was going with this. "Well, it’s their wedding night, so they were probably busy," he spoke.
"Doing what?" she pressed, her eyes wide with apparent innocence.
"Well...Consummating their marriage," he said, blushing slightly.
"What’s that?" she asked, tilting her head with curiosity.
Xiang Yu was finally starting to see exactly where this conversation was heading. "Umm... well... it’s when a man and a woman who love each other come together," he spoke hesitantly, choosing his words with extreme care.
"Senior brother..." she spoke softly, her fingers suddenly tugging at his robes around his chest. "Yao Yao loves you the most. Do you love me?" she asked, looking directly into his eyes.
Xiang Yu started panicking internally, there’s no way, right?
"Of course, I love Yao Yao the most," he spoke.
"Then..." she pressed herself even closer to him, her warmth radiating against his body. "Yao Yao wants to do it too..."
...
A/N: So me fr
Didn’t know the empress had such knowledge.