Chapter 165: He Suspects She’s Turned Gay

Xiao Yang liked Ling Ji. She *really* liked her.

A cool and distant beauty with a killer body, and that gorgeous figure was just one of her many virtues.

She was cool and distant, but not arrogant or rude. On the contrary, she was very polite; it was just her nature to be reserved.

Her martial arts were superb, and she could kill without batting an eye. She radiated a sense of security.

She could clean, cook, give massages, handle accounts, and even perform basic first aid.

Xiao Yang instantly understood why men were so eager to get married. She wanted a wife like that too.

Those four colorful characters couldn’t hold a candle to a single Ling Ji.

The desire to whisk her away grew stronger with each passing day they spent together.

She hated that she wasn’t a man, and she hated Mu Yunlian. He had such a wonderful girl by his side and still moped around. He really didn’t know how to live.

Xiao Yang’s resentment deepened. ’The more I look at him, the more infuriating he gets.’

After they grew more familiar with each other, Ling Ji told Xiao Yang about her past with Mu Yunlian.

Mu Yunlian was twenty-four this year, and she was twenty-two. Ten years ago, Mu Yunlian had been fourteen, and she had been twelve.

They had met in the remote Mo City. By then, Mu Yunlian was already the master of a considerable estate, while she was just the daughter of a hunter.

Her father was a gambling addict who lost all the money he earned. He even used her mother as a gambling chip, and in the end, her mother drowned herself in a river.

That day, he went into a gambling frenzy and put her on the betting table. When the other party wouldn’t offer a good price, that beast of a father even tried to strip her clothes off in public to show her off.

She used the knife she carried to wound her beastly father and tried desperately to escape, but she was surrounded, chased down, and forcibly held in the casino.

Just when she was at her most desperate, her Master appeared.

He took out one hundred taels to gamble with her beastly father. Unsurprisingly, her father lost her to him. From then on, she became her Master’s handmaiden, and it was her Master who gave her the name Ling Ji.

She had known how to hunt since she was a child, so her Master taught her martial arts, as well as how to manage accounts, read, and write.

Everything she had today was given to her by her Master. She would serve him for her entire life.

Xiao Yang felt a pang of regret. ’I knew she wouldn’t be easy to poach.’

Although Ling Ji never spoke of her feelings for Mu Yunlian, with the debt of saving her life, the grace of teaching her, and their years together—not to mention what a handsome man Mu Yunlian was—it would be perfectly normal for her to have fallen for him.

But from the looks of it, Mu Yunlian didn’t see her that way.

Her own love life was a complete mess, so Xiao Yang never gave advice on other people’s romantic affairs.

The more she liked Ling Ji, the more she deliberately tried to keep her distance from Mu Yunlian, doing her best not to seem too intimate with him. But the jerk insisted on sleeping in the same room as her.

Watching Mu Yunlian expertly lie down, Xiao Yang finally couldn’t hold back anymore. "Even if you’re afraid I’ll run away, you could have Ling Ji watch me. It’s ridiculous for us to sleep in the same room every night."

It would be one thing if something was actually happening between them, but they each slept on their own, with no intimacy whatsoever. It was just too weird.

Mu Yunlian sat up, his gaze cold and heavy. "Ling Ji watching you, or serving you in bed? You’ve been the Emperor for so long, have you forgotten that you’re a woman?"

Xiao Yang was speechless. "Ling Ji is a woman, and so am I. What are you thinking?"

Mu Yunlian said nothing, just stared at her with what could only be described as an X-ray gaze.

They had both seen and known of relationships between women—they’d even seen them get married. Her words held no weight.

His expression said it all: he suspected she was into women.

Xiao Yang: "..."

’What the hell? This is all just nonsense!’

"I... don’t have those kinds of feelings for Ling Ji..."

Xiao Yang tried to explain, but felt it was futile. In the end, she was so exasperated she laughed and decided to just admit to it. "Fine. We have feelings for her. We like women. Happy now?"

