A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

He carried her out of the hall the same way he did when they arrived.

It probably took just once for her to familiarize herself. This time, as he walked down the middle of the hall, she did not blush anymore. Instead, her chain was tipped up slightly with pride, just like she was the queen.

She was his woman, or rather, he belonged to her.

Since they were openly and officially together now, she had a right to be this proud.

Li Lei liked it when she acted this way. Once they arrived at their accommodation—Thunderous Yard—he closed the door and began planting kisses on her, making her laugh and duck away. “No… your stubble is pricking me.”

Only then did he realize that he had gotten too busy these days to shave his beard, and it was starting to grow out as a little stubble. He laughed and continued trying to prick her. “You’re my woman now, you’ve got to get used to your husband’s beard, alright?”

“If you dare leave your beard out, I’ll break up with you!” She glared at him teasingly and burst out laughing when she tried imagining him with a beard.

He laughed as well. “Alright, no beard.”

This time, he got close to take in her scent but was careful not to prick her.

Lying down on the tatami mat with her long hair flowing down her shoulders, she looked as leisurely as a house cat. She reached out her hand and caressed his face gently. She remembered how shameless he had been back then when he specially waxed his hair and wore a brand new suit to fetch her at Feng Kun’s house, just so he wouldn’t look any inferior to Pei Ziheng.

But now?

He had actually forgotten to shave his beard for such an important ceremony.

Just how busy had he been recently?

Her heart began to ache for him.

Li Lei held her hand and kissed her palm. “I’m fine.” He seemed to have read her mind. “The plan to take over the throne went more smoothly than I expected. We got the army to surround Grandpa when he let his guard down and appealed to him with both logic and emotion. The handover was completed in no time.”

Xia Ling knew it wasn’t as easy as he made it out to be.

If Old Master Li could be appealed by logic and emotion, would things have gotten to this state?

“Liar.” She whispered.

He smiled. “I love you.”

“Yup, I know.” After going through so much together, she truly believed that this must be the deepest love she’d ever know. Back when they were making preparations to get onto Paradise cruise, he had handed her the whip and knelt before her willingly. At that time, she knew that she was never going to let him go.

This was fate.

Maybe, all those days of being tortured by Pei Ziheng were just for the heavens to let her know how much Li Lei’s kneeling down to her meant. It was almost like a voice telling her that this was the Phoenix’s parasol tree.

Her parasol tree.

She wrapped her other arm around his neck and pulled him closer into a kiss.

It was an enchanting night.

As dawn approached, she opened her eyes in a daze and overheard someone whispering outside. “Miss Su has been kneeling at the entrance for a long time. She says she isn’t leaving until she sees you.”

The other voice she heard was Li Lei’s, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying.

Xia Ling turned around and realized that there was nobody on the other pillow, but it was still warm. She guessed he must’ve been called up just a while ago. She reached for the nearest outfit she could find and got off the bed.

As she walked to the door, she heard that person say, “It’s cold at night, and very harmful for the body.”

She heard Li Lei a little more clearly this time. He sounded annoyed. “Send someone to take her away.”

She opened the door.

Li Lei turned around. “Xiao Ling? Why are you up so early, did we wake you?” His tone was completely different from a moment ago.

She felt as if this man had changed after he held more power.

Or rather, maybe she had never noticed this side of him? He wasn’t always friendly when he spoke to his subordinates, and sometimes, he even sounded cruel and violent.

She did not know if this change was good or not.

But she remembered something that Pei Ziheng had said before: [If a man wants to protect something, then he must allow himself to become cold and harsh.]

She couldn’t help but feel afraid that he would be like this someday.

And this fear could fester in the future.

“Where’s Su Tang?” She asked. “I’ll go take a look.”

That subordinate glanced at her and then led the way to the entrance. When they arrived, they saw that Su Tang was indeed kneeling on the steps. It was already Fall, but she was only wearing a t-shirt as if she had rushed out of her bedroom without having time to change up. The V-neck collar was a little low, and one could vaguely see her cleavage.

“Get Miss Su a sweater.” That was Xia Ling’s first order.

The subordinate hurriedly went to get it.

Su Tang looked up. She was pale, and her lips were turning purple from the cold, but she still looked elegant and beautiful. The dew from the wee hours had added moisture to her fabric and skin, causing the thin clothing to accentuate her figure even more.

“Young Master…” She looked at Li Lei only.

Seeing the way Su Tang looked at Li Lei, she turned to him. “Go in!”

But Li Lei said, “Xiao Ling, you don’t have to worry about this. I’ll settle it.”

“Then turn around!” Xia Ling was still taking it out on him.

Li Lei was shocked for a while before realizing that she was being jealous. He couldn’t help but grin as he turned away from Su Tang.

The way she treated Li Lei, and the way Li Lei took it graciously and willingly, made Su Tang angry and envious all at the same time. The two of them appeared to be showing off how loving they were. She looked down at the t-shirt she had picked conscientiously and felt indignant. In her script, the story should’ve unfolded as such: Li Lei would pity her for kneeling by the door for a night and be attracted by her figure. He would then drape a sweater over her personally.

Who knew Xia Ling would appear and ruin the plot.

Xia Ling asked, “What are you doing, kneeling at my front door in the middle of the night?”

Her front door?! Su Tang clenched her teeth so hard she thought they might shatter. This was obviously Li Lei’s house! Her Young Master’s house! She remembered how she had carefully picked out every tree and every inch of grass in Thunderous Yard, cleaned up the place countless times over the years, and sat here to have some tea with Young Master.

Ever since this woman appeared, everything had changed.

Su Tang’s expression darkened, but she refused to answer Xia Ling’s question. “Miss Ye, if I’ve offended you, please just come at me. Don’t take it out on Xiaoyao and the rest.”

Xia Ling was confused, what was going on?

“Who’s Xiaoyao?” She asked.

Su Tang said, “… The person who offended you yesterday, and was punished by Young Master to get some sea breeze.”

Only then did Xia Ling recall his name—Li Xiaoyao. “What’s with the sea breeze?” She was curious again. “I didn’t even take it out on them.”