Mu Yunlian didn’t have much of a reaction, his attitude toward her still one of suspicion. However, Ling Ji, who was at the door holding a tray, went CLANG as she bumped into a pillar.

Xiao Yang’s nonchalant expression changed in an instant. She rushed to open the door. "Ling Ji, I was just kidding."

Ling Ji kept her head down. "I know..."

With that, she hurried away, carrying the bowl of spilled medicine.

Xiao Yang’s mind went blank. She’d just been running her mouth to provoke Mu Yunlian. How did it come to this?

’Crap, I think I told Ling Ji I liked her the day before yesterday.’

’Is there any way to explain this now?’

Xiao Yang returned, looking utterly defeated. Mu Yunlian was still sitting there. "You care about her that much?"

"I care about you, my ass."

Furious, Xiao Yang grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "She’s a perfectly nice girl! I just think she’s great and I admire her! You’re making me sound like some kind of pervert!"

Mu Yunlian calmly caught the pillow. "If you know your actions are causing misunderstandings, then you should be more careful in the future."

Xiao Yang shot back, "What have I done that I need to be careful about?"

’All I did was chat with Ling Ji. How is that causing a misunderstanding?’

Besides, they hadn’t seen a soul on this entire journey. The one time they finally ran into some bandits, they were wiped out in a single clash. Who was there to misunderstand? Who could possibly misunderstand?

In conclusion, the only one misunderstanding anything was the man right in front of her.

"Psycho!"

’What is he thinking about all day?’

The atmosphere between them was tense until Ling Ji returned with a fresh bowl of medicine.

"Master, the medicine is ready."

Mu Yunlian’s face was grim. "I’m not drinking it."

Ling Ji clearly sensed the tense atmosphere and looked toward Xiao Yang.

Xiao Yang’s mouth twitched. ’This is a bizarre love triangle. It’s two women and one man, but isn’t something a little off here?’

"He seems perfectly fine. Why does he need medicine?"

Ling Ji glanced at Mu Yunlian. Seeing that he was too busy sulking to stop her, she answered, "Master has suffered many injuries in the past that left lingering effects. His body gets particularly uncomfortable on rainy or windy days. Looking at the sky, it’s sure to rain tonight, so I brewed some medicinal soup. If he drinks this, he’ll feel better tonight. If the rain continues, he’ll need to take medicine every day."

After listening, Xiao Yang glanced at the obviously sulking Mu Yunlian beside her.

"It’s just discomfort, it won’t kill him. If he doesn’t want to drink it, then forget it."

Ling Ji: "..."

She had been hoping Your Majesty would persuade the Master, not provoke him.

Sure enough, Mu Yunlian adamantly refused to drink the medicine. Ling Ji had no choice but to leave the bowl there and exit.

The two of them lay down, silently feuding. Neither could sleep. Before an hour had passed, it began to rain outside, the pitter-patter sound bringing a damp chill.

The sound of the rain made Xiao Yang drowsy, but from the other bed came the constant sound of someone tossing and turning.

’He didn’t drink the medicine; he’s bringing this on himself. I really don’t want to get involved.’

But then she thought about their past, about the reasons he was so difficult, and the more she thought, the angrier she became.

She got up, took the medicine bowl, and went outside, only to find Ling Ji waiting there.

Xiao Yang handed her the medicine, and Ling Ji immediately took it to be reheated.

Xiao Yang waited under the eaves, watching the rain fall in straight lines from the roof. A moment later, Ling Ji returned with the reheated medicine.

Xiao Yang took the bowl. "You go back to sleep. I’ll make him drink it."

Ling Ji glanced at Xiao Yang, hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked to the room next door.

Xiao Yang carried the medicine inside and, by the dim lamplight, sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the man whose eyes were squeezed shut.

"Get up and drink the medicine."

Mu Yunlian forced his eyes open. His gaze was heavy, but he sat up and drank the medicine.

After finishing, he immediately lay back down and turned his back to her.

His stubborn petulance made Xiao Yang’s hands itch. ’He’s just asking for a smack!’